Chapter Thirty Two

“Come on, out of the way.”

“Where’s mom?”

“Fighting. You’ll see her soon.”

“Hey, Rolf! Get back here!”

“Got him. Hold him tight and don’t let him loose again.”

Lilia followed along as a pair of soldiers pushed and prodded their way through the crowd of confused and terrified children. Just as quickly as she and Cinna passed through, though, the disorganized kids inevitably filled the space they’d just emptied again. By the time they reached the other side Lilia had needed to pry at least seven hands off of herself.

There didn’t seem to be nearly enough adults present to watch all of these children, and the ones available weren’t doing so. Beyond that, Lilia just didn’t understand why they’d all been left out in the hallway like this. Surely there must have been enough space in the room ahead. At least then they would have been able to spread out and not get in everyone’s way.

It took a couple minutes of jostling, but eventually Lilia and the others made it to the other side of the hall. One of the soldiers knocked on the wood, but Cinna shoved him aside and pushed it open without waiting for a reply. That struck Lilia as a little rude, at first, but then she realized she couldn’t actually name a reason to consider it rude that didn’t rely on something her parents told her as a child.

The other soldier hurriedly introduced Cinna when he saw she wouldn’t wait. “Announcing Her Highness, Crown Princess Cinna!”

“What!?”

“Impossible.”

“Stand down. I’ve met the Crown Princess before. She’s the genuine article.”

Just as Lilia heard that, she finally managed to enter the room herself. Compared to the hallway it looked practically empty. Only a dozen or so knights occupied the room. A large table dominated the center, but no one seemed to be standing at it aside from one man in nice-looking clothes. It had been him that identified Cinna.

“I’m disappointed, Count,” Cinna said to the man, which seemed like proof enough to Lilia that he must have been Count Keller. Unlike everyone else, Keller wore no armor. He was dressed in a green doublet and black pants and adorned with several pieces of golden jewelry. In contrast to his fine clothing, though, his face looked unwashed and both his beard and hair were unkempt.

“You’ll have to forgive me my poor appearance. I’ve had little time for grooming under the circumstances,” Keller replied. As he spoke, the doors to the room closed behind Cinna and Lilia. The two soldiers that he helped them get there hadn’t come in with them, though the man that introduced himself as Bjorn remained.

“That wasn’t what I was referring to. Really? Your defenses are collapsing. Your soldiers are leaderless. You have pressed civilians into arms only to abandon them. And here you stand…hiding behind a dozen of your best knights and your men-at-arms, with children as your shields,” Cinna said with clear contempt.

“What difference does it make?” Keller asked in return, laughing humorlessly. “This battle is over. The only reason anyone continues to fight is that to do otherwise is more than they can bear. I could place those children in the hall behind my knights if I so chose, but I would only be prolonging their suffering at this point.”

“You could rally your surviving soldiers. Carve a path to one of your escape tunnels. Give your life and those of your men to ensure that at least those children have a chance. Instead…you’re here. Behind them. Letting them die to buy yourself a few more minutes,” Cinna argued.

Count Keller stared at Cinna through sunken, bloodshot eyes. He opened his mouth slowly, as if considering his next words carefully. Then he sighed.

“Alright. Stefan,” Keller called, indicating one of the knights at his side. “Do as she suggests.”

“What about you, my lord?”

“I sense Her Highness still has something to discuss with me. I know the way; I’ll be along shortly.”

“Yes, sir.”

Although Keller’s knights hesitated briefly, they soon filed out of the room, leaving Lilia and her companions alone with Count Keller.

“I’m surprised they listened so easily,” Bjorn remarked. He’d said it so quietly that Lilia thought only she and Cinna would have heard, but Keller proved her wrong.

“In truth, my men were…discontented with the situation. They chafed at being held here. I simply didn’t care because I didn’t believe it mattered if they turned on me at this late juncture.” Keller paused, looking down at the table. “I still don’t expect them to make it out. You may think this was the right thing to do, but it was ultimately futile. There is no escape for any of us, now.”

“Then why ignore the evacuation order?” Cinna questioned.

“Because I had no reason to believe you, of course,” Keller answered with a shrug. “I mean, really. An undead army on our northern border? Somehow having passed through the Empire in a matter of months after being held off for years? And all of this without Barkolt, the only necromancer in history powerful enough to control an army of thralls that large.”

“What possible reason could my family have had for lying about this?” Cinna asked, sounding incredulous.

“Oh, I don’t know. Removing a nest of malcontents from their lands, making it easier to grant their titles to those loyal to the crown?” Keller posed, rolling his eyes. “Let’s not pretend at this point that I don’t know that you know that I supported the idea of overthrowing your family. I doubt that’s why you’re here, though.”

“I came here to ensure someone judges you for your actions. Before the end. Even if you would have died either way…there is meaning in seeing you face justice for the fates of your people,” Cinna replied. That didn’t seem quite right. Maybe Cinna had forgotten about the map. In that case, she might need a reminder.

“Um…I thought we were here for—”

“Lilia.” Interrupted, Lilia snapped her mouth shut. She’d never heard Cinna talk to her like that before.

“And…who is this?” Keller asked as if noticing Lilia for the first time.

“I’m Lilia.”

“That tells me precisely nothing I did not already know,” Keller pointed out caustically. While Lilia tried to figure out what else she could have told him, Cinna stepped between them.

“She is a companion of mine; you need know nothing more,” Cinna said.

“You realize that by doing this you only harm your own chances of escaping alive, yes? Together we may at least be able to fight our way out,” Keller replied, apparently losing interest in Lilia.

“No. You were right. Those people are as good as dead regardless of anything we do. I’ve seen no evidence of any surviving mages here but you. If even two liches are present then any attempt at crossing the plains in such numbers is tantamount to suicide,” Cinna explained sadly. “But there is still a chance they might make it. And I believed that to be worth betting on.”

“A chance that would be improved with our aid,” Keller argued.

“I have a more important mission. One I cannot risk for the sake of a few dozen children; not when weighed against all the children in the rest of Selkarc.” Cinna tightened her grip on the handle of her sword.

“…you speak as if you believe you, yourself, will not die here,” Keller observed. “I will not go down without a fight, however. I have that much pride left in me. Whether I am to die fighting you or the undead outside makes no difference. Do you really believe you can cross this entire distance between us before I can cast one spell?”

Peering out from behind Cinna’s shoulders, Lilia saw Keller slowing stepping backwards. He’d already been on the clear opposite side of the room with a long, heavy table between himself and Cinna, but maybe he didn’t think that would be enough.

“Are you under the—” Cinna abruptly stopped speaking and leapt atop the table, her heavy-looking armor failing to slow her down in the slightest. Then she lunged forward, drawing her sword in the same motion.

Keller stumbled backwards. Lilia noticed just then that he was saying something, but she didn’t understand the words. Three steps were all it took. In three long steps Cinna cleared the entire length of the table and thrust with her sword. His back pressed against a bookshelf, Keller stared up at Cinna. Then his eyes trailed down to the sword whose tip had pierced his throat.

“Close. Two more words…perhaps one…and I expect you would have sucked the air from my lungs in an instant. The pain alone might have rendered me unconscious.” Cinna withdrew her blade from the nobleman’s throat and whipped it to the side, knocking loose most of the blood that had stuck to it. What little remained she wiped off with Keller’s shirt before sheathing her sword. “But did you really believe I wouldn’t know your family specializes in air magic? I have the magic of every house memorized.”

As the light began to fade from Keller’s eyes, Lilia activated her soul sight. This was an opportunity. A chance to see someone die; to witness firsthand the difference between a death before the Day of Revelation and after. She’d seen animals die before then, but obviously deaths like this had been hard to come by since.

Dimly aware that Cinna was still talking in the background, Lilia observed the flow of Keller’s mana from his soul to his body…and back. Normally she’d never have been able to notice the latter. It was too subtle. But as Keller’s body died the flow of his mana changed. From the lower soul conduit, the mana conduit, a surge of mana poured out like a damn had broken.

At the same time, a small trickle of mana from the body to the soul dried up. One running through the upper conduit that Lilia suspected had something to do with the mind. As it did, the conduit began to decay before Lilia’s very “eyes.” It disintegrated in moments like a snowflake in the sun.

And Lilia understood.

Mana and soul. Intrinsically connected; practically one and the same. But the body wasn’t a mere accessory. Something in a living being’s physical body regulated the flow of their mana, and when it died, that control was lost. Without it the mind conduit lost the flow of mana that sustained it and the mana conduit became little more than a channel for mana to pour through.

Seeing Keller’s mind conduit unravel had been enough for Lilia to grasp the not-dead phenomenon. But a question remained. When Lilia had seen a creature die before, both conduits had come undone simultaneously. What force had caused that? Why had it changed? The obvious answer would be Mortos’s death by Barkolt, but that didn’t seem like a full answer to Lilia

Had Mortos regulated some kind of mechanism that caused souls to be removed from bodies on death? Had a fundamental force been altered by his passing? Could he have simply been personally removing every soul by hand?

It didn’t matter right now. Because Lilia had a far more pressing concern.

“He’s going to revive!” Lilia shouted as she darted across the room, dropping down by Keller’s body. He’d been dead for less than a minute and already a soul crystal had nearly formed.

“Can you stop it?” Cinna asked sharply, quickly forgetting whatever she’d been saying before.

“Maybe, but I’m seeing someone else’s mana here. If I do it they’ll know,” Lilia warned.

“Revive? Mana? Is there a necromancer nearby?” Bjorn questioned.

“Do it. We’ll need to move quickly, but it’s better than having an additional lich to deal with. This may allow us to act as a distraction for the refugees as well,” Cinna instructed, ignoring Bjorn.

“Wait…how does she know? Who is this woman? Your Highness?” Bjorn asked, sounding increasingly agitated.

“I’ll try. Count Keller had much more mana than the last lich I did this with though. That’s going to make it harder,” Lilia advised as she began to gather her mana. She heard a sharp intake of breath from the direction of the door.

“It can’t be. This woman is a necromancer?”

For the second time Cinna stepped between Lilia and someone in this room.