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Epilogue

Rae lingered at the edge of the justicars’ camp. He watched as the towering clouds of the orderwall collapsed in slow motion, the lazy bolts of lightning fading away as the justicars dismantled the barrier. Whatever corruption had infected Hadroy’s estate, Rassek’s death had put an end to it. The overgrown forests died back, falling into neat rows of formal gardens and apple groves, as naturally as if they had been planted that way. The storms that had threatened since they arrived in the Eye were gone, making way for clear skies and blistering sun.

No one knew what to do with Rae and his sister. Mahk they dragged away, for questioning and possible education. Predi disappeared with Caeris’s body. Rae worried about the look in the man’s eyes. But mostly he worried about the wraith’s vision, and the secrets it revealed. That Yveth Maelys was compromised. That the dead accused him.

The justicars had come because they were warned, they claimed. The houseguard who had threatened Rae and claimed to be there to save him were not houseguard after all, but instead a mercenary company simply dressed to look the part. Somehow it made Rae more worried that such a large force had managed to sneak through the cordon surrounding the Eye without detection. That spoke of a greater threat than mere corruption in Fulcrum.

Or maybe that was a lie, as well.

But at least Rassek Brant was dead. Forever, this time. Rae’s parents were avenged.

Lalette strolled up. She was dressed in soldier’s clothing, castoffs from the garrison stationed to protect the Eye from outside influence. She looked somehow right in military clothes. Maybe they would train her, take her in. Give her something to work for. She bumped her shoulder against Rae’s arm and tried to smile.

“How’s it going, brother?” she asked.

“Been better. Been worse,” he said. He tore himself away from the spectacle of the collapsing orderwall and nodded to the command tents, set up at the center of the camp. “Hear anything out of there?”

“Predi’s trying to get them to arrest you. He holds you responsible for Caeris’s death. They’re starting to listen.” She glanced out of the corner of her eye at a company of soldiers marching in formation at the edge of the camp. “This might not be the best place for you.”

“Tell me about it,” Rae said. “They wouldn’t even listen to my vision. And I can’t let the wraith explain it away with these on.” He lifted his wrist and jangled the lifebound manacle. Predi had slapped it on him when he wasn’t looking, as soon as Caeris’s body was secure. “They’ll swing me from Fulcrum’s branches before this is over.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You killed Rassek Brant. That has to count for something.”

“I’m not sure they believe even that,” Rae said with a sigh. “La, I have to go.”

“I know.”

“I mean—”

“I know,” she said again, placing a hand over his. She smiled again, but it was through tears. “Just be careful, that’s all I ask.”

“They’re going to come looking for me. They already think I’m a criminal. Running isn’t going to help.” He grimaced, trying to catch her eyes. She was wiping away tears with her wrist. Finally she looked up. “They’re going to have questions for you. Maybe unpleasant questions.”

“I’ll tell them the truth. That my brother is a hopeless idiot, who makes bad decisions, and will probably end up getting himself killed out of sheer stupidity.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said. Now I’m going to cry. Idiot. “Look, I better get going. It’s going to be tough if I can’t bind the—”

The lifelocked manacle snapped open at La’s touch. She caught it before it could fall to the ground and handed it back to Rae.

“Dump it somewhere outside the camp. Somewhere they’ll find it, maybe somewhere that makes them think you’re heading someplace else,” she said. “Not that I need to give you criminal ideas. You always were a degenerate.”

“La, how did you do that?” he asked. She palmed a glistening green stone. The Lashing of Life. “Where did you get that?”

“Stole it from Estev a while back. Figured a lifebinder wouldn’t need it, and wouldn’t notice that I replaced it with a shiny rock,” she said with a laugh. “And if my idiot brother can teach himself to bind with nothing but a spiritblade, surely I can do the same with a Lashing.”

“That hasn’t exactly worked out well for me,” Rae said.

“Of course it hasn’t,” she answered. She bent over and kissed him on the forehead, then pushed him toward the edge of the camp. “You’re an idiot.”

“No, you’re an idiot,” he said. Then turned and walked briskly toward the forest, and freedom. He looked back once, but Lalette was jogging in the other direction, determined to be far away when someone noticed that her brother had run away.

Rae slipped into the shadowlands, and left them all behind.


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Framed