>>6259072

gorgeous pic btw

>>6258787

Your friends turn to look at you. Surely you will raise your arm and stop this folly.
You are their leader, after all.
What can’t you do? Like in the Well.
In the Temple.
Out there, in the Thronelands.
And now that you are here, at just a few miles off the coast of the Holy Land, you instead feel so empty.
You are their leader!
You have all promised to face this together.
But what exactly do you mean by this?
What does the wind whisper in your ear, beneath your armour, against your skin?
That you are in Her land now.
That you will follow Her will.
Is putting your friends in danger like that Her will also?
You three in the same cell—
Or perhaps they will put you in separate ones.
To the mercy of the Amaranthines, of Astoria.
Does Rubida have a cameo to protect her? A sword?
Did Soralisa receive a vision of any sort?
Nay.
If they follo you down this path— they are going to get involved.
Your skin prickles. You can almost feel the heat of the gold, melting above your head, the ingot floating upwards, losing its shape, shimmering in the daylight, and then—
You can face it.
You will also spare them the Trial.
A Knight.
You are still a Knight, even if alone.
“Do,” you whisper, your throat parched. “Do as he says.”
Rubida turns towards you, and Soralisa whimpers something, her hand trembling inside yours. You withdraw it, and try to give them a smile.
Whatever is going on with your face must be the farthest thing from a smile.
But you are trying.
Trying, and praying it is enough.
That there is a light at the end of this dark path — for your family, for Master, for your friends… for Willow.
“Go.”

[cont.]