There was a collective intake of breath as the paladins turnedto see me, their eyes widening in shock, their expressions shifting from disbelief to relief.
“Elena!” It was Aeldrin who reached me first, the lines of age around his eyes deeper than they’d been when I’d last seen him. “Thank the Sun God!” he said, drawing close to me as if he wanted to pull me into a hug, before he stopped, as if he remembered our audience. He drew back, but caught my hand in his, squeezing tight. “We feared the worst…” His voice shook, and he cleared his throat. “Where have you been, High Priestess?”
Leonidas was on his heels, his face bruised, and a deep cut over one eye. “Where did you go?” he demanded, the cut over his brow an ugly, flaring red. He had always stormed chest-first into danger; the wound suited him, like a badge of honor. A dozen other paladins closed ranks behind him, eyes fierce, voices low with questions they dared not ask in open council.
I let them have their relief. They had bled; they had been wounded. “I’m all right,” I replied, my voice steady but soft, carrying just enough weariness to support the story I was about to weave. “I’ve been… handling matters in the forest.”
A ripple of curiosity passed through the gathered paladins and guardian priests, their eyes filled with questions. Aeldrin’s brow furrowed, while Leonidas frowned, his expression a mix of relief and disbelief.
“Did you… face the Shadow King?”
I hesitated. “Yes,” I said. “He will not bother us now.”
I took a deep breath, hoping Dario would not make a liar out of me.
A murmur of approval swept through the group, their relief palpable, though there was a flicker of disappointment in Leonidas’s gaze. He wanted Dario gone, defeated, erased from our lives entirely.
But this was all I could give them—a half-truth that wouldkeep Dario safe, at least for now.
One of the younger paladins, his expression filled with a fierce admiration, stepped forward, his eyes shining with a fervent respect.
“You fought him alone, High Priestess?” he asked, his voice filled with awe. “Truly, you are the Sun’s chosen.”
I forced a smile, nodding slightly, though the praise felt hollow, undeserved. It was true that I had faced Dario, but I had notfoughthim.
“Many of our brave paladins fought and suffered to aid me,” I said, bowing my head. “The Sun God’s light guided me,” I continued, my voice calm, steady, despite the thumping of my heart. “But the Shadow King is only… contained. Not defeated. We must stay vigilant.”
Relief bred less cleanly than I supposed. The paladins’ faces held small betrayals: the weariness of men who had seen too much, held too little. An older man, a gaunt figure with a scar across his mouth, sat on the stone steps nursing a bandaged shoulder. One of the younger guardians tried to push his helmet back into place, but his hands trembled. Leonidas caught that motion and hid it with a laugh that wasn’t honest.
Aeldrin squeezed my hand in his, his grip firm and reassuring. “We are grateful for your courage, High Priestess. And the wounded are being healed. We were prepared to do whatever was necessary to ensure your safety.” His gaze softened, a flicker of worry in his eyes. “B0.ut you must rest now. You look… exhausted.”
I nodded, grateful for the reprieve. “Thank you, Aeldrin. I will take your advice.”
With a final nod to the gathered paladins, I turned and made my way into the temple, feeling the weight of every lie, every half-truth pressing down on me.
I excused myself to my chambers on the pretext of rest.
After a quick wash, I changed into a simple robe, the fabric soft against my skin, a welcome relief after my long hours of travel. I joined my paladins and Guardian priests in the meeting chambers, where we held a prayer meeting for the paladins who had been injured in the fight with Dario two nights before.
My heart ached with the knowledge that I had led these paladins to their fate, but Leonidas and Aledrin both assured me that with time, the paladins would heal.
The Elders had been summoned, a meeting arranged in my honor, and though I dreaded it, I knew I had to face them. They were the ones who held the answers, the ones who had ordered the search for the missing, the ones who Dario said had accused him of crimes he hadn’t committed.
If there were lies to uncover, the Elders would be at the heart of them.
Until then, I needed to rest. To let my tired mind slip free of its questions and doubts and fears.
I slept until evening, when the Elders Council had been called.
Before the meeting with the Elders, I walked the infirmary. The place was quiet and smelled strongly of salves. Matriarch nurses moved like ghosts, their fingers stained with herbs. One by one the wounded paladins lay on cots, faces slack with pain and fatigue. Hands that had gripped swords now blocked in windless rooms, looking more fragile than they had in battle.
A boy—barely older than the wide-eyed young paladin who’d praised me—sat on a cot, a strip of leather across his ribs where shadows had bruised him black and blue. He watched me approach with a mixture of awe and something I recognized as fear. “I thought you were gone,” he said simply, as if I were the sun come back.
“I’m here,” I said, and the words felt like a vow, a knot tied against a world of cracks. He gripped my fingers tight, as if thecontact might translate to strength. I felt like a fraud.
The next few hours passed in work: binding, cooling, blessing.When I left the infirmary the sunlight had softened. The council chamber doors waited like the mouth of some great beast. I ran a hand over my face. The robe I’d chosen had the humility of someone who expected censure and hoped for mercy. I was neither humble nor hopeful.
When the time came, I made my way to the council chamber, my steps slow, deliberate, as I steeled myself for the confrontation ahead.
