“Aren’t you afraid of falling?” he said when she reached him.
She shrugged. “There are more important things to be afraid of,” she said.
“Did Uwan send you?” Ashok said.
“I’m made messenger,” Ilvani said, with no little disdain, “to ask irrelevant questions. There are more important questions.”
“I’m sorry,” Ashok said. “I thought putting some distance between me and the leader of the city would be a good idea, especially now.”
Ilvani put her hands on her hips. “You have a box you don’t want,” she said accusingly. “What are you going to do with it?”
Ashok considered. “What do you do, when life gives you a box you don’t want?”
“Lock it away,” Ilvani said. “It’s only fair, to survive.”
“I have to leave,” Ashok said, “because I want Ikemmu to survive.”
Ilvani glanced down at the fire circles. She didn’t look happy, but her moods changed so quickly it was hard to tell what she was truly feeling. “Not the best way,” she said.
“But sometimes necessary.”
“Uwan says to give you a message,” Ilvani said. “Guardian, if you want it-equal to Skagi and Cree, equal to all who shared your training.”
Ashok sighed. “Are we back to that again? After everything?”
Ilvani gestured impatiently. “Don’t talk,” she said. “He’s ready. You’re ready. Do you understand?”
“Ready for what?” Ashok said. He could find nothing lucid in the words.
“Uwan always takes things before they’re ready,” Ilvani said. She stared hard at Ashok. “Not this time.”
“You mean, he’ll accept my service without the oath to Tempus?” Ashok said. He could hardly imagine that was what she meant, but the witch nodded.
“The prophecy is fulfilled,” she said, in a tone of finality.
Ashok was stunned. “But … Is Uwan certain? I take no allegiances. I’ll make no secret of where I stand-loyalty and service only to Ikemmu.”
“He was the one to say it,” Ilvani said. “He found the words on his own. They mean something.”
Ashok nodded, but he felt lost. “I don’t know what to do with this box,” he admitted.
Ilvani made a small sound. Ashok, thinking it was laughter, looked up at her, but the woman’s face was composed. Whatever emotion she’d betrayed was well hidden.
“What should I do?” he asked her.
“How can I know that?” she said. “I have too many boxes of my own.”
“You’re right. Thank you,” Ashok said. “Thank you for coming to tell me.”
Ilvani nodded. She closed her eyes as the wind lifted her hair. She drew in a long breath and let it out. “Feels good,” she said.
“What?” Ashok said.
“To see the beginning of something,” she replied. “I’ve seen the end many times.”
They stood in silence, until Ashok heard voices down the bridge from where Ilvani had come.
The witch blew out a frustrated sigh. “I told them to wait. Dogs in heat, they wait for no sign.”
Ashok looked and saw Skagi with his brother behind him. He raised a hand to greet them. “I’m fortunate in my companions,” he said.
“May you always remember it,” Ilvani said quietly, “and keep them safe.” She turned and walked briskly back across the bridge without a farewell. When she reached Skagi and Cree she scowled at them and veered out of their path. She stepped off the bridge and walked on air toward Tower Pyton. With her hands clasped behind her back, she walked above the city and never looked down.
“Thank you,” Ashok whispered, “for going through the Veil with me.”
The brothers were approaching. Ashok could tell them that he was staying. He’d earned the rank of Guardian; Uwan would recognize it before all of Ikemmu. And if the leader held to his word, it would pave the way for the other sellswords and those who did not follow Tempus to join the military, if that was their wish.
Ashok didn’t believe in prophecy. Though it was a start, Uwan’s declaration would not heal the city’s wounds, and it had been Vedoran more than anyone who’d convinced the leader of his error in judgment.
But Ashok couldn’t deny the figure he’d seen in the shadows when he’d been near death. It had looked at him, and in that breath Ashok had known he wasn’t alone. Something-whether Tempus or a power he could not comprehend-watched the shadar-kai from the shadows with compassion. Maybe that force would be enough to help his race survive.
Maybe someday there would be poets, and grand stories of the shadar-kai that would be passed down through the centuries.
Carrying that hope inside him, Ashok turned to greet Skagi and Cree.