Shadowguard

Arden Ashburn was alive.

Even as he stood before her, Everna couldn't wrap her mind around it. She saw the body. Hell, she knew who killed him! Yet he was there, in the flesh, alive and breathing when he shouldn't be.

"This is some kind of trick," she said, shaking her head. "An illusion. There's no way..."

Mayor Ashburn chuckled. "Well, there was a trick involved, but not what you'd think. I'd have revealed myself sooner, but the situation far exceeded my expectations."

She narrowed her eyes and reached out. Her hand connected with his shoulder, solid and padded with his hunting leathers. The mayor didn't disappear in a shimmering mess of light, as illusions did. He was as real as the ground beneath her feet and the putrid air in her lungs.

"How?" was all she could ask.

"If you think your father's the only one with precious artifacts lying around, you're sorely mistaken," he said with a wry smile. "I have quite a few of my own that came in handy recently."

He reached into the fold of his armor and pulled out an odd-looking amulet. It bore the image of a person, perfectly mirrored on both sides, carved into the dusky stone that hung from a thin braided rope. An absurd amount of magic radiated from it, the very air trembling beneath its power.

"An old Anvardian relic," he explained. "Swiped it from the Undying King when your parents and I stumbled into the ruins of Anvardia. Allegedly, he used it to create perfect physical copies of himself, into which he transferred his soul to avoid death. At least, that's what he told me before I took his head off."

Everna eyed the amulet in his hand. Witt sensed magic in Mayor Ashburn's room that night. The magic radiating from that amulet was so powerful she felt it even without touching it. Perhaps that's what he'd felt at the time — the lingering traces of the amulet, not some spell used to conceal the conflict.

"Why?" was all she could ask.

Mayor Ashburn sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "Shroud is a complicated enemy. You can't remove them one at a time, nor are their plans and contingencies immediately obvious. There was no telling what would've happened if they failed. I had to give them just enough rope to hang themselves and draw all of their agents into sight. That was the intention, anyway."

"You used the amulet to fool Lyra and Landen into believing they killed you," she said, chewing at her thumbnail. "You... fooled everyone."

It was a brilliant plan in hindsight. Shroud succeeded without truly succeeding; they'd killed Mayor Ashburn, but not the real one. Just as the Courts released her to bait Shroud into action, Mayor Ashburn faked his death to lure them into revealing themselves. Both decisions proved effective, though Mayor Ashburn executed his ploy with far more plausibility.

The possibility that he'd survived never crossed her mind.

Mayor Ashburn pursed his lips as if in silent debate. "No. It was Landen and Windmore, originally. Landen killed the duplicate and Windmore covered it up. Lyra was, well, in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"She... stumbled in on it," Everna muttered, the heavy weight of guilt settling in her gut. If she hadn't sent Lyra to check the rooms, she never would've found Mayor Ashburn's double. She must've caught Landen in there. "And Shroud..."

"Took advantage of her relationship with you in the way they do best: coercion." Mayor Ashburn leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and fingers drumming against his leather bracers. "I was watching from outside the window. It's unfortunate, but I couldn't risk Shroud learning about my survival. Believe me, I would have revealed myself sooner if it wouldn't put you in even more danger than you already are."

"I still don't know what they want with me, though don't see how I could be in any more danger. I don't think they've been trying to invite me to a tea party all this time."

Mayor Ashburn released a heavy sigh and turned to peer down the cell block. "I know why, but that is a conversation for another time. Their leader's expecting you soon; when you don't arrive, they'll come looking. They may not want you dead anymore if what I overheard on my way here is true, but believe me when I say you'd rather they killed you."

"It's that bad?" she asked, though she knew the answer. The contents of the cells behind them were but one of many possibilities.

"Godwin hates wasted potential, if he hasn't changed since I last ran into him. They would torture and torment you until they broke your will and forced you to submit. If that didn't work, they'd carve you up with their black magic; you'd either give in or go insane. They wouldn't grant you the mercy of death, either. They'd revel in your misery and take pride in knowing they ruined you."

She thought of the man hunched over in his cell and shuddered. "That sounds horribly unpleasant."

"I'd be concerned if you thought otherwise," he said. "Now, let's get you home. I don't doubt Evelina is tearing the town apart looking for you. We'll discuss our next course of action after you're safe."

As she trailed after him, she retreated into her mind, piecing together all she'd learned. Mayor Ashburn had known of the attempt on his life and, with the amulet, thwarted Shroud's plot. The body she'd found in his room was a duplicate. Lyra stumbled onto the scene — she must've tried to run for the window and Landen, who killed the duplicate, chased after her. That's why there were two sets of footprints. Lyra's unwilling involvement explained how her sword found its way into Windmore's hands. She must've told them where to find it.

She almost had the full picture now, but one vital piece was missing; she still hadn't a clue who alerted Shadowguard.

Unless...

"Mayor Ashburn? How did you know about the assassination attempt?"

"Have your parents told you the truth about the town?"

"Dad did," Everna sighed. "Mom hasn't said a word about it, and I don't think she will without being held at swordpoint."

Mayor Ashburn snorted. "I suspected Evelina wouldn't tell you much. Getting anything out of her is a bit like pulling teeth."

"I'd think I'd find more success ripping the teeth out of a live dragon," Everna muttered.

"Landen's family was one of the few willingly involved with Shroud. We didn't find that out until much later; Sir Swiftbrook executed his parents when he was still a babe. Shroud must've gotten to him after that, or perhaps his aunt wasn't as clean as we thought she was."

That would certainly explain a few things, Everna thought.

"I'd always had my suspicions but could never prove it. Keeping him close, however, eventually revealed the truth," Arden continued. "Two weeks before they carried out the plan, he sneaked off during a hunt. I suspect you know where I'm going with this."

"The idiot spoiled the whole thing, didn't he?"

Arden nodded. "I overheard it all. I knew when they would make their attempt, who would be the one to do it, and who would cover it up and how. Uncovering the rest of their agents proved far more difficult. I hadn't expected the level of infiltration they'd accomplished."

"They compromised half the Guard," Everna said. "And allegedly the Courts."

"And it was for that reason I couldn't reveal myself," he admitted. "It very well could've sparked utter chaos. Worse than what happened in the tavern. It would've been in the streets if Shroud didn't decide to cut their losses and rain fire on the town."

Pendel could've ended up like Windhollow if he wasn't careful. It may still happen if Shroud learned he'd not only survived, but she'd escaped. The devastation they wrought in Windhollow was sickening enough. She couldn't bear to imagine Pendel reduced to nothing but ashes.

"That's why you tipped off Shadowguard, isn't it?"