Page 95 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams
They’re back, alive. But not all of them in one piece. As Ana embraces Hyllus and Damia, and Harman shakes hands with Corrin—much to the crime lord’s apparent surprise—Stratton hangs back.
There’s a deep, jagged cut running from his forehead, across his nose, and down to his left cheek.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Caledon and his cleavers,” Corrin answers. “He turned up at the palace the night we were meant to move against Oclanna. The extra security ruined everything. We only just got out of there alive.”
“Stratton?” I ask, concerned about his silence. He offers us a weak smile.
“I got hit with some kind of spellwork involving geostri magic and some very sharp metal,” he says.
“Could a healer help?” Harman asks.
“Oh, we went to a healer,” he says ruefully. “This is the resultaftertheir best efforts. My face was practically split in two. It’s why we’re so late back.”
Alastor walks over to his comrade, clapping him on the shoulder as he studies his face.
“It’s definitely an improvement. You look very dangerous now.”
“You’re too kind,” Stratton says sarcastically.
“I’m so sorry, Stratton.” Ana goes over to reach up and pat his cheek. He smiles down at her, the motion stretching the angry red wound further across his cheek.
“Thank you, Your Highness. But I’ll be alright. Like Alastor says, I can just lean into my new, rugged charm.”
I’ve known Stratton long enough to tell when he’s lying. He’d never admit it, but it’s clear to me this pains him deeply. He was always vain about his appearance. Of course he hasn’t truly lost his looks. That handsome golden boy is still quite plainly there beneath what will be a long, dramatic scar. But he loved his face as it was before, and I know no amount of assuring him otherwise will convince him he hasn’t lost some crucial part of himself.
Damia is quiet too, and I give her a questioning look.
“We failed, captain,” she says stiffly. “I’m sorry.”
“You brought everyone back alive,” I say, and her eyes dart toward Wadestaff. “The five of you are surely worth more than Oclanna’s head.”
“But—”
“Damia, I have no doubt you did all you could.”
“She did,” Corrin pipes up. “And then some.”
I can see how hard she’s taking this and that neither my words nor Wadestaff’s have gone very far to appease her. That’s always been Damia’s flaw—she takes every mission far too seriously. I don’t know if I can blame her. The army was a lifeline to her when she had to leave everything else behind.
“Do you think Caledon changed his mind for any special reason?” Harman asks the group, motioning for us to perch where we can in the cellar. “I mean, why say you weren’t going, then change your mind, aside from wanting to show support for a woman you couldn’t care less about? I’d say he wanted his movements unpredictable for security reasons, but that’s never been Caledon’s style. He always travels with too many cleavers to worry about attacks from us.”
“Maybe Her Highness has him scared?” Stratton suggests. “After all, he’s not had to contend with another powerful solari before, has he?”
Ana makes a dismissive noise. “Unlikely.”
“Well, I don’t have answers to any of that,” says Corrin. “But there was talk at court about the clerics making unexpected trips. Apparently, there’s been some unusual movement in odd parts of Trova—Rilheim and Ulmire, for example. The Temple want to keep it discreet. The clerics come and leave without preaching or punishing, according to what I heard.”
“Weird, considering how active they’ve been in the rest of the country,” Alastor says. “It seems like they’ve been raiding every town and village from here to Qimorna.”
I feel a spike of alarm run through Ana. She looks pale, and I want to go to her. I hate that I have to hold back, not knowing if she’s ready to forgive me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“When I was saying goodbye to Etusca, we talked about the potion she used to make me.” She looks at Harman and Corrin, perhaps realizing they need more explanation. “This was the potion that was supposed to hide my powers but only ended up strengthening them in the end. We hadn’t discussed it before, but I decided I should warn her that Caledon knew about it.”
She bites her lip. “Etusca told me that even though you could get all the ingredients in Trova, no amount of him taking the potion could make him more powerful at this point, when his magic is already developed.”
