Druxel heard his brothers agree to kill Morgan’s daughter and his heart sank. He tried to protest their decision, to remind them of the code, but they told him that Morgan broke their code, and that no brother who broke the code could then shield behind it. Still, Druxel argued, the sins of the father are not the sins of the daughter. At this they laughed and dismissed him as a crazy old man.
The vote carried and the despicable deed was put in motion. His brothers chortled at the sorrow this would cause and the permanency of drinking her soul. No resurrections after that. Nothing even Alandra de Winter could do. Permanent.
It seemed obvious to Druxel that Morgan would rage and come kill them all. What was the use of planning to kill his daughter if not accompanied with a plan to kill him too when he inevitably came? And isn’t Morgan the real target anyway? It appeared to Druxel now that his brothers could only see so far as the delicious heartbreak this would cause him. Perhaps that meal would feed them in the afterlife too.
Despite how he felt, it was not obvious to Druxel what he should do. He tried to dismiss his feelings; the Soul Drinkers assassinated people all the time. But truth be told, it had been a long time since they had killed a real person. Shadows, sure. But a long time since they had killed a real person, which no doubt Morgan’s daughter was. It didn’t feel right for it to be the daughter of one of their own.
Druxel was old and thought he might be the only brother to remember that when Morgan betrayed them by leaving, the vote did not carry to expel him. Thus, Morgan was still a Soul Drinker. Still a brother. And according to the code, he had rights.
It was several days before Druxel decided to venture into the Bogs of Gloom to consult the Headpiece. The Headpiece was wise and sat at the nexus of three ley-lines. It was able to tap into things unknown. And under proper circumstances, it would answer questions.
Druxel took precautions to make sure he was not followed, and eventually he arrived.
The Headpiece told Druxel that Nyneve must not die, or all would be undone. That her death would trigger the doomsday device that Morgan had become.
——-
Druxel never felt so old as when he left the Bogs of Gloom. The weight of what he must do encumbered him. Many years ago, in a box buried beneath a sign at a crossroads, was a metal box containing a forbidden card. It was a card of Morgan when he was young. But the card would still work. In a time of need, as now, it would contact him.
Druxel took a circuitous route and eventually got back to that crossroads from so long ago. He used magic to dig beneath the sign and to his amazement he found the metal box. Inside the found the card.
He used the card to contact Morgan and it worked. Druxel told Morgan all that he knew. All that he knew about Benedict, and the plot to kill Nyneve, and the deal that had been struck…
“Thank you, Brother,” Morgan said. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Aye, Brother,” Druxel responded, knowing he’d done the right thing.