Taron crashes through the foliage behind me. “Two decades ago, Madame Vera was a competitor … in the Reckoning.”
I stumble.Madame Vera? A competitor in this very tournament?
“You know the stories about the Reckoning of 1180? One team won, and another returned alive but broken. The girl vanished without a trace.” He speeds up behind me. “It’s her. That girl is Madame Vera.”
I stumble into a clearing, panting, my feet sliding to a halt. Taron catches up. He’s also panting. I forget he was nearly drowned moments ago.
Before he can speak, I whirl on my heels. “What are you saying?”
“The Reckoning of 1180 was a cover-up. The other team didn’t win. Madame Vera did, after she cheated. She stole the wish for herself because she wanted to know where her ancestor was buried so she could resurrect him.”
I suck in a sharp breath. None of this is making any sense.
“The Astrals intervened by erasing her memory of the burial location,” Taron continues. “They handed Madame Vera over to the Principal Guard, but her family name is a powerful one, with allies and supporters across the Accord. The most powerful is an underground organization called the Midnight Guild. They helped her cheat in thetournament initially, then aided her in escaping from the dungeons. She’s been on a mission to restore her memory ever since.”
“Madame Vera stole the wish? But all the stories … about the Reckoning of 1180 being won by two strangers from Solara. They wished for wealth and generational power…”
“The High Council paid them to keep quiet. Power and wealth? A bribe is more like it. The Games Master omitted Madame Vera’s treachery from their final post to preserve the tournament’s integrity, crowning the Solaran pair so the public never found out the truth.”
I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “Who is she? Who is Madame Vera?”
“Vera Halo.”
“Descendant of the tyrant, Valerius Halo?”
He nods. All at once, everything clicks into place. The Necroseals, powerful enough to kill for. Her late brother, hiding them from her. This mission.
I knew Madame Vera’s ancestor had to be someone significant for her to go to such extremes, butValerius Halo? The very tyrant who once enslaved the entire Accord?
“She wants to resurrect him?” I ask.
“That’s right. The Necroseals you found are his. Once he’s alive, they will restore him to full strength.”
“That means … shecando it. Madame Vera can bring Elara back.”
“That’s what you’re taking from this? If that tyrant is resurrected, there might not be a home for you and Elarato return to.”
“He’s been dead for three centuries. How powerful could he be now?”
“More than you can fathom. Valerius used the star to become the strongest Soulreaper of them all. He ripped souls from bodies and bound them to his will, turned the dead into weapons. Entire squads surrendered rather than fight their reanimated families.”
Taron’s face darkens, and I gulp. He continues, “The star made Valerius faster, stronger, nearly impossible to kill. The Astrals cut him down again and again before it finally held. We can’t let him rise again.”
“W-why are you saying this?” He reaches for my hands, but I step back. “This has been your mission from the beginning. What’s changed?”
“I…” He hesitates. “I thought I didn’t have a choice. But now … things are different.”
“Different how?” I want him to tell me. Be vulnerable for once in his life and open up about Madame Vera’s hold on him. Has her voice been fading since he’s been further away from her? Is that how her hold on him works?
“All I can say is I have doubts.”
That’s it?I feel ice spread through my stomach. “My sister is my life, Taron. If I have to plead at Madame Vera’s feet to get her back, I’ll do it. It’s the only reason I’m here.”
His eyes darken. I can’t tell whether with anger or disappointment.
“Besides,” I say, “you said the Astrals wiped Madame Vera’s memory before. They can do it again. It’s not up to us to save the world.”
Taron doesn’t argue. He knows I’m right. A hollow silence settles between us.
