“I see you two have finally decided to grace us with your presence,” Vero grumbles.
I look at him in disbelief. “We went to bed at like three. That’s five hours of sleep.”
“Vero only let me get three,” Mickey cries. “Three. I’m still recovering. On a good day I need at least nine. On a tired day, I need at least fourteen.”
Vero shrugs, seeing no problem with this. “Yes, but the undead wouldn’t listen to me. Most ran when I got close, so I needed you to wake up to get them organized.”
Torin grabs the notebook, and I realize it’s a list Torin had written out last night of things that would need to be done. “You already have the sewage and water systems up and running?” he asks in disbelief.
“He made me summon like a thousand plumbers,” Mickey says. “You should have seen the plumber fight we had at like six in the morning when two rival plumber clans each wanted to do something a different way.”
“Rival… plumber clans?” I ask, rather unsure how this happened.
Tommy hurries in with breakfast for all four of us.
After preparing my plate, I turn to Vero and Mickey. “Are the undead I summoned helping?”
“They have the walls in zone A completely repaired,” Vero says before grabbing the notebook from Torin. “Theyshouldhave even more done.”
“Should they?” I ask, uncertain how fast he thinks these people are going to be able to work.
While we eat, we look over the notebook at what Mickey and Vero have accomplished, and then we head into the dining hall to inform everyone that we’ll be meeting outside. It’s warm but not too hot at this point in the day as people come out from the halls and other places they’d slept in to gather.
Torin stands at the front, and I can tell people are already beginning to see him as a leader. “Before I get into the renovations, I’d like to offer those of you who would like to leave a chance to do so this morning. Honestly, you may leave at any point. I don’t feel safe making a Door that isn’t somewhat guarded, but you can always come into the gardens and leave through that Door with permission. Requiring permission is not restricting you, it is to make sure no one else comes into this world without permission, especially while we have no idea what’s happening with Famine or the goddess. So for now, I’m going to ask that everyone inform us if you are planning on leaving for good or leaving with the intention of coming back.”
Gesturing at us, Torin continues, “Vero and Mickey, as well as the undead summoned by Riley and Mickey, worked hard to get started on renovations through the night. I would like to bring in crops and animals, but we need places for them. I know you are all very tired, so I don’t want you to push yourselves. But while the undead are working on the homes, those with experience could help them. If you have farming experience, we could begin preparing the fields and pastures for farm animalsand crops. Once the homes are done, we will need volunteers to start filling them with supplies. Lark and Story, could you possibly create a team to help you document what is needed? Yes, let’s do that. Anyone who needs something, come find Lark and Story. I would also like some volunteers to organize a memorial service for those you have lost. We can do private funerals later, but this will give us a chance to mourn those lost in the fight. Any volunteers for that, come see me. There is much to do. Any questions?”
They all seem oddly compliant, especially since they were two groups warring against each other just yesterday. Nothing like having your life nearly ended by a goddess your ancestors enslaved and semi-murdered to make you content to do whatever.
As we head to the town to check out what’s going on, the people break into groups without having to be told to do so. Those who have experience with carpentry follow us to the homes that have sat vacant for nearly two hundred years. While many need repairs, it’s evident that the lack of harsh weather in this realm has left most in decent, repairable shape.
With Kit’s eyes, I can see farther than I ever could as a human, and I realize that the greenery that once only wrapped around the palace Torin lives in has stretched farther than Kit can even see. Farther than it did yesterday.
I look over at the people who are closely watching Torin, ready to follow his every whim. At least they finally have a good person to lead them, not someone who will destroy a part of them and pit them against each other. And as I see people without magic cradle children with magic, it occurs to me that the divide of the capital wasn’t as clear-cut as I believed. I didn’t think about these parents who never wanted their children to be ripped away from them, who never had the choice to love and raise them.
“What happened?” Vero asks me, bringing my focus back to him.
“What do you mean?”
“Your undead just disappeared,” he says. “Did you call them away? Or were those Mickey’s? Is he slacking again?”
I suddenly get this tight feeling in my arms, like an ache that’s bone deep, and the hourglass begins to grow hot again. I hurriedly grab it and discover that the crack in the hourglass has gotten so big that sand has begun to trickle out of it.
A part of me questions whether everything will still be fine if the hourglass shatters and the sand is released, but the ache in my stained limbs tells me that it won’t.
I reach up and catch a single grain of sand before I hear echoing footsteps. My attention snaps up and I see that Shaarune is completely gone. Instead, I’m standing outside of a large mansion facing what looks like a balcony, and leaning against the railing is the god Aemon. He taps his cane against the railing and the sound is so loud it seems to echo around me, even though I’m standing out in the open.
A smile unfolds on his lips as he stares down at me.
“You’re falling apart, Death,” he says. “Once the strongest of the horsemen, now reduced to this.”
I look around, hoping Torin is here with me, but I find that I’m all alone besides Kit. Is this like the time I was dragged away at the hospital? What do I even say to this man?
“What do you hope to gain?” I ask, trying to remain calm and collected. I have no idea if he can hurt me while I’m in this world. I don’t know whether this is just some strange way to speak to me or he really is pulling me into his world.
“You already know everything, Death, so think. What did I tell you back then?”
I hesitate because I don’t want to think. I don’t want to have knowledge of what happened back then because I don’t want tohave to relive killing Torin’s people. I already have enough guilt. Instead, I just offer Aemon a smirk and look over at the mansion.
