Page 642 -- LXXIV.

Salazar may have been strong. She may have been clever. She may have even saved Mariana’s life along with those of all her comrades. But when it came down to it, she and Armengél were cowards, and this meeting here today only confirmed that for Mariana all the more.

A part of Mariana wanted to dredge up the past right now and confront the woman about it directly, but she resisted, knowing no good would come of it. She’d already heard Salazar’s excuses, anyway.

“How’s that daughter of yours?” the General asked, which pulled Mariana back to the conversation at hand. “Gema, wasn’t it?”

“She is fine,” she said.

“That’s good. How old is she now?”

“Eighteen.”

Perhaps the woman had been expecting a more elaborate response, because the conversation died there and didn’t recover. She looked at the Elroys as the uncomfortable silence returned, perhaps letting it draw out to be sure that they didn’t have anything else to say to her. “Ah... it seems we’re no longer welcome here, Armengél.”

He nodded. ‘Well, at least they’re not trying to kill us.’


Chapter Seventy-Four: ‘O, forsaken sanctuary...!’
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Seven hours after his arrival in Warrenhold, Hector had still not fully explored the castle, and it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.

It was just him and Garovel now. It had taken a while just to find a staircase that led underground, and even then, he’d had to clear away the rubble first. The tall stone doors would hardly even budge, and Hector ended up accidentally busting them down, only to see still more debris in the way. He decided that it was too dangerous for anyone else to venture down with him, so he asked Jamal to escort his mother and Madame Carthrace to a hotel. It was already well into the night anyway, and they all seemed pretty tired. Jamal left him with a variety of supplies, for which Hector was quite thankful.

The castle had its own generator. Somewhere. Until he found it and figured out how to get it working, there would be no electricity. Which meant no light, of course, save only what he brought with him.