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Nox preferred visual representations of strategy. Rayne indulged him. They surrounded an enormous projection depicting her understanding of their current fronts. He noticed the light of the projection was the same shade as the Seamswalker’s eyes, but refrained from mentioning it. Across from him, Rayne glowed like moonlight against the visuals. It was striking amid all the dark.

“Is it typical to meet unfamiliar Icari with a history like Silence?” Rayne touched the Icarean female on the screen, and it switched focus. She rendered the contender’s likeness from the Shadow’s descriptions.

Nox shook his head. “Warriors of note, especially females, caught my father’s attention easily.” These were facts, and he said them as such. Yet he couldn’t ignore the slight hint of disgust in his own voice. No matter Savis’ afflictions, she deserved better.

Rayne stared into the woman’s image. “Older than Umbra, and an agent of Imminent. You said she was familiar?”

He walked around the vast projection to gaze at the composite. Folding his arms with a frown, Nox considered her distinctions. The gray eyes and blue streak in her hair. He never met one such as she but… “A Verse I read many times from one of my kin mentioned a spirit that visited soldiers before they died.”

Her brows shut up as she gave him her full attention. “Spirituality among the Icari? And do you mean your uncle Vinco’s Verse?”

Of course she’d know that. Rayne knew everything about him. And he, about her. Except, they evidently failed to explore Icarean superstition. “It’s the same as on Earth. Beings of lower intellect explain natural phenomena or phobias with such stories. The lower castes were prone to it.”

“But Vinco was a Coalition member. His nacre intelligence was second to Elden’s. Is that right?”

So quick. “Yes. But he addressed the Coalition on behalf of the people. Of the soldiers. And they told stories that made his Verse my favorite to read.”

Rayne paced away, biting her thumbnail again. With every step, her hair swayed to reveal Elden’s Verse, glittering on her back. “But if Silence isn’t a ghost, how did she know they were on the brink? What did she say to them?” These cognitive fits of hers reminded him of Xelan.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Nox answered despite the onslaught of rapid-fire questions. “‘On your death, a world ends with you. Know the stars will fall still and weep for you.’”

She scrunched her hair. “It’s like the more I know the farther away I am from understanding it.”

“Tomorrow, you’ll know the rest.” He reached for the projection and enhanced the Tantamount’s location in the Arsenal. The Shadow’s dissemination disconcerted him. They weakened the guard at this location. They required more capable soldiers—

Rayne took to his side and gazed up at him. “Silence seemed so sincere. I want to like her.” Her eyes shone with it. They asked him the question.

Nox shook his head sternly. “I will council you, but I won’t make those judgments for you. Choose after the memory walk. It should prove interesting.”

She clenched her fists and ground out a frustrated sound. “I just want Kyle happy. I want all of them happy. Finally, happy.”

The young woman whose conscience he occupied walked away, sulking. Rayne’s shoulders sagged in that backless teal shirt. Was this pouting? How unbecoming of a King. Nox crossed the mindscape. In his black shirt and jeans, he blended into the dark. Thank Elden his new King found enough compassion to rid him of the white.

He found her on the beach again. So dark. The clouds covered them now. Lightning tormented the riptide. Nox could stare out at that breathtaking fury for Eternity. But Rayne completed the scene.

All that long black hair chased the wind. The ocean spray masked the scent of her tears. Each electric bolt tried to match the energy in her eyes and failed. Nox wondered if Rayne hugged herself because the storm finally revealed its identity to her.

The melancholy softened her voice, so quiet the wind should bury it. Yet over the storm, it reached him like a whisper directly in his ear. “Surra is a beautiful name.”

In these moods, Nox discerned only one reliable method of reaching Rayne. He crossed the beach to her side and sat in the sand, looking out over the ocean. She responded to his listening ear and occasional insights. Such as this. “Mother—Savis—told us tales of her mother. Elden passed these onto Savis after Surra died in childbirth. The stories described her as a force of nature. Much like you.” He met her gaze. “She was the only creature who defied Elden, and he married her for it. A good leader keeps those who challenge them close.”

“Nox—”

The scenery glitched like a failed projection. He held up his hand. It vanished. His entire body faded and returned. Faded again, but he couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t scream.

Rayne cried, “What’s wrong? Nox?!”

Did she not see the glitching and distortions?! Was he disappearing? Elden! Make it stop!

For a moment, he returned to her side. His body looked fine. But Rayne? Tears marked her cheeks. She was so afraid. And him? Powerless.

As he faded once more, her voice broke. “Don’t leave me alone! That’s an order.”

He wished he could stay, but the Wrong Side of Eternity came to claim Nox after all.