“Dancing is one of the few things a [Knight] does practice outside of combat. As for the cold…Arteis has told me I can control it. I have much to learn. I was never meant to be alone, it seems. But something went wrong. Shall we…sit?”

The ghost gestured awkwardly to a bench, and Sidheag nodded. She found herself sitting as he watched the gathering.

“It is so beautiful. I only wish I had gone with you from the start. No—I only wish none of this had come to pass. Not the evil. Only the good.”

“That’s a good wish.”

The young woman murmured softly. Dalius nodded. He looked at her.

“You called upon the dead.”

“I did. Was it wrong?”

He hesitated.

“Not wrong. Not in this case, especially. Some will call you a [Necromancer], and this age is not kind to them, I gather. So much is changed…did you know potions are cheap these days? That young woman who plays the cello said she could buy them.”

“Who, Violetta? Where is she?”

“Over yonder.”

The [Knight] shook his head, looking miffed.

“Levels are changed. Someone’s resettled Rhir. No one remembers Dragons, and there’s this new nation called Ailendamus where all the old ones used to be. I don’t remember Calanfer either, or…well.”

He coughed, then went somber again.

“The world is so beautiful. Yet my heart goes for those two children. I would spend another eternity if I could bring back just one…”

Sidheag hung her head. Dalius sat there with her, and, at length, he whispered.

“Thank you for giving me the will to free myself.”

“Thank you for helping me do the same.”

She lifted the mug. He smiled.

“We needed each other. I do not know what will happen next. Arteis has plans. I think those [Earls] will want to ask everyone everything, and this is not the Noelictus I remember.”

He gazed thoughtfully at Cara. She met his gaze, and Dalius went on.

“What I do know is that you sang to the dead. Your singing has power, Cara.”

She nodded.

“I know. And I will never take it lightly. You know I leveled up? Gained a new class?”

Dalius smiled again.

“I know. After all, it is not the first time someone has sung to the dead. [Grave Singer]. I don’t know if it suits you.”

She made a face at him.

“Are you kidding me? It does not, emphatically. If I had to make a career off singing, I’d be more pragmatic. There are plenty of songs I can plagiarize in a commercial sense—if I do it right.”

The [Knight] nodded thoughtfully.

“…I have no idea what that means. But I trust you do.”