Page 113 of Witchshadow

It reminded Aeduan of someone who had died all those centuries ago. And sometimes he wondered if perhaps Corlant was not the one he said he was… Aeduan had no proof, though, and when he had told Evrane, she had only laughed at him.Impossible,she’d declared.Portia was the first of us to go. We saw her die inside that mountain.

Aeduan did not remember, but he also saw no reason to argue—just as there was no reason to pursue his suspicions. Corlant had, at the time, wanted what Aeduan and Evrane had wanted. Now, Aeduan was not so sure that held true. He had helped Iseult, even if Corlant and Evrane had not yet realized.

And even if he himself had not fully accepted it.

No, he could not deny the first Aeduan still lived inside him, prodding and hinting and rising to the surface whenever he let down his guard. That soul was proving stronger than he’d anticipated.

It was not entirely unwelcome, though. There were angles and depths in this body that only the first soul understood. And there were angles and depths in the dark-giver too. Ones he did not hate as he ought to. Ones he found himself drawn to, just as he’d once been drawn to Her.

You always were the weakest of us.Maybe that was true.

Outside the tent, Purists mobilized and organized, gathering to serve their master. At a horse’s whinny, the girl stirred on her pallet. She did not look good, her neck striped with red and faded black. Her face haggard and ashen. Aeduan could not smell her blood—a fact that confused him.

Her golden eyes opened as he watched her. Then, half hooded, those eyes found his. “Aeduan,” she said.

“No,” he replied, though he did not know why. Hewasthis Bloodwitch Aeduan now.

“Ah,” she breathed, and her eyelids sank shut once more. “Who are you, then?”

“I do not know,” he answered, truthful again even as he ought to stay silent. He had scolded Evrane for talking too much. “‘Six turned on six and made themselves kings. One turned on five and stole everything.’”

“‘Eridysi’s Lament,’” she said, surprising him. And surprising herself too, for her eyes popped back open. “What does it mean?”

“It means that long ago, I died. Then one day this body came to me and I took it.”

Her nose twitched slightly. “And Evrane did the same?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, as if this made sense to her—though he knew it made no sense at all. Even he, who’d had centuries to ponder it, could not fully comprehend what had happened on that day a thousand years ago. Or why this body had appeared before him and allowed him to so easily step inside.

“And Corlant? He is like you?”

“No. He is permanent, while we are merely occupants in a house that once belonged to someone else.” And unlike Aeduan and Evrane, Corlant had never felt the blade in his heart. He had never had the Threads that bound him to the goddess sliced away.

“But I am the only one to kill him.” As Iseult said this, something hardened in the backs of her eyes. “And the only one to kill you.”

Aeduan stiffened. He should never have let that piece of information slip. Fortunately, she did not press. “Is Owl safe?” She shifted as if to rise. A grunt fell from her lips, and Aeduan bent forward to help. Instinctive. Foolish.

She flinched at his touch… but then allowed him to grip her shoulders and slide a hand fully behind her. Not that she had much choice—she was too weak to rise without assistance.

Whatever she had done to Corlant, it had almost killed her.

“I do not know,” Aeduan answered honestly. “I have not looked for her.”

“But you will?”

He paused. Then nodded.

“To give her to Corlant or to help her flee?”

Aeduan did not answer. Iseult’s eyes were so close to his; the stove’sflames guttered within.Too close, too much.He released her and tried to withdraw.

Her hands snaked out. She gripped him, knuckles whitening round his biceps. Then her eyes bored into his. Her teardrop scar glimmered. “Te varuje, Aeduan,” she said. “Te varuje.” She murmured other foreign words to him that the soul swimming inside him understood.

And that soul was trying to surface, trying to rise before Iseult turned away.Te varuje, te varuje.She squeezed tighter, her gaze unwavering, and Aeduan found it hard to look away. Impossible even.

“I do not understand you,” he finally said, breaking free from her grasp. “Your words are meaningless.” Then he straightened to his full height and stared down at her. The change in angle made her look smaller, weaker. Less like Her.