to,” Isabel said. “I was a threat to you. I couldn’t live with myself if I killed you. I won’t, no matter what. This is how it has to be for now.”
“We could have found another way,” Alexander said.
Isabel shook her head.
“This was the only sure way.”
“And what if you get yourself killed?” Alexander asked.
“Better that than killing you,” she said.
“You can’t die,” Alexander said. “I need you.”
Isabel reached for him again, then stopped, turning around in frustration.
“I wish you were really here,” she said. “I miss you terribly. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to. You don’t know what it’s like, always second-guessing your own thoughts, questioning if it was really your thought. I can’t trust myself with your life right now, so I can’t be anywhere near you until I can.” She turned back around, facing him sternly with tears running freely down her face. “Deal in what is, not what if. This is what is.” She motioned to the locked room that had become her home in Karth’s secret fortress.
“You’re right,” Alexander said, drawing himself up. “Report.”
Isabel looked at him quizzically for a moment before smiling slightly and beginning a full accounting of her journey from Tyr to this place and time. She was thorough, yet concise, and delivered the entire summary without a hint of emotion.
“You’ve been through a lot,” Alexander said. “Do you think you can trust Ayela?”
“My gut says yes, but I’m not entirely myself right now, so I don’t know what to trust.”
“Regardless, save that potion,” Alexander said. “If she’s telling the truth, it could make the difference. Reach out to her. See if you can get a better sense of her loyalties. That leaves us with questions. Who are the Sin’Rath? What’s a Goiri? And what’s a doppelganger spell?”
“What happens if it works?” Isabel asked. “I mean, what if the witch Clotus actually manages to kill Phane?”
Alexander frowned, shaking his head. “Phane will see right through her. Don’t underestimate him. This witch Clotus will die badly.”
“You’re probably right,” Isabel said, deflating somewhat, “but we can hope.”
“I’m sorry,” Alexander said, reminding himself how alone Isabel was right now. “If the witch kills Phane, I’ll send forces for you immediately and then we’ll sue for peace, courting the disparate factions within Phane’s alliance and pitting one against the other until they’re at war with themselves, while we withdraw and consolidate our forces before confronting them a piece at a time and bringing them under the Old Law.”
Isabel laughed. “That does seem unlikely. If Phane kills Clotus, he’ll know that I’m on Karth and that the Sin’Rath have me. He’s almost sure to act.”
“Agreed,” Alexander said. “You need to escape. See if you can get Ayela to help you. She’s defied her father already so she might again. Once you’re out, then what?”
“I go kill Phane,” Isabel said.
“No, you don’t,” Alexander said. “You find a way to come home to me, or at the very least somewhere safe while I get rid of Azugorath.”
“Phane is expecting me,” Isabel said. “I can get close. This may be the best shot we ever have. I have to take it.”
“He’ll see through you too,” Alexander said. “He’s a liar. You’re not. How do you expect to deceive him?”
Isabel clenched her jaw and shrugged. “I haven’t figured that out yet. I’ll know more when I get closer.”
“This is a very dangerous game you’re playing,” Alexander said.
“War is the most dangerous game there is,” Isabel said.
“So I’ve heard,” Alexander said. “I don’t like this, but it is what it is, and you’re obviously not open to reason at the moment, so all I have left to do is help you. I’m going to talk with Magda and Kelvin about your questions. I’ll be back as soon as I have answers. I love you, Isabel.”
“I love you, Alexander.”
He faded away, back into the firmament. A moment later his awareness coalesced in a large room. Nearly the entire general staff of the army on Fellenden was assembled there, with Conner sitting in the seat to the right of an empty chair at the head of the table. Magda, the person Alexander had been looking for, was there as well.
Alexander seemingly materialized behind the empty chair. He gave everyone a moment to notice him before he spoke.
“Where’s Abigail?” he asked Conner.
“Zuhl took her,” Conner said, standing. “How? How can you be here?”
“I’m not,” Alexander said. “I’m projecting an illusion of myself. I’m injured, but safe. How did Zuhl take my sister?