The Gates of Memory, стр. 75
“I fought a shadow creature of the queen’s that was eating ghosts in an abandoned Falari town.”
Brandt opened his mouth to reply, but found he had no idea how to respond to that. He settled for, “Huh.”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t seem inclined to discuss it further.
“How about you?”
“I lied to all the Falari elders, argued with Ana, and was nearly killed by the Falari gate.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“We’re not doing so well, are we?” Alena asked.
“No, we are not.”
They sat in silence, letting the scents and atmosphere of the kitchen relax their frayed nerves. Time passed differently here, so Brandt didn’t feel the rush as he might have if they’d met in the physical world.
Alena spoke first. “When I was fighting the monster last night, something shook the world of souls. I’ve never felt anything like it, and I think it has to do with the Falari gate. I wondered if you knew anything about it.”
“Last night the gate was trying to kill me, except in the physical world.”
“Someone took control of the gate.”
The sentence stopped Brandt’s thoughts in an instant. He understood the words, but it made no sense. “The queen?”
“No. Someone I don’t know.”
“That’s not—” Brandt trailed off, reviewing the events of the past night in his mind.
He knew.
He didn’t understand, but he knew. Only one person had come into contact with the gate last night, and it couldn’t be a coincidence that the first time the Falari elders granted access to the gate someone had taken control.
If Alena was right, control of the gate had been stolen.
Stolen by Regar.
38
The storm passed through the next morning, leaving behind a brilliant blue sky devoid of clouds. The blue appeared so rich and vibrant that Alena wondered for a moment if it was real.
Because everything in her life seemed a dream.
Or perhaps a nightmare.
She settled on unreal. Ghosts and shadow monsters existed, and she felt the boundary between her physical sensations and the world of souls slowly dissolving.
Their end of the bargain fulfilled, Sheren insisted that they waste no further time in the abandoned village. Alena wasn’t sure if the rush was due to a genuine desire to help Alena or if the Falari soulwalker knew the village possessed other secrets better left undiscovered by the foreign visitors. Either way, she seemed eager to leave.
Alena wouldn’t quibble with Sheren’s desire for haste. Her realization, made with Brandt’s help, that Regar had taken control of the gate, made her insides twist. The gates weren’t toys to be played with by any passing child. She knew only a fraction of what the gates were capable of and had come to believe that the first Anders had made a wise choice in hiding their existence from his people. The fewer people who knew about the gates, the better. Their very presence invited temptation.
She couldn’t believe Regar had stolen control of the gate from under the noses of everybody watching.
She knew very little about Prince Regar. His reputation, as far as she understood, was that he was brave, selfless, and completely focused on the needs of the empire.
In short, she knew only the stories that had been spread about him, and she didn’t trust a single one.
If Brandt’s reaction had been any indication, he felt very much the same.
Her need to reach Faldun was greater than ever. The emperor suffered from some invisible wound. Alena couldn’t put the pieces together yet, but she had adopted one of Brandt’s fundamental beliefs: there were no coincidences. This had the outline of a larger scheme beyond her comprehension.
So she didn’t argue with Sheren when the Falari soulwalker ushered them out the door well before noon. Their guide had packed her necessary belongings in less time than it took them to gather theirs. In answer to their surprised looks, she shrugged. “As I said, I’ve lived most of my life on the road.”
They left the village by the same route they entered. Perhaps it was just the benefit of experience, but crossing the single board over the river gave Alena no problems the second time.
She nursed a small sense of satisfaction as they left the village. Though their visit hadn’t altered the physical landscape, she felt the difference in the air. Most, if not all, the ghosts had passed on. They had done some good here, however small. No soul deserved to so much as touch that dark void of emptiness.
Additionally, she had denied the Lolani queen the ghosts. She couldn’t say what good her rescue did, but she was proud of herself on principle. Any action that interfered with the queen pleased her.
Thoughts of their success warmed her as they climbed out of the valley. Sheren followed a trail that Alena never would have noticed on her own. Given how overgrown the path was, it was rarely used. As they climbed higher, the nature of the trail changed, and she noticed a familiar pattern beneath her feet. The stone underfoot was flat, but not worn smooth. Much like a path high in the mountains outside Landow. A path which had led to a gate.
The old path made the switchbacks considerably easier, but Alena’s legs still burned with the effort of the relentless climb. Their stop in the village hadn’t exactly been restful, and she dreamed of resting for a full night in a warm bed.
Jace came to life as the day wore on. He smiled more, and she didn’t catch him staring off into the distance nearly as often. Perhaps it was just time healing wounds, or perhaps something about the village had helped him. Regardless, he once again reminded her of the child he’d once been. He wasn’t healed, but it was a step in the