Page 45 of Sanctifier

“As if I was having a grand old time at the Tower, performing demonstrations for D’Luc.” Her voice caught in her throat, and she took a breath to still her nerves. “Now that I’m here, let me help you. I’m the Keeper of your horrible heart. If I can convince Lady Bellenet and Lord D’Luc that I’ve somehow relented, that I’menjoyingthis newfound fame, maybe they’ll let something slip.”

“Simon won’t like it.”

“Well,Idon’t like being moved around on your ridiculous little board like a brainless pawn. He’ll survive.”

Taryel sighed. “If that’s what you want, I’ll have a word with your brother.”

“I don’t need his permission,” said Ru haughtily. “Or yours. This is a demand, not a request. I’ll bring a much-needed competence to your band of fools. Speaking of competence, howdid you manage to learn about Lady Bellenet’s plan all on your own? About Festra?”

Taryel blanched. “Do you remember when I left the Tower after we argued?”

“And you didn’t come back until the night I tried to escape from Lord D’Luc? When you stole the artifact from me? How could I forget?”

He shook his head ruefully. “I know I hurt you. I’m sorry. But I left because I thought… Isuspectedthat Lord D’Luc might be a disciple of Festra. I didn’t say anything at the time because I thought it might be paranoia. I’ve dealt with them before, you know. It was centuries ago, but in Ordellun-by-the-Sea, there was a small contingent of those who followed Festra. I recognized signs, but I had to be sure, I had to confirm. So I came to the palace and did a bit of digging.”

“You camehere?” Ru asked. She couldn’t imagine the regent admitting Fen Verrill into court without so much as an invitation, let alone letting himdo a bit of digging. “How?”

He raised one hand and gestured with his fingers. For a moment, a tiny sphere of black lightning crackled at his fingertips, and then it faded and was gone.

She gripped the edge of the sofa, heart hammering in her chest. Even though she knew he had this power, every time she saw it, the truth of it overwhelmed her.

“Magic,” Taryel said as if it were nothing. “I’ve traveled like this since I was a child. There were more of us, back then. Not travelers, but… magicians. Sorcerers, though not many people used those terms. It was a rare enough gift that scholars never conducted studies, or wrote any solid record of us. The magic of those days is now recalled only in superstitious metaphysical texts, or in folklore. Most at the time considered it a curse, including my family, who kept my abilities secret until I met thewoman who taught me to hone my skills, to use them for the common good…”

“Althea,” Ru said, remembering what he had told her at the Tower. A lifetime ago. “The witch.”

He nodded. “Now you see why they gave her that name. I’ve spent centuries steeped in my own magic, learning and understanding it. In some ways, I’m more powerful now than I was as a mortal man. I can travel across the continent in an instant, where once I could only move short distances. But I’ve lost abilities, too. Now, other than pointless illusions or lighting a candle from across the room, that’s all I can really do anymore — travel. And it’s not without its limitations.”

Ru sat back. “So youtraveledto the palace to discover what Lord D’Luc was up to and found that he was worshiping Festra.”

“And now we know he’s under the command of Lady Bellenet. We also know they want to use you to bring about a Great Cleansing, but what they expect to gain from all this is still a mystery.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ru asked, her voice cracking. “That night, when you came back… why didn’t you justtellme?” She remembered it so vividly, the relief at Fen’s return, the overwhelming desire, the way her chest had fallen open to reveal her wounded heart. How he’d stolen the artifact from her and fled.

He could have just explained.

“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out as if to comfort her, then pausing in the movement and dropping his hand.

She wanted him to touch her, desperately so.

“I hated you,” she murmured. “I’ve spent every moment since you left…hatingyou.”

“You won’t let me forget it.” His expression was broken, undone. “I was afraid to tell you the truth, terrified of what you’d think. I believed I could fix everything, that I could setthings right if I was only given the opportunity. I thought…” he paused, holding her gaze as if to center himself. “I thought that if I brought my cursed heart back to the place where it had been wrenched from my body, that somehow I could… absorb it back into myself. Foolishly, I thought that by reenacting the Destruction, I’d be able to unravel the mystery of the artifact. That I’d understand what it meant, how it had been separated from me, why it called toyou, why it brought us together. I meant to put everything right.”

“Well, you’ve certainly failed in that regard. Nothing has been put right, and I’m still wondering why I can’t get rid of you.”

Taryel sighed, the lines of his face deeper than Ru remembered. A young man with centuries of loneliness behind him.

“I know,” he said. “I should have been forthright with you. But I was desperate and frightened. I thought you were better off without me and my meddling. You were right to take the artifact. I’d have done nothing with it.”

“So instead, you left me.” Ru bit her lip. Her chest ached. She felt so distant from him, as if an ocean lay between their souls, despite only a few feet separating them.

“I was wrong. I made a mistake.” He regarded her with stormy grey eyes. “That’s why I came to you in the woods the other night. Everything I’d done was weighing on me. I couldn’t let you come here, couldn’t let you fall into Lady Bellenet’s grasp. I would have taken you anywhere you asked. And I would have disappeared again if you’d asked. I would do anything to keep you safe.”

At that, he reached out and took Ru’s hands in his. She let him, her vision blurring with tears. His skin was rough and warm. She let him hold her like that, let him have that, because she needed it, too.

“I believe you,” she said. “But it would have been too late.”

“I know.”

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