Chapter 22 — Old Bonds, Crimson Lines

His name was Darius Renn.

He'd served beside Cassian and me during the western campaigns, back when the worst thing any of us had to worry about was whether Seris would catch us stealing food from the officers' kitchen.

She always did.

Darius had laughed louder than anyone.

Now he was following our trail through the hills.

Cassian spotted the prints before I did.

"Four horses."

Seris pulled her cloak tighter. "Council?"

"No."

Cassian crouched beside the tracks.

"One rider. Three spare mounts."

I frowned.

"That's weird."

"It's deliberate."

He touched the mud.

"He's been changing horses every few hours. Whoever it is wants to catch us."

Epitaph felt heavier against my hip.

"Then let him."

Seris looked at me.

"No."

I kept walking.

We'd left Solenne before sunrise, and I'd barely spoken since.

The people on the walls were still in my head.

The little girl who hadn't waved.

The captain apologising while soldiers prepared chains.

Every city we helped seemed to become another place we had to escape.

Cassian caught up.

"We don't know who it is."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

I stopped.

"Why?"

He didn't answer immediately.

That irritated me more than it should've.

"Because not everyone following us is an enemy."

I almost laughed.

"That's becoming a very short list."

Seris moved between us.

"Can we avoid doing this while someone is actually tracking us?"

Reasonable.

Annoying.

Very Seris.

We reached an abandoned shrine by midday.

The roof had collapsed years earlier, leaving half the old altar exposed to the sky. Cassian checked the ridge while Seris unpacked what little food we had left.

I stood near the entrance.

Waiting.

The rider arrived before the bread was warm.

He came alone.

Grey cloak.

Dark wings.

Sword visible but sheathed.

Then he pushed back his hood.

I knew him.

"Darius."

His expression broke for half a second.

Relief.

Then duty covered it again.

"Zyrion."

Seris stopped moving.

Cassian's hand went to his sword.

Darius raised both hands.

"I didn't come to fight."

"Then leave."

He stared at me.

"You look terrible."

"Nice to see you too."

His eyes moved to my wings.

The dark feathers were harder to hide now.

Then to the fracture across my Soul Crown.

Pain crossed his face.

"What happened to you?"

"The Council."

Cassian answered before I could.

Darius looked at him.

"They said you were taken hostage."

Cassian laughed bitterly.

"Convenient."

"They said Zyrion forced you to help him."

"I've been helping him make bad decisions voluntarily for years."

For one second, Darius almost smiled.

It vanished.

"You need to come back."

There it was.

Seris sighed.

"That didn't take long."

Darius stepped closer.

"Listen to me. They're calling in armies."

"Let them."

"Zyrion."

"I said let them."

His eyes narrowed.

"You don't mean that."

I looked at him.

"I don't?"

"No."

He knew old me.

That was the problem.

He still thought old answers could reach me.

"The man I knew would've cared what happens if this turns into war."

"The man you knew got chained to a floor while half those nations watched."

"Diplomats were hurt too."

"They were there."

"Some didn't know."

I knew that.

I hated that I knew it.

Darius took another step.

"I can get you a hearing."

Cassian actually laughed.

"A hearing?"

"Independent judges."

"Chosen by who?"

Darius didn't answer.

Cassian nodded.

"Thought so."

Darius ignored him.

"Zyrion, I'm asking as your friend."

That word reached somewhere the others hadn't.

Friend.

I remembered him carrying me after Veyr Pass.

Remembered his terrible jokes.

Remembered drinking with him beside a supply wagon while Cassian tried to convince us the stars could be used for navigation.

I remembered trusting him.

So I gave him something I hadn't given the people in the snow.

A warning.

"Go home, Darius."

His face tightened.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"If I return without you, they'll send someone else."

"Then tell them you couldn't find us."

"They'll know I'm lying."

"Sounds like their problem."

"Zyrion."

I stepped closer.

"This is the only warning you're getting."

Silence.

Even Cassian looked at me.

Darius's hand stayed away from his sword.

Good.

"Walk away."

He looked at Seris.

Then Cassian.

Then me.

For one second, I thought he would.

I wanted him to.

Maybe that matters.

Maybe it doesn't.

Darius slowly lowered his hands.

"I'm sorry."

I knew before he moved.

His left hand flashed beneath his cloak.

Not toward me.

Toward Seris.

A silver cord snapped through the air.

Binding wire.

She barely had time to turn.

I moved.

Darius shouted, "Wait!"

Too late.

Epitaph was already out.

The blade crossed once.

No sigil.

No warning.

No hesitation.

Darius stopped.

The wire fell harmlessly beside Seris.

For a heartbeat, he remained standing.

Then a red line opened across his chest.

His sword never left its sheath.

He looked at me.

Not angry.

Just shocked.

"Zyr..."

He fell.

Seris gasped.

Cassian didn't move.

Neither did I.

Blood spread beneath Darius's cloak.

I waited for guilt.

It didn't come.

That scared me less than it should've.

Seris dropped beside him.

"Darius?"

She checked his neck.

Nothing.

Her hands shook.

"You killed him."

"He attacked you."

"He was using binding wire."

"It would've taken you."

"We don't know that."

"I do."

She looked up at me.

"No. You decided."

I wiped Epitaph clean.

Her face changed.

"That's it?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Feel something!"

The words hit harder than shouting should've.

Cassian looked away.

I slid Epitaph back into its sheath.

"I warned him."

"Once."

"He got one."

"He was your friend."

"So was Maelor."

Seris stood.

"And that's supposed to make this better?"

"It's supposed to explain why I learned."

"Learned what?"

"That hesitation gets people hurt."

Her eyes widened.

I pointed at the silver wire.

"If I'd waited to see what he meant to do, you'd be in chains."

"Maybe."

"That's enough."

"No, it isn't!"

Her voice echoed through the broken shrine.

"You don't get to kill everyone who might hurt me because you're scared."

"I'm not scared."

The lie sounded weak even to me.

Seris stared at me.

Then she laughed once.

Not kindly.

"You're terrified."

I said nothing.

"You're terrified I'll die. You're terrified Cassian will die. You're terrified anyone you care about will get close enough to be used against you."

"That's because they are."

"And now you're deciding what risks we're allowed to take."

"I'm keeping you alive."

"I didn't ask you to kill him."

"He attacked you!"

"And I was standing right here!"

I stepped forward.

"So what? I wait until the wire is around your throat? Until you're bleeding? Until I'm holding another body because I decided to be patient?"

Her anger broke for a second.

I saw the pain underneath.

Bellmere.

The children.

Probably she saw it in me too.

I kept going anyway.

"Every second I hesitate gives someone else time to hurt you."

"And every time you decide that for me, you take something from me."

"What?"

"My choice."

That word stopped me.

Seris stepped closer.

"You hate the Council because they keep deciding what's best for you."

"That's different."

"Is it?"

"Yes."

"They say they're protecting civilisation."

"I am protecting you."

"They say you can't be trusted with the risk."

"This isn't the same."

"You keep calling it protection when what you mean is control."

I couldn't breathe.

Not because she shouted.

She didn't.

Seris said it quietly.

That made it worse.

For one ugly second, I saw Ortheon.

His calm face.

His soft voice.

His certainty that he knew what choices I should be allowed to make.

Then I heard myself.

If I can stop it, I have to.

If I wait, someone gets hurt.

If I know the danger, I decide.

Different words.

Same shape.

I looked at Seris.

She was still angry.

Still scared.

Still waiting for me to answer.

I almost did.

I almost told her she was right.

Instead, pride found me first.

"Then next time I'll let you handle it."

Her face fell.

I hated myself immediately.

"Zyrion—"

I turned away.

Cassian said my name.

I kept walking.

Past the broken altar.

Past Darius's horse.

Into the trees.

I didn't want Seris following.

Not yet.

I didn't want her to see my hands shaking.

Didn't want her to see me press one fist against my chest because something there hurt worse than the fracture in my halo.

She'd compared me to the Council.

And the worst part wasn't that she was wrong.

It was that I couldn't prove she was.

Behind me, nobody followed.

For the first time since we'd become fugitives, I wanted the distance.

I told myself I needed air.

Space.

Time to think.

Anything except the truth.

Darius had received one warning.

Seris had just given me mine.

I wondered which of us would ignore it first.

The answer was already waiting ahead.