Maybe...

Bertrand gave me a small room near the barracks. Ami and Valentia got a room farther inside the outpost.

Before we separated, the Castellan looked at all three of us. “If ye hear someone ye know callin' yer name tonight, don't answer.”

“That’s an oddly specific instruction,” I told him.

“Aye.” That was all the answer he gave.

Despite walking all day and being dead tired, I couldn't sleep. The conversation with the unknown soldier - Henri - kept replaying in my head.

See ye 'round, Wayfarer.

First the game tells me I'm a Wayfarer. Then the Fleshwoods call me that. Now Henri. How was it they knew?

Ami, Valentia, Cassian, and Bertrand didn't seem to know. Was this just plot? Scripted events where the monsters somehow knew things no one else did?

I was thirsty, so I got up for a drink. Before I knew it, the pitcher was empty and I was still thirsty.

With a sigh, I left my room and headed for the well in the center of the courtyard.

A soldier came walking out of the barracks, bleary-eyed and still in his bedclothes.

“Everything okay?” I asked as he passed.

“Aye. Just headin' ta me shift at the brig.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “You're not dressed.”

He looked down at himself, as though noticing his lack of uniform for the first time. Which he probably was.

“Go wake the Castellan. Let him know you tried to go to your shift without your uniform.”

“Sir?”

“Do it. He won't be mad, but he needs to know.”

“Aye, sir.” The guard trudged off.

I filled the pitcher, then went to check on the girls. I knocked softly on their door, not knowing if they were awake.

After a moment, Valentia answered and let me in.

She and Ami both looked exhausted.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I donna trust me memories,” Ami answered. She sat on the bed with her knees pulled up to her chin.

“Why?”

“I remember Henri.” Her voice was uncertain. “From Greyhaven. I spoke ta 'im at the Adventurer's Guild once. At the tavern there. ‘E asked where I was from. I told 'im. I told 'im I were the daughter of a Thegn. Told 'im ‘bout why I left the Holds.” She shook her head. “Why would I tell 'im that?”

Valentia sat beside her and put an arm around her. “You didn't. He's messing with your head. He was never in Greyhaven. I've never seen him before. And either I was working there or I was with you.”

“But I remember…”

Anger rose in my chest. I hated seeing her upset. And I knew exactly where that fear was coming from. Part of me wanted to head straight back to the brig and put a Spark Lance through Henri's face.

I needed to find a way to protect them.

“How are you holding up?” I asked Valentia once Ami had fallen asleep.

“I don't know. I…” She hesitated. “I remember my mum. The day I left. She told me never to come back…” She swallowed. “Only, I don't think she said that. It's like remembering a dream while I'm still awake. I know it happened, but I also know it didn't.”

So Mental Fortitude just made her resistant. Not immune.

Maybe I needed to invest more in the Will Talents after all.

I gave her a hug. “We're leaving tomorrow. We just have to get through tonight. Then we won't have to worry about this anymore.”

She nodded against my shoulder. “What about you?”

“So far, I haven't noticed anything. Other than being really thirsty.” I paused. “And I'm pretty sure that's not related to Henri.”

Her arms tightened around me.

“Don't worry about me,” I told her. “I'm not gone yet.”

Eventually, I left the girls' room and headed back to my own. I finished another pitcher of water and was finally able to fall asleep.

I woke to a sharp knock at the door.

“Castellan wants ta see ye,” came the call from the other side.

I got up, washed, dressed, and opened the door to find a dwarven soldier waiting for me. I gave him a nod, and he led the way.

I arrived first, though the girls weren't far behind me.

Bertrand sat quietly at his desk while we waited. Once we were all gathered, he spoke. “I had me lads write down what they knew about Henri last night, then had 'em review what they wrote this mornin'. I got four lads who remember Henri now, but dinna last night.”

He blew out a heavy breath that made his thick beard flutter. Then he slid a piece of paper across the desk toward us. “I got twenty lads under me here.” His voice was measured. “Every lad was writ on this paper last night.”

I looked at the note. “Twenty-one names.”

“Aye. And Henri's on there.”

“The handwriting's different,” I pointed out.

“Aye. And none of me lads admit ta writin' his name.”

“You check on him this morning?”

He shook his head. “No one in or out. That's the order I gave.”

“I should do it. So far, I seem to be the only one who hasn't felt his influence.”

Bertrand nodded. “I'll let the lads know yer comin'.”

I squeezed Ami's hand, then Valentia's, and got up.

The trip to the brig wasn't long.

It looked like the clouds from the last few days had finally broken. The mountains loomed huge on the horizon, their peaks white while their lower slopes were mottled brown and dark green.

I nodded to the guard at the door and entered. Another guard stood at the end of the corridor.

I entered the room with the cells and closed the door behind me.

Henri sat on the bench. When his eyes met mine, he smiled. “Well,” he said. “There ye are.”

“Were you expecting me?”

“I was hopin'.”

“I came to make sure you were still here.”

Henri chuckled. “Where else would I go?”

“I don't know. That's kind of the problem.”

He tilted his head. “Ye don't trust me.”

“No.”

“Fair enough.”

That answer caught me off guard.

“Yer different.”

“I get that a lot,” I replied.

“Everyone else wants ta know what I am. Ye want ta know what I know.” He smiled. “That's how yer different.”

“You know what a Wayfarer is.” My voice was flat.

“Aye.”

“Then start explaining.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because ye'd ask the wrong questions.”

“Then tell me what the right questions are.”

He laughed. “That's a better one.”

“Are you a Skinthief?”

His expression didn't change. “I donna know.”

“What do you mean you don't know?”

“I know what ye call the thing that attacked ye.”

“That's not an answer.”

“No. It isn't.” He looked down at his hands. “Do ye know what ye are?”

“A half-elf.”

“No.” The word was quiet. Certain. “Yer a man. I can see that. But that's not what I asked.” He looked directly at me. “Do ye know what ye are?”

A chill crawled up my spine. “Unbound?”

His smile returned. “Maybe.”

“Then why call me a Wayfarer?”

“Because ye are one.”

“According to who?”

Henri shrugged. “According to the same thing that called ye Unbound.”

My stomach tightened. “The System?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“The Aegis?”

Another shake. “No.”

“Then what?”

Henri's eyes flicked toward the ceiling. “Somethin' older.”

I stared at him. “Older than the System?”

“Aye.”

“How much older?”

He shrugged. “Dunno.”

“You seem to know a lot of things you shouldn't.”

“So do ye.”

I didn't have an answer for that.

Henri leaned back against the wall. “Ye've been asking questions since ye arrived. Ye ask questions nobody here thinks ta ask.”

“Because I'm from another world.”

“Exactly.” He smiled. “And that's why I wanted ta talk ta ye.”

“Then talk.”

“I canna.”

“Why?”

“Because I don know if ye'll remember.”

That stopped me. “What does that mean?”

He looked genuinely troubled for the first time. “I donna know what happens when I tell ye things.”

“Try me.”

Henri stared at me for a long moment. “There's a road.” He paused. “Everyone thinks it goes from one place ta another. But this one don.” His eyes seemed to focus on something far beyond the walls of the cell. “It goes between.”

“Between what?”

“Places.”

I frowned. “That's not an answer.”

“No.” He smiled. “But it's the answer ye're ready for.”

I rubbed my face. “Do you know how I can get home?”

Henri's smile disappeared. For several seconds, he said nothing. “Yes.”

My heart stopped. “You do?”

“I know that ye canna go back the way ye came.”

“Why?”

“Because there is no back nomore.”

I stared at him. “What does that mean?”

Henri looked directly into my eyes. “The lad who came through the door ain't there no more.”

A cold knot formed in my stomach. “What?”

“The lad who entered the Five Realms an’ the lad standin' in front ‘a me ain't the same thing.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

Henri didn't flinch. Instead, he smiled. Not cruelly. Almost sadly. “That's the question ye should be asking.”

I stared at him through the bars. “Then answer it.”

“I canna.”

“Why?”

“Because if I tell ye now…” He glanced toward the door. “…somethin' else might hear me.”

I looked toward the door.

Nothing.

When I turned back, Henri was watching me with those strangely bright eyes. “And Riven? Don't let 'em convince ye that forgettin' somethin' means it never happened.”

My blood ran cold. “Who?”

Henri's smile returned. “Everyone.” Then he leaned back against the wall. “Now ye should go.”

“Why?”

“Because someone's about ta come check on ye.”

I heard footsteps in the corridor.

Henri smiled. “See?”

And suddenly I wasn't sure whether he'd predicted the footsteps… or caused them.