Page 28 of Cast in Atonement

“You saw the ghosts, back in the palace.”

“I saw them only when Mrs. Erickson came in contact with them. But I didn’t see what she saw. Come on.”

“She doesn’t need rescue.”

“Who said I was trying to save her? It’s you I’m worried about.”

Terrano grimaced. “Just in case this changes your mind, Sedarias approves.”

Kaylin rolled her eyes. She and Sedarias didn’t see eye to eye on much—but where the safety of friends was concerned, Kaylin had no arguments.

“Teela thinks you’re an idiot, though.”

Kaylin would not let go of Terrano’s hand; he only tried to wriggle free once. She turned to face the orb, listening for Mrs. Erickson’s soft voice. As she did, she could almost hear the ghosts of dead words. No, that wasn’t right. The words weren’t dead. They were just words.

How could the words be ghosts?

What had they occupied before, when they were what passed for alive? Was it only the body that was missing now? Were they confused because of that absence? Were they trying to find a different body, a new form?

She’d asked herself variations of this a dozen times and was no closer to an answer than she had been when she’d started. But she felt as if she was almost touching one that remained frustratingly out of reach.

Helen said that shamans—not Necromancers—helped the trapped dead, or the echoes the living left behind, pass on to wherever it was they were meant to go.

How did words pass on?

Mrs. Erickson had wanted to free Jamal and the rest of the children, but had had no idea how to do that; her biggest fear of her own death had been deserting those trapped, captive children. But she hadn’t helped them to pass on. Once Azoria was dead, they could leave. They could go wherever it was the dead were meant to go.

These words clearly couldn’t—but maybe there had never been a place for them to go. Kaylin wondered if she could gather them up and dump them in the Lake of Life.

Absolutely not, Hope snapped. They are contained for the moment, but it is tiring. Do not add to the burden by being reckless.

Kaylin held on to Terrano as she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw darkness—but it was subtly different. In that darkness, as if she were a ghost herself, Kaylin could now see Imelda Erickson. Mrs. Erickson’s shoulders weren’t bowed; she stood straight, and her eyes were an odd color, given that the rest of her was colorless.

Mrs. Erickson’s arms were extended, her palms facing upward, her forehead slightly creased with concern. Kaylin watched her carefully. She could see the moon—but in this space, it wasn’t an actual orb. She could see Hope in a state she’d never seen him in before: half Aerian, half serpentine. And she could see the words as they canted forward, as if to fall into Mrs. Erickson’s open hands. They were transparent, but their shapes overlapped; they were larger than any of the marks of the Chosen—but the marks of the Chosen could detach themselves from her skin, becoming larger, or far larger, in different circumstances.

Mrs. Erickson was focused on those words, and on her own—the ones she spoke, the ones she offered as comfort. Her eyes widened as Kaylin approached her, Terrano in tow.

“Kaylin?”

“Yes, it’s me. I have Terrano as well.”

“My goodness—you aren’t... You didn’t die, did you?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“You did disappear.”

Kaylin nodded. “I think, given the way the words are leaning, they’ll follow you. They can hear you; I’d guess they can’t easily hear the rest of us.”

“They don’t want to stay in the room Helen built for them. They find it very cold, very empty.”

“It was designed to be manipulable by Imelda’s guests—but I’ve never had dead guests before. I suppose it isn’t surprising they can’t fully control the space.”

Kaylin couldn’t see Helen.

“Hope?”

I concur. They desire to follow Mrs. Erickson. If we can ask Mrs. Erickson to keep an eye on them, we may survive this. As Kaylin watched, the various mismatched parts of her familiar shifted in place until he was once again the version of himself she knew best. The words were far larger than his form; he flew and landed on Kaylin’s shoulder; she could feel his claws pierce fabric around her collarbone.

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