Weight of the World

Chapter Fifty

—The Crooked Forest—

The moment the others left, Mervin rushed to her in an attempt to heal the wound in her chest. But she had shaken her head and motioned to the archbishop's prone form instead. She would heal in time, but Archbishop Whittle was a different story. And so, Mervin knelt at his side, tending to his wound the best he could as Ren marched over to her and with a single gruff word, 'talk,' he ordered her to follow him out into the forest. Lulu hesitated for only a moment, watching as Mervin tried to save the archbishop's life. The wound was deep, and there was already so much blood upon the ground. It didn't matter, she tried to tell herself as she turned away and followed Ren out into the forest. The archbishop, Mervin, Varel, Ren—it didn't matter if they died in her pursuit of Virmira Tanadall. They were acceptable casualties. They were—not her friends.

Out in the forest, far enough away from the others, Lulu stepped into a small clearing, where Ren had been heading. But her mind was clouded with a myriad of thoughts. She wasn't paying attention and was caught unaware when Ren suddenly grabbed her by the shirt and slammed her up against the nearest tree, a dagger at her throat. Lulu didn't bother trying to fight back. Even if he slit her throat, she wouldn't die. The King of Bones had seen to that.

"I want an explanation," Ren growled at her. "You said, you're responsible for Ori's death. Tell me how."

There was no real reason to lie or hide the truth. Ren had cared for her cousin deeply, and if what Adix had said was true, Ori had loved him enough to think of him as a father. So, Lulu told him everything, sparing no detail as she recounted all from her quest for the Compass to Ori's arrival in the Weald, and Lulu's request for her to open the gate to the Garden of Starlight. Ren listened to it all, saying not a word, his eyes never straying from hers, and when her tale was finished, Ren visibly trembled, the tears in his eyes brimming over as he shoved her and stepped away. He sheathed the dagger at his hip and turned his back to her. His shoulders were slumped, his head tilted toward the ground.

"I was an agent of Virmira Tanadall," he told her quietly, his gruff voice rougher than usual, the tears thickening his voice. "When my wife and daughter were killed...I made a pact with the witch for the power to avenge them. She sent me to a place, where she said a powerful sorceress would fall out of the sky. I was to watch her and report back on everything that was happening. I was to tell her when she grew stronger, what her plans were, if the King of Bones or the Creator made contact. And when the time was right, I was to deliver her into the witch's hands."

"What changed?"

"Ori. She wasn't...wasn't what the witch said she would be. Powerful, yes, but...she was meant to be weak, a puppet, a plaything for the Creator to act through and take over Namera and the other kingdoms. But she..." Lulu saw his hands ball into fists, arms shaking as he forced himself to keep speaking. "She was kind and gentle and...compassionate...forgiving. She...became a daughter, and I...I nearly died at the Creator's hands. His actions were justified. I was fighting alongside Virmira Tanadall. I threw away my place at Ori's side, and I...I should have died. But Ori didn't let me go. She used blood magic to heal me. A part of me is bound to her now, always. I carry her with me wherever I go."

Ren swallowed thickly as he finally turned around to face her once more.

"By the time I woke up, Ori was gone. My king told me she had left with Adix to introduce him to her family. And then...a few weeks later...Adix returned. Alone. He didn't have to say a word. I could see it in his eyes. I've known the kid a long time. Watched him grow up. Watched him become the Nightwarden. Watched him fall in love. I knew Ori was gone the second he walked into the throne room without her. He told us nearly nothing except that the Creator and Virmira Tanadall were to blame. And then he left...Today was the first time I'd seen him since..."