Chapter One
Lana Kholin, the daughter of a high prince, cousin to a king, was one of the most powerful women in Alethkar. And yet, she couldn't feel more powerless as she raced towards Sadeas's war camp, her aunt Navani close at her side. News had spread quickly that Sadeas had returned to the war camps without the Kholin army after attempting a joint plateau assault against the Parshendi. Lana refused to believe it – couldn't believe it - without seeing it.
For years Lana had protected her family from every threat imaginable. She had schemed, lied, and even killed to protect her family. Every threat had been taken care of. All except her father's growing optimism. Lana knew she should have paid more attention to her father's plans, but she had grown too lax in the years Dalinar had spent outside politics. By the time she had realized he had agreed to a joint plateau assault, it was too late. Still, Lana should have come up with something to stop it. Instead, she let her yearning to trust her father and the man he was becoming win out. And now it was going to cost them everything.
Maybe Lana should have gone for her horse when she heard of the betrayal, she was in a riding dress from her trip to Bethab's war camp earlier in the day after all. Instead, Lana had hastily made way on foot with Navani.
All Lana could feel was numb as they wound their way through the disorganized war camp, their attending ladies barely keeping up. Lana looked for anger in herself, yearned for it. Anything felt like it would be better than the stifling numbness she felt instead.
An eternity had passed by the time they made it to the staging area of Sadeas's war camp. Everyone so far hadn't dared stopped them. They had called after them but didn't stop them. The look on Navani's face could've made a chasm fiend cower so they were probably wise in their decisions.
They were, unfortunately, stopped as they tried to approach Sadeas under his canopy. Navani's face grew even more upset as they were forced to wait while a solider went to announce them to the high prince. The stately woman almost looked like she might start screaming just to get the high prince's attention. A young figure in blue rushed up to them before she could do so, however.
Renarin. Possibly the new Kholin high prince. It pained Lana to think about but if it were true, she would have to double her efforts to keep him safe. Renarin was sweet and just about the best little brother one could ask for, even with all his awkwardness. But, well, he wasn't really high prince material. Lana would do everything in her power to help him anyways.
"What's happened?" he asked, eye wide with panic.
"Sadeas left father and his men out there," Lana responded, basically growling the words. Even with the perfect invitation, the anger didn't come. She still just felt numb. No one could know that though, so she tried her best to act angry.
"There's been talk of a rout," Navani added.
"Although these men don't look like they've even been to battle, little lone been over run," Lana said while surveying the men with no blood on their uniforms, laughing and chatting while orderly being inspected and dismissed.
Before they could talk any more on the matter, Sadeas finally acknowledged the guard and allowed the trio to approach. Lana let Navani take the lead on the conversion and indeed as she grilled the high prince, he actually seemed uncomfortable.
Sadeas said all the lies Lana had expected. That the armies had been surrounded by every Parshendi solider there was instead of the smaller amount they usually brought. That working together upset the balance too much and should never have been tried. The numbness inside Lana stayed strong until the moment Sadeas began to explain seeing Dalinar's death. Claiming he was overrun by Parshendi with hammers then seeing them carry bloody chunks of armor away.
A crushing darkness smothered any other emotions Lana might have been able to feel. Somehow the numbness in her body didn't retreat from the darkness, instead the darkness rested entirely on her soul. Any feelings of anger, self-blame, or even denial were smothered by the soul crushing exhaustion she had been fighting more and more over the years. The kind of exhaustion that made her want to curl into a ball right here and let the storms take her. That way she didn't have to spend any more energy worrying. Didn't have to spend any more energy caring.
All Lana could do was stand there feigning anger as she listened to Navani and Sadeas continue talk. Naturally, Sadeas talked about how Dalinar was a friend and an ally and how he would make the Parshendi pay for their horrible acts but Lana believed exactly zero heart beats worth of the speech.
Torol and Ialai Sadeas had been scheming to get rid of Dalinar for a while now. Lana had seen this coming. Storms even Adolin had seen this coming, with all his political blindness. Lana wished she could be mad at herself for not doing more to stop it but all she could feel was that crushing darkness.
A chair was brought over for Navani to sit in, distressed how she was. Navani refused the chair however, so Renarin sat in it instead. Pale and wide eyed, the poor boy looked like he might pass out at any moment. Lana couldn't image what thoughts were running through his head. Thoughts of suddenly having to run a princedom perhaps? More likely, he was thinking about Dalinar and Adolin.
The thought of the older of her two younger brothers finally cracked the numbness which the darkness eagerly filled. Adolin. The insufferable man who continued to smile through everything they had been through. The person who pushed Lana and Renarin outside their comfort zones and smiled as they found themselves enjoying it. The only person on all of Roshar who could hold the darkness at bay in her weakest moments while she gathered her strength. Gone. Just like that. Lana turned Eastward, staring over the plains. There wasn't anything she wouldn't give to see Kholin blue forming in the distance.
Navani suddenly walked off towards their attendants and came back a moment later with a jar of ink and a brush. Kneeling on the ground, the older woman began painting. It didn't take Lana long to realize she was painting a glyph. A huge one, from the looks of the older woman's pacing.
After a trip to the attendants herself, Lana joined Navani on the ground and helped her complete the glyph. It was a complicated glyph which Lana was grateful for. A simple one would have left too much time for her mind to wander, for her soul to start aching. It felt like Lana stood under a ledge crowded with huge boulders, just waiting for them to fall and crush her. So, the distraction was welcomed.
For an indistinguishable amount of time, Lana crawled on the ground in sync with Navani as they created something beautiful. Every now and then Lana caught sight of Navani brushing away tears. What a relief tears would be right now for Lana. But they wouldn't come to her.
Four jars of ink and what felt like no time at all and yet an eternity later, Lana knelt in front of the burning glyph. Thath. Justice. Lana hoped her mixed filling about Vorinism wouldn't make whatever powerful being out there ignore the prayer.
As the glyph finished burning, the boulders of grief finally started to teeter on the edge, ready to crush Lana in a way she had only been crushed once before. Stormfather, how would she survive this time? Her brothers were the only reason she had made it through last time and one of them wouldn't be there for her this time. Maybe it's time to finally give up. Stop caring, a terrible voice deep inside her whispered.
Before Lana could agree or disagree with the thought, a runner in forest green rushed up to Sadeas. The man tried to start talking but the high prince gestured for his guards to make a perimeter and pulled the runner under the canopy. It said a lot about Lana's distressed state that she didn't even think about trying to read the two men's lips as they started talking.
Someone stepped between Lana and Navani. Getting down on one knee, Renarin placed a hand on Navani's right shoulder and the other on Lana's left shoulder. Lana could barely hear his words of gratitude as she braced herself for a storm wall of pain to hit.
"Lana?" asked a concerned voice next to her. She finally pulled her eyes off the ground to meet those of her brother. "Are you okay?" Renarin asked softly.
Instead of saying anything, Lana gave her younger brother a small smile and nodded. He didn't look convinced, but it was the best she could do right now. Lana vowed to herself that she would be strong for younger brother. But she only had so much strength to give in that moment, so while smiling wasn't much, it felt like she was pushing back high storm winds to achieve the feat.
It took Lana way too long to notice what was happening around her. The way Sadeas's eyes were wide and face flushed with anger. The way the crowd around her pushed towards the East side of the staging grounds. Lana's eyes found her aunt standing in the front of the gathering crowd so mustering all the strength she had, Lana stood up and made her way next to Navani.
After more heart beats than it should have taken her, Lana finally spotted the Kholin blue gathering in the distance. It took a couple more heart beats for her muddled mind to put together what it meant. The army wasn't completely dead. And upon closer inspection, she found two men in gleaming armor atop majestic Ryshadiums. Dalinar and Adolin. They were alive.