THE CITY THAT FORGOT ITS CHILDREN

Three weeks south of Blackhold, they reached Merrow.

Nobody had warned them that the city was dead.

That was because the inhabitants had not noticed.

Merrow's gates stood open.

Markets operated.

Bells marked the hours.

Bakers sold bread.

Children ran through streets.

Everything appeared normal.

Until Aren watched a woman leave her infant on a fountain.

She simply walked away.

Seris shouted.

The woman turned.

“You forgot your child.”

“My what?”

Seris pointed.

The woman's face remained blank.

“I don't have children.”

The infant began crying.

The woman frowned at the sound.

“Someone should quiet that.”

She left.

Seris picked up the baby.

Aren felt cold.

All across the square, similar wrongness emerged.

A boy tugged on his father's sleeve.

The man shook him off.

An old woman called her daughter's name while the daughter passed without recognition.

A shopkeeper watched his wife collapse and complained she blocked customers.

Lyssa whispered, “Selective bond erosion.”

Corin's voice lost its usual humor.

“The whole city?”

Aren looked toward the central tower.

A gold Heartspire rose above Merrow.

Its light was dim.

“No.”

He saw black filaments beneath the gold.

“The whole city is being Severed.”

They found the local governor inside his palace.

He welcomed them cheerfully.

He also failed to recognize the portrait of his own family.

Governor Halren sat beneath a painting showing himself with a wife and three daughters.

Corin pointed.

“Who are they?”

“Relatives, presumably.”

“Your relatives.”

“Perhaps.”

Halren poured wine.

“You'll forgive me. Names become exhausting.”

Seris set the abandoned infant on his desk.

“Do you know this child?”

“No.”

“The mother forgot him in the square.”

“How unfortunate.”

Seris slapped him.

Guards drew swords.

Aren raised one hand.

Black fire appeared.

The guards backed away.

Halren touched his cheek.

“What was that for?”

Seris looked horrified.

Not because she struck him.

Because he genuinely did not understand.

Aren approached.

“How long has this been happening?”

Halren shrugged.

“Months?”

“And you've done nothing?”

“Why would we?”

Aren stared.

Halren smiled pleasantly.

“Crime is down.”

Lyssa blinked.

“What?”

“Violent crime. Jealousy. Family disputes. Political unrest.”

The governor spread his hands.

“Merrow has never been safer.”

Aren looked through the windows.

A child stood alone in the square.

Calling for his mother.

Halren continued.

“Productivity has increased. Citizens work longer hours. Soldiers no longer desert to visit families.”

Seris whispered, “You're describing livestock.”

“No.”

Halren smiled.

“Peace.”

Aren wanted to kill him.

Then he realized the governor had probably loved those daughters once.

The man responsible might no longer exist.

“What caused it?”

Halren pointed toward the Heartspire.

“An upgrade.”

Lyssa closed her eyes.

“Choir Engine.”

Halren beamed.

“A gift from the capital.”

Aren turned.

“Rhest.”

“High Adjudicator Rhest personally authorized installation.”

There it was.

No more theory.

No more hidden archive.

The Heart Court was spreading Blackhold intentionally.

Aren looked at his companions.

“Destroy it.”

Lyssa swallowed.

“If it's integrated with the city, sudden destruction could kill thousands.”

“Then remove it.”

“That may take days.”

“We have days.”

Aren was wrong.

They had six hours.

At sunset, Crown soldiers arrived.

Not ordinary troops.

Heartguard.

White armor.

Golden masks.

At their head rode Marshal Darius Vale.

Aren stopped breathing.

Darius had trained him.

Taught him battlefield command.

Broken his nose twice.

Once told Aren he was the closest thing to a son he would ever have.

The Severance would have erased that.

Probably.

Darius dismounted in the central square.

His gray hair had grown longer.

A scar crossed his mouth.

He looked at Aren.

No smile.

No anger.

Nothing.

“Aren Veyr.”

“Marshal.”

“You are under arrest.”

Corin whispered, “Social reunion?”

Aren ignored him.

Darius's eyes moved over Blackhold survivors.

“You have abducted Crown personnel, destroyed military property, and interfered with lawful Resonance infrastructure.”

“Lawful.”

“Yes.”

Aren laughed.

Darius's jaw tightened.

Tiny reaction.

Interesting.

“You know what the Engines do?” Aren asked.

“Yes.”

“And you're defending them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Darius looked around Merrow.

“Because I remember the world before them.”

Aren stared.

Darius continued.

“I buried my wife. Two sons. Friends. Soldiers. I watched people destroy each other over grief.”

“And this is your answer?”

“Merrow is peaceful.”

“A mother abandoned her baby.”

Darius looked toward the fountain.

“So?”

That word hurt.

Aren knew Darius had once been incapable of saying it.

The man had cared too much.

That was why soldiers followed him.

“Did you volunteer?” Aren asked.

Darius's face shifted.

“For what?”

“To be altered.”

Silence.

Aren understood.

“No.”

Darius drew his sword.

“Stand down.”

Aren looked at the blade.

Then at the man holding it.

His mentor.

His almost-father.

An empty version.

“Do you remember teaching me to fight?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what you said the first day?”

Darius frowned.

Aren raised his hands.

“You said a sword is the last argument of a man too stupid to find a better one.”

Corin whispered, “I like him.”

Darius's grip tightened.

Aren stepped closer.

“You hated the Heart Court.”

“I remember.”

“You called Rhest a silk-robed parasite.”

Corin nodded approvingly.

Darius said nothing.

“You loved your wife.”

“I remember.”

“Your sons.”

“I remember.”

“Me.”

Darius's eyes flickered.

“I remember.”

“But?”

Silence.

Aren's throat tightened.

“But you don't care.”

“No.”

The old wound opened again.

Aren had thought he was becoming accustomed to it.

One did not become accustomed to amputation because the knife was familiar.

Darius lifted his sword.

“Yield.”

Aren looked at him.

“No.”

Heartguard moved.

Hadrik stepped beside Aren.

Then Corin.

Lyssa.

Seris.

Blackhold soldiers followed.

Darius frowned.

“Why do they stand with you?”

Aren almost answered.

Then Seris did.

“Because we choose to.”

Darius looked confused.

The sentence had taught the kingdom love was something magic could administer.

Measure.

Remove.

Control.

But no Heartwright had created the moment happening in Merrow's square.

No spell forced Corin to draw a stolen knife.

No enchantment made Hadrik raise a battered shield.

No Resonance made Seris limp forward on a half-healed leg.

Choice came first.

Perhaps love followed.

Aren's black fire ignited.

“Last chance,” Darius said.

Aren looked at the man who had taught him war.

“Good.”

He smiled sadly.

“Teach me something new.”

Then the square erupted.