“What do you think it means?” I asked.
He sighed. “I don’t know, I was hoping you could tell me if there are any references to the dead visiting in our dreams or something like that. I am sorry, I am not making any sense. I don’t want to give you false hope, but I couldn’t have lived with myself if I had kept this from you.”
I walked back to my desk and started going over my notes.
“I am glad you came to me, Veridus. I appreciate it more than you know.”
I sat back down and rested my forehead on my hands.
“I can still feel her. It’s getting less and less the more time passes, but it’s like she is still around. I know a lot of people feel like their loved ones are watching after them, but it’s more than that. Her magic is coursing through my veins and it feels like it’s calling to her. But I have not been able to figure out how to get to her.”
Veridus sat back down again and drained the whole glass of whiskey in one go.
“I could try and reach out to her in my dreams and ask her where she is. See if we can get any information from her?”
An emotion I hadn’t felt in nearly a year stirred in my chest.
Hope.
“How would you do that?” I asked tentatively.
“The last time it happened I had been quite… inebriated when it happened,” he admonished. “I am guessing it allowed me to go deeper into a trance than during my normal sleep cycle.”
I refilled his glass.
“So what? I just need to get you drunk and you’ll be able to speak with her again?” Amusement rippled across his face.
“Though I would enjoy getting drunk on your expensive whiskey, I think it would be best if I was in my right mind for this. I have used a certain technique to fall into a deep trance a few times already. I am guessing it could work like this as well.”
It was a long shot.
But it had been some time since I’d found anything resembling a real lead on Maelis, and I was willing to entertain even the implausible.
Desperation has a way of making fools of reasonable men.
I stood and extended my hand.
A nod.
Silent agreement.
Logic could wait, hope had the floor.
“Thank you, Veridus. Let’s meet again tomorrow at the temple and prepare. I have to think about what message I want you to deliver to her if you see her.”
Veridus nodded.
I already knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.
* * *
Maelis
I slept most hours of the day now, because it was the only thing that made me feel better. The in-between was a prison and every hour that I spent here brought me closer to losing my mind. There was nothing here but bright, white smoke and light. Like I was trapped in some damned cloud. So when I curled up on the ground again, I didn’t expect to awake to the Fates sitting opposite of me, watching me sleep.
I nearly screamed when I spotted them.
“Oh my Fates, what the hell?? Couldn’t you have announced that you were here??” I shouted.
