25.16

The Days of Darkness in Lyr ended, and the city had emerged from its holiday quietude. The revelry of the new year filled the streets with cheer. And Zyrdicia was having none of it.

When she recovered from her vampire-induced haze, her misery returned. She felt as though a piece of herself was dying a slow death, and the pain was nearly unbearable.

She merely sat in the dark and brooded. Magnus and Sindra took turns staying with her, so that she was never alone. They both tried to coax her out of her depression by trying to interest her in slaying the Old Priests, now that she knew where they were. Zyrdicia wasn't even interested in that. Her notes and maps were all in Karteia, and thinking about retrieving them only sent her deeper into her anguish.

25.16.1

The next night after Zyrdicia returned to Lyr, Magnus put his signature on a stack of documents from a bedroom table. Zyrdicia pressed her face into a pillow, trying to pretend not to listen his pen on the paper. The noise seemed to scrape against her soul.

Magnus set down his pen. He said gently, "It's done. Effective upon my signature."

"Take it to the city's Minister of Records now. Have it publicly archived."

"It will be all over the papers the second I do that. Are you sure you want that attention now?"

"The rest of the fucking mess was. The end should be too. It has to be."