The man called Aurelio stood over the fallen Legatus Tovran, in the space where Aven had been only an eye’s blink before. It happened so fast that Esharah’s vision didn’t register the blow at all.

  Aurelio’s golden hair was a beacon in the night. Empty-handed, dressed in a simple shirt and trousers that looked as though he’d just rolled out of bed. There was no menace in him, no apparent threat. Nothing but calm radiated out from him. But when Esharah reached closer, his thoughts weren’t still. They were a blur. Not warded, not hidden. Simply moving faster than Esharah had ever seen. Every mind moved at its own pace, and a Mindspeaker learned to adapt to read the flow. This was too fast for her to catch anything but glimpses.

  Aurelio’s eyes locked with hers.

  He bowed. “Esharah, wasn’t it? I hope you’re unharmed.”

  Esharah tightened her grip over the sword wound Tovran’s blade had left in her shoulder. Still bleeding. Still agonizingly painful. “Who are you?” Esharah demanded.

  Aurelio’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah, Aurelio, remember? We met this evening?” A glance up at the sky. “Or yesterday evening, I suppose. People tend to find me memorable.”

  “I don’t mean that!” Esharah hissed. “Are you part of the Shadow Order?”

  The warriors of Hellfrost Legion closed in around Esharah, weapons raised and vis ready.

  Aurelio’s eyes passed over each with the same speed as his thoughts. “The what?”

  His thoughts still spun too fast for her to tell if the confusion was genuine.

  “Are you working with Hanion vis Dreamweaver?” Esharah demanded.

  Aurelio’s head tilted, “Who?”

  None of this made sense. Esharah shot another glance at Aven. He was groaning against the wall that stopped his flight. Hurt. But alive. Conscious, and unhappily so.

  “What in the hells do you think is happening here?” Esharah asked.

  Another flick of those lightning-fast eyes over the group. Another glance at the fallen captain, then at Aven. “I believe I just prevented a dangerous, rogue voidtouched from murdering an imperial legate.”

  “Aven was...” Etrani staggered forward. Still panicked. Almost too panicked to speak. Esharah pushed back the terror, the overwhelming feeling of being a child watching a fight she couldn’t comprehend. “Aven was protecting us. Legatus Tovran has been manipulated by Hanion vis Dreamweaver, who conspired to poison Governor Iraias and disrupt this gathering.”

  “Hm,” Aurelio looked again from Tovran to Aven. “Well, I think I’m missing context. Esharah, could you show me what you know? That should be quicker.”

  Aurelio showed no signs of hostility anymore. But his strike was too fast for even Aven to see coming. The next could be just as quick. And far more deadly if it struck anyone besides Aven.

  Tentatively, Esharah reached out into the storm of his mind.

  It wasn’t disorderly. The storm wasn’t turmoil. It was just..motion. Just processing the world far, far faster than anyone else she’d ever known.

  The storm slowed.

  Words emerged from the storm, "ApologiesifthisisstilltoofastIstillstrugglewithslowingdownenoughtobeunderstoodI’vebeenworkingonitbutitmaystillbetoofast-"

  Esharah focused, pushing herself faster than she had before. She’d never had to push like this before. Never met someone who thought faster than she could read. It was exhilarating and terrifying.

  The words resolved into something understandable. Still quick, but finally coherent. “Zahra-scolds-me-every-time. This-is-about-as-slow-as-I-can-manage-”

  “It’s...fast. But I understand you,” Esharah sent back. And pushing herself just a bit further almost made it a normal conversation.

  Satisfaction. And a hint of admiration. “You adapt quickly. Now, show me everything. Quick as you can, so we can get you off to the healers soon as this mess is resolved.”

  A mess partially of his own making, Esharah tried to hide the thought. Unsuccessfully, apparently, from the rueful chuckle that rippled through his mental storm.

  She shared an abbreviated version. The roles played by Nadyar Velian, Ambassador Rosval, Hanion vis Dreamweaver, and Legatus Tovran. The ambush from the deluded legate. And Aven’s last-second defense, with the voidclaws retracted, refusing to finish a beaten opponent.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The message only just finished before Esharah’s strain became too much, and she broke away with a gasp. Her limbs shook. It felt as if she’d just finished a sprint across the entire province.

  “Well, damn me,” Aurelio stepped back. “That’s my mistake then.”

  Faster than her eyes could track, yet showing no more effort than a light stroll, he flashed over to Aven’s side, hauling him back up.

  “Sorry about that.” Aurelio pat Aven on the back. “Hope you can understand how it looked. I didn’t hit you too hard, did I? You seemed dangerous, so I didn’t pull my punch as much as I ought to.”

  “I’ll...live,” Aven croaked, still catching his breath.

  Esharah looked to Etrani. Whatever Aurelio was, he didn’t seem to be a threat. Etrani didn’t show anything close to relief, though.

  “Your answer has not been satisfactory,” Etrani said. Voice stronger now, eyes locked on Aven. Both fear and worry retreated. Or perhaps she just advanced beyond them. “Who are you?”

  “Ah, yes.” Aurelio knelt by Legatus Tovran. The legate looked shocked, simply clutching his stomach wounds and staring at the road. Retreating into his Battle Mind, Esharah felt. Unable to handle the weight of reality without the comfort of the Dreamweaver’s illusions. “Suspicion is understandable, given how much scheming has been going on.” He glanced up at the sky as if searching for answers. “Well, nothing for it.”

  He reached into his pants pocket, then grimaced. “Sod me. ‘Course I left it. A moment, please.”

  Wind rushed to fill the empty space where Aurelio had been. Gone faster than any of them could track. Now that she was searching for it, Esharah felt a fleeting glimpse of his mind for a few seconds before it vanished beyond her reach. Headed south, towards the lower city. Not towards any of the guesthouses.

  “Do know who he is?” Etrani asked, even as she rushed to Aven’s side.

  Esharah shook her head, eyes on the distant night where he’d disappeared. “I...don’t. I met him at the gathering. He...said he was from Frelund, but when I questioned Governor Roshar he made it sound as if Aurelio was not under his command.”

  Etrani’s attention left Aurelio when she reached Aven’s side. Esharah glanced away from their embrace. Her shoulder still throbbed. The blood dripped down her arm, warm and sticky. A reminder of the battle’s cost. Even if they got to a healer soon, it’d leave a nasty scar.

  “Another villain.” Janaya spat on the ground.

  “Or a hero from another tale,” Sunshine suggested, an earsplitting smile on his face as he stared after the direction that Aurelio presumably had gone. “What twist of fate has caused him to stumble into ours, I wonder?”

  “What should we do with him?” Ouron walked over to the fallen legate and gripped his shoulder.

  “We...need a healer.” Esharah’s thoughts were tired. Exertion and mind combined to slow them down. “Katrin, can you...?”

  She abandoned words and sent Katrin a mental image of the route to Yliann ars-Medis’ apothecary shop. Vili shot off into the night an instant later. Which left Esharah with little to do but wait and bleed.

  Almost as soon as the thought finished, a golden blur streaked through the night, and a rush of wind heralded Aurelio’s return. In his hand, he held a leather satchel, which he offered to Etrani.

  “For Executor Aelia Etrani,” Aurelio said, then gave a quick, formal bow. “My official identification. My apologies for the lack of promptness.”

  Etrani stared at the satchel, then at Aurelio. Still tight in Aven’s arms, who moved just a bit to put himself in between Etrani and Aurelio. The man just beamed, as if he were delivering a present to a child rather than official credentials to a provincial executor.

  Etrani carefully took the satchel and peered inside.

  She gasped. The satchel fell from her hands. Aurelio snatched it from the air before it touched the ground.

  “That was...” Etrani stared at Aurelio with wide eyes. “You are...”

  Aurelio put a finger to his lips. He winked.

  “That was a seal of the 1st Legion!” Etrani burst out. “You’re among the Emperor’s guards?!”

  1st Legion. Every soul in Octarnis knew of the greatest force in the empire. Even the lowest of the 1st Legion was among the greatest in any other legion.

  Aurelio sighed, chagrin flashing. “Er, well, yes. That signal was for you to keep quiet about, but I suppose that crow’s left the roost. Should’ve made that clear; yes, that’s my mistake. Would be best to keep the details to a minimum, Executor.”

  Etrani looked from him to the satchel in his hands, mind whirring. “The Emperor sent a guardian from the 1st Legion to watch over a provincial gathering? In secret?” The shock was palpable. “Why?”

  “It’s far less conspiratorial than you make it sound,” Aurelio shrugged. “I was telling the truth when I said I came from Frelund. Was there a week ago, hoping to meet the governor. Only to find the governor gone to this gathering. It sounded important, so we-”

  “We?” Esharah asked.

  Aurelio glanced to her and brought his finger back up to his lips. This time, the wink was aimed at her. Unlike Etrani, Esharah had the awareness not to press.

  “I,” Aurelio continued, “thought it sounded important. So, here I am.”

  “You were in Frelund a week ago?” Etrani asked.

  “Yes,” Aurelio replied. “Left Hammerfall just before last restday.”

  “That’s...a distance of more than five hundred miles,” Etrani said. “Over mountains. Even the fastest horse couldn’t...”

  He laughed, “As you’ve no doubt noticed, I’m rather quick. Now, we’ve taken care of my identity. Shouldn’t we get a healer?”

  “I sent my spirit for one,” Katrin replied, eyes narrow with suspicion as she watched Aurelio.

  “Ah, good, good.” Aurelio clapped. “I’m sure you’ll take care of the task marvelously. I can tell you’re a strong one. Your story at the gathering was quite a moving one, Katrin of Nightfall.”

  She grunted and looked away, arms folding as she glared back.

  “We need...” Aven’s voice still sounded hoarse, and he grimaced behind the words. “We need to find Hanion. He...has my sister-”

  “Say no more,” Aurelio bowed. “That, at least, I can take care of. Esharah showed me their faces. I’ll have the dreamweaver in hand and your sister unharmed before the night’s end.”

  “Nothing’s that simple when Hanion is involved,” Aven replied.

  Aurelio grinned, “Thank you for the warning. I’ll be prepared.” Esharah felt nothing but confidence in his mind.

  Esharah braced herself for the increasingly familiar blast of air from Aurelio’s departure. Now that she was waiting for it, she saw him go. Still fast as a hawk in flight, but not as inscrutably swift. Aurelio vanished. Leaving them with the bleeding legate and more questions than answers.

  But they were all alive. All safe. Etrani’s mind had decided that was enough. As long as Esharah didn’t bleed to death, it would have to be enough for her as well.

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