Rian, Halbert, and Eiva continued through the forest toward Urvus. Soon they were out of the forest and crossing the plains. The dark clouds of the day before had gone, without leaving any rain. The three of them hadn’t gone far on the plains before Rian saw three Sancta Knights approaching from up ahead.

All three knights wore a pale gray cuirass with the symbol of the Sancta pressed into the metal, as well as the tan clothes and tan cloak of the Sancta Knights. The symbol of the Sancta was a circle, with four smaller circles inside and room for a missing fifth at the bottom. The knights had already seen Rian, Halbert, and Eiva. All three knights were men, with an older one at the front and two younger ones behind him.

“Halt!” the knight at the front said.

Rian, Halbert, and Eiva stopped. All three had the hoods of their cloaks up. The knights frowned at the group.

“Lower your hoods,” the knight at the front said.

The two younger knights had their hands on the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them.

“We’re only travelers,” Eiva said.

The old knight glared. “I’ll need to see that for myself. We’re searching for enemies of the Sancta. Lower your hoods.”

This wasn’t going to end well. Eiva reached up for her hood first, Halbert and Rian doing the same. As soon as Rian and the others lowered their hoods, all three knights drew their swords. Ravens cried out above them, too many to count swooping out of the sky at the three knights.

“No…” Eiva muttered. “I can’t call them off.”

Rian, Halbert, and Eiva ran, leaving the knights to fight the ravens. Rian glanced back and saw the knights running across the plains toward a village in the distance. Aster village. Rian and the others stopped running when the knights and Aster had been out of sight for a while. The three of them pulled the hoods of their cloaks back up.

“I couldn’t call them off,” Eiva said quietly. “I still can’t control when they come, or what they do when they come.” She was silent for a moment. Rian could hear her catching her breath from running for so long. “Korva said they will only follow my will if I show them my will is to be followed.” She seemed to shiver, but it was hard to tell through her cloak. “I don’t know how to do that without becoming like her. I don’t want to become like her.”

Korva was the Raven Witch, powerful and likely ancient. She was Eiva’s mother, and the one who had killed Eiva’s father.

“I’m sorry,” Halbert said. “We know so little about her kind of magic. I’m sorry we can’t help you.”

“I don’t think anyone can,” Eiva said.

Rian knew that wasn’t true. Eiva herself was the only one who could control her ravens, but could she do it without becoming like Korva? Was there a way for her to stop the ravens from coming when she was in danger? Her ravens had saved them several times, but they had also killed Thorley when Eiva hadn’t intended them to.

The three of them said nothing more on the way across the plains. Neither did they come across any more Sancta Knights. They reached Veron at night, just after sunset, and went straight to the castle. Halbert spoke to the knights out front, who let the three of them inside, where a knight led them into the throne hall.

The throne hall was long, with a high ceiling. Pale blue arches reached far above. There were many windows along the hall, but only a little moonlight shone through. A few torches along the walls kept the room warmly lit. At the far end of the hall were two wooden thrones, both of which were occupied. Queen Ninette sat on the throne to the right, with King Odell on the left.

The knight who had led them in bowed low. “Your Highnesses, Halbert of Rise, Rian of Fen, and Eiva of Brush have come to speak with you.”

Ninette nodded to the knight, who turned and left the throne hall. Two more knights stood at the doors.

“What has happened?” Ninette asked. “I’ve heard several things from the Sancta.”

Rian tensed. Would she side with the Sancta?

“The Sancta is after us,” Eiva said. “Mortua has betrayed us.”

Ninette nodded slowly. “I know you can be trusted. I will not tell the Sancta where you are, but neither can I openly go against the Sancta without endangering my entire country.”

“War is coming to Urvus regardless,” Odell said.

Ninette’s brows furrowed, then she sighed deeply. “Yes, it is.”

“Acra?” Halbert asked.

“We received word from Acra this morning,” Odell said. “An official declaration of war.” He scowled. “And a personal, disgusting letter from Tierney about how Ninette can’t do better than him and can’t rule on her own, but it’s too late to turn away from her mistakes.”

Ninette gripped Odell’s hand where it rested on the arm of his throne. “War is coming to Urvus.”

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“Then we’ll help fight,” Eiva said suddenly.

“Yes,” Rian said. “We’ll help.”

Halbert nodded.

Ninette looked surprised, but Odell didn’t. The queen smiled a little. “Thank you… But this is not your fight.”

“There is more about Tierney that you must know,” Halbert said. He told the King and Queen of Urvus all they had discovered about Tierney.

“Working with Dienia?” Odell groaned. “Things just keep getting worse.”

Ninette had gone ashen, sitting stiffly upright. “We must prepare for war. Eiva, you may stay at the inn for free. Halbert and Rian may rest in the graveyard.”

Rian, Halbert, and Eiva left the castle. Eiva set off for the inn, and Rian and Halbert made their way to the graveyard. There was hardly anyone still out now that the sun had been gone for a while. At the graveyard, Rian and Halbert took their cloaks off and lay on the ground.

The energy of burial ground always felt good. Rian let himself stop seeing, then he let the ground pull him under. He still didn’t like watching the dirt surround him and pull him beneath the ground. As soon as the dirt stopped moving, he was standing in the Bone Garden before the huge skull with long, curving horns. Red light glowed in the eye sockets of the skull.

“I won’t free you,” Rian said when Trivius said nothing.

Trivius laughed, the sound echoing all around them. “Are you certain?” The light from his eyes was barely enough to see the piles of bones in the cave. “I know you have questions.”

Trivius was waiting for something. Rian had many questions, but he had a feeling which one Trivius wanted. Rian wanted the answer enough to ask it, even if it meant doing what Trivius wanted him to do.

“I saw the memories of a knight named Ruari,” Rian said. “Why did I see them? Who was he?”

“He’s you,” Trivius said.

Rian stared at the flickering red lights in the sockets of the skull. “I was never a Knight of Derwen. Ruari was around back before Fen was even built.”

“You have Ruari’s soul,” Trivius said. “The soul of the first Speaker of the Dead, my most trusted knight. Andred is a descendant of Ruari. You are Ruari.”

Rian thought about this, though he definitely didn’t want to. “How is that possible?”

“You will recover more of your memories,” Trivius said. “Then I will not need to explain.”

The Bone Garden faded away. Rian returned to the surface of the graveyard in Veron. The sun was rising and Halbert was putting on his cloak. Rian put on his own cloak, lost in terrible thoughts. Was it true? Could it be true? And what did it mean if it was? Ruari’s memories hadn’t felt like his. Rian didn’t want to be someone else. Especially not Trivius’s most trusted knight.

“Have the dead spoken to you?” Halbert asked.

“No.” Rian hesitated.

“What did Trivius say?” Halbert asked.

“Those memories I saw belonged to Ruari,” Rian said. “The first Speaker of the Dead. Trivius told me I have Ruari’s soul, that I am Ruari.” Now that he’d begun, it all came rushing out. “He said my father is a descendant of Ruari’s. He didn’t explain how I could have Ruari’s soul. Trivius said my memories will return, then he won’t have to explain.”

Halbert said nothing for a long time.

“Do you think he lied?” Rian asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“He might have, but I don’t know why he would want you to believe it,” Halbert said. “That would be a strange thing to lie about. And if you saw Ruari’s memories, then maybe Trivius was right… I don’t know how that’s possible, but maybe he is right.”

That made Rian feel only worse.

“Even if it is true,” Halbert said, “which it may not be, you are still who you are now. You don’t have to be someone else, someone you don’t remember.”

Rian nodded, despite his worries that he would remember. After all, he had already started to remember. He didn’t share this thought, not wanting to worry Halbert further. And he didn’t want Halbert to change his mind and say Rian was definitely this other person. Rian didn’t want to be Ruari.

Over the next two days, Rian, Halbert, and Eiva helped Veron prepare for war. Rian didn’t see any more memories of Ruari or the Bone Garden in those days. On the morning of the second day, Rian was helping Gale sharpen swords at the forge. A heavy feeling came over Rian when he thought of the times he had done this with his father back in Fen.

“How have things been with the nobles?” Rian asked.

Gale was twenty-nine. His short black hair was messy, and he was shorter than the average human. He was a half Ectu, Odell’s son, whom Ninette had named heir to the throne of Urvus.

“They still disapprove of Ninette marrying my father.” Gale smiled. “But now they’re united in their desperation to not have Tierney ruling their country.” His smile faltered. “I want to help fight, but I know so little about my magic, and I’m still learning how to wield a sword. At least I can help sharpen the swords.”

For a while, the only sound was once again the stones they slid along the blades of the swords.

Gale shook his head. “I never liked the Sancta, but I hadn’t thought the gods would turn against each other. Why would Dienia give magic to Tierney, of all people?”

“And why would she turn against Mortua?” Rian asked. “Those cults sacrificed innocent people, whose souls were trapped until Vitir and Mortua freed them.”

Gale stiffened. “There’s no reason Dienia could have that would justify such a thing.”

By midday, they had finished sharpening the swords, which they had started sharpening the day before. Rian met up with Halbert and Eiva at the graveyard. Eiva didn’t have a cloak on. She was sweaty and looked exhausted, having been helping forge new armor. The two were talking about Ransey when Rian got there.

Eiva frowned hard. “Ransey heard what Davena said, so Mortua knows. If Mortua knows, wouldn’t she have gone after Dienia?” She sat at the base of a tree. “Maybe Mortua did go after Dienia and the Sancta is hiding it.”

“Maybe…” Halbert said.

“I think they would do that,” Rian said. “If the gods are attacking each other, the Sancta wouldn’t go around telling people. If the Sancta knows.”