Istariel, Kylar would be an obstacle, defying her, condemning her to death by refusing to yield his secrets.
And what if they pried his secrets from him? What kind of stewards of immortality would the Sisters be?
The answer was disheartening. Who was pure enough and wise enough to know to whom to grant everlasting life? Who, having received the gift, could be trusted not to abuse it?
“You must be a good man, Kylar,” she said quietly. “Don’t let your gift corrupt you. I won’t share your secret with the Chantry. At least not until I can speak with you again. I know you have no reason to trust me, so here.” She drew a knife from her belt and handed it to him. “If you must kill me, do so.” She turned her back.
Nothing happened.
After a long moment, she turned around. “Will you let me help you?” she asked.
He looked weary. “Logan Gyre is alive,” he said. “He’s in the Maw’s deepest pit, a place called Hell’s Asshole.”
“You think he’s still alive?”
“He was a month ago. If he made it through the first two months, he’s made it through the hardest part. I’d guess he’s still kicking.”
“And you mean to bring him out?”
“He’s my friend.”
Ariel breathed slowly to get hold of herself. She wanted to berate this boy for his idiocy. How dare he endanger the ka’kari for a mere king? “Do you know what it will mean if Garoth Ursuul gets his hands on your ka’kari? What it will mean for the world?” Sister Ariel asked. It might be terrible for the world for the Chantry to unlock Kylar’s secrets; it would be apocalyptic if the Khalidorans did.
“Logan’s my friend.”
Ariel bit her tongue, literally. If Istariel ever found out what she was about to do, expulsion from the Chantry would be the least of Ariel’s punishments.
“Well, then. All right.” She exhaled. “I’m going to help you. I think I can do something really special. I think, yes. Don’t ask another Sister to do this. It will only be possible because of how much I’ve already seen of you. But hold on. I need you to take a note to someone.”
“What are you doing?” Kylar asked as she found a scrap of parchment and scribbled on it, then magically sealed it.
“Either trust me or don’t, Kylar. If you don’t trust me, kill me. Since you’ve already decided not to do that, you might as well make yourself internally coherent and trust me.” He blinked at the rush of words, but she continued anyway. “I can get you to the city by tomorrow night, maybe tomorrow afternoon.”
“It’s a three-day ride—”
“But you have to promise me two things. Promise you’ll deliver this letter first, and promise you’ll rescue Logan second. Swear it.”
“What’s in the letter?”
“It’s to a healer named Drissa Nile, and it’s not about you. Events you’ll put into motion will require changes in the Chantry’s position. Our people need to know how to react if you save Logan Gyre, you understand?” It wasn’t the whole truth, of course, but she wasn’t going to tell him the letter was mostly about her clever plan for Vi, which did concern Kylar. “When you get to the city, eat a huge meal and sleep for as long as your body needs. It’ll still put you ahead by a day or two.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Kylar said. “I don’t want Logan to rot in there any longer than I have to, but why do you care that I save a day or two?”
Ah, yes. Reckless, not dumb.
“Vi’s ahead of you. She’s heading for Cenaria.”
“That bitch! Going to report her successful hit, no doubt. Wait, how do you know where she’s heading?”
“She was traveling with me.” Sister Ariel winced.
“What?!”
“You have to understand, Kylar. She’s enormously Talented. I was taking her back to the Chantry. She escaped me just after we found your body. She thinks you’re dead.” Now the tricky part. “Jarl is the one who told you about Logan being alive?”
“Yes, why?”
“Did she . . . did she torture Jarl before she killed him?”
“No. She didn’t talk to him at all.”
And the hook—letting the lie sit in the water as if you had no interest in it, not fleshing it out so much that it looked too good: “Then I don’t know how she knew, but she said something about the king and a hole. I think she knows about Logan.”
Kylar’s face paled. He’d bought it. Now he’d go after Logan immediately, rather than trying