The Gates of Memory, стр. 66
Jace stopped her. “The Falari don’t have affinities.”
Alena rolled her eyes. Apparently he’d already forgotten the sense of peace that had stilled his blade. Sheren possessed a well-developed mental affinity, at the very least.
Sheren didn’t take offense. “There are very few of us that practice the old ways. The abilities are considered curses by most. Which is why we find ourselves here.”
She gestured in the direction of the town they’d seen from the road. “I’ve come to invite you into my home.”
“Not a chance,” Jace said. “We should kill her and be on our way.”
Behind Alena, Toren had come closer, and he kept his voice low. “The town’s not abandoned, either. Not your best day.”
She fixed him with a glare that she hoped withered his soul, but the smile on his face didn’t dim in the slightest.
Sheren’s answer to Jace brought her head back around. “Our people have long been in conflict. I understand. But borders mean little to those I live with. We would welcome you with open arms. This, I promise.”
Sheren’s gaze once again focused on Alena. Alena felt the invitation within those eyes. She nodded her head, just slightly, and dropped into a soulwalk.
Sheren’s presence was brighter than the others and she welcomed Alena’s connection. Together, the two of them traveled in Sheren’s mind back over the paths that led to the town. Alena admired the vivid nature of Sheren’s memory, the plentiful details that indicated the attention the woman paid to her surroundings. Alena didn’t even re-create her mother’s kitchen in such detail.
In a moment they were in the ruins of the town. Thanks to Sheren’s re-creation, Alena saw both the extent of the ruin and the affection with which Sheren looked upon the broken city. Decay wore at every building, but the woman felt safe here. This was home.
Alena saw glimpses of faces, ghostly images that came and went as Sheren mentally introduced her friends.
The Falari soulwalker wasn’t showing her everything. Alena felt the absence, the deliberate withholding of information. If she desired, she could force the woman to reveal what she hid. Now that they were in contact, Alena could feel how much her own power surpassed that of the Falari.
But she held that action in reserve. If the need arose, a mental assault was possible, but Alena didn’t believe the woman withheld the information out of malice. The wall around the information seemed more the result of nervousness or fear.
A moment later, they returned. Alena came out of the soulwalk, now certain of her actions. “We should follow her.”
Jace wasn’t so easily convinced. “Are you sure?”
“Mostly. I am convinced that she doesn’t mean us harm.”
“Good enough for me,” Toren said.
Jace still hesitated. Alena didn’t push him. It was difficult to choose between his desire to protect her and his trust of his sister’s wisdom. She also knew how much he wanted to avoid conflict right now. Finally, he sheathed his sword. Alena knew he wouldn’t relax, but she was grateful she didn’t have to argue with him.
She stepped in front of Jace and approached Sheren. “What is it that you’re hiding?”
Alena imagined Jace behind her, tensing up again. But he wouldn’t go back on his decision now, which was why she had waited to ask Sheren the question.
Sheren grimaced, hesitated, then stared at the ground. “You should know one thing about the town before you arrive.”
She kicked at the ground, seeming much younger than her age.
Then she took a deep breath and looked up at them.
“It’s haunted by ghosts.”
33
Brandt expected to wait in the antechamber until a decision was reached, but Ren laughed when he heard the idea. “The elders have the knowledge they seek. Now their debate will begin in earnest. You are welcome to wait, if you wish, but it is not expected, and starvation is a very real possibility.”
“Just how long will it take?” Brandt asked.
“As long as is needed. For a decision of this importance, I expect we will not hear from the elders until tomorrow at the earliest.”
Brandt grimaced. That was a long time to sit with the knowledge of his mistake, a long time to worry that his lies had doomed their endeavor.
They followed Ren up the passages that led them back to their rooms. Brandt felt Ana’s stare burrowing into the back of his head the entire way. A fight was brewing, and Ana only waited until they had four walls surrounding them to contain her fury.
Ren must have sensed something of Ana’s mood, because he left them at the door to their quarters and retreated as though before a wave of advancing enemies. The swordsman was wise.
Less than a heartbeat passed between Brandt shutting the door and Ana turning on him. Her command came out low, as though worried that if she let any more emotion out she would explode. “Explain.”
Brandt had known the question was coming, and he’d spent much of the walk back to their room working out his own confused feelings. “I believed I was telling the truth.”
The explanation didn’t satisfy her. She kept pacing, her stare locked on his face.
“The elders asked if I would accept the gate if they offered it to me. I said no. And I thought that was the truth. I don’t want to interfere with Hanns and his plans.”
“And yet Ren says that you lied.”
Brandt collapsed into one of the chairs in the room, unwilling to meet Ana’s stare. “I know.”
Silence greeted his answer.
“I didn’t think that I wanted the gate. I know how important it is to Hanns, and to the empire. If Hanns needs the gate to stop the queen, it has to go to him.”
Ana caught the tone in his voice. After their years together, what could he hide from her? “But?”
“But I do think about what having that power would be like. Did you know that Kyla said that if we met on equal footing,