If anyone could shrug off being stabbed in the back, it would be me. As such, I was the first person to exit the mine, and therefore the first person to see High Priest Yevon Styon leaning against the cart and staring up at the moon.
Next to the cart, the bodies of Hector and the others from his group had been dug out of the snow and laid in repose. Blue with chill and rimed in frost, they nevertheless looked like bodies prepared for burial.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
Yevon looked away from the moon slowly, his gaze sliding over the bodies before landing on me.
I glanced at the bodies and then at his unreadable, infuriatingly casual expression. “You have to know I didn’t kill those people!”
He shrugged. “I know. And you know why I’m out here tonight.”
“Point taken.” I stepped forward to allow the others to exit around me.
“You,” Seyari hissed.
“Me,” Yevon replied, pointing at himself. He straightened up from leaning against the cart and slouched over to our group. “Prisoners? Hmm, I can’t say I didn’t expect as much.” His eyes glowed. “A few are corrupted, though.”
“What’s your angle?” Seyari asked coldly.
Yevon just shrugged and ignored her. I let Sey have her anger.
“Let’s move the prisoners out here, into the moonlight,” Yevon asked.
Cramped as we were in the mine entrance, we spread out, but Nelys and Taava stayed in front of Byrt and kept hands on knives. Not counting Byrt, we had six prisoners since we’d picked up the two guards we’d tied up earlier.
“What are you going to do to them?” I demanded once we’d fanned out into the clearing.
The high priest shook his head. “No, Zarenna. What are you going to do with them?”
I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I mean: What should their punishment be?”
“That’s not my place to decide.”
“Alright then.” He walked down the row of prisoners and gave each of them a cursory glance. Byrt stayed with us and out of the lineup, and although it earned him a glance from Yevon, the high priest paid him no mind.
Likewise, he paid no mind to the regular-looking Nelys. Their pendant was something Seyari could fix, although as she put it, her patch job was temporary. Whoever had made the original was a skilled enchanter, and not someone Nelys had wanted to tell us about.
Yevon stopped at the end, walked right up to me, and stared, hardly ten centimeters away. “What will their punishment be then, Zarenna?”
“I can’t know that,” I snapped.
Yevon put a hand to his forehead and took a deep breath before backing off, hands in the pockets of his vestments. “Alright, I’ll cut out the cryptic nonsense. Two of these—” he drew out a hand and pointed to the two former guards in turn “—are demon-corrupted. And that one—” he pointed to the fire mage “—is a murderer. Unless you have proof of entrancement magic, and unless whoever’s handing down a ruling is willing to trust the word of a demon, what do you think will happen to them?”
A pit formed in my stomach. “They’ll be put to death.”
“Yep!” Yevon smiled thinly.
“Can we get rid of the demonic mana in them, or whatever is corrupting them?” I asked, meeting the gaze of the fire mage, who looked away.
Yevon shrugged and pointed at Seyari. “She can do it. I know she’s more than powerful enough.”
“Can you?”
Seyari stiffened. “It could kill them, or cause permanent damage no holy magic can fix.”
“And the alternative is…” Yevon let the unfinished sentence hang.
Death, of course.
“How do you know I have that kind of power,” Seyari asked with narrowed eyes. “That sort of precision isn’t common, even among half-angels.”
“I didn’t know for sure.” Yevon smirked. “You just looked like someone I met a long time ago, I guess.”
Seyari hissed and I tensed. He knows. He knows who she used to be.
Yevon put his hands up. “Whoa, hey. Let’s not be hasty.” He tapped his forehead with a finger. “That little fact will stay locked up nice and tight. And I’ve no intention of hounding someone just because they bear a striking resemblance to someone who’s long gone. But we should change the subject, shouldn’t we?”
“We should,” Seyari agreed for me.
Yevon gestured for her to attend to the prisoners.
“No,” Seyari said, her voice echoing. “I will not attempt to burn out their demonic influence.”
Yevon raised an eyebrow. “And how do you feel about that, Miss Miller?”
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“It’s her decision, not mine.”
“Very well. You—” he pointed to the fire mage again “—Did you murder one of Hector’s men at the stable in Borsten?”
“No,” she answered after a moment’s pause.
“Well, is she lying?” Yevon asked Seyari.
The three-quarters angel shrugged. “No idea.”
“Funny, I thought you might have that sort of training.” Yevon gave a shallow bow. “My apologies for putting you on the spot again.” He walked casually over to the woman whose hands were bound and leaned closer. “It’s not a smart idea to lie to a high priest of Dhias, you know. You’re not corrupted, so don’t you want a chance at living?”
They stared at each other for at least a minute before the mage woman broke first. “Fine, I did it. Boss told me what to steal, and he was in my way.”
“And do you always burn things that get in your way?” Yevon asked.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Have you killed others? Do you regret killing that man? Remember, don’t lie.” Yevon spoke louder for what he said next. “And remember that assaulting a high priest is a bad idea. Any goodwill you have would be erased as well.”
It wasn’t hard to read the subtext: don’t try to stop what I’m about to do. I had to clench my fists, and I heard Seyari’s teeth clack together audibly.
“Yeah, I have. I regret it, but I do what I need to.”
“Need to? Hmm. Well then, I think I’ve heard enough.” Yevon drew a hand out of his vestments and regarded Seyari and me. “Is this one not beyond redemption?” He gestured to the fire mage.
“Don’t you believe in second chances?” I spat.
“Yes, I do. But I don’t believe in third chances. How many chances do you believe in, Zarenna?”
I bit back a swear and glared at Yevon instead of replying.
“Really, I’m on your side—in a way. And all I’m going to do is save her a bit of pain.”
“What?” the woman said, suddenly worried. “But you said—”
“I said ‘might.’” Yevon put a hand on her forehead and she flinched away. Frowning, he used both hands to grab her head. Cold frost wicked from his fingers into her and she groaned before falling silent. A moment later, her lips turned blue and she slumped to the cold ground, dead.
“How could you?” I shouted.
“How could I kill an unrepentant murderer painlessly?” Yevon asked joylessly. “Do you think she’d get the headsman’s axe, or the stockade first?”
I actually bit my tongue to stop my next words, boiling blood filling my mouth and forcing me to swallow before my tongue healed itself.
Seyari looked at the dead woman and then Yevon. “So you’re like that, then…”
“I don’t know what ‘that’ is. But maybe?” Yevon answered Seyari with a glance, though he still faced me. “You’re still naïve, Zarenna. In your case, I suppose that’s a virtue. Good luck on the road to Gedon. And I mean that—I don’t have anything planned for you.”
“Does that mean you’ll finally screw off?” Taava asked, breaking her silence.
“Yep!” Yevon smiled brightly. “I have a report to make and some other high priests to annoy.”
“Annoy how?” I couldn’t stop my question in time.
“Annoy with a report detailing how a powerful wrath demon is an idealistic young woman with heroic delusions.” Yevon started to walk off, but turned at the edge of the clearing. “Oh, and some of the other high priests would have burned the lot of them for consorting with a demon at all, even that one.” He pointed at Byrt, then turned the same finger in a wave and started back down the road, hands in his pockets.
“Fuck that holier-than-thou guy and fuck this whole mess,” Seyari said what we were probably all thinking.
***
In the end, the town’s tiny jail ended up overfilled. The other people we’d captured who had demonic influence weren’t unusually strong, and had no auras indicating significant magic to speak of, so we felt comfortable enough leaving them to the town. I had to stomach that probably meant death for most of them, but Byrt was more than willing to tell how at least one of them wasn’t so bad.
Did we make the right decision? I couldn’t say.
I could, however, say that the warm cider was delicious. The wagon got fixed, a single horse was acquired that would just be enough to pull us, and we were leaving tomorrow after a few well-earned days of rest.
Right now, Taava and Seyari were downstairs enjoying the moderately-less-hostile attitude of the townsfolk, while Nelys and I sat up in the inn room I shared with Seyari, drinking cider, playing games, and watching the snow fall outside.
Nelys was unnaturally good at cheating when it came to card games, and dice games, but I was getting better. Mostly, I cheated at cheating by exploiting my demonic reflexes.
They fiddled with their pendant and a glance with my aura sight told me the magic was fading.
“We’ll get that fixed good as new as soon as we can,” I assured them, setting the deck aside for now.
“Mhmm. Sey asked Myrna and she said someone in Gedon should be able to do that.”
“And Linthel will definitely have a master enchanter if that fails. Until then, Sey can keep it charged.” I wasn’t about to risk charging it myself.
Nelys wrapped a hand around the blue coral almost reverently. “You can ask about me, you know. The secret stuff.”
“I could,” I nodded, pointedly not asking.
“Aren’t you interested, Renna?”
“I am, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Nelys shook their head. “It won’t make me uncomfortable. And it’s all pretty simple. I grew up learning about humans, and the world above water. My big sister liked the stories, even if our parents didn’t like humans very much.
“I wanted to give it a try—to explore. My sister made me this pendant, and I had a ton of fun going with her around on islands and visiting the ships that’d pass by.” They stopped to look down at the pendant, a pained expression on their face. “We got in trouble for it—big trouble. My sister took the blame, and they were gonna take my pendant away, too.”
“What did you do?” I asked, already guessing at the answer.
“I ran away. Big sis was already of age, and my ceremony was that summer solstice, so I figured I could do fine on my own. I almost got caught up in some real bad stuff, but Cap’n Torrez found me. I know I can’t go back yet, so I want to see the world. For my sister, at least.”
Suddenly, I feared the worst. “Is she…”
Nelys shook their head vigorously. “She’s not dead or anything—at least I hope not. It’s just that she probably can’t go out exploring anymore. I want to go everywhere and then go back and tell her everything! Say I’m sorry, too. I know she’s gonna be mad. And worried.”
I mussed their hair and they fidgeted under my hand. “I know she’ll forgive you.”
“I dunno. Maybe. But I’ve got a lot to see still, so I’m not going home just yet!” They looked up at me, bright smile contrasting wet, teary eyes.
“What about being human?” I asked. “You should be whatever you want.”
Nelys took the pendant by the string and looked at it in the light. “I think… I think I want to be a little of both. Maybe either, maybe somethin’ in between. I don’t know yet.”
I leaned over and gave them a side hug. “And you don’t need to rush into it. You’ll know when you know. And who knows? Maybe it’ll change.”
Nelys hugged me back. “Maybe! Thanks, Renna.”
I pulled away from their hug and turned them to face me. “Just so you know, it isn’t betrayal or anything, but I’m going to deliver you to your sister once you’re ready, okay? And no making excuses about seeing everything. You’ve been gone for at least a year now, right?”
Nelys grumbled, but nodded.
“She must be worried sick about you! But!” I pointed a finger at their nose. “She’ll forgive you. So we’ll see some sights, and make sure you’ve figured out the right you before I figure out a way to get my big red fiery butt underwater.”
***
On the other side of the door to Zarenna and Seyari’s room, Taava the eavesdropper removed her ear from against the wood. “’Figured out the right ‘you,’ huh,” she muttered as she snuck quietly away down the hall.