Two Hearts One Beat – Chapter 198

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Side A – Yasgrid

Yasgrid had thought that she was ‘giving up’ Kyra. She’d seen how shaken Kyra had been by the conversation they’d had with Endings. She’d seen how devastated Kyra had been by the loss of the Denar. 

And there was the matter of the other Fate Dancers. 

Kyra’s people. 

The ones she’d defied to work with Yasgrid in the first place. 

Kyra wasn’t willing to break with them. She was still a Fate Dancer. Still part of the community. That was why she’d sent Yasgrid away.

Wasn’t it?

“If I try to stand with Kyra now, it’s only going to make things worse for her,” Yasgrid said. “Alone she can claim anything she wants. She can say I forced her take me. Or tagged along with some power of Endings they don’t know about. She’s better off without me.”

“Which is why you left,” Nia said walking over and placing her hand on Yasgrid’s shoulder. “But do you think that’s why she sent you away? Do you think she’s really going to cast the blame onto you?”

Yasgrid searched inside. Kyra had stabbed her. But that had been an accident. A reflex in the heat of battle. The next moment, after a split second of consideration, Kyra had done everything she could to save her.

“She carried me away from the battlefield,” Yasgrid said. “Far enough that I couldn’t get back in time to help. She doesn’t want me complicating things.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Nia said. “And, maybe, she didn’t want you getting hurt again?”

Yasgrid thought about the reception the Fate Dancers had given her when she showed up at their camp the next day. She hadn’t considered it before, but the Troubles hadn’t necessarily been the only danger to her on the battlefield.

“But they didn’t try to move Kayelle off the field,” Yasgrid said, without adding ‘or make any attempts on her life’.

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but my sister isn’t exactly as open as you are,” Nia said. “You’ve had more pleasant conversations with her in the last few weeks that I’ve had with her in the last few years. Generally, I’d say that’s a bad thing, but keeping people at a distance who are looking for openings to stab you? Well, that might be the right time for that sort of behavior.”

“Are you saying she was trying to protect me from the other Fate Dancers?” Yasgrid asked, not sure if that argument held together, or whether she was necessarily had her thoughts straight when she remembered what had happened.

“I’m saying she might have been trying to do a lot of things, and that I’m one hundred percent sure, you left her confused and off balance,” Nia said. “I mean when she healed…”

Her voice trailed off and Yasgrid looked over to find Nia struggling with an idea that left her with an ever deepening frown.

“When she healed you,” Nia said. “She used Fate Dancer magic to do it right?”

“I think so,” Yasgrid said. “She did something with her knives and it was like my wounds never happened.”

“I think that’s because they didn’t,” Nia said, “Fate Dancer magic works with lifetimes. I think she cut that moment out of your life.”

“Okay. Somewhat disturbing, and odd that I can still remember it, but what has you so spooked?” Yasgrid asked.

“I think I know why she was so confused,” Nia said. “She touched your life. Your real life.”

Side B – Nia

The idea that someone knew who Yasgrid really was scared Nia. Revealing herself to Osdora should have provoked a similar fear, but that had been the fear of rejection from someone she respected, rather than the specter that actual harm might occur. Nia knew the risk of physical harm from Marianne, or Kayelle, or her mother wasn’t an issue, but she cared about Yasgrid’s emotional well being too. The fear that spiked through her at the thought of a Fate Dancer knowing who Yasgrid really was came from a much deeper source though.

“She was healing my body, or your body to be more specific,” Yasgrid said. “Wouldn’t she have seen your lifetime?”

“I always had the sense that Fate Dancer magic worked on a deeper level than the purely physical,” Nia said. “I hope I’m wrong though.”

“If she’d seen me as a Stoneling, she would have had more questions,” Yasgrid said. “She wouldn’t have trusted me to go with her on the Lost Roads.”

“Maybe?” Nia said. “Or maybe she trusted you despite that. Maybe she trusted you for who she saw that you were.”

“I’m not that impressive,” Yasgrid said, as though it was certain evidence against Kyra having caught a glimpse of her soul.

“You’re a Bearer,” Nia said, deadpan disbelief dripping from every word. “Do you know how few people can say that? Oh, and wait, you’re sharing Endings. Which even fewer people can say. And, uniquely as far as I know, you are a Bearer whom a Fate Dancer willingly collaborated with. You may not be leading a Shatter Band, but Yasgrid Kaersbean, you are an incredibly impressive woman all on your own. And you’ve got me. So, you know, you’re a shoe in to win the Most Interesting Elf of the Year award hands down.”

“I…none of that…I don’t think that’s why she…” Yasgrid couldn’t quite put together a coherent response to that, not before Nia held up a hand.

“All that’s less important than what we can do going forward though,” Nia said. “The Fate Dancers knowing how you are is potentially terrifying since they’re the one group I can think of who might be able to mess up whatever it is that has happened to us. That’s only a ‘possible’ problem though, and maybe not a likely one. I think if Kyra hasn’t turned on you yet, she won’t give you up to her people, even if she does know what’s happening with us.”

“It is something to resolve though,” Yasgrid said. “She’s trusted me. I think I’m going to need to decide very soon if I can trust her.”

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