Quarantined Night (3)

She had killed a human being.

The person with whom she had shared five years of her life lay dead by her hand. Stair's betrayal, her weakness, even the contract she had signed to sell the elf—none of it mattered beside that single fact.

The elves treasured life, down to the smallest winged creature. To take a human life was something the elf could scarcely comprehend, let alone forgive herself for.

“No… I didn't mean to kill anyone…”

Tears ran down her cheeks. She did not even think to wipe them away.

“Why? Why did it happen…?”

She crawled toward Stair on trembling hands. Every inch brought the dead woman's face more clearly into view. At last she collapsed, pressed her forehead to the floor and sobbed with her head in her hands.

Theorad had been watching from a corner of the guild hall.

He moved toward her.

It wasn't your fault. It was an accident.

He wanted to say those words. He wanted to tell her she did not have to cry.

Before he could touch her, the bracelet on his wrist flashed.

—Do not interfere with the past!

Rastain's voice rang out through the beads. Theorad stopped.

—Interfere with a memory and you will become lost inside the patient's consciousness! Is that what you want?

He hesitated, then stepped back.

“I understand. What should I do instead?”

—Find the patient's true self. Follow her memories until you reach the part of her that is trapped. Can you do that?

“Of course. That's why I came.”

—Then open the guild hall door. I'll connect you to another part of her past.

He looked once more at the grieving elf. Leaving her there hurt, but finding her consciousness mattered more.

He opened the door.

Creak.

Beyond it was a wide green meadow, with scattered trees in the distance.

Theorad crossed the threshold and stopped. There were people behind him.

When he turned, the doorway had vanished. Around a hundred armed soldiers stood in formation, all staring toward a woman wearing armor.

Her hair was cut short, and her pointed ears were concealed, but Theorad recognized the elf.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Have you forgotten that I'm your commander?”

An officer who appeared to be her adjutant stepped forward.

“No, Your Excellency. We are following orders.”

“Whose orders? Who in this army has the authority to overrule me?”

“Duke Evelyn issued them personally.”

The elf stared.

“That's impossible. Evelyn would never… There must be a mistake. Bring me the messenger. I'll question him myself.”

“The messenger carried a secret order bearing the duke's seal. It commands us to kill the deputy marshal. I had doubts, too, and compared it with other documents. I found no sign of forgery.”

She shook her head, unable to accept it.

“No. Evelyn promised we would build a country where birth didn't decide a person's worth. Talent would matter, not inherited status. The government would serve its people, not the other way around…”

She had believed in those promises. She had fought and won battles for Evelyn.

If all of it had been a lie, what had the blood on her hands been for?

“I…”

The soldiers began to surround her. The adjutant looked at her without pity.

“You have served long enough. Let Her Excellency go in peace.”

The soldiers charged.

The elf cried out and drew the wand at her waist. A flash of magic erupted, followed by an enormous explosion.

Theorad shut his eyes against the light.

When he opened them, the battlefield was gone.

Seagulls wheeled over a vast blue sea. A heavily laden ship moved steadily through the waves.

Near the helmsman stood the elf. Her hair had grown long again; her features seemed a little sharper, but there was no mistaking her.

“Captain! We have to turn away! If we go on, we'll all die!”

The helmsman gripped the wheel, terrified. The elf continued to watch the water.

“Don't lose your nerve. Turning back won't change what comes next.”

“Then what are we going to do about them?”

“I'll have to kill them.”

The helmsman stared.

Soon, armed rebels clambered onto the deck, showering the elf with curses. They spoke of children to feed, of having no work, of how eagerly they would labor if someone would hire them.

Then they saw the cargo aboard the ship, and their eyes widened.

Another betrayal.

The elf seemed almost accustomed to it now. Sadness passed through her eyes, but she did not break down. She simply walked down from the deck.

—Viscount Theorad. We still have a long way to go.

Rastain's voice brought him back to his purpose. He followed the glow of the bracelet and let it guide him onward.

Memories flashed by, too many to count.

He tried to attend to each one. The longer he watched, the heavier his heart became. He did not believe Rastain had deliberately selected the elf's worst experiences, yet he could find scarcely a happy recollection among them.

For an ordinary person, any one of these episodes could have been the most terrible event of a lifetime. In the elf's past, there were dozens.

Whooo—

The scene changed again.

Snow covered the mountains around him. A blizzard swept between the icy ridges, and his breath clouded the air.

He searched for her.

On a cliff stood the elf in a torn, bloodstained coat. Her white hair whipped wildly in the wind. She looked utterly alone.

Elf…

What had happened this time?

She began to walk toward the cliff's edge. At first he thought she meant to look down. But there was no purpose in her dragging steps, no wish to preserve herself.

She meant to jump.

For a moment Theorad could only stare. Then he made his decision and went after her.

The blizzard staggered him. He shielded his face with his arms and pressed forward, leaving footprints in the snow.

—Viscount Theorad!

Light trembled at his wrist.

—We're close to the patient's true self! A little farther through the memories and we can reach her. Do not interfere with the past!

“How far back are we now?” he asked. “How many years?”

—Twenty-three years ago… No, that isn't important! If you want to cure the patient, you must not interfere!

Theorad gave a bitter smile.

“You're a poor liar, Saintess. Didn't you tell me that interference endangered me, not the patient?”

—That is…

“You also said the bracelet would protect me from being trapped. So it must be possible to interfere if I remove it.”

Rastain fell silent.

“Then tell me this. Could I still save her if I interfered?”

No answer came. He knew he was trying her patience, and he knew why she was afraid.

“Please. Show this humble believer the path he should take.”

A long sigh came through the bracelet.

—In theory, yes. But your mind would never endure it. You could be trapped at the bottom of her consciousness until your mind broke. Even without the bracelet, you would have only a little time in which to interfere with the past.

“That's enough. Thank you, Saintess. And I'm sorry.”

Theorad closed his hand around the bracelet's cord.

Rastain realized what he intended and tried to stop him.

He pulled.

Snap!

The cord broke. Beads scattered through the snow, and her voice was cut off.

The elf stood barely ten paces away. For Theorad, nothing else mattered now.

He drew a breath and addressed the woman on the cliff.

“What are you doing here?”

The elf stopped with one foot near the edge.