Father sinks into his chair, the effort of standing so long finally catching up. "I've cost us nothing we can't afford to lose."
"Nothing?" Vaelra's voice climbs toward hysteria. "Protection, trade privileges, security for our future?—"
A coughing fit cuts off Father's response. His whole body convulses as that terrible rattling sound tears from his chest. I rush to his side, abandoning the tea tray.
"Easy," I whisper, steadying his shoulders as the coughs subside. "Here."
I press the last cup of elderflower tea into his hands—the one I'd saved for him. He takes a careful sip, his breathing gradually evening out.
"My brave Illy," he murmurs, his weathered hand covering mine. "You don't need to worry about being married off. You'll marry for love, someday, just like I did."
I offer a smile of encouragement. I know he loved my mother, though I never knew her. But when I think of him and Vaelra, it becomes impossible to think that it's love that ties them together.
But, then again, what do I know of love?
4
AZRATHIEL
The whisper strengthens, threading through the infernal plane like smoke given voice. Fear edges its desperation now—sharp, metallic, familiar. I pause in my review of pending contracts, golden script flickering against obsidian as the sound tugs at something deeper than curiosity.
This isn't surprising. This is how it always begins.
Some creature in Protheka teeters toward the edge of oblivion, their world crumbling faster than they can rebuild it. They clutch at shadows and half-remembered stories, seeking salvation in places their priests warn against. The desperation grows until it becomes a beacon, calling across realms to those who traffic in impossible solutions.
They always become so desperate that they sign their life away in blood without a second thought.
I close the ledger with deliberate precision. The contracts can wait. This whisper carries something different—a sweetness beneath the fear that intrigues me more than it should. Not the bitter resignation of the condemned, but something richer. Hope, perhaps, though that seems unlikely given the circumstances.
I trace the thread across dimensions, following its source through layers of reality until it leads me to a small human settlement perched on the edge of Vhoig. Unremarkable structures huddle together against the mountain's shadow, their windows glowing amber in the gathering dusk.
The whisper originates from a modest home just outside the main cluster—stone walls, thatched roof, smoke curling from its chimney. I step into shadow near its foundation, wrapping darkness around myself until I become nothing more than another patch of evening gloom.
Through the window, I observe the source of that desperate call.
A human woman moves about the kitchen with ease, her movements carrying a grace that seems at odds with her surroundings and the call that brought me here. She's preparing broth in a worn copper pot, steam rising in delicate spirals that catch the lamplight. Her sleeves are rolled back, revealing slender forearms as she stirs the mixture with careful attention.
She hums while she works—a melody I don't recognize but find myself following despite its simplicity. The sound drifts through the quiet house like liquid silver, more melodic than anything I've heard in recent years. When she shifts to singing softly, the words too low to distinguish, the sweetness I detected in her desperation becomes clear.
This creature possesses something rare among mortals—genuine contentment despite her circumstances. The house radiates peace, not the frantic energy of someone preparing to make infernal bargains.
How could this thread have led me here?
She adjusts her hair with an absent gesture, the thick black braid swinging over her shoulder to rest against the middle of her back. The movement sends the plaited strands swaying asshe pours the broth into a ceramic bowl, testing its temperature with the tip of one finger.
"There," she murmurs to herself, satisfaction evident in her tone. "That should help."
She lifts the bowl with both hands and turns toward the stairs, her footsteps light on the wooden floor. The desperate whisper I followed grows stronger as she climbs, each step carrying her closer to whatever crisis has torn a hole between our worlds.
She enters a dimly lit room where a human man lies propped against threadbare pillows, his breathing shallow and labored. The desperate whisper that drew me here suddenly crystallizes into perfect clarity. Her desperation isn't for herself—it's for this dying creature who watches her approach with eyes that still hold warmth despite the fever burning behind them.
"Father, I made you some soup. You need to eat something."
The word 'father' settles the mystery. Through infernal sight, I perceive what mortal eyes cannot—the slow corruption spreading through his organs like ink through water. His liver struggles against toxins it cannot process, his kidneys filter blood that grows thicker each day, and his heart labors against a burden that increases with each beat.
This man is dying, slowly and with considerable suffering.
She sets the bowl on the small table beside his bed and perches on the mattress edge, her movements careful not to jostle him. Steam rises from the broth, carrying scents of herbs and what little nutrition she can coax from their meager stores.