Beyond the Rabbit Hole

Promise

 "Come with me," Isaaik said. He walked calmly past the two reapers.

Alyss and Morgyn couldn't think of how to respond.

"You are the only ones who can see and hear me, correct?" Isaaik glanced back at them.

"Yes," Alyss nodded.

"The soldiers will think you mad then for speaking at length to an invisible dead man. Let us take this to my chambers—we have much to discuss." Isaaik headed toward a nearby alley.

Alyss and Morgyn reluctantly followed.

"You seem surprisingly calm about this." Morgyn spoke quietly.

"Is that what it seems to you?" Isaaik chuckled. "Perhaps you're right. This battle. . . didn't go the way I had expected at all. But I can also feel my leg again. It's as if the wrongs of the world have been righted. If I still had a body, I believe I'd be shaking with excitement."

"Excitement?" Morgyn's jaw dropped. "How can-"

"Wait!" A stern voice called out to them from behind. "What are you two doing out here?"

"Just what I was trying to avoid," Isaaik sighed.

Alyss and Morgyn turned around and watched the Talonguard officer, Hareson, approach them from the darkness.

"This place isn't safe! You shouldn't. . ." His eyes widened as he came closer. "You two? Aren't you the lord commander's guests?"

"We are, yes." Morgyn cautiously replied.

"I'm Acting Commander Hareson." The officer asserted. "I thought I saw you two heading away from the crowd in a hurry. Does that mean-"

"Isaaik is dead, right?" Alyss said.

"So, you do already know." Hareson said solemnly.

"We had nothing to do with it either, so look somewhere else for a scapegoat." Alyss growled.

The Talonguard officer's eyes narrowed. "It wasn't my intention to offend your ladyship, but I am curious why you two were leaving in such a hurry."

The words Alyss wanted to speak caught in her throat, and Morgyn struggled to find the correct response.

"Hareson is earnest to a fault," Isaaik chimed in behind them. "Tell him you are going to warn Lady Mantin so she can leave the city before the civilians learn of my death."

"We felt it necessary to warn Ash- er, Lady Mantin about Isaaik's death before the civilians find out about it." Morgyn replied.

Hareson averted his eyes for a moment while he thought. "That makes sense." He nodded. "I don't know the entirety of Isaaik's grudge against the empire, but I don't believe she played any part in his demise. I will try to keep word of Isaaik's passing from spreading, but it likely won't be more than a few days before the entire city knows what happened tonight. Make sure she has fled before then."

Morgyn's brow raised. "I'm surprised—you don't want to use this against her?"

"I'm not like Isaaik." Hareson shook his head. "I respected him, and still do. But I am not him. I believe he truly had what's best for Herongrand at heart, but I can't know what he had planned, so I will try and keep the peace my own way."

"As I said." Isaaik nodded. "Now come with me before he changes his mind."

"Thank you," Alyss smiled. "We won't forget this."

Isaaik led Alyss and Morgyn through the darkened streets. When they crossed the bridge, they noticed fewer guards around the palace, the most of which were tense with suppressed panic.