The Sleeper and the Silverblood
The Ultimate Decision

On her last day in Valëtyria’s long-term care facility, Kitara woke with a plan beginning to form in her mind. Storm still slept, so she slipped into the adjoining room to use the facilities and make a few phone calls.

“Hello, Kitara.”

“Baylen.”

She hesitated, unsure how to begin.

“Everything alright?” he asked when she didn’t immediately speak.

“Yeah. I just…” She chewed her lip as she stared at her father’s green eyes in the bathroom mirror. “How long did it take you to start…building bodies?”

The question must have surprised him because Baylen didn’t answer right away. “Years,” he finally said. “And even now, I’m only able to tend to about three angels a day. Why?”

“I want…to try to unFell Robert.”

She could feel his disapproval through the phone. “Kitara…”

“How am I supposed to know if I can do it again if I don’t try?”

“You just recovered from a traumatic experience, including unFelling Storm. It’s your last day in the healing facility—have you become so attached you don’t wish to be released?”

“Drama queen,” Kitara muttered.

“It’s a valid question.”

“Well, how did you get started then?” she countered defensively.

A pause. “You probably don’t want to know the answer to that.”

She sighed, annoyed. “You’re going to have to learn how to be a lot more forthcoming if you want me to give your offer any real thought.”

“Implying you’ve given it some thought.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t want anyone thinking my loyalty is divided.”

“Do you think your loyalty is divided?”

“I’m not trying to help Ostragarn against Valëtyria.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Kitara almost laughed. “Do you know how many times you’ve not answered a question I asked?”

“Cadavers.”

That caught her off guard. “What?”

“You asked how I got started building bodies. I used cadavers. Seemed…safer and a bit more humane.”

“I can’t exactly use a cadaver for this, Baylen.”

He sighed heavily. “No, I suppose not.”

“I think I may need…support,” she finally admitted. “And no one else…no one else gets it, you know?”

“I do.”

She gripped the phone a little tighter. “Can you do it as a favor?”

“You already owe me one—I said no blood sacrifices, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten.”

Kitara rolled her eyes. “Well, now I’ll owe you two.”

Baylen contemplated this for a moment. “You and Storm. If you both accept my offer, I’ll consider the favors repaid.”

“And if we don’t? If he doesn’t?”

“Well, I suppose I’ll just have to try and call them in a different time.”

Kitara’s lips twisted in a wry smile, exasperated and amused. “We’ve only had a few days to think about it.”

“There’s no rush. I understand your caution.”

“You’ve said that once to me before.”

“And it was as true then as it is now.”

Kitara bit back an exasperated sigh. “I need to call Rob. Will you help me or not?”

He snorted. “Fine. When?”

“Today.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“I think so. But I’m really not going to know until I try.”

“Fair enough.”

After hanging up with her cousin, Kitara made a few more calls, then slipped out of the bathroom to replace the Healers.

“You’re never up before me.”

Storm’s voice startled a squeak out of her, and Kitara spun to replace him watching her from the bed. “Sorry, I thought you were still asleep.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“Taking care of some things,” she hazarded, edging toward the door. “I need to go talk to the Healers for a minute.”

“Everything okay?”

She took a deep breath. “I want to try and unFell Robert. If he wants me to.”

Storm gaped at her. “You’re still recovering from unFelling me—”

“I’m recovered,” she interrupted. “And going a bit stir-crazy, to tell you the truth. When I unFelled you, I’d just blown up a whole fortress after days of very little sleep and barely any food. I’m rested, well-fed, and back to full strength. What better time to try it than now? In the long-term care facility, surrounded by Healers? A…safety net of sorts,” she added, thinking of Baylen’s words when she cleared the sedative from Kenric’s veins. Her voice softened. “Itzal’s attacks left Fallen behind, Storm. Fallen who didn’t deserve it any more than Robert does.”

He propped himself up on one elbow. “I’m not questioning your motivations, or even your capabilities, Kit. I just…are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” she muttered. “Yes.”

His silver eyes tightened a little. “Have you thought about how it will affect him if…”

“If I fail?”

“I’m not saying you will, but—”

“I have,” she interrupted him. “And…I plan to explain it in as cautionary terms as possible. But I have to try, Storm.”

“Stars, Kit,” he muttered under his breath. “Why?”

“What happened to you…it happened to others, Storm. My own mother.” She crossed the room again to perch on the edge of the bed at his side. “I need an opportunity to test this power of mine. If unFelling you was a fluke…I’d rather know now, wouldn’t you?”

Storm’s expression softened, and he reached out to take Kitara’s hand. “You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, Kit. We know who you are.”

She shook her head. “I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone.”

“See, that may be the first lie you’ve ever told me, because you’re definitely trying to prove it to yourself.”

She half-smiled. “I don’t count.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “Of course you do. Love, I’m not going to stop you. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“Stars no, I have no idea,” she answered honestly. “But I feel ready.”

He nodded. “If you’ll give me a minute, I’ll get dressed and go with you.”

The Healers protested, which Kitara expected. After a well-timed phone call from her soul bond’s mother and a little wheedling from said soul bond himself, the Healers relented and began preparing a room for her to work in.

Baylen appeared in Kitara’s recovery room a short time later, watching her pace with a mild expression.

“You’re making me nervous,” Storm finally said from the couch.

“Can’t help it,” she replied, pivoting again. “I’m nervous.”

“There’s no need to be,” Baylen said. “You’ve done it once already, and that in subpar circumstances. At full strength, I suspect you’ll have no trouble.”

“Easy for you to say,” she muttered. “Stars, they should have been here by now.”

“He’s the High Engineer, Kit,” Storm reminded her. “He can’t just…up and leave on a whim. He’s probably making sure Alasdair can cover for him—”

Voices echoing in the hall made the three of them look up.

Kitara’s brow furrowed. “I called Kenric and Robert, Ilythia too, in case I needed her to persuade the Healers. But it sounds like—”

A host of people appeared in the doorway. Declan, Zayne, and Alasdair. Kenric and Robert. Devika and Phoebe. And…

“High Councilor,” Kitara greeted him as he entered with his wife, her gaze flicking to Baylen and back again.

“Kitara.”

She surveyed them all. “What are you doing here?”

“When Robert mentioned what you wanted to do, I didn’t want to miss the chance to see it,” Alasdair admitted.

“Then he told us, and obviously we had to come too,” Declan put in. “Cuz we’re all besties now, right, B?”

The Ninthëvel rolled his eyes and didn’t reply.

“I wanted to be here in case you ended up unconscious again,” Devika added. “Not that I think you will, but—”

“You’re attempting something…miraculous,” Cornelius said. “My wife and I…we agreed we should be here for it.”

Ilythia grinned at Kitara, who sighed.

“I caught the tail end of their conversation,” Phoebe admitted. “And, like Devika, I wanted to be here, just in case. To witness the impossible.”

“Also, I am definitely taking notes,” Devika added, smiling at her friend.

Finally, Kitara looked at Kenric and Robert.

The latter made a heroic attempt to keep the hope out of his expression. “Are you sure?” he asked quietly. “You’ve only just recovered from before…”

“I’m sure. You don’t have to be anywhere for the next few days, do you? I don’t know how long it will take—”

“If he does, Alasdair will cover for him,” Kenric cut in smoothly. “If you truly think you can do it…”

“If I do, will you all stop treating me like I’m a doll on the verge of breaking?” Kitara snapped.

Kenric grinned. “Whatever you want.”

Robert’s expression gave nothing away. “If you do this…” He sighed and ran a hand through his silver hair in a gesture of unease. “It will change everything, Kitara.”

“It already has,” she muttered.

The others exchanged glances.

“Kit,” Storm began hesitantly. “Everything you are—and I don’t mean your ancestry—whether you can fix Robert, whether or not you could have fixed me, the others…none of that affects how we see you.”

“Or how we love you,” Devika added.

Storm continued, his voice filled with a quiet intensity. “You’ve proven yourself a thousand times, in a hundred different ways. You are more than your father’s abilities, more than a Ninthëvel. Just…more.”

“I think my father would have wanted this,” Kitara replied, holding Storm’s gaze. “If he really thought I was the solution to his formula, the answer to all the sorrow it caused…I want to live up to that. I want to make my parents proud. Make Saoirse proud.”

“They would be,” Phoebe said, her eyes suspiciously bright. “Mija, they would be so proud of you.”

“We all are,” Devika added, extending a hand to her sister, who took it gratefully and pulled her into a hug.

Kitara looked around the room. Each immortal wore a different expression, but they all held the same sentiment—belief.

“You’re gonna make me cry, and I haven’t even done anything yet,” Kitara managed in a strangled tone.

“You do realize,” Declan began, grinning impishly, “if you cry, I will have to make a joke, probably at Storm’s expense, right?”

“That would probably only make her cry more,” Devika said, deadpan. “Your jokes are awful.”

“And yet,” Declan countered, “you always laugh.”

Devika raised an eyebrow. “Out of pity, mostly.”

The room filled with laughter despite that assertion.

“All right,” Kitara finally cut in. “The Healers will show you all to the room. I’ll be there in a minute.” Her emerald eyes cut to Storm’s father. “High Councilor, a word?”

That spurred the rest of them to make their way into the hall.

When Storm made as if to leave too, Kitara tugged on his hand. “You stay. We should have this conversation together.”

Baylen paused just inside the door, raising an eyebrow at her in an unspoken question.

Kitara shook her head, and he slipped out with the others.