Asher didn’t sleep. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw guards rushing into the room, spite and hatred and disgust on their faces as they levelled rifles at his face. Each of them were familiar too, faces he knew well that he never wanted to see hold such negativity towards him. Not the Dalvany town guard, who would realistically come for him eventually, but the Ralkauda City Guard. The men he had worked with. Who had worked for him.

They would come for him.

He sat by the window, watching between a gap in the curtains as people milled about in the town centre below, leaning out of view of any curious eyes that drifted upwards. His hands shook. He couldn’t get them to stop. Olive would tell Magnus, and the Barque family ruled over Ralkauda. If he didn’t prove his innocence, he would never go home. No one accused in over a century had proven themselves innocent. If he was lucky, he would end up like Gershwin, on the Black Scroll, exiled to somewhere in the country and shot if he tried to leave.

There wasn’t any way to prove his innocence. He was a witch. Gone was his standing with the guard. Gone was his career. Gone was everything he had known.

And Navarre had known from the start.

He didn’t want to believe Olive at face value, but something made the thought stick. Navarre had dismissed Asher when something was wrong in the Town Square. He had also been surprised when Asher pulled his sword on the Alchemist. He’d come up from Fanmaryh, where a strange project to re-colonise Telkesi, but caught in the same mess with his inability to return to Valenda.

No. If someone in Navarre’s position knew the Underlands were real, then the whole situation would have been handled differently from the start. Right?

Even if Navarre didn’t, Olive did, and that was proof that the powers in charge knew something about all of this. Not all of it, but some. With the efficiency of this Sovereignty taking control so fast, Asher could shake that it was all part of something bigger. The question was how, and what it had to do with the Gate, what it had to do with Hadley. There was a connection there, he just needed to find it.

And if Navarre was involved, he was going to pull the man out of Le Torkani just to kick his ass.

He needed to talk to Sara, somehow without alerting everyone that he was still in town. How he could get out of town, he had no idea. Perhaps Norrah would… No. Magnus would talk to Norrah. Asher hadn’t been honest enough with Norrah to convince her to hear him now, much less help him.

Penn had gone outside somewhere. He hadn’t said anything, and Asher knew it was stupid to go outside and announce he was in town. Yet, now he felt alone. A weight pushed down heavy against his back, large and dark and bigger than he could even comprehend. It was constant, no matter how much his mind scrambled to find any hold, any flash of light. His face burned and his eyes prickled. His hands still shook.

‘So it is true,’ Teka spoke up from where he lay on the bed. ‘All of the guardians of your world are gone.’

Asher turned to see the Nakati man sitting up in the bed, noticeably grey in the face. His eyes watered with the movement, and he rubbed at them impatiently. ‘How are you feeling?’ He asked.

Teka smirked. ‘I’ll be alright. I have spent too long away from my world, and over exerted, that’s all. You seem to be doing worse than I am.’

Asher flinched. ‘It’s that obvious?’

Teka nodded. ‘We’ve known for a long time that the place between has no-one… well, standing between us and the Fienta. I didn’t want to believe there were no guardians at all though.’

‘You mean the witches?’ Asher asked. When Teka nodded, he felt a lump form in his throat. ‘They’re all dead.’

‘And now your life is at risk because the guard woman saw you defending Phenrylin.’

Asher blinked. He’d never considered “Penn” would be short for something. He nodded.

‘You know the consequences of magic, but not its purpose,’ Teka said. ‘It’s not surprising that you’re afraid, but I am disappointed.’

Asher didn’t say anything. The consequences. He meant being dragged into Le Torkani. Perhaps it had been the reason he’d been pulled into that place in the first place.

‘If you want to feel better,’ Teka said. ‘You are not a witch.’

Asher blinked. ‘I’m not?’

Teka shook his head. ‘You are Sier. Some of the skills are the same, but to be a true guardian against the Fienta, the spirits have to accept your oath to stand between. If you show them that you will stand with one world between ours and Le Torkani, they will mark you.’

‘Penn said that Sier meant child,’ Asher said.

‘It means more that you are adolescent in magic,’ Teka said. ‘Phenrylin never gave much attention to your language. I’m surprised he is as fluent as he is.’

‘You’re Tarneyan is really good,’ Asher mumbled.

Teka smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear it. It’s not easy to learn without a teacher.’

‘So you spend a lot of time in our world?’ Asher asked.

‘Some of us do. With so little security in this place, a few of us volunteered to watch over things from this side. I find it’s easier to talk than to hide.’

‘I wish that were true,’ Asher mumbled.

Teka snorted. ‘I was an optimist. It worked well enough. Phenrylin had the idea, but he was sure it was an idea to throw away. He has never put much thought into this world. I only hope being trapped here is not hurting him as much as it seems.’

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‘He’s struggling, but I’ll help him if he needs it,’ Asher said. ‘He was practically rabid, trying to find you.’

‘I saw,’ Teka said. ‘The end result anyway. And I appreciate you standing by him. I know how different Nakati can seem to humans, and he has never learned the difference.’

‘It’s good how much you care about him,’ Asher mumbled. He was reminded of his mother in a way. She was strict and quick to discipline, but when she praised him it only hit ten times harder. He pushed the sudden pang of loss down.

‘We were not ready,’ Teka said. ‘Nadu and I. We were told it was our time to receive a child, but we never imagined the Jaliti. When I heard, I knew I had to stay by his side as more than his father. There was always a chance he would be the one to hold the Gate. I didn’t want to be right.’

‘The Fienta called him that,’ Asher said. ‘Jaliti. That’s why he can’t go home.’

Teka nodded. ‘That was my mistake, but it was not one I did on purpose. Our home was overrun, the Gate opened. I didn’t realise they were still waiting for him.’

‘Not opened,’ Penn mumbled. He stood in the doorway, watching both of them with a level gaze. ‘Destroyed. It cannot be closed again.’

‘I didn’t know that was possible,’ Asher said.

‘Something was different this time,’ Teka said. ‘We had no warning, and Phenrylin couldn’t push back.’

‘The spirits would not listen to me,’ Penn mumbled. ‘I wasn’t the one meant to command them.’

Teka replied in their language, low and firm, but Penn only bristled. ‘I did what I was supposed to. Everything I was supposed to. They didn’t even tell me. They didn’t want me.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Asher said.

‘Phenrylin is Jaliti debne Nakati.’ Teka announced the words like a proud title.

Penn hissed.

‘I don’t know what that means,’ Asher said. Penn glared at him, and a lump formed in his throat. ‘Maybe we should leave this—’

‘It means he is descended from the First Herald,’ Teka said. ‘The voice of spirits, the hand of the natural world. King of the Nakati.’

A noise rumbled out from Ashers throat before he could stop it. Penn’s eyes narrowed, but before Asher could say anything, he shook his head in quiet warning. King. Penn was a King. He didn’t know how to react. All the times Asher had snapped at the man or pulled him along, treated him like someone half mad. He wanted to sink into himself. Disappear.

Silence fell over the room as Asher considered what this meant, that a King had been by his side this whole time.

‘I didn’t want you to know,’ Penn mumbled.

‘Were you worried I would treat you differently?’ Asher asked. He didn’t look any different at least, but this was only a disguise. Already he was terrified of that creature he had seen out in Valenda, hiding behind a relativity human face. He could believe that was a King of another world. Penn was still Penn. At least, Asher could tell himself that.

‘No,’ Penn said.

Asher bit down on his tongue, unsure of what to say.

‘I am not a King,’ Penn said. ‘I am not Jaliti. If I was, then I would have stopped it. The spirits didn’t tell me, even though I did everything. I did what I was told. Still, everyone is dead.’

‘That’s not your fault,’ Asher said, though he didn’t quite know why.

‘No,’ Penn said. ‘Because I did what I was told. Everything I was told. I did nothing wrong, but it still failed. That means I am not the one who was supposed to. The spirits were wrong.’

‘The spirits can’t be wrong,’ Teka said. ‘They don’t know what that means.’

‘They were wrong!’ Penn cried. ‘Or I am the only one since the First Nakati to fail? The only one who was not strong enough? I did everything the way it was supposed to go! And everyone is dead. They’re dead!’

‘No,’ Asher said. He struggled to his feet, his leg screaming at the effort. Penn was shaking, his hands grabbing hold of something that wasn’t there, grasping as he struggled for breaths. ‘Not dead,’ he pressed. ‘Look. Teka is here. Your father is here. That counts for something, doesn’t it?’

‘They’re dead,’ Penn said, his voice a strangled grasp.

‘Or they’re trapped in Le Torkani with everyone else,’ Asher said. He swallowed. ‘You remember my friend, don’t you? Who’s still in there? I am going to get him out, because I refuse to believe he’s dead. So many people got trapped in there, and I’m going to help them too. We can help your people too.’

‘That is an uphill battle, my friend,’ Teka said.

‘So is everything else so far,’ Asher pressed. ‘I can’t do this alone, and right now I am alone.’

‘You’re not alone,’ Penn mumbled.

‘Neither are you,’ Asher said. ‘Let me help you. We can fix this.’

He eased closer to Penn, and the man slumped, his body sagging as though the weight of the world was dropping lower onto his shoulders. ‘Everyone is dead,’ he mumbled.

‘No,’ Asher said. ‘Not yet. We can still fix this.’

‘Others were outside of Nakati with me,’ Teka said. ‘When the Fienta showed up, others got out too.’

‘I closed the door,’ Penn said. ‘I shut off a whole part of Nakati. I blocked the way.’

‘To stop it spreading,’ Teka said. ‘But we still got so many out. Not everyone died. That’s why you need to go back. That’s why we need to return to Nakati. Including you, my friend.’

Asher recoiled. ‘I… I’m not a Nakati.’

‘No, but you are Sier. Perhaps the only one left. There needs to be guardians and your best chance of appeasing the spirits is in Nakati, where they resign.’

A cold chill ran down Asher’s spine. ‘I…’ No. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t give himself to this strange and terrifying world, he still needed to fix this. Somehow. He wouldn’t give up on what he was, or prove any of these people right.

Would it be so bad if they were right?

‘No,’ Penn said. ‘No Nakati. No witch. Stop it.’

‘Penn…’ Teka’s voice carried a warning growl.

‘No!’ Penn snapped. ‘We’ve already lost! It’s already over!’

‘I don’t believe that,’ Asher said.

‘You’re stupid.’

Asher flinched. ‘If you think that, then why are you here, still trying? Why did you help me?’

Penn’s mouth clamped shut, rage simmering in his eyes. The fiery glow behind his pupils was growing brighter, as though the blaze would soon erupt and swallow his whole body.

‘We’re on the same side,’ Asher said. ‘Right now I need a friend, and so do you. We can still do this.’

Penn opened his mouth to respond, then snapped it shut again. Asher struggled to meet the man in the eye, the fire behind them now so intense he could feel heat radiating off them. Penn tensed, clenching and unclenching his hands, and Asher was sure he would turn and storm off again, when he instead deflated, dropping his weight down against Asher’s shoulder and holding it there.

Asher stiffened at the weight, but slowly lifted his own hands – still shaking – and patted Penn’s shoulders. The pats became a hug, which Penn returned, suddenly feeling small and thin and bony. A small, selfish part of him was glad that he wasn’t really a witch, that what he was doing already was enough, but fear still pressed down hard, harder than Penn’s weight on his shoulder. Both of them were in this together now, stuck together no matter what. Still, Asher felt more alone than ever.