Page 33 of The Last Remaining Light

Neither Elowynn nor Agatha answered; they knew he was telling the truth. So they just stared at him. Elowynn had brought her arms up to wrap around herself, the undercroft beginning to feel much colder than before.

Agatha moved, crossing the chamber in quick strides. She reached out and gripped Caelyn’s wrist hard enough to startle him. Her amber eyes searched his face with alarming intensity.

“When did this begin?” she hissed.

Caelyn looked utterly confused. “When did what begin?”

“The silence! The lanterns! All of it!”

Elowynn watched from where she stood, her body beginning to tremble. Caelyn had looked over Agatha’s shoulder toward her, a pleading expression in his gaze before he looked toward Agatha once more. He tried pulling his hand back instinctively. “Sister—”

“Answer me, boy!” The harshness in her voice echoed through the chamber and left no room for further argument.

Caelyn swallowed hard, like his throat was suddenly dry. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “Maybe a few turnings ago? I really don’t know.”

Agatha stared at him several beats longer before releasing him.

In the six turnings Elowynn had known her, the older woman looked genuinely shaken and afraid; she had never seen her this way.

“Elowynn,” Agatha said tightly, “go upstairs.”

“What?” she asked, arms dropping to her sides.

“Now!” barked Agatha.

Elowynn stared between them, suddenly confused. “No, wait.”

“Lady Elowynn—” she pleaded. It was then that Sister Agatha looked her age, weariness and fatigue filling her eyes.

“No!” shouted Elowynn. She had never raised her voice to the elder Sister. A part of her felt guilty, but she was too determined. She took a step forward, her voice calming. “Just… tell me what happened. Please.”

Agatha’s defeated look and the silence from her that followed was answer enough.

Understanding moved slowly through Elowynn’s chest, her eyes widening.

“Hold on…” she whispered.

Piece by piece, she put it all together.