fill his cup, and everything I’ve made will wash away.”
“Does it have to be so grim as that?”
Oberon sighed. “I had a dream. But now this world, like every world, awakes to sad reality.”
“Because of Ephitel! We can stop Ephitel.”
“I wish that were enough.”
“That is enough. If the thing you fear is guns, we can take away his guns. If the thing you fear is challenge, we can answer his challenge. Swiftly and absolutely. Even if some of your soldiers die, is it not worth that sacrifice to save a world?”
“Would you sacrifice the members of your crew to save your ship?”
“Aye. I have. I could name you half a dozen worthy men who gave their lives to the roaring waves. That is the nature of the game we play.”
“And nothing in that answer surprises me. But would you sacrifice Iryana for the sake of your ship?”
Corin hesitated, jaw hanging open. “I…”
“That is what you’re suggesting. I would fight my brothers to save this land. I would lead soldiers into battle for a greater good. But how many of my children, how many of my loyal subjects can I risk just to protect my dream?”
“Stop calling it a dream!” Corin said. “Even if that’s where it began—”
“It is a dream.”
“It is my world,” Corin said. “This is reality to me. I have never known a yesterworld. This—” He waved around him. “This is my real life.”
“Not this,” Oberon said. “Surely you don’t mean your time here in Gesoelig.”
“I do. I mean my other life, too—the fate of Iryana and my crew burns bright and real inside my heart—but since I’ve come here, I have met real people. I have come to know Maurelle and Kellen, Avery and Ephitel. All of this is real, and I would fight for it!”
Oberon smiled despite his tears. “You soothe my aching spirit, Corin Hugh. But it serves you not to think of this as real. As I said before, this time is neither past nor future. It is a dream within a dream.”
“What does that mean?”
“It isn’t real. It’s even less real than the life you left behind. It is just a sliver of my memory, trapped in time and saved to share with you—”
“With me? A pirate out of Aepoli? I scarce believe it.”
Oberon hesitated. Corin watched while the king considered sticking to the flattering lie, but Oberon shrugged and answered, “No. Not so specifically. It was preserved for anyone who might come later. This, just as the Isle of Mists, has long been part of my plan.”
“So you remember what comes next? You remember how these things will go?”
“Not…entirely. There already have been changes. Your presence shifts the narrative, and every little act has ripples.”
“Ripples?”
“Who will die and who will live. You’ve saved a normal city’s worth of souls by discovering Ephitel’s plans for the piazza. You’ve changed the fates of all my regiments who might have been rescuing the fallen in the hours to come. I cannot predict how much will shift from that—”
“But I have changed the future? Or…the past? I have changed how the story goes? If I can save a hundred thousand lives, then I can finish one.”
“Do not spend your energy on that. Killing Ephitel would gain you nothing.”
“Why are you so determined to give up? Killing Ephitel would save the world.”
Oberon shook his head. “That would do no good.”
“It would make him dead.”
“Please, Corin, that is not how this story goes. There are more profitable ways to spend our time.”
“More profitable than saving your kingdom?”
“From this threat, in this dream, yes.”
“How? How can that possibly be true?”
“Because it’s all become too much. When the world was yet young, I had no trouble keeping it alive. But the years weigh heavy on me now. Even without Ephitel, I would be weak. Even without the threat of gunpowder and blood, my time would be limited.”
Corin shrugged. “We all grow old. That is no reason to despair. You may find a better successor than Ephitel. Delaen or Aemilia. Or…oh.” He swallowed hard. “Is that why you’ve chosen me? Is that why you brought me here?”
“A pirate out of Aepoli?” He chuckled. “I could do worse. But no. There is no succession for me. For who but I could dream my dreams? When I die, the dream dies with me.”
Corin gaped. “The…the dream? The world?”
“The world and everything in it.”
Corin forced a smile. “Then I suppose we should be glad this is a memory. We should be glad to know