“He healed well,” Elecia reported. “But ... I still fear for his mind. He hasn’t woken.”
“Not once?” Vhalla frowned. Elecia shook her head.
“What can we do?”
“The clerics and I have already tried everything. He can live until the natural end of his days as he is, but ...” Elecia’s face was as pained as Vhalla felt.
“There must be something else.” They had come so far. Vhalla wasn’t about to give up now.
“There is nothing else.” Pain made Elecia short-tempered. “So you’re giving up on him?” Vhalla snarled, letting out some of her own frustration. “How dare you!”
“There is something else.” Fritz placed a hand on each of the women’s shoulders.
“What?” both snapped in unison.
“There is something else that hasn’t been tried,” Fritz repeated.
“Fritz, you know I’ve done all I could.” Elecia was honestly offended that he could even suggest she hadn’t.
“Youhave, I know,” Fritz agreed. “But that’s not everything that could be tried ...” He turned to Vhalla, and she instantly knew where his mind was.
Vhalla’s heart betrayed her at the idea. It pulsed with a hope, a hope that was ignorant of all the flaws to the plan. It was a beam of light cutting through the darkness that had been slowly suffocating her.
“You mean their Joining.” Elecia fearlessly gave words to what Vhalla was still chewing over. “Absolutely not. It’s far too risky.”,
“We’ve already Joined,” Vhalla reminded.
“Every time is a risk,” Elecia insisted. “His mind isn’t strong. You could get lost in that void or—I don’t even know what. A Joining is dangerous in the best of conditions.”
Vhalla brought her hands together. She wondered why she was even debating. The moment Fritz suggested it, she had known it would be the only course of action.
“Why do you think it would work?” Vhalla turned to Fritz. “You can’t be serious,” Elecia balked.
“It’s only a theory.” Fritz suddenly seemed insecure, glancing between the two women. “But a Joining is essentially a merger of two minds, right? I thought that, perhaps, you could go into his mind and bring him back.”
“I’ll try,” Vhalla resolved before Elecia could get in another objection.
The woman was clearly not to be easily dissuaded. She gripped Vhalla’s shoulder. “Are you even listening?”
“There’s nothing more the clerics can do; you said it yourself.” Vhalla was not backing down, not until she’d tried. “If not this, then what? We let him spend forever locked away in the prison of his mind? We watch him waste away into nothing, sustained by potions and your magic?”
Elecia dropped her gaze, her hand going limp. Vhalla pulled away, rising to her knees.
“Where are you going?” Fritz asked.
“To try.” Vhalla turned.
“Do you think the Emperor will let you anywhere near him ever again?” Elecia frowned.
“Do you think he’ll stop me?” Vhalla peered over her shoulder at Elecia. She’d never had any intention of asking the Emperor for his permission to see Aldrik.
“How are you getting in?” Elecia countered.
“Don’t worry about that.” Vhalla shook her head. “Elecia, if something goes awry, I trust you to take care of him.”
“If I can ...”
Vhalla’s eyes landed on Fritz. He had a sorrowful acceptance about her decision, despite being the one who suggested it. Vhalla sighed and pulled him in for a tight embrace. “When this is over, Fritz—when it’sallover—we’ll work together in the Tower again.”
