Page 96 of The Shadowed Oracle
“Did you read about the Great War?” Ballius asked, ignoring the disruption.
“Yes.” Ingrid met his pompous gaze. “Or, only in part. I couldn’t find the actual text, so I relied on other books. Found them a little vague, to be honest.” She found them a little annoying as well, but she wouldn’t say that to him. She only wanted him to keep talking. Whatever it was he wanted to tell her, as biased as it may be, it was still new information on the topic—something Callinora’s extensive library could offer her no more of.
“I’m afraid a full account won’t be found in The Book of Pax, either.” Ballius sighed, arrogance bloating his chest outward. “A true and total account, it can only be found in the conjoining of the old texts. You would have to read theVolmen Vericiousas well.”
Or, Ingrid remembered in horror, as it’s known today, The Loquent Truth. It was Gannotar’s teachings. The first Magus, the King of the West. Izadora’s greatest enemy.
It was the same book that Makkar now followed.
“I thought they were forbidden in Maradenn?” Ingrid asked. The only bits she’d been able to hear about were from her friends, and what little she’d read from the torn parchment in Karis’s journal.
“Forbidden?” Ballius clicked his tongue against his teeth. “No, no, not for scholars such as myself. Nothing is strictly forbidden for those of us who’ve dedicated our lives to academics. I think the word you’re looking for is…disesteem. Civilians or booksellers might be looked down upon, perhaps even questioned if they were to be found in possession of one. But not prosecuted. Mother no! What you must think of us, dear girl! That would be simply barbaric.”
“Even now?” Ingrid asked, holding in her real inquiries. She stifled the flaming desire to leap at him, tackle him to the groundand drag him before Callinora for what he was hinting at. “Even when Makkar so blatantly uses the book to justify this war?”
“Even now, yes. You see, you’ve fallen victim to the same prejudice you accuse the other side of. You have been told only half of the story, yet believe yourself to be wholly right. Truth cannot be divided into two parts. From each side, you will find verity. And only when the two sources come together, can Ealis be served justly.”
He moved closer to Ingrid, holding the torch between them like a weapon. She did not move, barely even breathed, only bit her lip as she listened.
“Did you ever wonder why Izadora didn’t intervene immediately?” Ballius asked, gesturing to the statue. “You were told that she believed it to be the natural order of things, yes? But why, if she was so peaceful, did she sit back and watch so many humans and Viator die? Did you ever wonder, Ingrid?” Her name sounded so ugly coming from his mouth that she nearly flinched. “Have you thought about why?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Of course not.” He raised a single brow. “Why would you? Anything else wouldn’t fit. You never doubted her. Never questioned her. Never made the connection sitting right in front of you, begging to be pieced together. Izadora, my ignorant young friend, was just as terrified of the scourge as her enemy was. She didn’t foresee some master plan. Nor did she choose peace above all. She chose to sit back and watch her enemy do the dirty work, hoping the sickness would be cured.”
Ingrid took a step back in disgust. “But she killed Gannotar. She ended the murder of humans.”
“Temporarily,” Ballius shot back. “Then another small crusade began. And another. And now we have King Makkar. Who, I’ll admit, may be suffering from some misinterpretations himself. But, he is, after all, close to accomplishing somethinggreat. Something no other ruler in the history of both our worlds has done before.”
“Which is?” Ingrid’s lip had gone numb from chewing on it, biting back her rage.
“Total unification.” Ballius spat the words, then took two, three, and finally four small steps backward, vanishing into the darkness.
Ingrid’s throat swelled, sitting with the residue of the interaction for a moment. She shuffled in every direction, guided by too many thoughts at once. She wanted to tell the princess, yet now that it was so apparent to her, Ingrid realized Ballius’ intentions were probably plain for Callinora to see, and had been for some time. Ballius and the other advisors wanted to end the war, wanted peace in Maradenn. Which meant surrendering to Makkar.
And it was hardly a leap to go from kneeling to openly sympathizing.
The rumors hadn’t been so outlandish, after all. Maybe Makkar had gotten his hooks into Maradenn. Ingrid just hadn’t let herself think that way. Hadn’t wanted to believe that her enemy was so close to full dominion.
A rush of urgency overcame her then. Heat spread in her cheeks, her ears, her palms.
Gently, careful of the ancient stone, Ingrid rested her fingers on the feet of the marble monument of Izadora, then repeated a sort of prayer that she’d come up with all her own.
Izadora, my name is Ingrid.
Apparently, I am the last of us.
I’m here to finish what you started.
I am Ingrid Lourdes, and I need your help.
There was no answer.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The next morning,Ingrid and Tyla practiced close-range combat techniques. The daggers they used were slightly longer than the throwing blades Dean always had strapped to his armored vest, with a slight curve at the handle to improve the grip. Tyla demonstrated the importance of altering the distance from her opponent, staying further away at first, finding her footing, then letting them make the first move before closing in to jam the enemy’s strike, using elbows and fists to disarm and execute.
Ingrid was a quick study.
