Page 141 of Blood of the Stars

“That same compulsion came over me to protect you,” the man said, “and selfishly, I needed you alive to get answers for why that compulsion even exists.”

“Why were you following us anyway?” Daisy asked Kendalyhn.

When Kendalyhn glanced at Sylmar, he answered for her. “We knew our group was being followed. We hoped to draw out our pursuer if it seemed you were mostly alone.”

Gaeren flexed his fingers into fists. “You used her as bait?”

“It was the only way to make sure we either lost our tail or trapped him before entering open land.” Sylmar’s face hardened without remorse. “Better to be bait on our own terms than in unknown circumstances. Besides, it worked.”

“Well, now that you’ve caught him, what will you do?” Daisy asked, her irritation evident in the tightness around her mouth. Gaeren understood why they didn’t trust him with any of their plans, but they could have at least told Daisy for her own protection.

Sylmar rubbed at his beard, considering. “Kendalyhn?” Her name came out like a question, but everyone else knew it was a command. Well, everyone except the stranger.

Kendalyhn stood, sliding past Gaeren.

“You’re Kendalyhn?” The stranger squirmed.

“Just because I shot you doesn’t mean I’ll use my magic to hurt you.” She kneeled next to him.

“I guess I don’t have much choice either way.” The stranger smiled, but he watched Kendalyhn too closely to truly be at ease. He placed his hand in her open palm.

She closed her eyes, and the others all leaned in a fraction closer, including Gaeren. As Kendalyhn sifted through the stranger’s soul and weighed through his intentions, Gaeren also tuned in to the man’s memories. He watched them in reverse, the man keeping to himself while maintaining a close proximity to the group. Even the memories surrounding Lovers’ Falls held nothing different from what he’d said.

Without warning, the memories cut off like shards of glass. Images of the stranger at various ages splintered across Gaeren’s mind, the chaos of the memories painful. He sucked in a breath just as Kendalyhn’s jaw went slack and her eyes opened wide. She dropped the stranger’s hand and scooted away.

Gaeren leaned back, grasping his temple as if he needed to keep his own memories from splintering the way the stranger’s had. Daisy narrowed her eyes at him, far more interested in his reaction than in Kendalyhn’s.

“What?” Sylmar asked. “What is it?”

Lukai unsheathed his dagger, but Kendalyhn reached out with a staying hand. “Konram’s antithesis,” she murmured.

“What?” Daisy glanced at Kendalyhn before turning back to Gaeren.

“Konram is a fable,” Gaeren explained. “An old warning for children against using their starlock without training. When Konram came into his power, he became so obsessed with reliving his memories in his mind that he couldn’t learn to control it, so he relived his youth that way for the rest of his life, growing old without ever truly living another day.”

Daisy flinched away. “You saw the same as Kendalyhn?”

Gaeren hesitated as all eyes turned his way. His noetic skills weren’t a secret, but he’d been careful not to use them here among this group. The easiest way to lose people’s trust was to delve into their memories without their permission. But now, Kendalyhn’s eyes begged him to speak up, to verify that she wasn’t going mad with her assessment.

“His past…” Gaeren paused, unsure how to explain it. “It’s all fractured. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He wet his lips, trying to think of what could do this to a person—who would do this to a person.

“Marnok,” Orra muttered. “He’s the mirror-image of Konram, so he can mirror the name until he remembers his own.”

Sylmar ignored her. “Can you at least tell who he’s been loyal to?”

Kendalyhn shook her head. “There’s a mournfulness in these last two moons, a sense of being lost. I saw that with clarity, and it lines up with his explanation. But before that, it’s like something went through his soul and crushed who he was.” She shuddered.

“Maybe it’s the result of an inexperienced noetic unsuccessfully trying to erase a memory,” Gaeren suggested, remembering his own unwieldy attempts during training.

“Or an experienced noetic successfully breaking his mind,” Velden muttered.

The others all exchanged horrified looks.

“Could Mayvus do that?” Cyrus asked.

“Mayvus is a pneumatic,” Sylmar said, “but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t commission the job.”

“Didn’t you say Emeris was a noetic?” Cyrus asked. “What if instead of commissioning the job, she used a brand to do it?”

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