Chapter 289 — Peace
The crowd appeared at dusk.
It came out of the valley in pieces.
First, three carts.
Then six.
Then people walking between them.
Farmers.
Families.
Old men carrying sacks.
Children holding onto sleeves.
A woman pushing a broken wheelbarrow.
Nobody looked armed.
That was what made Crowley suspicious.
He stopped at the edge of the road.
The rest of Xcution stopped behind him.
Henry looked at the crowd.
"That's a lot of people."
Sera nodded.
"Where are they going?"
Crowley watched the road.
"Somewhere."
Henry waited.
"That was helpful."
Crowley ignored him.
Athena stepped beside Crowley.
"How many?"
"Too many to count quickly."
Gabriel watched the rear of the crowd.
"Some are injured."
Brook looked.
He could see them now.
A man with a wrapped hand.
A child limping.
An old woman leaning on a stick.
A teenager with blood on his shirt.
Nothing that looked like a military formation.
Nothing that looked like Heaven.
Nothing that looked like Hell.
Just people.
People moving because somewhere behind them was a place they no longer wanted to be.
Crowley stepped off the road.
The crowd noticed.
Some people moved aside.
Others stopped.
A few stared at Gabriel.
Then at Athena.
Then at Brook.
Whispers spread.
Henry heard one.
"That's him."
Another voice answered.
"The boy?"
Henry looked at Brook.
Brook heard it too.
He didn't react.
Crowley walked toward the nearest cart.
An older man held the reins.
"Where are you headed?"
The man looked nervous.
"West."
"Why?"
The man looked behind him.
Nobody answered.
Crowley waited.
Finally the man said,
"Because the road behind us isn't safe."
Crowley glanced at Brook.
Then the ridge.
Then the road.
"What happened?"
The man shook his head.
"Nothing."
Crowley frowned.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing we could explain."
That answer made the silence heavier.
Sera came closer.
"What did you see?"
The man looked at her.
"Houses."
"Burning?"
"No."
"Destroyed?"
"No."
"Empty?"
The man hesitated.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Three."
"People?"
"Gone."
Brook stepped closer.
"Bodies?"
The man shook his head.
"No."
Brook looked at Sera.
She looked back.
Neither said anything.
Crowley thanked the man.
"Keep moving."
The cart started again.
The crowd followed.
Henry watched them pass.
"Do we help them?"
Crowley looked at Brook.
Brook looked at the crowd.
A little girl was carrying a small wooden horse.
She looked at Brook as she passed.
Brook nodded.
She nodded back.
Crowley said,
"We can't protect everyone."
Brook looked at him.
Crowley continued.
"We can keep the road clear."
Brook nodded.
They moved aside.
The crowd passed.
For several minutes, there was only the sound of wheels.
Then Brook felt it.
Someone watching.
He stopped.
Sera noticed.
"What?"
Brook looked toward the ridge.
Nothing.
A long slope of grass.
A few dead trees.
A line of stone.
Nothing else.
Then a figure appeared.
Far away.
Several hundred feet.
Silvet.
He stood alone.
No weapon drawn.
No armor.
No escort.
He simply watched.
Brook's hand moved toward his side.
Crowley noticed.
"Don't."
Brook lowered his hand.
Silvet remained on the ridge.
The crowd continued moving between them.
For a moment, people passed directly through Brook's line of sight.
A child.
A cart.
A woman carrying a sleeping baby.
Then the gap opened.
Silvet was still there.
His eyes found Brook.
He didn't smile.
He didn't raise a hand.
He didn't move closer.
Brook stepped forward.
Crowley put an arm across his path.
"No."
Brook looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because he wants you to."
Silvet's voice carried down the slope.
"Not today."
Crowley looked up.
Silvet remained where he was.
Brook stared.
"You came to watch?"
Silvet nodded.
"Peace."
Brook frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Silvet looked at the crowd.
"Exactly what you think."
"I don't know what you mean."
Silvet looked back at him.
"No fighting."
Crowley watched him carefully.
"Then leave."
Silvet did not answer.
His eyes moved past Brook.
To Crowley.
Specifically, to the coat.
The black coat.
Old.
Worn.
The same coat Crowley had worn for as long as Brook had known him.
Silvet stared at it for several seconds.
Crowley's expression didn't change.
Brook noticed.
So did Gabriel.
Silvet looked away.
Then his eyes found Hutena.
She stood near the rear of the crowd.
Quiet.
Her book held against her chest.
Silvet's gaze stopped there.
Hutena felt it.
She looked up.
Their eyes met.
She went still.
Brook saw it.
"Hutena."
She didn't answer.
Silvet's face changed slightly.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Hutena's fingers tightened around the book.
Silvet took one step down the ridge.
Crowley shifted.
Silvet stopped.
"Peace," he said again.
Hutena's voice was barely audible.
"I know."
Silvet studied her.
"You see?"
Hutena looked down at the book.
"Sometimes."
"Enough?"
"No."
Silvet's gaze remained on her.
"Good."
Brook looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Silvet looked at Brook.
"It means I came to watch."
"You've said that before."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Silvet shrugged.
"Because you're still walking."
Brook frowned.
"That doesn't answer anything."
"No."
Silvet looked toward the road.
"You aren't ready."
Brook's expression hardened.
"For what?"
Silvet didn't answer.
Crowley stepped forward.
"Then stop wasting time."
Silvet looked at him.
"King."
Crowley said nothing.
Silvet's eyes moved over the coat again.
"You kept it."
Crowley's face remained still.
Brook looked at him.
Crowley didn't look back.
Silvet continued.
"Interesting."
Crowley said,
"Leave."
Silvet smiled faintly.
Not warmly.
Not cruelly.
Almost tiredly.
"Peace."
Then he turned.
Brook watched him walk back up the ridge.
"Silvet."
He stopped.
Brook stepped forward.
"Who wrote B-01?"
The ridge became silent.
Silvet didn't turn around.
Brook waited.
Finally Silvet said,
"Not here."
Brook's jaw tightened.
"You always say that."
"Because you're always asking too early."
Brook stared at him.
"Then when?"
Silvet looked over his shoulder.
"When the question matters more than the answer."
Brook didn't like that.
He started forward.
Crowley's arm moved again.
Brook stopped himself.
Silvet watched.
Then looked toward Hutena.
"You."
Hutena froze.
Silvet pointed at the book.
"Don't let them take it."
Hutena's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Silvet looked at Brook.
Then Crowley.
Then the road.
"Anyone."
He turned away.
Hutena watched him.
Brook looked at her.
"You know him?"
She shook her head.
"No."
Silvet walked farther up the ridge.
Brook called after him.
"You're not going to attack us?"
Silvet stopped.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I said peace."
Brook waited.
Silvet continued walking.
The crowd moved on.
The road slowly emptied.
Soon only the carts remained in the distance.
Brook looked at Crowley.
"You trust him?"
"No."
"Then why let him leave?"
Crowley looked toward the ridge.
"Because he chose to."
Brook frowned.
"That simple?"
"No."
Crowley turned away.
"It's just all we get."
Athena approached.
Her eyes followed Silvet's path.
"You know him."
Crowley looked at her.
"Yes."
"How?"
"Long story."
Athena nodded.
She didn't press.
Brook did.
"Why did he look at your coat?"
Crowley glanced down.
Then back toward the ridge.
"Because he knows what it is."
Brook waited.
Crowley walked away.
"That all you're getting."
Henry watched him go.
"He does that a lot."
Sera closed her notebook.
"Yes."
Hutena remained still.
Brook walked toward her.
"What did he mean?"
She looked at him.
"I don't know."
"He told you not to let anyone take the book."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Brook looked at the book.
"Can you see what's going to happen?"
Hutena looked down.
"Sometimes."
"Did you see him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Hutena's fingers tightened.
"Because he wasn't in the next part."
Brook frowned.
"What does that mean?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Brook stared at her.
For a moment, he thought about asking again.
He didn't.
The crowd had nearly disappeared over the next ridge.
A child dropped something.
A wooden horse.
Brook noticed.
He picked it up.
He ran toward the cart.
"Hey."
The little girl turned.
Brook held it out.
She smiled.
"Thank you."
Brook nodded.
She took it.
The cart continued.
Brook walked back.
Sera watched him.
"You ran."
Brook looked at her.
"It was ten feet."
"You ran."
"My knee is fine."
Sera stared.
Brook sighed.
"It hurts."
"Better."
Henry smiled.
"Honesty."
Brook ignored him.
The ridge was empty.
Silvet was gone.
No tracks were visible from where he had stood.
Brook looked at the grass.
Nothing.
He didn't know what Silvet wanted.
He didn't know why he had come.
He didn't know why he had looked at Crowley's coat.
Or why he had watched Hutena.
Or why he had said peace as though the word meant something more than the absence of violence.
But he had not attacked.
He had not forced Hutena to open her book.
He had not taken the road.
He had not touched Brook.
For now, that was enough.
Crowley called from ahead.
"We move."
Brook turned.
The group gathered.
Hutena came last.
She held the book tighter than before.
Brook noticed.
"Everything okay?"
She looked at the ridge.
"No."
Brook waited.
Hutena looked at him.
"But nothing happened."
Brook nodded.
Sometimes that was the closest thing to peace they got.
They continued down the road.
Behind them, the ridge remained empty.
Above it, the clouds finally broke.
A thin beam of sunlight touched the grass where Silvet had stood.
Then it moved away.
No one followed.
No one returned.
And for one more evening, Silvet kept his distance.
End of Chapter 289