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The Necromancer then emerges from the causeway we came by.
“Very well,” he says, his voice thunderous yet soft as a whisper.
I stare at him for a long moment, unsure of what to say next. If he knows what’s on my mind, and if he really never left it as he suggested, then there is little I can say to convince him that we’re not at his mercy. And he surely knows about the stone.
“You sensed the power of what I brought with me the first time we met, yet you didn’t try to take it,” I say curious.
The Necromancer is slow to reply, instead studying me and then looking at Astor, who stands passively, appearing uneager to join in on the conversation. He told me he’s never before seen the Necromancer, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he defers to me in front of a being so frightening and powerful.
“The world stone didn’t capture my interest nearly as much as you did,” he says cryptically. “I simply hoped you would return with the stone so it didn’t fall into the wrong hands.”
“And who are the wrong hands?” I ask.
“Any hands, really. Its danger far exceeds its value.”
“Maybe some value salvation more than you,” I criticize.
“Still think the stone is about deliverance?” he ridicules. “I suppose I can’t blame you with all you’ve been told.”
I look away frustrated, recalling his words when we last parted that things were not as they seemed, and that he would give me the truth when I returned.
“Are you here to tell me it’s all a lie?” I ask.
“Not all of it, but you would have no way of discerning truth from deception.”
“Enlighten me then,” I say as I start getting irritated.
He laughs, prompting Astor to finally chime in.
“You shouldn’t speak to a princess so disrespectfully.”
The Necromancer throws me a smirk as he replies.
“I would hardly call saving her life as disrespectful, and this isn’t even the first time.”
“Stop pretending you care,” Astor shoots back scornfully.
“Maybe she remembers a particularly troubling passerby in the nighttime? Or the presence in the canals? Or perhaps she has been unaware of the darkness that has been trying in vain to find her every day since she came into these lands? I have kept her safe from the moment our paths crossed, so do not lecture me on what it means to care or show respect.”
His voice grows con
tentious, even malicious, as he draws closer to Astor. I step forward and stand between them.
“The same promise of protection you once gave me applies to him as well,” I order, the Necromancer grinning in response.
“Your tenacity is exhilarating as always,” he continues much more calmly. “I must admit, I do not care for these rangers. Their age makes them think they are wise, but it has only made them that much more ignorant of how things really.”
Astor’s look becomes sour, but to my surprise he keeps himself from returning the Necromancer’s contempt. Instead, he looks at me as I continue trying to make sense of the enchantment the Necromancer has been placing over me.
“The presence Julienne sensed within me in Vanguard, that was you?”
“Yes,” the Necromancer answers.
“How did you do it so quickly, and from so far away?”
“Gaining influence over the mind of another takes time, like I said before, but all I had to do was plant the seed and wait.”
“I want you to take it away,” I insist.
