The fork of Vhaelyn

Ysil brought them the decision after several hours. The council would not send them back immediately, but it would suspend their passage until the departure of the House's emissary. They would remain in the waiting room, without access to the upper galleries.

"Are you keeping us here?" asked the merchant.

"No. The exit door is open. You can leave the way you came from."

"What if we want to continue?"

"You are waiting for the council to decide if your presence puts the guards in danger."

"So it's a detention with another name."

"No. No one is stopping you from leaving."

"But you're hindering the road."

"The road belongs to those who maintain it."

The merchant was not convinced. However, he did not leave the room. He knew he couldn't lead the wounded to a gallery he didn't know.

Zaelyra rereads her sister's message. The two lines, the notch, the sentence. Vhaelyn had always marked the dubious passages like this. But she had been able to pass on the code to someone else; their lessons had never been a secret as solid as Zaelyra had believed.

Rhylor sat next to her. "Do you want to believe her?"

"I want to know what she meant."

"You could ask him."

"Not by returning to the delegation."

"Then write to him."

"I don't know if my message will reach him."

"You can still do it."

Zaelyra took a sheet and wrote a single question: Did you choose to come back? She did not sign. If the messenger resumed the road to the east, he could carry the note; if he refused, it would keep it.

Kethra watched her fold the paper. "Do you really want an answer?"

"Yes."

"Even if she says she chose the House?"

"Yes."

"What if she says she couldn't do otherwise?"

"I'll ask her what she wants to do now."

Kethra seemed to think about the difference. "It's easier with a sister than with a missing person."

"I know."

"No. You know it from afar."

Zaelyra accepted the remark. Kethra was right; she didn't know what it was like to wait for years for an answer that might never happen.

The council meets again with Ysil and two representatives of the post. They questioned Zaelyra about the origin of the note and Vhaelyn's role in Veyr. Zaelyra told what she had seen: her sister had helped evacuate the families, then stayed with the guards. She did not claim to know what she had done next.

"Why did you leave the city without her?" asked one of the representatives.

"Because she hadn't chosen to leave."

"You could have waited."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you do it?"

"I thought that if I stayed, I would never end up leaving. And I thought she wouldn't follow me as long as she thought she could change the House from the inside."

"You left her behind."

"Yes."

She did not add that she had done it for her good. She knew nothing about it.

The representatives discussed in a low voice. Then Ysil declared that the group could continue until the next refuge, provided that the messenger of the House had left and that no delegation followed them. The road would not be permanently open; travelers should report to each post and report any pursuit.

"What if the delegation comes back? Zaelyra asked.

"You can take shelter here if you don't put our inhabitants in danger," Ysil replied. "But we will not fight the House for you."

"I wouldn't ask you."

"You can't know until you're cornered."

Zaelyra did not protest. "Then I won't ask now."

The merchant raised his hand. "What if we decide to leave?"

"The road to the basin remains open for two days. After that, we don't know what will change."

The travelers voted out loud. Some wanted to return to the Salines. The majority wanted to continue, but not at any price. They decided to advance in smaller groups, with a meeting point at the next stop.

The messenger of the House reappeared before the light fell. He had received Zaelyra's words, and he agreed to take the question for Vhaelyn. He did not promise that his sister would read it.

"Do you know why she came back? Zaelyra asked.

"She said she had accounts to settle."

"With whom?"

"She did not specify."

"Did she say she wanted to protect you?" asked Kethra.

The messenger is thinking. "She said she didn't want us to decide for you."

It could be a faithful translation. It could be a way to prevent Zaelyra from asking more questions.

She handed him the ticket. "Give it to him if you can. Do not entrust it to another."

"I can't guarantee anything."

"Then don't guarantee anything."

He took the paper and left through the oriental gallery. Ysil waited for his steps to move away before opening the bronze door.

"You have a departure before the next change of air. After that, the climb becomes dangerous."

The group prepared the bags. Senn stayed close to Zaelyra.

"You let her go with a question."

"Yes."

"You don't know if she will receive it."

"No."

"You could send someone else."

"I could. But I don't know who I can send without exposing it."

Senn nodded. He now knew the weight of information that was not an answer.

They crossed the door before the passage closed. Behind them, the grid closed with a thud. Zaelyra didn't know if Vhaelyn had chosen to come back or if she had chosen to stay. She only knew that her sister had not asked to be saved.

This time, the bifurcation was not drawn on a map.

She was in the sentence she had sent to the east, and in the road she was taking to the west.