Chapter Text
Teft heard the chapter title and glanced at Kaladin. Their gaze met and Kaladin let his eyes harden. Storms… Kaladin thought to himself. So he was in this. As much as he did not want to be. And the lighteyes would hear everything— everything that was supposed to be only his. And who knew how they would react to everything. "It's definitely you," Teft whispered, a clear callback to Kaladin's previous refusal. Kaladin turned away from his sharp gaze.
“I’m going to die, aren’t I?” Cenn asked.
Everybody froze at the resignation. Dalinar's thoughts were filled with everything that had ever happened, what all he had done, each regret as he heard the line. And the word he still could not hear.
The weathered veteran beside Cenn turned and inspected him… leather jerkin and knee-length skirt with a simple steel cap and a matching breastplate… that gleamed burgundy and deep forest green.
Kaladin scowled. He looked at the lighteyes' faces. Not even a tiny bit of shame, as expected. They would all disregard darkeyes, like their life was more because they were lighteyes. A common thought, and Kaladin burned with fury under it.
Were there Shardbearers among them?... Cenn had to fight one?
Adolin's heart twitched at the thought. He had not ever even given something like this a regard, that people, resigned to their death, would face shardbearers without anything.
Ordinary men didn’t kill Shardbearers. It had… “You’re going to be just fine. Keep your head on straight. Stay with the squad.”
Good, Dalinar thought. It was the best thing he could do now. It was clear he probably did not have much training at all, and in a case such as this, in real life, in a war, it was best to follow the squad. Keep calm. Stay alive at all costs.
“But I’ve barely had three months’ training!... You’re in Kaladin Stormblessed’s squad.” The other soldiers nearby nodded in agreement.
"Who's that?" Adolin blurted out. He had a feeling the person was in the room, if he was being mentioned specifically in the book. He looked around till he spotted two darkeyed men at the back. "Is it one of you?" One of the men pushed the other forward gently.
"Kaladin," the man introduced himself. Kaladin had an intimidating, interesting air around him. Adolin spotted the scowl and his mouth twitched upwards. He had a learnt, experienced way of posture as well that Adolin thought of what the book had said. The confidence in one man…
Dalinar had the same thoughts as he spotted the darkeyed man. He did not ask him forward— it would be better if he came of his own accord, they were not truly known to each other, would not be even when this book continued.
Jasnah stared at the man, Kaladin Stormblessed. So far the book had been talking illegible things, so confusing that it was hard to see where the book was going. And there was one person already, who was mentioned as to be a clearly important part of the future.
Behind them, waves and waves of soldiers were lining… This is Kaladin Stormblessed? Cenn thought incredulously. This youth?
A rational thought, Nadini knew as she looked at the young man at the back. The air around him was old, distinguished, but his face was nearly youthful, if marred. The scowl did make him look older, but not old enough that he would lead a squad that possibly had fewer deaths, with the way the book was framing it.
“Dallet, we’re soon going to have a new recruit,” Kaladin said… How could the man smile?
It took confidence in a man, Dalinar thought, to smile before a battle. The trust in a leader to bring you home alive. Not many could say they had lived up to their promise, but it seemed Kaladin Stormblessed possibly had, multiple times over, to create that level of faith. Dalinar thought of himself. He had lived through his battles, but how many had not? How many were slaugthered and made themselves a red coat?
The enemy army was blowing horns… felt a trickle of urine run down his leg.
Fear, Shallan thought. Her gaze kept flickering to where the noise was coming from and to Kaladin Stormblessed. He looked sharp. Like he knew things— not really. Moreso like he had seen things, knew how to fight back through them. Jasnah had a gaze like that, but more tailored to her abundant knowledge and sharp way of lookng at people like she knew all. She thought back to the kid— Cenn. The rational fear that came with the thought of upcoming doom, despite all assurancs to the contrary.
“Stay firm,” Kaladin said, then trotted down… one man last battle?”
Aladin almost cursed in surprise. One man? Dalinar seemed to think the same.
Renarin gazed thoughtfully for a few seconds at Kaladin Stormblessed, before turning away.
A lot of lives saved, Jasnah thought. So this would be when he failed. It must be. It was truly a terrible thing to think, but there was no other conclusion she could reach. This was like a book, with passages obvious once you spotted them, and lines dancing around with little to no purpose other than to confuse. And this book was clearly guiding them somewhere, to the war.
“But someone did die,” Cenn said… stood out in front of his squad.
How interesting, Navani thought. She glanced at Kaladin. He had the slave brand now, but she did not think he had it then. It was an unfortunate condition here that slaves exhisted, but they did. There was something powerful about him regardless. And bold, to stand on the front lines.
The men around Cenn shuffled, excited… It was a border skirmish, and Cenn thought it was with another Alethi princedom. Why were they fighting each other?... Perhaps the king would have put a stop to it
And he should have, Navani didn't say. He had disregarded his title as King, as often his brother had. And now there was the book he was absorbed in, of all things, and there was something different. Still not the kind of King perhaps who would put a stop to it. He would be dealing with the guilt of it all happening by the time the situation had been fised.
but he was on the Shattered… straggling arrows landed anywhere near the front ranks.
Hitting where there would be the most men, Adolin thought.
“Why?” he yelled at Dallet. “How did you know?”... Cenn scrambled to get his shield unlatched from his back.
So untrained, Jasnah thought. She glanced back at Kaladin. He would fail this time, she knew. His gaze, slightly broken, confirmed it. She looked at Shallan, who had hopefully come to the correct answer through the right process. At least as there was no murderer with tea here, the girl would flourish under finding these conclutions everywhere.
Clashing spears rang in the air as squads engaged one another… and they were his honor guard.
All to save a kid who's death had possibly been written into the stars aleady, Shallan thought.
Kaladin's heart jumped to his throat. He pushed it down. Storms… he didnt want to hear this again. Syl stared at Kaladin for a second, and it was all she needed to really say. She had known for a while now.
The two forces met with a crash of metal on wood… Why didn’t more hold formation?
War was always different, Dalinar thought. Something unreplicable in pratice, brutal and bloody and tough. Dalinar had derived joy, or rather a blood hungry feeling from it once, adrenaline coursing through him, but now… He wondered.
The real soldiers are all gone, Cenn thought… For the better part of an hour, Kaladin’s squad held their small hill, working as a team, shoulder to shoulder.
It was impressive, Adolin thought. Darkeyes didn't frequently do so well, but perhaps there was some recalibration necessary. Kaladin Stormblessed was impressive for anyone in general.
Shallan looked back and spotted the slave symbol, and questioned it. What had happened in the battle that had led to Kaladin being enslaved? He seemed the perfect picture of a man fighting battles, winning them, leading his squad to relative safety, not losing many at all. A leader that ensured security. "It's odd," she muttered. Jasnah clearly heard it and nodded slightly, and Shallan remembered that they were pretty sure they would lose. But losing a battle meant death.
Kaladin often left his position at… The way he moves sometimes…”
Adolin focused on the description. Fighting six men at once was difficult, and with simply a spear and a knife it was harder. He moved fast, and the description from Dallet felt accurate. He examined Stormblessed's figure. He had strength to him. His father would possibly call Kaladin Stormblessed a blessed warrior. The type everyone wanted on their side.
Dalinar rubbed his chin with his finger, deep in thought. If the man was here with them, he would be important. It sounded like he fought for protection, and with skill, which Dalinar knew they would require. Something big was coming.
Something had to happen after, something big, Jasnah thought. Stormblessed seemed too skilled to let it be a small thing, a mistake, although mistakes happened to most, but she looked back and there was anger in his face, not the type of guilt that followed when one made a tiny mistake that cost them everything.
“He bound my leg,” Cenn said, realizing he was beginning to speak… our squadleader is.” He turned to Cenn.
And so he was, Shallan thought. She examined the rest of the room. Dalinar, Adolin both seemed deep in thought about the darkeyed spearman, as if there was more to examine about his darkeyes rather than the pure strength he possessed. He was an interesting character.
Navani had grown up knowing darkeyes were a feature that could not be removed from society. But rarely, there was one that defied all expectations. Who was not buried by their position, and it seemed Kaladin Stormblessed was one of them.
“But you should save your strength, son… “I think you all remind him of someone.”
Kaladin had tried to block this entire portion of audio out. But this— his brother, his younger brother— how could he ever not think of him? His failures… Forever grieving someone he had tried to protect. He had failed then. And he had failed in this battle. Again. Teft glanced at him in concern. Kaladin scowl deepened.
Cenn glanced at his leg… Like a work of art.
Kaladin clenched his fists. Amaram, the shardbearer, everything…
"What?" Adolin gasped. That was, why was there a shardbearer there? There was absolutely no reason for there to be a shardbearer. And who would even have the shardplates and everything? What? "But—"
Dalinar also wondered. A shardbearer should not have been there. What was going on?
And that was what went wrong, Jasnah knew. But the question was— since Amaram was still alive, what had the shardbearer set out to do? Killing Amaram would be a likely conclusion, but Stormblessed was still here, and so was Amaram.
Cenn had never seen… Cenn closed his eyes.
Teft glanced at Kaladin. Storms! How had the man made it out of there alive? Kaladin would not give answers willingly here though, and he would not waste his breath asking.
"How'd you get out?" Shallan questioned. Would the man answer? Kaladin pressed his lips together in obvious refusal, and Shallan's mind ran again, trying to figure it out. The audio would possibly proceed and give answers, but the timeskip between this and the previous part had been huge. Would they avoid the answer currently, in hopes that Kaladin would tell it himself? He did not seem like the type of man who would speak about such things, however.