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“Goodbye, Alys. I wish you the best of luck.” Silver strode away, though he didn’t call the Road, heading in the direction of the battlemage’s hospital. It felt odd, watching him leave.
Flint, sat on a fragment of wall still standing. “Time to leave,” he said. “Frost is going to start letting people through soon.”
I didn’t know how to feel. I needed to talk to Walker, to yell at him, but this was all happening so fast and not in any way I’d expected. Lighting flashed in the sky, striking nearby.
I stared at the burned patch on the crass, a little afraid.
“Come with me,” said Walker as he called the Road.
It was so simple, once you could see it. At the same time, I could feel its cold hunger, and I didn’t want to enter into a contract with it. But I would, once I learned how to negotiate with it. I had the power to call it and make an agreement with it, rather than having all my magic locked away.
When we stepped on the Road, we would finally have a little privacy.
“Are you ready?” Walker asked. Worry, love, a tinge of desperation all flowed out of him. Also, cold duty wrapped around all the softer emotions. He’d let me do it, if I wanted that, because it was the right thing to do.
“Yes.” I folded my arms and elevated my chin. While his feelings softened my heart a lot, he was still going to explain himself to me. “We need to talk.”
He cupped my chin in a brief caress. “I’ll walk with you, at'ééd.”
The word meant sweetheart. Dove had translated it for me.
I stepped through the portal, Walker at my heels. His Road was still a desert, though we were closer to the red-veined cliffs. The sun beat down on us as we started down the pebbled path.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were Rope?” The question fell in the still air like another rock. I concentrated on blocking out his emotions, but I felt the regret even through the barriers I put up.
“Initially? Because I wasn’t working as Rope. I really am an accountant, and I prefer that job to what I do as Rope. Rope… someone has to do the killing, and Rue was the youngest when we became judges, only seventeen. Silver’s too soft-hearted, it would break him. And Flint has a dark side that I didn’t want to feed. So I’ve become a killer to save them the pain.”
I could feel the sincerity through the barrier too.
“Later… there was no chance I’d have to kill you, and the people who see Rope are either about to die, or are begging for help because something is killing them. You don’t fall in either category, so I wanted to keep him tucked away from you.”
“You hung me on the Tree! With the others!” I yelled it.
“I’d do it again! Otherwise, I’d have had to kill you!” he yelled back. “I love you, Alys, and I’ll do whatever I have to so you don’t die!”
Red pebbles tumbled down the cliff.
Wow. I’d never heard him yell before.
“I can’t even say I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I cherish the time we’ve had together, and I know you wouldn’t have kept Rope in your bed and life.”
And there was the grim duty radiating from him again. My heart broke a little. I could feel the loneliness too. But I couldn’t stay with him in the Guild. He’d have to choose me or his duty, and I had a pretty good idea which would win.
Silence followedus as we continued down the path. I kept searching for words that wouldn’t come.
We emerged by the bridge to Kalderon. Huge, made of iron, it was a suspension bridge that had been repaired after being destroyed in three different battles. The river below it was deep and fast and infested with a variety of fish. It was also the border between Guild and Kalderon, and Walker took my hands. Both sides claimed it, so the rule of thumb was it was neutral territory.
This was my chance. I was going to make it clear he could make a choice, so we both knew what was at stake. I could only hope he answered as I wished.
“Do you want to cross the bridge with me?” I asked.Do you want to leave the Guild, and stop being a Judge, and come to live with me?
“I can’t, today.” His answer hurt, but it also gave me hope. It wasn’t no. I breathed the emotional pain out. Clouds gathered, and Ethan walked briskly on the bridge, toward us.
He was tall and wiry, with dark hair. Unexpectedly strong too, he’d hauled both Chance and me away from danger more times than I cared to admit. He wasn’t handsome, but he was the smartest man I knew, and the most knowledgeable about elves. He was ancient, rumor said he was the final survivor of the first generations of Stormdusts, born when the Ridden were invading Kalderon and all hope was lost.
I could believe it. As far as I could tell, he knew everything.
He stopped at the center of the bridge and waited. I also knew that if I called for help, he’d cross the border, treaties be damned.
