***
“You should kill Veltar when we get back to Haven,” Major Thorne said as she glared at the now dormant sending stone. “He deserves nothing less.”
“It may come to that,” Bremen admitted. His initial frenzy had passed, but the anger was still there boiling beneath the surface. The worst part was that he would have to wait nearly a week before getting the answers he so desperately desired.
“He wasn’t as distraught about Faedan as I suspected he would be.”
“He cares nothing for his people. That much is obvious.”
“Another reason he should die.”
Bremen smiled thinly. Despite all the power a man like Veltar had amassed, he would never understand the strength of a simple thing like loyalty. The men and women who fought for him might die for Abalor, but not for their leader himself. It was a weakness Bremen planned to exploit eventually, but for now they had a long journey ahead of them—and a lot of time to prepare.
He glanced over to the rest of their soldiers as they prepared their mounts and packs for the return trip home. They planned to head out at first light. With a little luck and a smaller group, they could hopefully be back in Haven within four days, perhaps five at the most. It wouldn’t give them much time before the Unity Day celebration, but hopefully it would be enough.
“Do you really believe these spells are as powerful as he claims?” Thorne asked into the silence.
“I don’t know, but I plan to study them on the way. If he is telling the truth, then the Empress will have no chance against us.”
She nodded. “The prince is right about Rook’s followers. We should have killed them while we had the chance.”
Bremen glanced past her to the wounded Ebaran man strapped down to a makeshift stretcher. “Perhaps, but it might have been worth the risk.”
Thorne followed his eyes over to Rook. By all rights, the man should have been dead. Bale’s spell should have cooked him alive. Instead, his wounds were slowly but surely healing. Before daybreak, Bremen guessed, Rook might even be conscious again.
“Do you really think it’s possible, sir?” she asked softly. “That he could have…that he could really be carrying the soul of a goddess?”
“I don’t know,” Bremen said. “But if he is…”
“Then perhaps Abalor is watching over us after all.”
Bremen’s smile widened. Coming from her, an agnostic, the words had a special meaning. And she may very well have been right. Veltar might have sought to manipulate his faith, but perhaps it was all part of Abalor’s grand design. It had a certain symmetry to it that was quite…divine.
“I’m sure He is, Major,” Bremen said. “I’m sure He is.”
The Last Goddess Page 65