Two full months had passed since the unpleasant and bloody events.
Veythral had shown unexpected resistance to Prince Charles's gambit, emerging victorious at least for now from this political game of chess.
Since that jarring confrontation with Fredrinn that night, Cassian had melted all the ice between them.
There were almost no secrets left. He had told him nearly everything: all he had endured, the horrific prophecies he had witnessed, the truth about Dr. Aris, the dangers of the reincarnators, and how fate was relentlessly flowing toward the same, cruel end.
Fredrinn had staggered under the inconceivable weight of this knowledge.
The world was not the simple place he had known; it was a complex, deadly game filled with gods, reincarnators, and an inevitable apocalypse.
But before Cassian, he had to stand strong, no matter what. He could not betray the trust of this small boy.
