army the Merchant King had sent to oppose them that he began to listen.”
“You persuaded him to sail across an ocean just to kill him under my roof?”
“Thereby sowing doubt and discord between the Far West and the realm of the Queen of Fire. Besides, if I hadn’t, I would have been denied the chance to speak with you again, brother. So you see, I am here in part on my own agency.”
The Messenger’s face lost its serene cast, Vaelin finding himself disconcerted by the genuine regret he saw in it. “It’s strange,” the Messenger went on, voice now lacking the malice from before, “but when I was suffering in the Beyond, it was the most recent memories that stayed with me. I remember the havoc I wrought amongst the Ice People, all those years plotting with the Sons of the Trueblade and”—the malign tone returned briefly as his eyes slid towards the door—“all those happy days with the wife and daughter of poor old Lord Brahdor. It was such a pleasant surprise to find her here with you . . .”
Vaelin’s reaction was immediate and instinctive, a red haze colouring his vision for a second before it cleared and he found himself standing over the Messenger, hand stinging from a hard backhand cuff to the man’s face. The Messenger spat blood and coughed out a laugh. “Oh, brother,” he said, shaking his head with a rueful chuckle. “Always so easy to play you, like plucking strings on a mandolin. I am going to miss it.”
Vaelin closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before forcing himself to retake his seat. “I tire of this,” he said. “If you have something to tell me, get it said.”
The Messenger coughed up more blood, then settled in his seat, his face taking on a reflective cast. “As I said,” he continued, “much was lost except for the most recent lives, one in particular, one stream of memory out of so many others, when I was big, bluff, honest Brother Barkus and we were bound together in the Order, the five of us, brothers united against all the ills of the world. I came to realise, using what meagre reason was left me, that if the Ally’s will hadn’t bound me so absolutely, I would have stayed in that shell for all the years I could. I learned grief then, not the maddening rage of injustice and vengeance I knew so well, but the ache of losing those you love.”
He blinked, meeting Vaelin’s gaze with a sad smile. “Hurts doesn’t it? When you’re alone in the dark and the ghosts come to whisper their awful truths. And they do come, don’t they, brother? All those many, many ghosts. Who whispers loudest, I wonder? Caenis? Dahrena? Me?”
Feeling the red haze descend once more, Vaelin rose and moved to the door. “Enough of this. You can rot here. I’ll not kill you so your new master can put you in another body. I suggest you spend the years in contemplation of your many crimes . . .”
“Sherin.”
The cell was small and possessed no echo. Nevertheless, the name lingered in the air, halting Vaelin’s hand as he reached out to rap on the door. Slowly, he turned, finding the Messenger regarding him with head tilted in curiosity rather than cruelty.
“I told you I was here on my own agency,” he said. “I came to deliver my final message. My last service to you.”
Vaelin moved to stand over him, staring into his upturned gaze. “Speak plainly,” he instructed, “because I have no more patience for riddles. What do you know of Sherin?”
“I know she now resides in the Venerable Kingdom. Despite being a mere woman, she has become a physician of great renown. Even the Merchant King himself has had cause to call upon her talents. I know the Stahlhast will sweep across the border within months, and I know Sherin will be one of the first to perish, for she has placed herself in great peril. You sent her to the Far West expecting her to be safe. You should have known there is no safe place in this world. Conquerors come and go in history but the Stahlhast are different. They intend to remake the world and will kill any soul who doesn’t fit their mould.”
Vaelin saw it then, the growing loss of focus to the Messenger’s gaze, the sheen of sweat covering his forehead. He gripped the man’s face as his head lolled, shaking him