Page 170 of Keeper of the Word

“I shall wait until we meet again.”

Tolvar snorted and nodded them away.

No time had passed before Crevan ordered his men to pursue. Hopefully, the Seers’ aid would be enough to evade recapture.

“Do not, Crevan,” Tolvar said, tightening his hold on Turas. “I will not think twice. Give them the time you promised.”

Crevan sniggered and again gave the order to pursue.

Stars.

They stood at an impasse, Tolvar holding the dagger taut at Turas’s throat. He didn’t fool himself. He had a laughable amount of time before he was overpowered, but he hoped ’twas enough. He thought of Sloane and the promises to Elanna. And vowed that no matter what, he was the keeper of theword.

The torture began that evening.

Chapter

Sixty-Two

ELANNA

Her eyes opened, and there was Maristel. The wide-eyed child gave an open-mouthed smile, causing her thumb to fall.

“Lanna!”

Casta and Kyrie appeared in the doorway and sat on the cot where Elanna lay.

Casta gave her arm a squeeze. “How do you feel?”

“Well,” Elanna said, sitting. The room had wooden walls. The only other furniture was a wardrobe. “Where are we?”

“A farmer’s cottage in Namid. But we are uncertain what has become of the farmer. We’ve been here for two days and have encountered no one. The knights are hopeful that we shall meet the friends of Sir Tolvar at the village close to here.”

“The knights?” Her brows knitted together, searching the faces of her sisters. “Where is Sir Tolvar?”

“He is not here.”

“Well, where is he?”

Casta and Kyrie told the story together about Tolvar sacrificing himself so the others could escape.

Elanna’s stomach roiled.

“But now that madman has the Edan Stone. I Saw it before that day. He will try to bend it with the help of that scryer. She is powerful. Ancient.”

Casta caressed Elanna’s forehead. “What happened to you, Elanna? What was that light? It was like the sun, not the stars.”

Elanna fidgeted with the quilt that covered her.

“’Twas Siria, was it not?” Kyrie pressed. “You called upon the Light of Siria.”

Casta gasped. “How? How in the daytime did you accomplish it, Elanna?”

“Because it was needed. We were outnumbered. Everyone would have died.”

“But you have called upon the Light of Siria before. You did it when you fled Ashwin. We heard the recounting of what happened to the Order of Siria. Elanna, you cannot call upon it again. You know what will happen if you do.”

She did. StarSeers were ne’er to call upon the Light of Siria except in extremely dire circumstances. ’Twas borrowing light no human should be able to hold. And to call upon the Light thrice meant an irreversible dwindling in one’s starlit well. It made the light permanently dim. Shortened one’s life.