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“I’m afraid so, My Prince. My latest efforts suggest she’s using the same methods to evade us as the Blood Errant used to avoid the attention of hostile mages.”
The prince rubbed a hand over his face. “Meanwhile Nephalea’s trail has disappeared as if it never was, despite her Grace stumbling all the way home to Orthros. Do you know why he didn’t simply step home? Why he took the journey in stages, making himself vulnerable to repeated attacks by war mages?”
“His injuries,” Lio guessed. “I assumed he was in such dire condition, he could not manage the Will to step all the way to the border in one act.”
Rudhira shook his head. “It appears he was deliberately leaving a trail—for Nephalea to follow him home or for us to follow back to her, we are not certain. Our other scouts traced his difficult passage back to the point where he and Nephalea were last together—and found nothing. You see before you what our failure is costing him.”
Kalos studied the prince’s patient. “I fear I must be the one to speak words no one wishes to hear. Are you certain Nephalea—”
“She lives,” Alkaios ground out. “Our Grace Union…”
“There is our answer,” Rudhira said. “If all were lost, Alkaios would know.”
Alkaios heaved a breath. “I must not die.”
“You will live,” the prince promised.
Kalos took a step nearer the bed. “Alkaios, can you ask her through your Union where she is? Can you sense anything about her location?”
“She is weaker than I.”
“Where was Nephalea when you last saw her?” Kalos’s voice was quiet and even.
“With Iskhyra.”
“Can you tell me where Nephalea and Iskhyra were?”
“I live for Nephalea. Please. Keep me alive. For her.”
Kalos touched a respectful hand to Alkaios’s Grace braid.
“How did Nephalea’s braid survive the war mages’ spells?” Cassia asked.
“Nephalea probably warded it herself,” Lio answered. “It’s a ritual when you go errant. You or someone you trust wards your Grace braids.”
“That is usually all we bring back to the families,” Rudhira said.
Kalos withdrew his hand. “I’ve got an impression of Nephalea’s aura.”
“Rest now.” The prince lowered Alkaios’s head to his shoulder once more. “While we discuss our course of action, I will put Alkaios into a slumber, so he can have some relief. Is there anything else you wish to say first, Cassia?”
Cassia bent close to speak in Alkaios’s ear. She reached within her for all the kindness she had ever known herself to possess. She tried to put into her voice all the strength Alkaios, Nephalea, and Iskhyra had given her that night, which could make it seem like there was hope in the face of utter despair. “Don’t give up, Alkaios. Nephalea loves you, and she needs you to be here waiting for her when the Charge brings her home. Please, don’t give up. We will help you stay strong. You don’t have to do any of this alone.”
He clenched his hand around Solia’s pendant as another shudder wracked him.
The prince made no move, but he must have worked his spell. Alkaios relaxed, and his tortured expression faded into one of serene rest.
“I wish he could tell you more, Kalos,” said the prince, “but what you have heard is all we have managed to get out of him since we found him.”
Kalos shook his head. “I don’t mean to tax him with my questions. It’s testament to his strength that he’s still capable of speech.”
“I know, my friend. Too many of our comrades did not last this long in his situation.” Rudhira eased off the bed, settling Alkaios there. The First Prince of Orthros straightened the bedclothes around his patient with the efficiency of a commander and the tenderness of a father. “We cannot know what danger our other missing Hesperines may be in, but we must have faith in their capabilities and respond to the immediate threat to Alkaios.”
Kalos was quiet for a minute. “I understand, My Prince.”
Was that a moment of silence for his months of progress on the search for Nike, which were now for nothing? This must be an excruciating decision for the prince. No doubt one of many he must make to protect his Hesperines errant from the dangers of Tenebra. From the king, who sought to barter their lives to the mages and bolster his throne with the pyres of their executions.
“We won’t surrender,” Cassia promised.
