Vhaelyn's mission

The third day before had just begun when a patrol appeared on the ridge. Brakka raised her hand to silence the court. The refugees retreated behind the walls. Nym turned off the lamps one by one.

Seven silhouettes descended towards the relay. Their cloaks carried the silver spider of the Xil’Nrae.

Zaelyra counted the silhouettes twice. Vhaelyn and six soldiers, but only five lanterns: one of the guards advanced without light, on the outer edge of the ridge. He didn't try to hide the patrol. He checked that no group was following her.

"She took the youngest," whispered Rhylor. "They do not yet know what orders can be refused without losing your mind."

"Or she took them because they have not yet learned to disobey her," says Brakka.

"Do you think she protects them? Zaelyra asked.

"I think she placed them where the crossbows will see them. It can be a protection. It can also be a way to make them take the risk in his place."

Zaelyra observed Vhaelyn in the lead. She knew her sister well enough to recognize that she had not chosen the land at random. The guards stood above the northern road, out of the immediate reach of mercenaries, but visible from the killers.

"They're coming for us," said Pell.

"They come with a flag," Brakka replied. "It's not the same thing."

The patrol stopped within reach of voice. At her head was Vhaelyn, dressed in the priestess' dress and light armor. She raised her hands, palms open.

"I come on behalf of the Matron Zesstra. Zaelyra Xil’Nrae must come back with me. The others will not be worried if they lay down their weapons."

Brakka glanced at Zaelyra. "She chose her words."

"She chose not to say that the door is already taken."

Vhaelyn turned his head slightly towards the ridge. A crossbow tile protruded from the rock, pointed towards his group.

"The House hired mercenaries," shouted Zaelyra. "They attacked the relay."

"I know."

"You're driving a mission to stop them?"

"I'm driving a mission to bring my sister back."

She had chosen the truth, but not the whole truth.

Vhaelyn asked to enter with two of his guards. Zaelyra accepted. The others remained on the ridge, where their insignia could be seen from the mercenaries. It was a protection as well as a threat.

In the courtyard, Vhaelyn looked at the wounded, then at her sister. "You look exhausted."

"You too."

"I walked fast."

"Me too."

Their eyes met. No one asked for forgiveness.

Vhaelyn approached the open map on the cash register. "The Matron demands that you bring her back. She says that the road belongs to the House."

She also put a small bag of healing powder and a sealed letter on the table. "The Matron says she will send an escort to evacuate the relay. She doesn't say when."

"Do you think she will send this escort?"

"She will send soldiers. The question is whether they will protect people or bring them back."

Vhaelyn had chosen six guards, all young enough not to serve during Dhal's disappearance. She didn't tell them she was coming to help. She had given them an order: to prevent the mercenaries from controlling the northern road. It was correct, but incomplete.

"Will they follow you if you ask them to take over? Zaelyra asked.

"Some. The others will follow the written order."

"And you?"

Vhaelyn looked at the badge in his hand. "I follow the written order to the point where it ceases to be defensible."

"Do you think Mother sees the difference?"

"Mother sees all the differences. She chooses only those she can recognize."

The answer did not say if Zesstra already knew that her eldest daughter was challenging her. She said that Vhaelyn no longer relied on ignorance to protect her.

"And you?"

"I think the road existed before the House."

She put a small silver spider on the map, the badge she wore from the temple. Then she toot him.

"If my soldiers see this in the yard, they will understand that my mission has changed. I won't be able to hold them for long."

"Why did you come?"

"Because I didn't want the order to be given by someone else."

A whistle sounds on the ridge. The patrol leader called Vhaelyn to leave.

She put her badge back on her sleeve. "The next time you see me, I may be forced to play my role to the end."

"And next time, I will know that there may be another sentence behind the first one."

Vhaelyn had a joyless smile. "Learn to hear them without deciding that they say what you want."

She came out. On the ridge, she ordered her patrol to hold the north road. The mercenaries turned their crossbows towards the drows of the House.

For the first time since their escape, Zaelyra saw the Xil’Nrae insignia protect the relay instead of threatening it.

Once the patrol went up on the ridge, the guard who had walked without a lantern remained behind for a few moments. He looked towards the relay, then placed a white stone on the side of the road. The gesture could signal a free road, or mark the place where a shooter had to aim.

Zaelyra did not follow him long enough to pretend to know. She only added the stone to her map, with the time and direction of the patrol.

" Are you really going to write everything down?" asked Brakka.

"What I can observe."

"Even things that don't serve you?"

"Especially those. Someone else may be able to read them."

Brakka considered the ridge. "Then also write that a sign can be a help or a threat."

Zaelyra inscribed it in the margin. She now understood that the maps were not becoming honest because they contained all the details. They became so when they showed the limits of their author's gaze.