The Divided Knight - Chapter Nine

Thaddeus stood at the edge of the woods, looking off to the east. Dawn was just beginning to come up, its first rays of light bringing color back into the sky, but it would still be a few hours yet before the sun was well and truly above the distant, craggy, snow-clad forms of the Ivory Spires. Traveling by foot – which they would have to do, as the abbey had no horses, and there were no places between here and there where some could be found – those mountains, which split the continent neatly in half, and had no peaks that were less than fourteen thousand feet high, were three days away. It was always winter in the Ivory Spires, and the passes through them always seemed to change, shifting from place to place, which made finding a safe route through the range notoriously difficult.

Why would my people want there to be an easy way for outsiders to enter our lands? Aylander said, reacting to Thaddeus's train of thought.

“I don't know,” Thaddeus said. “Might make trade a little easier.”

During the Golden Age of Peace between my people and the Torvaran Empire, trade through the Spires was an everyday thing.

Thaddeus gave a sour smile. “That's because all of the merchant caravans from this side were escorted by Eltarans who knew the way.”

Aylander didn't respond, but Thaddeus could sense his amusement.

“Good morning, you two.”

Thaddeus gave a small start. He hadn't heard Zoe's approach, and when he turned to look at her, standing beside him as if she had been there the whole time, he immediately knew something was different about her. There was a calmness to her that hadn't been there the day before, a look in her eyes that gave off a sense of serenity that went well beyond a cleric's natural aptitude at easing the nerves of people who were anxious. Did she also seem somehow older than she had, yesterday? More mature and focused? Thaddeus thought she did, and, within him, he felt Aylander agree.

“Thad,” Zoe said, the corners of her mouth quirking upward, “you're staring.”

Thaddeus blinked, then glanced off to the side, clearing his throat. Zoe giggled, and he felt the heat rise in his cheeks. Why, this morning, did her presence suddenly make him feel like he was sixteen, again?

“Do you know,” Thaddeus said, looking back at Zoe, “other people might think it strange that you just said good morning to a sword?”

Zoe smiled. “Oh, but yours is a very special kind of sword, Thaddeus. It likes it when I say good morning to it.”

I do, actually, Aylander said, his voice so deadpan that it was all Thaddeus could do to keep from laughing out loud.

They shared the next few moments in silence, Zoe staring out at the mountains just as Thaddeus had done, watching as light slowly crept back into the world. At last, Thaddeus said, “Something's changed in you, hasn't it, Zoe?”

She sighed. “It has,” she said, looking at him. “The Abbott is dead.”

Thaddeus wasn't surprised. In fact, he was sure he remembered feeling the man's passing, a brief, vague impression of leave-taking that came to him shortly before he'd awoken, earlier. “You're him, now, aren't you?”

“No, I'm still me. But I'm more than I was, before.” Zoe shook her head and looked out, again, at the mountains. “It's not something that's easy for me to explain.”

“Are you still coming with me?”

She snorted a laugh and looked at him, giving him a crooked smile. “Of course I am, silly. Nothing could keep me from going with you. Not even this.”

She's something different, Aylander said. Something new.

“So, what are you, now? What can you do?”

A moment passed before she answered. “Just like all the Abbotts before me, I've become a focus, a lens through which the powers of our Order flow. Through me, through what I've become, the Order of Catharzen survives, and I remember.” She blinked, refocusing her gaze, which had grown distant as she spoke, on Thaddeus. “Thaddeus, the powers of our Order are ancient. Much more so than I ever realized.”

“Aylander thinks you're something different from the ones who came before you. He thinks you're something new.”

“He is a powerful one if he can sense that even from within your sword. And he's right. I am the first woman to have ever had the Abbott's power passed to her. Not even I have any idea what to expect.”

Thaddeus smiled. “I guess that means we'll find out together, then.”

Zoe smiled back. “I guess it does.”

“Coming with me won't endanger your Order, will it? They're at least as much of a threat to Atraxos as the Conclave was, and he's bound to start going after them.”

“He will, but my being distant from my brothers and sisters means little. Even though we are a peaceful Order, we can defend ourselves, and, as I said before, my place is now at your side. The only thing that could change that is my death.”

“The only thing?”

“The only thing.” She looked at him. “Are you ready, Thaddeus?”

And so they headed east, for the mountains.