Chapter 23 #2
“Fine,” I huff out, swinging around to focus on Sophos again. “What is this offer?”
“The princess and I may not see eye to eye on everything,” Sophos says. “But I know we agree on a few key matters. First, that solari are not heretics. I know that my nephew did not steal his powers from anyone, much less from the gods, and it is my shame that I did not see through the lie sooner.”
“Generous of you,” I mutter, and Corrin nudges me in the side with his elbow.
“The second,” Sophos continues, “is that the power of Ethira is real—she has seen it in action with the scythe, after all—and it is a power we cannot allow Marek Caledon to possess. He is a monster, not a holy man. He only serves himself; he lies and kills without remorse.”
“And you were fine with that—helped him do it—until it suddenly became personal,” I can’t resist pointing out.
“I do not claim to be innocent,” Sophos says, lifting his chin and breathing deeply, as if what he has to admit pains him. “I have bloodied my hands many times in the name of the greater good. As a soldier who fought in the war, I suspect you’ve done the same,” he says.
I open my mouth, wanting to tell this man I’m nothing like him, but technically, he’s correct.
I never set out to kill anyone who didn’t deserve it, but can I say for certain I’ve only ever shed guilty blood over the years?
Is there even anything as simple as “guilty” blood, or just people who didn’t get the good luck I did—who never managed to escape their cages before they became a monster?
When I have no answer for Sophos, he presses on.
“But now there are innocent lives at stake. Ones I cannot protect alone. Please help me hide my family from the Temple, and I will do whatever I can to help the princess stop the Grand Bearer.”
Corrin looks at me, and I understand the question in his eyes. This is my mission, and he’s seeking my permission. I exhale, and nod.
“I can hide them,” Corrin says.
“And they would be safe with…your people?” Sophos asks, skeptical.
“With criminals, you mean?” Corrin asks with a sharp-edged smile.
“As a matter of fact, yes—they would. A common villager can easily be frightened into betraying you to the Temple, and I doubt even with your newfound tolerance you’ll like the idea of placing them with the Hand.
My friends don’t like the law, nor do they care for any lofty causes, but they’re good people who’ll be happy to protect a mother and her child from Caledon. ”
Sophos still looks worried. Perhaps Corrin’s charming smile and debonair attitude doesn’t set him at ease. I’m surprised, however, when he turns to me.
“Do I have your word no harm will come to them?” Sophos asks. “It’s the only assurance I ask for.”
He doesn’t ask us to make any promises about his safety, just theirs. I’ve shown open contempt for him during this meeting, and he still wants me to swear to him. He must be really desperate.
“You have my word,” I say.
His shoulders sag like a great weight has been taken off them, and the air changes again.
“Ettia, Olin, you can wait outside now,” he says to his family, the bubble of silence removed. “It’s okay, these people will help you go somewhere Olin will be safe.”
“Won’t you come too, Fossy?” Olin asks, wriggling out of his mother’s arms to skip over to Sophos.
“I’m afraid I can’t right now,” Sophos says tenderly as the little boy wraps his arms around the bearer’s legs. “But I will join you as soon as I can.”
“Come along, Olin,” Ettia says, picking the boy up. “We can say a proper goodbye in a moment.”
She mouths a teary “thank you” to her brother before ducking out of the ruins.
“Before we go any further, you have to give us something,” I say to Sophos when we’re alone again. “We can’t hide your family until we have proof you’re really ready to help us.”
Sophos nods. “Of course. I didn’t only come here because of Ettia and Olin. Naturally, I’ve heard that the princess lost the seal to the Grand Bearer—”
He stops, obviously able to tell from my and Corrin’s expression that we didn’t know about this.
“Caledon got to the seal before them?” Corrin asks miserably.
“No,” Sophos says. “They found it, and Caledon sent forces to ambush them on the river Siga.”
“Was anyone killed?” I ask abruptly.
Sophos frowns. “Many clerics died, not that that concerns the Grand Bearer at all. I didn’t hear of casualties on your side.
But that is part of the problem. I should’ve known about the Siga ambush, but the Grand Bearer has been keeping us all in the dark lately.
It’s why I don’t know more about his hunt for the two remaining tokens.
The princess needs to find out where Caledon is looking for them, and soon. ”
“Thanks,” I say, crossing my arms. “Looking for the last two artifacts was definitely a strategy we hadn’t considered.”
Sophos’s lips tighten, but he otherwise doesn’t acknowledge my tone.
“Caledon may be keeping things from me, but I know he’s planning something big.
He’s been gathering clerics from across the country, bringing them east. And there’s something going on in Godom.
I’ve heard several reports now of regular citizens going missing—people who have no affiliation with the Temple.
Obviously, Caledon’s consolidating his army. ”
“I thought when he had all the artifacts, he’d be a god,” Corrin points out wryly. “Why would he still need an army?”
“I would hazard that he’s intimidated. We know Filusia has a new king, one with closer ties to the princess.
Caledon may have the royal armies at his command thanks to Queen Oclanna, but he wants a holy army to supplement it in case the Filusians join the fight.
” Corrin and I exchange a look at his words, and Sophos must catch it, because he pauses.
“Unless, of course, the royal armies won’t be under the Grand Bearer’s control much longer. ”
I hesitate, cursing what Corrin once pointed out as my lack of poker face.
Sophos nods anyway, like he understands everything. “So, the princess is going to challenge the queen.”
Corrin subtly presses a hand to the small of my back, urging me on. He knows trusting Sophos is a leap, but it’s one we have to take. He’s too useful to hold at arm’s length.
“We have contacts setting things up for the challenge in Elmere right now,” I say, keeping my response vague.
Sophos considers this, and I can see the cogs turning in his mind.
“In that case,” he says, “maybe there’s another way I can help your cause.”