Chapter 4: Part 8 - Conniving Natures
Erin was usually good at waiting. Hunting in the Shiverpeaks required the utmost patience, which meant it was a quality she’d cultivated even before she could hold a sword. But crouching in the undergrowth of a rain-slick night in Ascalon? This was more excruciating than any ambush she’d ever done before.
Second Interlude: One Of Us
Jean woke to sunlight streaming into the room, casting bars of light and shade across a whitewashed ceiling. This wasn’t Artair’s dingy guild hall, but he knew better than to say that aloud. He needed to know where he was before he made a move.
Chapter 2: Part 7 - Two Rich Idiots
After a full day in Divinity’s Reach, Erin knew she was trying to do the impossible. There were traces of Taria Valpari everywhere she looked, but setting up a meeting with her people in the city was about as easy as climbing an ice cliff with carrots instead of picks. In other words, frustrating, glacially slow, and ultimately pointless.
Chapter 2: Part 6 - Stalemate
First Interlude: Hammer and Anvil
Most of the time, Erin thought she was reasonably in control of her guild. Some of its members could be awkward ‒ and plenty of them liked to argue ‒ but overall, they were willing to follow her lead.
First Interlude: Absolution
Oska knew, objectively, that what he was planning was a terrible idea. He’d been serious about leaving Divinity’s Reach with Auri, preferably as quickly as possible. He wanted her to be safe. He wanted his family to have no idea where he was. He wanted…
Chapter 1: Part 10 - A Coming War
Dusk had always been Oska’s favourite time of day in Divinity’s Reach. The city came alive with music and colour, the air filled with smells of cooking and smoke, and there was something new to discover on every street corner. As a child, he’d spent long hours roaming through the city as the light faded, until one household servant or another was sent to bring him home.
Chapter 1: Part 9 - Family Reunion
If Erin had pictured the home of the Valpari matriarch, it would have looked exactly like Blackthorn Manor. The grey stone walls, the soaring turrets, the crenellations and grand front doors. Apart from its tall windows, looking back at them like blank eyes, it was surprisingly defensible. It even had a moat, if only at the front.
Chapter 1: Part 7 - Babysitting
Out of all the new recruits to her guild, Erin hadn’t expected Auri Valpari to be the most difficult. Both she and Oska were odd and not always in step with the world around them, at least at first glance. Once you got to know them better, you discovered that Oska was far sharper than he first appeared and had something of an acerbic tongue. Auri, if anything, was even more dreamy and distracted. She had a tendency to finish Oska’s sentences, but a lot of the other things she said made no sense at all.
Chapter 1: Part 5 - Ashes
Seeing the guild hall burn wasn’t quite like watching her life go up in smoke, but it wasn’t far off. Erin stood on the docks of Lion’s Arch, trying to be stoic about the fact that there was nothing left of the place but a pall of smoke overhead and a greasy stain on the ground. The wooden walls had been old and dry; they’d burnt quickly and with significant heat. The Lionguard, presumably used to such fires, had done nothing but hold back the crowds.
Chapter 1: Part 4 - Gunpowder and Roses
It was as dark as a grave in the cellar Vilma left him in. There had been a candle, for a little while, but that had long since burnt away. Even the puddle of wax was now cool. Oska had traced his way around the room before it went out, finding three damp stone walls, with a heavy wooden door in the fourth. The cobbled floor sloped down into a pool of water at the opposite end, as though the whole room was sinking into the earth.
Chapter 1: Part 3 - Den Of Thieves
The guild hall of Light’s Memory had, if Erin was honest, seen better days. It was a former warehouse on the docks of Lion’s Arch, which had seemed practical in the early days of the guild. Back then, with Zurra only just captured and Erin newly in charge, all she’d wanted was a safe place for them to sleep, train, and catch up with one another between paying jobs.
Chapter 1: Part 2 - Old Acquaintances
Reconnaissance in Divinity’s Reach wasn’t what Oska was used to. He’d grown up in the city and knew every nook, cranny, and secret there was to know – but that wasn’t helping much now. He hadn’t been sent back here to fight enemy forces, or carry intelligence, or even to learn the city’s news from his family. He was here, in the words of his new guild leader, to watch and wait.