Captain Arden rode into Lowmere alone.
His blue cloak was torn, and one side of his face was bruised.
He dismounted at the edge of the square and set his sword on the ground.
The villagers watched him from behind doors and windows.
Elias stepped between Arden and Mara.
“I didn’t come to arrest you,” Arden said.
“You already tried.”
“I followed orders.”
“You chose to follow them.”
Arden accepted the rebuke without looking away.
“Yes.”
He turned toward the ward tower.
“The Crown has ordered me to bring you to the capital. The high marshal is coming with the Dawn Guard. They’ll use the tower to make you surrender.”
“And you came to warn us?” Mara asked.
“My sister is here.”
“That’s your reason?” Elias said.
“It’s the first reason. The rest is that I saw the invocation seal break. I saw the priest try to bind you before you understood what was happening. I told myself it was necessary because the Crown has always told me what necessity looks like.” He glanced at Sera’s scar.
“I know how that ends.”
Sera kept her sword lowered, but not sheathed.
“You were there when the order came for my unit.”
“I was.”
“You said nothing.”
“I did.”
“Not loudly enough.”
He looked down.
“No.”
“Lio told us she was at the palace,” Mara said.
“She was carrying messages for the Crown.”
“She was supposed to be safe there,” Arden replied.
“I thought if she stayed close to me, I could keep her away from the worst of it.”
“That’s what you told yourself?”
“I watched them turn a village into a battery and called it protection. I told my sister it was complicated. I kept doing my duty because I didn’t want to find out what would happen if I refused.”
“And now?”
“Now I know what happens if I don’t.”
The answer did not make him innocent.
Mara appreciated that he didn’t try to make it so.
People who wanted forgiveness too quickly usually wanted to skip the part where they changed.
Mara felt Elias’s anger through the bond before he spoke.
“If we let you stay, can you help us stop the soldiers?”
“I can get the villagers through the north passage. I know the tower guard rotations. I can also tell you what the high marshal wants.”
“What does he want?”
“To put the two of you into the engine. The Crown believes your bond can power the barrier without drawing from the villages.”
Mara studied him.
“It might be able to.”
“That’s not what he means,” Arden said.
“He wants you chained to the lens. The engine would use you until there was nothing left.”
The villagers murmured.
Elias’s hand curled into a fist.
“I know you have every reason not to trust me,” Arden continued.
“I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to let me stand where you can see me.”
Mara glanced at Sera.
“You think he’s telling the truth?”
“I think he’s afraid,” Sera said.
“That can be useful. It can also make a person dangerous.”
Arden unbuckled his sword belt and pushed it across the stone.
“Then keep this.”
Elias picked up the sword and snapped it in half.
He returned the pieces to Arden.
“You can stay,” Elias said.
“But if you turn on us, she’ll know before you move.”
“The bond?”
“I can feel when he’s in pain,” she said.
“I can also feel when he’s about to do something stupid.”
“That must be exhausting.”
“You have no idea.”
For half a moment, the tension eased.
Then a line of white light appeared on the southern road.
Soldiers marching in formation.
At their head rode a man in silver armor, his helm crowned by a ring of gold.
High Marshal Caedran.
Sera’s face went still.
“I know him.”
“Is he the one who burned your order?” Elias asked.
“He signed the order. He watched the fire.”
The light in the ward tower turned gold.
People screamed as the barrier tightened.
Threads of light stretched from the houses toward the tower, bright as chains.
The old farmer fell to his knees, clutching his head.
The young girl dropped her firewood.
Mara felt the engine reach for them through the bond.
“Everyone inside!” she shouted.
Elias caught the nearest beam of magic before it could reach the villagers.
His boots carved furrows in the stone as he held it back.
Arden ran for the north passage.
Sera followed, shouting instructions.
Mara reached into the golden web and began pulling its threads away from the houses.
The tower bell rang three times.
The first soldiers crossed the gate.