Katashi placed a hand on her forehead and his eyes narrowed. “Your memories to mine.”
A crackling mana surrounded them both as my eyes widened at the implications of what he was doing.
Katashi pulled his hand back.
Orden crumpled unceremoniously back onto the stairs.
He turned his head to me. “It is true. She betrayed my brother and lured him into a trap. But she is not the only guilty one. Vera, too, must be judged for her involvement.”
That sounded pretty rough.
Looking at Orden’s fallen body, I wasn’t even sure if she was alive.
I stepped closer to Katashi, looking up. “Go easy on Vera, please. She came here willingly and she fought hard to meet with you.”
Katashi lowered his gaze to meet mine. “I will take your suggestion into consideration.”
I winced at his tone. “Thank you.”
And then I got out of his way.
He appeared next to Vera, kneeling down and putting his hand on her head. “Your memories to mine.”
Vera shivered on the ground, but I watched carefully and she was continuing to breathe.
I didn’t know what I would have done if she had stopped breathing, but I had a feeling it would have been something unwise.
Katashi turned to me, standing up straight and floating back up a few inches. “Vera is not directly responsible for my brother’s disappearance. She was a piece moved by another hand. She still will answer for her role, but I will spare her life.”
“I... I appreciate your mercy, Visage.”
Katashi vanished and reappeared directly in front of me, looming over me. The pressure from his aura forced me down to my knees. “There is another question to be settled, however.”
He put a hand against my forehead. “Tell me honestly, Corin Cadence. Were you involved in my brother’s disappearance in any way?”
I froze at his touch. “Not that I am aware of, Visage. Though it would seem I may have been manipulated in the aftermath.”
“Yes,” he replied. “I sense the truth of your words. There is no question of your innocence. It would seem that you were unaware of your brother’s actions.”
I trembled as he withdrew his hands. “My...brother?”
“In Lyras Orden’s memories, I have discovered her fellow conspirators. Among them is one of your House — Tristan Cadence.”
Tristan was alive.
I took a moment to process that.
Tristan was alive.
And he’d been working with Orden.
I’d often been accused of talking too much, but in that moment I had no idea what to say.
“I...can honestly say, Visage, that I had no idea that Tristan Cadence was even alive. I had hoped that he was, but not like this.”
“I will be forced to seek your brother for further Judgment. Your cooperation will not reflect on his punishment.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
I just stood there and shook.
“Remove your glove.”
I numbly followed his instructions, wincing at the muted pain from the remaining shards in my hand.
He took my hand, sending a surge of mana into it. “I, Katashi, Visage of Selys, Judge that you have fulfilled your obligation to me. Let this mark become one of Glory, no longer of Judgment.”
The mark on my hand shifted — both in visible shape, and I could sense, of the type and quantity of mana within.
In fact, I was reasonably confident he’d just given me a new attunement.
I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“With what I have learned, I must shut the tower. Vera and Lyras Orden will remain here. I will send you and your other companions away from here.”
I nodded without replying. My mind was swimming.
Tristan.
Was.
Working.
With.
Orden.
How was that possible? Had he never failed the test? Had he just decided not to come home?
My hands clenched and unclenched. I had so many questions.
“Gather your things and go stand with your sister.”
I quickly complied, sheathing both of my swords and gathering everything I could in my bags, including the Jaden Box. If he wasn’t going to complain about me keeping it, I was keeping it.
I took the rock of regeneration, too. With Katashi’s healing, Vera’s wounds had completely closed. She didn’t need it. Sera and I, on the other hand, were both still in terrible shape. And I knew regeneration had a better chance of healing permanent and near-permanent injuries than instant healing did.
Katashi waved a hand. Derek’s body levitated and settled next to the two of us.
“Before we go... Will we be safe? Orden implied that we were opposing highly placed people in our government.”
Katashi nodded. “A valid concern. I will send you to someone powerful enough to protect you. Tell him that this is what he owes me. He will understand what I mean.”
I nodded.
“Thank you. And, one last thing. You said you would give my sister a boon for helping you, since you couldn’t heal her?”
Katashi floated over to us. I took a step back as he drew his sword of blue crystal.
He flipped it around, holding it by the blade and extending it toward me. “This is Ceris, the Song of Harmony, forged from the heart of a long-broken world. It has served me for many centuries as a tool of Protection and Judgment. It will now sing for Sera Cadence — so long as her mortal heart continues to beat. After that, it will return to me, as it always has.”
...the visage was giving Sera his sword.
Patrick was going to turn into some kind of jealousy elemental when he found out about this.
I knelt and accepted the sword with reverence. “Thank you, Visage. I am confident she will be pleased by this generous gift.”
Katashi gave me a curt nod. “This is as it should be. Now, you must go.”
“Thank you, Visage.”
Katashi waved his hand in a cutting motion — and my surroundings changed.
***
We appeared next to a campfire.
Sera and Derek were still unconscious, so they just sort of flopped on the ground.
I was still kneeling with Katashi’s sword held awkwardly outward.