Page 164 of Stormvein

“Have you heard the name Elowen before?”

“I have. Those of us who survived in those early years after Sacha’s capture know of the name.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s hard to speak when you’ve been gagged. Andhe…” She pauses and tilts her chin toward me. “He wasn’t interested in anything I had to say.”

“Well, I’m asking now.” Ellie’s voice is like steel.

For a moment, I don’t think Lisandra is going to reply to her, then she sighs.

“Very well. There was an incident about twenty-four years ago. A prisoner transport ambushed in Silvermist Pass. The Authority’s response was unprecedented. Sereven personally led patrol units through the mountains for months afterward.”

“A convoy carrying a child.” Ellie’s voice is steady, despite what this conversation must be costing her emotionally.

Lisandra’s eyebrows rise slightly. “Yes. You know about this already, I see.”

“A little,” I say. “We’ve been gathering what we can since we came back.”

“There isn’t much to tell. Even at the time, details were scarce. We know that four Veinblood masters participated in the rescue operation, which was unusual. They normally stayed apart, less risk of being caught that way.”

“And after the ambush?” Ellie asks. “What happened to the masters and the child?”

“They disappeared. No trace, no messages, no sightings. The most common assumption is that they died during the escape, in a final confrontation with Authority soldiers that was never reported.”

“But you don’t believe that, do you?” I can see it in her eyes.

“The Authority would have celebrated such a victory, the same way they celebrated your death year after year. Four Veinbloods eliminated at once? They would have displayed the bodies, and used them as propaganda. Their silence suggested failure, not success.”

“What do you know about the child?” Ellie’s voice carries a new vulnerability, the question stripped of defenses. This isn’t basic information gathering now, it’s her searching for pieces of an identity stolen before she could even form memories of it.

Lisandra’s attention shifts back to her. For the first time since we entered, something like compassion softens her expression. She studies Ellie for a long moment, and I find myself cataloging every micro-reaction, ready to stop this if it becomes too much.

“Very little. Female, approximately three years old. I have to assume she had Veinblood potential, given the resources committed to her capture, and the masters’ involvement in her rescue. Whoever she was, the Authority wanted her back.” Her tone of voice suggests she knowsexactlywho the child was.

I watch Ellie absorb this, the subtle shifts in her posture as parts of her history slide into place.

“But you know nothing about why Sereven would hunt her personally?”

“Nothing definite. There were rumors, of course. Veinwardens speculating about why a single child would warrant such extraordinary efforts. Some suggested an unusual Veinblood manifestation.” She smiles. “Others believed she might be connected to a prophecy. But if you are asking whether I knew the child was you when you first arrived here, then no. I didn’t know that.”

Ellie falls silent, absorbing the information Lisandra has shared.

“The masters who rescued her. What do you know about them?” I take over the conversation.

“Kalliss, Meren, Nyassa, and Vorith. Earthvein, Flamevein, Tidevein, and Windvein masters. They rarely worked together before that incident. Their powers were complementary, but their methods clashed. They held different philosophies about how to oppose the Authority, and with the Vareth’el dead …” She gives me a pointed look. “Well, there was no one to hold the Veinbloods together. No one to balance their abilities or mediate their conflicts.”

I don’t rise to the bait. “What do you mean by different philosophies?”

“Kalliss believed in direct confrontation. He wanted to disrupt Authority operations, free prisoners, and strike at vulnerable points. Meren preferred targeted elimination of key Authority figures. Vorith emphasized building safe havens, hidden communities where Veinbloods could live beyond Authority reach. Nyassa focused on preserving knowledge and artifacts the Authority sought to destroy.”

The differences are significant. They didn’t just have different powers, but different strategic approaches to resistance. Their unification for a single purpose emphasizes the importance of whatever they were protecting.

“Yet they came together for this child,” I say. “Temporarily setting aside their differences.”

“Yes. Which, as you know, was unusual for the Veinblood families.”

“Do you think …” Ellie glances at me, then continues. “Do you think they could have opened a doorway to another world? Is that even possible?”