The companion delicately picked her way through the gravel strewn path. Her chosen wrapped her cloak tautly around her thin shoulders and strained to see into the inky darkness up ahead. Not at the path itself, any herald would be a fool not to trust her companion's surefootedness over her own. But the clear bell-tones of her companion's hooves grazing the rocks in the path threatened to lull her into a half doze. So she stared into the enveloping blackness until her eyes hurt. Her companion skittered slightly, a sure sign that the uneasy feeling of being watched that stiffened the herald's spine was not being imagined. She wished again that she had the ability to mind-speak her with Sasha. The contact of warm soft hair against her legs was soothing, but not soothing enough. She felt like it was the darkness itself watching her, waiting to consume her. She shivered again and twined her companion's silken mane in her fingers. And then the blackness struck.

… … …

Skylar sighed, she wanted nothing more than to just lie down and take a nap. But of course Talia chose now to stop skulking around in the records and confront Skylar about her past. "How did you know about Kris?" Talia repeated impatiently. Skylar fixed her with a hard gaze, disgusted that she had ever held the slightest bit of fear or respect for the herald. Talia was revealing herself now to be nothing more than an overgrown child, stubborn in her anxiety over having her precious little world disrupted.

"The same way I've known about everything else. Didn't you notice?" Skylar smirked at Talia's blank expression; the pain in her head was rapidly dissipating at the prospect of giving the Queen's Own a well deserved tongue-lashing. "No, of course you didn't. Didn't notice that I knew both your and Skif's names before you ever gave them. Didn't notice that I knew Selenay was Queen before ever being informed of even what century we're in, let alone what ruling family." Skylar paused, building the suspense with her acid tongue. "Didn't notice how readily I accepted the changes in this world since Vanyel's time. For example, herald-mages. Didn't it ever strike you as odd that I didn't once ask you why there weren't any?" Skylar's grin broadened as Talia shifted uncomfortably under the unforeseen onslaught. "No, of course not. All of these little warning signs whizzed right by your un-protesting innocent eyes. But I mention an ex-lover, oh now you jump at the chance to confront me." Skylar cocked her head. "Oh wait, you never told me he was an ex-lover, did you?"

… … …

Skif crossed companion's field, his hands wedged deep in his pockets. He skidded in the mud, and felt it unpleasantly seep over the top of his boots. He inwardly cursed the spring thaw, it was almost worse than winter. Finally he spotted Cymry mincing her way across the field, somehow magically managing to dodge the puddles so that her white coat was as spotless as ever. "Took you long enough." He muttered under his breath. Striding over to her, he grabbed his startled friend on either side of her face and looked deeply into her eyes.

: Tell me about her. : He mind-sent with every little nuance of emotion he could pile into those four short words.

… … …

Talia stiffened and unthinkingly flinched back. Skylar was forcing her emotions past Talia's shields so that she was drowning in a world of mockery, bitterness, and something dangerously close to hatred. She hastened to strengthen her shields before Skylar managed to affect her own emotional state. To her relief she felt Rolan there, flooding her with his strength and support. "Alright. You've made your point. Now will you tell me how you knew all of this or am I going to have to truth spell you?" Skylar jerked in feigned surprise.

"You mean you would actually truth spell another herald?" Talia looked down at her, still shaken by the intensity of her emotions.

"You're not really a herald, are you?"

"I have a companion, don't I?" Skylar jerked her head in an indication that Talia should sit in the chair that Selenay had earlier vacated. Talia didn't move.

"Well then that's another thing you will be informing me of shortly. How did you manage to coerce Kavi into choosing you? After all, you said it yourself; you want nothing to do with this world." To her utter shock Talia simultaneously felt a dropping feeling in the pit of her stomach as Rolan abruptly pulled out of her mind and was hit with a sickening wave of anger, although she wasn't entirely sure whether it originated from Skylar or Rolan. Skylar's eyes burned with a fierceness that she had never seen there before. When she spoke she did so brutally biting off each word, leaving no questions in Talia's mind about the truth behind the words.

"I trust Rolan just reminded you that no one can coerce a companion into doing anything. You can dislike me all you want, that's fine, to be honest, I can't stand you either. But don't you ever say that I didn't get chosen out of Kavi's own free will and love for me, because you could not be further from the truth." Skylar let the silence weight down on Talia for a few moments before going on. "Now you came here to find about how I knew about Kris, so let's deal with that. Sit." Talia sat gingerly. "Books. You know what you know about me by pouring through your books, well, I know what I know about you by pouring through my books." Talia watched Skylar through wide eyes. Skylar leaned back; the tension was finally beginning to seep out of her muscles. "They're not 100 accurate, of course. They're written as if I never came here. But they tell me what I need to know. They told me how Urtho died, how 'Lendel died, how Vanyel died, and how magic and herald-mages died with them. They told me about Skif growing up in the slums, about you growing up in the border-lands, but more importantly, they told me what kind of people you all are." Skylar glanced over at Talia finally. "They also told me how this world survives just fine without me. The told me how little I changed things. You don't think I realize that Selenay doubts me? It positively radiates from her when she looks at me." Skylar looked down again, idly tracing patterns in the comforter. "Kavi told me she called me your curse, you know. And I don't even know if she's wrong." Talia took a shaky breath. Whatever she had expected from Skylar, this was not it. Her mind raced in an attempt to find where to begin. At the beginning, I suppose, she thought cautiously.

"When did you leave the first time?" Skylar laughed bitterly.

"As Urtho was dying. I was in the room when he was poisoned; I had just brought him a tray with something to eat." She shook her head, lost in her own mind. "To do this day I don't know how I wasn't seen. But the second the barbs pierced his skin, I was pulled away." Talia noticed with shock that Skylar was struggling to fend off tears. "I know now, why I was sent here. Not this time I mean, but the other two. I was supposed to stop them from getting Urtho. And I was supposed to stop Tylendel from losing himself." Her fingers clenched convulsively. "And I couldn't do it." Talia looked at her with a sudden realization.

"So you weren't actually here to be Vanyel's advisor like we thought. You were here to be Tylendel's." Skylar nodded shakily. "I think I understand now. When you said you wouldn't get close to people … it wasn't so you wouldn't lose them. It's so Valdemar wouldn't lose them."

"Eureka," Skylar said quietly. Talia flashed her an odd look but ignored the unknown word. She hesitantly rose and moved towards Skylar, unsure of how to proceed. But suddenly she was drenched with ice-cold nothingness a bare few seconds before the death bell began its baleful toll.