FROM THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF SEBASTIAN JAMES FAIRFAX

I have been buried out of sight, here in this narrow, lightless place. But now, at last, I will get out. I will be free.

I saw you.

Perhaps it was an hour since, or a lifetime ago. I can no longer reckon such things. But I saw you, Evie. I touched you. I felt alive again. You always made me feel alive.

Life, breath, strength—all because of you.

I was waiting for you in the chamber in the Abbey that had once belonged to Agnes, though all was bare and altered. It was sunset. The earth was alive with fire and ice. Fire and water.

Agnes and Evie.

Agnes was like my sister, but you are my whole world.

I waited for you. I heard your footsteps and the next moment you were in my arms. If I close my eyes, I can still recall the softness of your skin and the scent of your hair—I can feel the flutter of your heart, the sigh of your breath…

Oh, God! How can I stand to be away from you for one single moment when I have so little time left?

Seeing you has given me strength.

I will reach you again, and not just in my mind. It was a dream, and yet not a dream. Now I need to make it a reality. You have awoken me, and I no longer feel so drained of life.

I will get out of here.

Evie, I will come to you, I will find a way.

A light shines on my face. The darkness has receded slightly. The frost in me is thawing, and all because of you.