She couldn’t help but give him a pointed look. If she could move her arms, she’d gesture toward the collar.
Etrix, however, seemed to understand. He gave her an apologetic nod. “Not unless it is out of protection. Like what we’re doing to you now. Or like what Satsara did to Darius.”
“What she did to Darius was essential indeed,” Garot said. “If only her attempt had succeeded. But as she’d begun to weave the ward around her son, Darius realized what was happening. With the power of the worldwalker, he disappeared into the human world before the weaving could take hold.”
“Only to return many years later to kill his mother and destroy the balance of El’Ara.” Etrix’s words came out in a rush.
Garot frowned at him. “That’s a terrible way to end the story.”
Etrix’s throat bobbed before he spoke. “We’re here.”
Cora looked straight ahead. With the night so dark and the landscape so gnarled and colorless, it took her a moment to see what he was referring to. Then she saw it, a wall of mist and shadow on the horizon. No, it was nearer than that, stretching out from side to side and swallowing the sky above. She shuddered at the sight. “That’s the Veil?”
“Yes,” Etrix said. “Though it looks like a sheet of dark mist, it is as impenetrable as a wall.”
“What happens now?”
Fanon finally came to a halt and turned to face them. “Now we inspect the Veil and see if it’s truly been torn. If it has, and we can surmise that you entered on accident with the unicorn, we’ll let you go. If the Veil is torn, you’ll be the least of our worries. We’ll have war on our hands in a matter of weeks, if not days.”
“That’s a pessimistic take,” Garot said with a sideways grin. “You’ve heard the whispers of the truthweavers. The Veil will only tear when our Morkara returns. If it has been torn, Ailan could be back.”
Fanon clenched his jaw. “If Ailan was going to return, she would have done it ages ago.”
Garot shrugged. “It’s only been seventy-five years.”
“Here, yes, but it’s been closer to five hundred years for her. Time passes faster in the human realm. If she were able to return at all, she would have by now.”
“We don’t know what she’s been dealing with in the human world all this time.”
“She might not even be alive.”
“Are you so afraid of hope, Fanon?”
“I’m not afraid…”
The two Elvyn continued to argue, but Cora’s mind remained stuck on what Garot had said about the passage of time. Her heart leaped into her throat, sending a question surging from her lips, her tone frantic. “What do you mean time passes faster in the human realm?”
Fanon and Garot ceased their argument, but it was Etrix who answered. “Our two realms experience time differently, in both tangible and intangible ways. We have no exact calculation, but past events have suggested that one day here is equal to approximately one week in the human realm.”
A wave of dizziness tore through her, almost strong enough to make her knees buckle. “You’re telling me,” she said, voice trembling, “that in the time I’ve been here, walking through the woods and the Blight, watching day turn to night, everyone I know and love has already lived through several days in my absence.”
Etrix had the decency to don a sympathetic frown, but Garot only grinned as he said, “Precisely.”
This time Cora’s knees truly did give out. They crashed into the soft, decaying soil. She sat back on her heels to keep herself from falling forward. “I have to get home,” she whispered. Then louder. “I have to get homenow!”
Fanon sneered at her. “Is that not why we’re at the Veil? Like I said, if there’s a tear in the Veil, we’ll send you home.”
She shifted her jaw side to side, burning him with a glare. “And if there isn’t?”
His lips curled into a cruel smile. “Then I suppose that would make you a liar.”
Mother Goddess, she hoped there really was a tear. Hoped there was a way to cross through. And if not, then she had to find a way to free her hands from Fanon’s bonds and remove the collar, all without using her magic.
She glanced at Valorre.
We go, he said.
She gave him a subtle nod, understanding what his clipped words were meant to convey. No matter what it took, no matter what they had to do, she and Valorre were getting out of there.
