Chapter 1859

He was smaller than the other Sols.

His hair was dark.

His face was pale.

He wore no pendant.

No silver thread.

No familiar clothes.

He looked at Jude.

Then at the fourth Sol.

Then at the third.

His eyes filled with tears.

"You came back."

The fourth Sol stepped forward.

"Who are you?"

The little boy smiled.

"Don’t you remember?"

The third Sol moved closer.

"Are you the one from the cradle?"

The boy shook his head.

"No."

"Then who?"

The child looked towards the enormous tree.

"I’m the one who was never born."

The older Jude closed his eyes.

Jude stared at him.

"Another one?"

The older Jude nodded.

"How many are there?"

"I don’t know."

The child picked up the eyeless wooden bird.

Then he looked at Jude.

"You brought the others."

Jude crouched.

"Who are you?"

The boy smiled.

"I don’t have a name."

"Why not?"

"Because nobody remembered me."

The fourth Sol looked at Jude.

The third Sol looked at the tree.

The child continued.

"But I remember all of you."

He raised the wooden bird.

"I remember the first room. I remember the tree. I remember the house. I remember the island before the sea."

Jude felt a chill.

"What happened before the sea?"

The child looked up.

"There was a door."

The older Jude opened his eyes.

"Don’t ask him."

But Jude was already listening.

"What door?"

The child pointed towards the trunk.

"The one that was here before the tree."

The enormous tree shuddered.

Every door in its roots opened a fraction.

A rushing wind swept through the forest.

The child looked towards the darkness between the branches.

"It’s still there."

Jude followed his gaze.

Beyond the tree, the stars were disappearing.

One by one.

A black shape was moving through them.

The same enormous presence that had reached for the island.

Only now Jude could see more of it.

It was not a hand.

It was a doorway.

A vast, upright opening in the darkness.

Its edges were made of pale roots.

Its centre was filled with a blackness deeper than the space surrounding the island.

And something stood inside it.

A figure.

Tall.

Still.

Watching.

The older Jude stepped in front of the children.

"Everyone behind me."

Serena moved beside him.

Scarlet and Sophie gathered the others.

Jude remained where he was.

The figure inside the doorway lifted its head.

A voice came from the darkness.

"Keeper."

Jude stared.

The voice continued.

"You have brought them all together."

The fourth Sol grabbed Jude’s hand.

The third Sol moved to his other side.

The smallest child stood behind them.

The figure took one step forward.

The enormous tree began to bend.

Its branches lowered.

Its roots tightened around the ground.

The older Jude whispered, "It cannot cross."

The figure tilted its head.

"Is that what you told them?"

The older Jude said nothing.

The figure looked towards the twelve women.

"Do they know?"

Jude turned.

"Know what?"

The figure’s voice became almost gentle.

"Do they know what you promised me?"

The wives looked towards Jude.

He shook his head.

"I don’t know what it’s talking about."

The figure seemed amused.

"Of course you don’t."

It lifted one hand.

A small silver light appeared in its palm.

The same silver leaf Jude had been holding.

Jude looked down.

The leaf was still in his hand.

But now it was black.

The figure spoke again.

"Do you remember the day you asked me to take your place?"

Jude felt the world tilt.

The older Jude turned sharply.

"Don’t listen!"

The figure continued.

"You were tired of being the one who remembered."

A second light appeared.

A wooden bird.

Then a third.

A small crescent pendant.

Then a fourth.

A silver key.

The objects floated around the figure.

"You wanted to be free."

Jude’s mind filled with fragments.

A dark room.

A table.

A child crying.

A tree.

A door.

His own voice saying something he could not quite hear.

The figure lowered its hand.

"So I agreed."

The fourth Sol suddenly shouted.

"YOU LIED!"

The figure looked at him.

"Did I?"

"You said he would come back!"

"I did."

"You said we would all be together!"

"I did."

"You said nobody would be lost!"

The figure’s expression did not change.

"And nobody was."

The child trembled.

The figure looked towards Jude.

"You were the one who asked me to keep them."

Jude stared.

"Who are you?"

The figure stepped closer.

The doorway widened.

The tree’s roots began to break.

The older Jude raised his hand, and a silver symbol appeared in the air.

A barrier formed between the figure and the group.

But the figure merely looked at it.

The symbol cracked.

The older Jude staggered.

"Jude!" Serena shouted.

Jude moved towards him.

The figure spoke.

"You have spent so long searching for the first house that you forgot to ask who built the door."

The barrier shattered.

A wave of darkness swept through the forest.

The twelve women were thrown backwards.

The four children disappeared into the roots.

Jude reached for them, but the ground opened beneath his feet.

He fell.

The older Jude caught his arm.

For one brief moment, they hung above a vast darkness.

The older Jude’s fingers tightened.

"Listen to me!"

Jude looked up.

"What?"

"The house isn’t the prison!"

The roots began snapping.

"The tree isn’t the prison!"

A branch broke above them.

"The island isn’t the prison!"

The older Jude’s grip slipped.

"Then what is?" Jude shouted.

The older man’s face changed.

He looked directly into Jude’s eyes.

"You are the door!"

His hand slipped.

Jude fell.

The darkness swallowed him.

He expected to keep falling.

Instead, his feet touched a wooden floor.

He was standing in the shared house.

The real shared house.

The familiar dining room.

The old wooden table.

The thirteen chairs.

The kitchen beyond it.

The windows over looking the village.

Everything looked exactly as it had before the first house appeared.