Page 228 of Sword & Shadow
Deckard watched her calmly. “Are you finished?”
Evylin gave him an agitated look.
He grinned. “None of that worries me.”
“Why not?”
Unfastening the buttons of his collar, Deckard reached beneath the fabric. “Because,” he said, pulling the Night Relic free, “you do have a weapon, as do I. Despite Caustin’s effort to weaken us, we’re both reasonably recovered from our time in the Keep, and we have nothing to lose. Once we retrieve Ethenn, we’ll have a second Warrior. And with Rafferty by our side, a second Relic.”
Evylin gaped at him. “What? How?”
“I’m not sure how he managed it,” Deckard said. “But he’s gone to a lot of trouble to tell me something, getting himself beaten bloody in the process. I’m convinced that Ethenn somehow passed Rafferty the Wind Relic when they discovered the danger. Smuggler that he is, Rafferty’s managed to keep it hidden.”
Hope burgeoned within Evylin. Two Relics, two Warriors, one Mage. Yes, it would seem their odds were rising. “You know which room Raff is in?” she asked.
“As long as they returned them to their original rooms, yes. I know where all three of them are being held.”
Evylin stepped around the settee to take a seat. “What about the other Relics? How are we going to retrieve those?”
Deckard hesitated, then looked at the rug beneath his feet. “We may have to leave them.”
His downcast tone caused Evylin to go rigid. “And what about the Calders?”
“I fear...” He didn’t meet her gaze. “We’ll have to leave them too.”
Evylin’s heart dropped. “No,” she gasped. “We can’t do that.”
“I’m not sure we have a choice.”
“Jonn, we’d be leaving them to their deaths.”
“I know,” he murmured, running a hand over his face. “But if it’s between letting Blount gain five Relics or three, you knowwhat Auden and Ilain would tell us to do. Yes, the Calders will die if we don’t save them, but... They’ll likely still die if we try to.”
Evylin stared into the fire dejectedly, her thoughts plaguing her with visions of Ilain and Auden left to Blount’s devices.
“If, however,” Deckard continued somberly, “we do make it out with the two Relics we have, we know where the final two are. We can return to Ephria and obtain them before Blount. Then we’ll each have four. Even if we have to go into hiding, he won’t have succeeded entirely, and we can increase our strength or find the Alliance. Whatever it takes, if we live through this, we can stop him. If we don’t....”
He didn’t need to finish the alternative. They knew what would happen if they failed to escape Renaul.
Evylin took in a broken breath as she considered their situation. The Calders had dedicated their entire lives to stopping King Blount and his tyranny. Dying at the hands of his son... What a brutal injustice that would be. But then, their deaths would secure his ultimate end, and that would be the grandest justice the siblings could hope for.
She wanted to insist on saving them. It would be better for them to live to see that justice meted out by their own hands. If they could only find the Calders, give them the Relics, and let them escape to fight another day, Evylin thought it would be worth it, even if the rest of them lost their lives.
But she knew it would be impossible. The Calders were locked in separate cells, drugged by viastasis. Even if they found them, they’d have to carry them to freedom. Which would be an impossibility if they were to fight their way out.
No, they couldn’t save the Calders or the Relics. Their only hope was to make a run for it themselves.
Even still . . .
“I need you to promise me something, Jonn,” she whispered, unable to find her full voice.
Deckard looked up, expectant—waiting.
Evylin held his attentive gaze, her heart breaking with her words. “If we don’t make it out of here, I want you to kill me.”
His expression hardened, his eyes growing wide in refusal, but she continued before he could protest. “I won’t be Bonded to Blount,” she said, fervor strengthening her voice. “No matter what it takes, I will find a way to kill myself before that happens. But it could take years of torture before I find that opportunity. If it comes to it, if there is no chance of escape and he’s about to take your life, I want you to kill me first.”
“Evylin, I—”
