“You said so yourself; you need a bribe.” Valir sounded confused.
“No, I mean… Why are you helping me? You have nothing to gain, and you’re just endangering yourself.”
“Oh, that.”
The noble shrugged, and suddenly, theotherValir was back again.
“Someone recently told me how tired they were with the powers keeping them from being themselves. I guess that left an impression on me.”
Not wanting to use the well or the busy riverbank, Kraghtol opted for a small creek running through the Park District to clean himself up. It was icy cold, and the sun was just rising, but the chilly water helped Kraghtol clear his mind.He didn’t kill the guild master.He tried to help him. Had he not been there, nothing would have been different. Perhaps his knock on the door had bought Virex a few more minutes because it distracted the attacker.
The thought helped, and his mind in turmoil could finally think about all the other things he had seen and heard, starting with thepartial confession that cost Virex’s life. Lecturer Merress had talked about the border ward a lot in his lessons, and even started a discussion about its ethical aspects once. Now, Kraghtol understood that this might have been driven by the elf’s guilt over his involvement in the matter.
He had never explainedexactlyhowthey worked, but Kraghtol knew the alchemical border stones gave Wardenreach its name and were the reason for the unification: they kept the savages from the Wild Lands out. They just couldn’t cross the border. Now he even remembered asking why soldiers were even needed if the stones just kept out the enemies. Merress had not answered then, but his eyes had reflected sadness.
Kraghtol shook his head. It was crazy that he had never heard of the border ward before joining the school, especially since it was what the country was named after! But he just didn’t have time to entertain the thought any longer now. The peaceful surroundings were an illusion. Perhaps at this very moment, the orderkeepers were already searching for him.
Having removed all the blood he could, he turned to leave, only to freeze. Several dozen meters away, a figure had appeared, watching the sunrise but occasionally looking over to him. Someone else had seen him, pix-rot!
His best bet would be to walk away calmly now. However, when he narrowed his eyes against the low sunlight, he thought he’d recognize… Aniriel?
Yes, he was positive it was indeed the Elven woman standing there. It was more than doubtful she had recognized him, as he had changeda lot since they last saw each other, and the prudent choice would have been to go with his original plan of walking away. However, as the situation was, there was a good chance he’d never see her again, and by now he regretted lashing out at her like that. He approached her.
“Aniriel.”
Even his low rumbling voice had to sound unfamiliar, and the elf didn’t show signs of recognition. He took a breath.
“It’s me, Krasen.”
“Krasen?”
She blinked.
“How did you —”
“Kragh, actually. That’s my real name,” he said, realizing how he looked now. “I know my body looks different, but I assure you, it’s me. I don’t have time to explain. It’s a long story, and I need to leave, right now and possibly forever. But I didn’t want to go without apologizing to you. It was I who made all the mistakes with that practice, not you.”
To his surprise, Aniriel shook her head, sending her long hair flying. It was an unusual firm reaction for her.
“No, Kragh. When you told me about your practice, I promised you not to tell anyone, and then I did. I just didn’t think about it, even though I should have. I’m not very good at telling whether something is important.”
“That’s okay. It’s who you are, and I should have known that and told you.”
Kraghtol had to chuckle. Why was it so easy for him to forgive Aniriel for being the way she was and so hard to do so for himself?
“I really need to go now. For your own sake, tell nobody we met. And that’s important,” he added with a smile and hugged her carefully.
“Wherever you go, may the stars and the moon protect you. Perhaps we’ll meet again.”
Her voice was utmost sincere, and Kraghtol detected not a single bit of malice in it. It really seemed that the ones who counted — and Valir — did not mind his unusual appearance as much as he thought.
Hiding in his clothes as well as he could, Kraghtol hurried through the city and past the clock tower, until he reached the Oldport. Meeting Aniriel and clearing the air between them had lifted a weight off Kraghtol that he now felt returning with full force. He did not like the fact that his freedom might depend on no other than Calder Rann one bit. And he was already running late if he wanted to meet up with Valir in fifteen minutes like they agreed on.
The gruff tavern keeper was still where Kraghtol had expected him to be, thankfully. So, at least his previous mistake with the orderkeepers had not been enough to get him incarcerated or worse. When the man looked up, however, his expression darkened.
“Piss off.”
Kraghtol swallowed and felt the weight of the borrowed gold coins in his pocket, his only weapon in the confrontation ahead. Ignoring the command, he stepped forward.
