Chapter 281: The Last Princess

Ren kept his left hand in the warm water, considering how to ask her to come with him.

Her fingers still held one of his. The Worldroot’s support flowed through the working into her unfinished body, keeping the shoulder from breaking apart. She had turned toward that support, but he couldn’t tell how much else she understood. Even with Spear, familiar gestures sometimes took a second attempt.

He indicated the water beside her with his free hand, then pointed to his chest and toward the passage. His stiff fingers wouldn’t straighten fully, though he could manage that much.

Then he waited, leaving his submerged hand where it was.

She followed the movement toward his chest. For a while, her grip was the only response; then the small body leaned closer, bringing more of the gold against his knuckles. Ren held still as her other hand began to gather beside the first.

[SUBJECT REQUEST RECEIVED.]

[SOURCE: THE PYREBORN.]

He looked at the lines, then at the fingers around his.

’Will accepting connect her to my world?’

[YES.]

’Will the bond be enough to keep her stable?’

[CONTINUED WORLDROOT SUPPORT REQUIRED.]

[FULL MATURATION REQUIRES COMPATIBLE NURTURING MATERIAL.]

Ren remembered the water core sinking into the Worldroot and the ocean arriving behind it. He had authorized that merge before the claiming brought him home.

’Can she stay at the roots without starting the merge?’

[WORLD MERGE REQUIRES SEPARATE HOST AUTHORIZATION.]

He would still have to maintain the working until he could get her to the roots. Accepting wouldn’t complete her Heartflame or let him take his hand away, but it would establish the connection she was asking for.

Ren checked the flow once more and accepted.

[BONDED: 18/1500.]

Her hand remained around his finger, and the small light inside her chest stayed the same size. He watched through another few breaths before moving his free hand. She had joined the others, but he still had to get her safely to the roots.

He repeated the gesture for the elder: the little fire, himself, the passage out.

The elder looked down at her grip, then moved back along the ledge. Its Lawfire withdrew through the channel beside it, leaving room for Ren to approach the water.

— • —

He began with the pool beneath her.

Keeping his left hand submerged, Ren gathered enough warm water to surround her flame and raised it a little. The surface curved around his wrist. He paused to check her shoulder before lifting farther, drawing the water clear of the pool without pulling against her fingers.

The working was roughly the size of a washbasin. She floated near its center with his left hand beside her, while he brought his right forearm underneath to brace the load. The fingers were still stiff from Deepsnap; he couldn’t trust them to grip the rock if he slipped.

Ren shifted his feet before standing. Water sagged toward one edge, and he corrected it while keeping the Worldroot’s support steady. Once he had his balance, he turned toward the passage.

Spear went ahead, its blue Lawfire lighting the channel. Ren followed along the ledge with his arms close to his body, keeping his cold covering separate from the warm water he carried. At the first narrow bend, he had to turn sideways and bring his shoulder against the wall to get through.

He stopped there until the working settled. Her hand hadn’t moved, and the gold still held around the small shoulder.

Riptide met him farther along the flooded passage and steadied the water where he had to step down from the ledge. Ren tested the bottom with his boot before trusting it. He could hear the sea beyond the entrance, louder now that the chamber was behind him, and waited for the next wash to drain away before advancing.

Ward waited in the open water outside. Riptide carried Ren clear of the rocks on a sheet, then brought him alongside the whale. He stepped onto Ward’s back and lowered himself carefully, settling the warm working across his lap. Keep remained between Ward’s shoulders, with Balm tending the injured tail farther back.

Ren rested his aching forearm against his thigh. With Ward carrying him toward the arch, he could give his attention to the water and the little hand inside it.

— • —

At the arch’s ledge, he stood slowly and waited until he was steady before stepping across.

The northern beach opened before him, pale sand beside the familiar sea. Ren took the path past the flowers toward the Worldroot, carrying her close as he walked. Ward and the others would wait on the far side; he needed to reach the tree before his arms tired any further.

He followed the roots toward the shallow water and knelt beside a sheltered pocket. Several roots ran through it, close enough to lower her among them. Ren checked its warmth with the fingertips of his right hand, then brought the working down until its surface met the water below.

He let the carried water spread gradually, keeping her beside his left hand while it mixed. Gold reflected along a submerged root. Her free hand settled against it, and Ren waited, watching the unfinished shoulder that had failed so often beneath the vent.

It held as he reduced the support flowing through him.

He eased it farther, allowing time between each adjustment. The fingers around his loosened, and her hand came to rest beside the other on the root. Blue and violet remained gathered within the gold.

Ren stopped supplying the working and left his hand in place a little longer. When her shape remained steady, he lifted his fingers clear.

"She’s holding together, Ren."

[STABILIZED BY THE WORLD CORE PLANT.]

[MATURATION: UNCHANGED.]

He sat back on his heels and lowered his arms. His left shoulder ached when he tried to straighten it, so he rested the hand on his knee instead.

The Heartflame was still small inside her chest. Ren could see the unfinished edges of her fingers against the root, but they no longer loosened whenever his attention shifted. He watched her turn her head toward the tree and settle closer to the wood.

He still needed to find a compatible nurturing material. The System had given him neither a name nor a place to look, and nothing he carried could supply what she lacked. For now, though, he could leave his hand on his knee without watching her fall apart.

Beyond the roots lay the silver sea. Ren needed to know where the black water would arrive and how the Worldroot would integrate the fragment while keeping her alive and distinct. Until he had those answers, he would withhold authorization.

The merge itself was going ahead. The grey tree was still coming, and his world needed the strength. He had people here already; he couldn’t leave them exposed while he waited for every Hearth to welcome the idea.

— • —

She grew quiet while he sat beside the pocket.

Her head lowered, and the arm resting on the root relaxed. Ren leaned forward when its outline softened, watching for the colors to separate as they had in the chamber. They stayed together. The shoulder remained formed, and her flame burned evenly as the small body settled against the root.

He waited a little longer before sitting back. She seemed to have fallen asleep.

Wick and Loom were still near the tree. Ren called them over, then indicated the water around her.

"Keep it moving gently through here."

Loom adjusted the current, sending a slow movement through the pocket. Ren watched it pass around the root without disturbing her hand.

"That’s enough. Keep it like that."

He turned to Wick and pointed to a place beside the bank where its light reached the water.

"Stay nearby so she can see you when she wakes."

Wick brightened and moved into place. Ren checked the warmth against his wrist once more, then watched Loom’s current pass through the pocket. Her outline remained steady with both of them close by.

When he stood, she didn’t stir. He flexed his left hand, working the stiffness out of fingers he’d held still for too long, and looked toward the arch. The elder was waiting, along with the people gathering on the other side.

Ren left her sleeping between the roots and walked back along the path.

— • —

Ward carried him back to Tide, where families were already moving along the lower platforms.

A guide led a group toward the road to the arch’s ledge. Farther up, several Pyreborn waited beside their bundles while another came down the steps carrying a final load. Others watched from their doorways, turning to one another as the group passed.

With the pale fronts no longer advancing through the passages, Tide’s guides could take people along the route without waiting for Ren to clear it. He watched the first group leave, following the guide toward the next stretch of water. They could cross ahead of the merge if they wished, but he still had to explain what would happen to those who remained.

Ward rested below the platform with Balm at its tail and Keep between its shoulders. Ren stepped ashore while Riptide remained in the water nearby. His companions had gathered around the landing; Anvil shifted aside as another laden group approached the steps.

The elder came to meet him, but several others approached with it. They looked toward his empty hands before one of the haulers stepped forward.

The Steamfire indicated the families filling the platform, then the road, and spread its hands. The elder watched before turning to Ren.

[CONCEPT: ROOM. FOR. HOW. MANY.]

Ren pointed along the waiting group, including those farther back on the steps, then swept his hand toward the other occupied platforms. He spread his arms and nodded.

The elder followed the gesture and turned to the hauler. After their exchange, the Steamfire looked down the road, and two nearby families drew closer to listen.

He hoped he had conveyed enough room for more than the people gathered here. He hadn’t given them a number, and he couldn’t tell exactly what the elder had passed on.

An older Glassfire approached next. It stood beside several others of its kind and made a slow closing motion with both hands while looking at Ren.

The elder relayed its question.

[CONCEPT: WORLD. EATS. WORLDS. LIVING. TOO.]

Ren shook his head, then indicated the families and shook it again.

The Glassfire kept watching him. He remembered the elder’s telling of the old world and what had come for it. Now these people were being asked to approach an arch into another world, carried by someone they had known only a short time.

He wanted to explain that their sea would come across with the people still living in it, as the silver sea had. Shaking his head at the fear of being eaten hadn’t told them that. He needed to make the coming merge clear before anyone mistook staying here for staying outside his world.

Before he found another way to try, a Pyreborn beside the waiting bundles moved forward. It pointed down the road, touched its own chest, then indicated Ren. The elder watched the movement and relayed a third question.

[CONCEPT: MUST. BE. BOUND.]

Ren raised his hand. He pointed toward the arch, then back to himself, trying to separate the two parts of the question. Going there was one thing; becoming a Subject was another. He knew the answer, but when he repeated the gestures, the Pyreborn looked between him and the road without responding.

His hand lowered before he tried a third time. Repeating it more firmly wouldn’t make the distinction any clearer.

The elder waited beside the hauler. Farther back, the Glassfire still stood with its people, while the family near the bundles had left their belongings on the step.

They were waiting for his answer, and he still had no way to explain what was going to happen to their world.