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Authors: Nicole Luiken
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to spare!” Wenda rolled her eyes. “We
can barely spare you. A fight against the Republic’s Legions is doomed in any
case. I’m hoping you’ll open their eyes to other possibilities.”
Lance wasn’t sure how that would work, but he was willing to
try. “When do you want me to leave?”
“Within the week.”
Lance took a deep breath. “First, there’s something I need you
to do for me. With your soulsight. I—”
Marcus interrupted, head tipped back. “Why is someone walking
on top of the castle wall?”
Lance automatically followed his gaze up. Pure terror burst
over him like a deluge of icy water as he recognized Sara’s slender figure far
above.
* * *
Sara flexed her knees and hopped up and down on the
narrow ledge.
“Again.”
Sara jumped slightly higher. One of her feet landed off-center,
her heel hanging over empty air. She teetered, then regained her balance.
The woman hit her own thighs with her fists. “Jump over the
edge, down to the ground.”
Sara pondered. The courtyard lay thirty feet below. If she
jumped, she would break numerous bones in her body. If her neck snapped, she
would die.
“What are you waiting for? I told you to jump.”
“I’m trying to decide if I should listen to you.” She didn’t
have to. Lance had told her that.
“It will be over in an instant,” the woman said. “You won’t
feel anything.”
“Yes, I will,” Sara disagreed. “It will hurt.” If she jumped
there would be pain. More intense than the boiling water. Agony.
“Only for a moment,” the woman said, “and then you’ll be at
peace.”
Peace meant calm. “I am already at peace.”
“If you won’t do it for me, do it for my son,” the woman said.
“He deserves to live again, to smile again, not be chained to you.”
She’d forgotten this woman was Lance’s mother. Did that give
her words more importance? Sara wasn’t sure.
“Lance is not chained to me.” Obviously. “If he wished to leave
me he could.”
“He’s too kind-hearted to order your death. So I’m going to
take on the guilt for him. He may hate me for a time, but at least then he’ll be
able to mourn you and begin to heal. He’d never admit it, but your death would
relieve him of a burden.”
Sara leaned a little farther out over the edge and saw Lance
staring up at her. He and another man shouted at her, but the wind snatched
their words away.
Was Lance’s mother right? Would Sara’s death help him? She
didn’t know, but there was an easy way to find out.
She stepped off the edge.
Chapter Five
Sara hit feet first. Her leg bones took the brunt of the impact, splintering under her, as first her knees, then chest then face hit. Crunched. White pain crashed into her, blotting out thought.
Sara blinked slowly. She lay facedown on the hard ground and tried to catalogue the various nerve reports. Pain, of course, pain from so many places it would be shorter to list what didn’t hurt. Blood slicking her legs and running from her broken nose, shrieking wrongness in her twisted limbs—knees, elbows, hips—spreading numbness below her ankles, coppery taste of blood in her mouth from where she’d bitten through her tongue.
Something grated in her chest when she propped herself up on one elbow to look for Lance—a rib piercing her lung, perhaps? Breathing took effort as if water filled her lungs.
Her vision doubled; she saw two Lances, moving closer but still thirty feet away. She wondered distantly if she would die before he reached her side.
* * *
Lance hobbled a dozen steps behind Marcus, his terror drowning out the jabs of pain from his sprained knee. Sara . Goddess , let me be on time , let me save her .
Marcus reached her first. He stood over her, blocking Lance’s view. “God of Death.” He shut his eyes and turned his head away as if revolted. “Don’t look,” he said to Lance. “Let me fetch a blanket. She—”
Lance shoved him aside and fell to his knees on the flagstones—another
can barely spare you. A fight against the Republic’s Legions is doomed in any
case. I’m hoping you’ll open their eyes to other possibilities.”
Lance wasn’t sure how that would work, but he was willing to
try. “When do you want me to leave?”
“Within the week.”
Lance took a deep breath. “First, there’s something I need you
to do for me. With your soulsight. I—”
Marcus interrupted, head tipped back. “Why is someone walking
on top of the castle wall?”
Lance automatically followed his gaze up. Pure terror burst
over him like a deluge of icy water as he recognized Sara’s slender figure far
above.
* * *
Sara flexed her knees and hopped up and down on the
narrow ledge.
“Again.”
Sara jumped slightly higher. One of her feet landed off-center,
her heel hanging over empty air. She teetered, then regained her balance.
The woman hit her own thighs with her fists. “Jump over the
edge, down to the ground.”
Sara pondered. The courtyard lay thirty feet below. If she
jumped, she would break numerous bones in her body. If her neck snapped, she
would die.
“What are you waiting for? I told you to jump.”
“I’m trying to decide if I should listen to you.” She didn’t
have to. Lance had told her that.
“It will be over in an instant,” the woman said. “You won’t
feel anything.”
“Yes, I will,” Sara disagreed. “It will hurt.” If she jumped
there would be pain. More intense than the boiling water. Agony.
“Only for a moment,” the woman said, “and then you’ll be at
peace.”
Peace meant calm. “I am already at peace.”
“If you won’t do it for me, do it for my son,” the woman said.
“He deserves to live again, to smile again, not be chained to you.”
She’d forgotten this woman was Lance’s mother. Did that give
her words more importance? Sara wasn’t sure.
“Lance is not chained to me.” Obviously. “If he wished to leave
me he could.”
“He’s too kind-hearted to order your death. So I’m going to
take on the guilt for him. He may hate me for a time, but at least then he’ll be
able to mourn you and begin to heal. He’d never admit it, but your death would
relieve him of a burden.”
Sara leaned a little farther out over the edge and saw Lance
staring up at her. He and another man shouted at her, but the wind snatched
their words away.
Was Lance’s mother right? Would Sara’s death help him? She
didn’t know, but there was an easy way to find out.
She stepped off the edge.
Chapter Five
Sara hit feet first. Her leg bones took the brunt of the impact, splintering under her, as first her knees, then chest then face hit. Crunched. White pain crashed into her, blotting out thought.
Sara blinked slowly. She lay facedown on the hard ground and tried to catalogue the various nerve reports. Pain, of course, pain from so many places it would be shorter to list what didn’t hurt. Blood slicking her legs and running from her broken nose, shrieking wrongness in her twisted limbs—knees, elbows, hips—spreading numbness below her ankles, coppery taste of blood in her mouth from where she’d bitten through her tongue.
Something grated in her chest when she propped herself up on one elbow to look for Lance—a rib piercing her lung, perhaps? Breathing took effort as if water filled her lungs.
Her vision doubled; she saw two Lances, moving closer but still thirty feet away. She wondered distantly if she would die before he reached her side.
* * *
Lance hobbled a dozen steps behind Marcus, his terror drowning out the jabs of pain from his sprained knee. Sara . Goddess , let me be on time , let me save her .
Marcus reached her first. He stood over her, blocking Lance’s view. “God of Death.” He shut his eyes and turned his head away as if revolted. “Don’t look,” he said to Lance. “Let me fetch a blanket. She—”
Lance shoved him aside and fell to his knees on the flagstones—another
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