“What is your name?” he asked her gently.
“Phae,” she replied.
The name seemed to startle him. “Really?”
She nodded. “That surprises you? Was I to be named something else?”
Tyrus half-sighed, half-chuckled in amusement. “Winemiller named you? How interesting. Yet there are no coincidences. I will have to ask him about it sometime.”
Phae stared at him hard. “Why does it surprise you what he named me?”
He smiled at her in a broken-hearted sort of way, as if breathing caused him pain. “It was the name I gave your mother.” He sighed, staring down at the lantern. In a moment, he had mastered his emotions again. His eyes were like flint. “What would you know of me?”
Phae folded her arms. “I am your daughter?”
He nodded.
“Why did you abandon me?”
Tyrus gazed up at the Kishion. “I am demonstrating my good intentions by speaking freely in front of you. With this knowledge, you will have power to stop me and my plans. I give it to you freely, because I believe you were meant to join in our quest. You took the blast meant to kill my daughter. For that, I thank you. You’ve earned my trust. I hope before this night is done that I have earned yours.”
“I left the ring back in Stonehollow,” the Kishion answered. “I think the magic was destroyed, but to be sure, I left it behind. That way the Arch-Rike will not hear you through my ears. I believe the connection between us is severed. The ring is what allowed it. Trust for trust. But I will hear what you have to say before making up my mind.”
Phae glanced at the Kishion, saw the claw marks on his face vivid in the lamplight. She shuddered, knowing he was still very capable of killing her.
Tyrus turned his attention back to her. “I will answer you as honestly as I can. You may not like to hear what I have to say. It may trouble you. It will frighten you.” He sighed deeply again, brow furrowing with consternation. “There is even a great possibility that my plans will result in your death. But know this, child. I will lay down my own life before I allow that to happen to you. So will Prince Aran. And so will that gentleman behind you. If we three cannot protect you from the dangers you face, then I do not know what else I can do.”
He plucked the hair at his lips absently and then leaned forward, gazing at her. “Phae, I am determined to stop the Plague that wrecks our lands. I believe that the Arch-Rike is behind it. Either that or he knows its origins and conceals what must be done to vanquish it. Eighteen years ago, I rallied a group to my cause and we entered the Scourgelands to seek the Plague’s origin. The Arch-Rike knew of our journey and the path we would take. We were set upon immediately and all were killed, save myself and a Druidecht girl named Merinda. She taught me, during our escape, that the guardians of the Scourgelands are Dryads. They are vulnerable creatures and cannot defend themselves physically, but they have a powerful magic that affects even the man standing behind you. A Dryad can steal memories. By stealing, I mean they can take a person’s memory and embed it into the tree they are bonded with. The person forgets, but the Dryad remembers. Have you experienced this power?”
As he spoke, Phae felt a thrill and a tingle through her body. It resonated with her and she felt a flush rise to her cheeks. “Yes,” she answered, looking down. “I have. It started to frighten me and so I do not use it very often. Only for little things.”
Tyrus beamed at her. “How does it work? What have you noticed?”
She kept her arms tucked and began rocking slightly, back and forth. The light from the lantern painted eerie shadows across the walls. “I must meet someone’s gaze. It cannot work in darkness. But if we look at each other, and if I blink, I can take memories from them. They do not stay with me. They…float away, you might say.”
“Indeed,” Tyrus acknowledged. “You have not bonded with a tree yet. Only then will you be able to experience the full use of that power. You are of the age, Phae, when a girl makes the decision to fulfill the obligation her blood requires. This is Druidecht lore, child, and I am not privy to all of it, but I know enough. Your mother…taught it to me. A Dryad bonds with a single tree. If the tree dies or is destroyed, the bond is broken and she is trapped and unable to enter this world.”