Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 8.5

Sabrina cried herself into a fitful sleep, woken several hours later by her bladder. As she emerged from the bathroom, she heard shouting outside and froze in fear. A moment later, Kendara came in.

"Don't worry. The neighbors just came by on their way to the town hall," Kendara said. "The King's been on vid. Mikolal's going to get it for us."

Oh, Baldaran. I'm so sorry, Sabrina thought. She had a horrible suspicion he would have made himself watch the vid out of duty. She also knew how hard he would take the failure to protect his little sister.

Kendara shifted her weight uneasily, then said, "Ma'am, Lyssara's going to want to watch. She overheard the neighbors. We need to tell her before Mikolal gets back."

Sabrina nodded, her mouth going dry. "Send her in," she whispered.

Kendara gave her a sympathetic look and went back out. A few moments later, Seuréa bounded into the house. "Bree, Baldaran's on vid! I can't wait to see him!"

"Sit down here with me, sweetie," Sabrina said. She took a deep breath. "You know those stories I've been telling you about when your mama was young?"

"Yes."

"Well, you know that before all those stories happened, a lot of very sad things happened to her."

"Yes." Seuréa's excitement dropped away, and she looked up at Sabrina solemnly. "Has something sad happened now? That's why Baldaran's on vid?"

She's so smart, Sabrina thought. "Yes, I'm afraid so. The—the Reissians caught someone."

"Who?"

Sabrina blinked back tears and swallowed hard. "Mira."

"But Mama won't let anything happen to her," Seuréa said.

"Honey, the—the weapons the Kyan use have messed up the Crystal. Remember how everything felt so weird after they came?"

"Yes."

"And they—they did the same thing to Mira that they did to Marie, we think. So she couldn't talk to the Crystal."

"So Mama doesn't know she's in trouble? Then we have to tell her!"

"The parasite also means she didn't know what happened. She didn't feel any pain. She wasn't scared. I want you to remember that," Sabrina said shakily.

"What did they do?" Seuréa whispered, her eyes wide.

"She's gone, sweetie. She's dead."

Seuréa closed her eyes tightly, then opened them. "No, she's not."

"It was on vid. That's how we know."

"But she's not in the Crystal. So she can't be dead. This is just a stupid story," Seuréa said angrily, getting to her feet. "It's mean to say people are dead when they aren't!"

"Honey—" Sabrina choked, but Seuréa turned and ran out the door. She left it swinging open behind her, and Sabrina could hear her indignant voice telling Evis that Sabrina was telling lies. Evis said something soothing, and they moved away. Sabrina wished the bodyguard luck in trying to explain things.

Kendara came back in, looking grave. "That didn't go so well, I see. Are you all right?"

Sabrina laid her head down on her folded hands. "I just destroyed a little girl's whole conception of the world," she said after a moment.

"It wasn't you," Kendara said, sitting down beside her. "It was the Kyan and the Reissians. Don't lose sight of that."

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Sabrina confessed wearily.