She was the last one to step into the fading light of the day. They all rested, and Alena laid Azaleth out on a stone. She took her knife and removed the gatestone embedded in his flesh, the same way she had seen it done in Etar. She grabbed his stones and his sword, surprised that the remains of his life amounted to so little.
Then she built a cairn around him. It wasn’t as good as a grave, but it would satisfy Etari customs. She worked until the sun had fallen in the sky, refusing help from anyone. This was her task alone. He had followed her.
When she was done, she collapsed into Brandt’s arms.
“Did you have any final words?” Brandt asked.
Alena shook her head. “He always knew my heart. I wish I had understood his sooner.”
They hiked a little ways down into the valley before resting for the night. When the sun rose, Brandt turned his attention to Alena.
“Come. Let’s get you home.”
They didn’t arrive in Landow until the following day. Brandt set them up in an inn, as Alena was too nervous to approach her family, and Brandt had tasks he needed to complete. A bird needed to be sent to the emperor, and the commander of the city guard needed to take control of the city until a new governor could be appointed.
Alena ate her fill, bathed, then ate again. She collapsed while a healer looked in on Ana, falling asleep and not waking up until most of the day had passed. Then she ate again, her body constantly demanding more food.
It wasn’t until breakfast the next day they all came together again. Their spirits were up, but they each carried the cost of their actions. Jace still followed Alena around without complaint, and Brandt waited on pins and needles to hear back from the emperor.
As they ate, Brandt turned his attention to Alena. “You will remove that compulsion, right?”
Alena nodded. “I suppose it’s time. I’m afraid, though. Will you remain between us, in case he attacks?”
Brandt nodded and stationed himself.
Alena had thought about this moment since they had made it successfully out of the caves. Through the connection soulwalking created, she had seen his memories. Perhaps it was possible to share her memories with him the same way.
She closed her eyes, then reached out and held his hand. After a moment of focus, she found herself again standing in front of her representation of his soul. She created a thin golden strand of light and reached out to him to connect their souls.
The strand cut through the weave of compulsion she had placed over him.
It was met with pure, unbridled fury.
He knew what she had done, and he wanted to kill her.
Acting on impulse, Alena dropped the compulsion. The weave broke, and a moment later, Jace was standing in front of her, hand on his sword.
“You killed him!”
Jace drew his sword and attacked, murder in his eyes.
In the physical world, Alena would have run.
But she had faced the Lolani queen, a power she still didn’t fully comprehend. On this plane, she was far stronger than Jace. She imagined an invisible wall of force between her and her brother. His sword glanced off it, his blows ineffective.
She let his anger rage. Time had a different meaning here, but it also didn’t matter. Brandt would keep her physical body safe. Her patience would be rewarded.
Jace swung wildly, but none of his strikes even came close to breaking through her wall. Eventually, his rage burned out and he fell to his knees, tears in his eyes.
Keeping the wall between them, Alena kneeled down next to him. She fought to keep her voice from cracking. “I’m sorry, Jace. I’m sorry for everything.”
For several long moments, she wasn’t sure what to do. She had hoped this wouldn’t be so difficult, but she feared that if she dropped her wall Jace would attack. He had years of reasons to hate her.
Alena took a deep breath, then dropped the wall. She reached out and touched him, allowing her memories to flow from her mind, through her arm, to him.
She didn’t send him the memories of their happy moments together. After her compulsion, he might view such an attempt as another manipulation.
Instead, she sent the memories that represented the beginning of their separation. The fight with Niles in the street, her curiosity about the boy. She let the events spool out.
Had she once been so foolish? The signs had always been there, and Bayt provided plenty of warning.
“What is this?” Jace asked.
“What happened to me,” she replied.
They came to the night when she made her fateful choice. Jace watched her run across the rooftops, stealing the diamond from Zane.
“They told me you were a thief.” Jace’s voice was flat and empty. “For the longest time, I didn’t believe. But you were, weren’t you?”
“I thought I was.”
Knowing what thieving had cost her, Alena found she could barely understand her younger self. She had a family that loved her, and opportunities to succeed. She had thrown it all away, and why?
Because she thought she was bored.
She knew Jace could feel her regret, but she let the memories continue.
Together, her and Jace came upon Bayt’s body. She felt her brother recoil. She paused the memory when she spotted the message written in Bayt’s blood.
“You didn’t kill him,” Jace said.
“Zane wielded the knife, but it was my decisions that killed him.”
The memories resumed. Jace watched the chase, the fight between Zane, the bandit, and the wolfblades. Jace didn’t speak as he watched his childhood idols fall one by one.
“Who was the bandit?” Jace asked. He sounded as though he had a guess, but was afraid to voice it.
Alena didn’t answer. Her memories could speak for her, and were far more powerful.
She came to her and Brandt in the teahouse.
Jace’s breath caught. Connected as they were, she had a sense of his thoughts. His sister
