Ash chose the mindscape location of a bench under a big tree, looking out on a lake. Ducks had gathered, quacking and nibbling at bread Ash tossed them. She wore a simple white sundress, a contrast to jet-black hair and a natural gaze somewhere on the border of sad and indifferent. She epitomized the word ‘goth,’ as he’d learned from Samantha’s teasing. She seemed like the last person to enjoy feeding ducks on a sunny day, but there she was.

  Crow walked over and sat on the bench, glancing down at a spare loaf beside him. Sighing, he tore a piece off and then began tearing it into smaller pieces to toss to the ducks.

  Ash smiled pleasantly for a few simple moments of this mutual act, then grew somber as she ran out of bread in her hand. Looking down, she took a deep breath. Finally, she turned to Crow. “I am not who I appear. You know me better than you might initially think.”

  Nodding slowly, Crow flicked a piece of bread and eyed the strange woman, still with a chunk of bread in his other hand. “Fate ties, I initially thought. Past lives. But your wording seems to indicate something else. I’m at a loss.”

  “Past lives, too, I think. But no. My appearance and even my voice are disguised. Allow me to demonstrate my true appearance.” The dark, somber young lady morphed into another face, with dirty blonde hair in a braid. She was still pale, but a shade less so than before. Her natural expression and her striking blue eyes were intense. Scrutinizing.

  In a different and all-too-familiar voice, she said, “Here I am. The real me. Do you recognize me?”

  Crow felt the chunk of bread fall out of his hand. He was not someone easily stunned, but this had him staring dumbfounded. Things fell into place like dominoes in his head — the familiarity, the name, the ‘former operative’ status. With a strangled voice, Crow managed, “My sister?” A name bubbled up from deep within; it echoed in his mind. “Bonnie?”

  The woman’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open as a hand slowly rose to touch her fingers to her lips. She whispered faintly in wonder, “My birth name… yes… Bonnie.” Her eyes shifted away briefly, and they began to well with tears. She swallowed, obviously struggling not to cry. “We shed those as Inquisitors. Abandon them, strike them from thought and memory, even our own. Even you… even you should not have recalled it.”

  Crow couldn’t take his eyes off of her, or even blink. It was unbelievable. A ghost reborn and sitting before him. “I’m… not surprised you changed it. You hated it.”

  His sister met his eyes and burst into a brief laugh, even as tears fell down her cheeks. Beautiful to see. She wiped them and shook her head. “I love it, now. I cherish it. But you must keep it to yourself. It’s a dangerous link now, if they ever realize it didn’t fully die.”

  Crow pondered the matter. “Who and what I am kept it, I suppose. It was not until now I could speak it. I vaguely remember us — Dax and I — wracking our brains trying to recall our sister’s name, and failing. Wondering how we could forget. It was frustratingly on the tip of my tongue, back then. She was obviously horrified by this, but still, she dismissed it and said, ‘To hell with it! Who cares at this point, because we’ll never see her again.’ Which I agreed with.”

  The blonde beauty winced and looked away. “I am… so, so sorry. I abandoned you and her. You, in particular, I all but threw to the wolves. I beg your forgiveness, though I understand if you refuse to give it.”

  He took a breath and looked out at the lake. The ducks were waddling back to it by now. “There’s nothing to forgive. You did what was best for you. I’m aware of Dominion requirements in that situation. I’d have done the same were I so brilliant as you.” After a pause, he met her eyes, which stared back at him incredulously. “That being said, I’m glad you’re with us instead of them, now.”

  After a moment more of being incredulous, Ash coughed a hysterical laugh and squeezed her eyes shut, trying and failing to hold back her tears. “Thank you, Crow. Thank you.”

  “If you feel you must embrace me, I will currently tolerate it. A limited-time offer, mind you.”

  With another laugh, Ash threw her arms around him and squeezed, sobbing softly in his arms for a few more moments. Crow felt slightly awkward but held her anyway.

  As Ash finally released him, she said, “Though it seems moot to your sensibilities, I will note that I left because of the visions I was tortured with. I saw my death at the hands of a supernatural entity. I made a terrible choice in response, but I had to make a radical change, and it was the only one I could see in my narrow view. Perhaps I made an excuse for myself. It was wrong, but… I just wanted you to know, it was not just because of callousness. I had to fight very hard to become what they wanted. To let go. I… I loved you both. Dearly. Even if I failed to show it. I want you to know that.”

  Crow nodded soberly. “I know what it is like to be overcome by fear. I hope you’ve mastered that, now. Otherwise, you’ll be a liability to our purpose.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Ash blinked, then snickered and gave him a wry grin. “Leave it to you to cut right to the heart of a matter, hmm? No, I haven’t mastered fear. I’m an in-progress project, as it were. I think that I’ll keep more of it than you appear to, thank you. It has its uses.”

  “Is that another excuse?”

  “It’s philosophy, thereby a maybe. Is your lack of fear an excuse to run amok recklessly?”

  “Philosophy, thereby a maybe.” He grinned. “It’s going to be good having you around.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way. It’s a relief.”

  “You haven’t told Dax yet.”

  Ash grimaced and sighed. “Don’t remind me. I can’t do that tonight. If she kills me, I won’t be around to repay some of my debt to Samantha with this operation. I need to do at least that, before.”

  “I’ll go with you, as support.”

  Ash shook her head. “You are such a good egg, Crow, but no. I wanted to meet you for this in person, but it worked out. For Dax, it has to be face-to-face. I already… I already bumped into her, of course. In disguise. I almost fainted before I realized she didn’t recognize me.”

  Crow laughed riotously at the thought, for which Ash narrowed her eyes at him and he cut off. “I will arrange to visit Gierkos, then. Someone needs to make sure she doesn’t actually stab you.”

  “Whatever she does, I’ll take it on the chin and accept it, being entirely deserving. Besides, you can’t interrupt your affairs in the north. Be logical, Brother.”

  “Fair. Duty calls. Alright, then… promise me you’ll flee if she attacks you.”

  “I will not. She has every right-”

  “If she uses lethal force. If you have some urge to get slapped or beat, so be it. But you either promise me you’ll run or otherwise not let her actually stab you, or I’m going there to chaperone. Your word, Ash.”

  Ash sighed grandly. “Fine. I give you my word I’ll fashion an exit strategy for if she attempts to stab me or otherwise use lethal force. If she throws a punch, I’m taking it, though.”

  “Whatever floats your boat, Sister. Okay, I’m satisfied. Good luck.” He rose. “I’m sure you have more to attend to. I need to get back to my investigation. I’m pleased you’re a member, Ash. The reunion of many lives continues to accrue. Let’s confer often, hmm?”

  Ash also rose and nodded firmly. “Indeed. If you need anything, seek me out. I know how you are, though. I’ll check in regularly.”

  Crow rolled his eyes just as he disconnected, leaving the parting comment, “Let’s not go overboard, Sister Dear…”

  ??············???···········??

  Samantha flew through many odds and ends while waiting for the hours of proper clandestine operations. Utilizing intel from the vision with Dax, she instructed the Brain Trust to arrange for Constance to infiltrate the Duchy of Burnstire. If they could change the darker results of that potential future, all the better. She told them to take their time setting it up and doing it right. Research, preliminary investigations, the works. Learning precisely what Burnstire would do in the war was a key play, but a long play. They had plenty of time.

  Might be worth trying to set up a meeting in secret, too. Establish some rapport. Then again, the duke seemed like a giant asshole.

  She put another item on the itinerary: an eventual investigatory party to the lake south of Rivermount, to look into the ‘undead army’ matter, and charged the book nerds to research what might’ve caused the potential in the first place. Her instincts about such things were that they involved some battle or atrocity event where a bunch of people died. It was, all-in-all, a very, very long-term matter for the back burner, but getting a leg-up early seemed wise. Ideally, if the Dominion attempted the same lure and trap, they’d pretend to walk into it… but have already countered it, effectively trapping the trappers.

  If there’s anything better than an ambush, it’s spoiling an ambush!

  Meanwhile, Itha Ranon was being renovated and orchestrated as a new base of operations. Ships were already moving between and Geirkos was abuzz with the sudden appearance of a massive tower, the tip of the spire of which was visible from Geirkos, as the total height from sea level, including the rocky base, was akin to a modern skyscraper.

  They let the rumors fly, but everyone already expected it to be the new underground figure and growing folk heroine of sorts, Madam Dark Helm, renowned as a sorceress and illusionist. Amusingly, some discounted the tower as an elaborate mirage due to this. That suited Sammy just fine.

  There didn’t seem much need to warn people away, being already connected and associated with the cursed isle. Rumors went crazy in this regard — worry over the sorceress turning mad mixed with tales of her breaking the curse. Hope seemed to win out for the most part, but superstition being what it was, a sprinkle of doubt wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  The city also had a flood of people clamoring to join the Hidden Hand. Mobs hit up rumored hotbed locales, demanding, sometimes begging for membership. Orswyth, Zephyr, and the rest had their hands full dealing with it. There was already a multi-tier membership system in place for ‘pre-Followers,’ it was just a matter of expansion.

  Their energy for why was clear. The appearance of the tower was fuel for the fire in their blood. An outlet, a focus for something deep within stirred and boiling up.

  The call to action is being answered.

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