It wasn’t as though he hadn’t warned Dross about this. They should have practiced.

[Got it!] Dross said triumphantly, and Lindon’s room melted away to show the Ninecloud audience hall. Just as he remembered it from Suriel’s vision, it was packed with richly dressed people of every description.

It wasn’t a perfect depiction of reality. Many of the details were vague, as they had faded in Lindon’s mind, and most of the faces were blurred as though they were seen through smudged glass.

He could see Yerin, Eithan, and Mercy clearly. Dross had left them where they were, changing the image of the rest of the room to match the memory. None of them expressed much surprise at being taken inside a projection—they all had enough experience with dream tablets and similar constructs.

Lindon looked eagerly to one side. Suriel would be clear, he knew. He remembered every detail of her perfectly.

“Luminous Queen Sha Leiala,” a woman’s voice said. “Path of Celestial Radiance.”

In the center of the hall, a rainbow cloud descended and a bright light shone, but he was staring in confusion at the woman who had spoken.

It wasn’t Suriel.

She resembled the heavenly messenger in many ways. She wore white, but instead of the smooth, almost liquid armor of the Abidan, she was dressed in a white-and-silver coat, shirt, and long skirt.

Her hair was more brown than dark green, and it hung naturally behind her. Her purple eyes made her look like a member of the Akura clan, and she spoke while stretching her neck and wincing. There was a bend to her nose as though she’d broken it at one point.

And she hadn’t really been the one who introduced Sha Miara and her Path. It had been the gray ghost on her shoulder, which was now missing.

“Tomorrow, an enemy nation is predicted to attack her city,” the Suriel imitator went on. “Sha Leiala will strike down their cloudships with one sweep of her sword.”

“Stop it, Dross,” Lindon said, and he couldn’t keep some heat from his voice.

The vision froze.

[You know, it’s hard enough projecting to three people, and holding it all in place doesn’t make it any easier.]

Lindon waved a hand around them. “I don’t need you to change things. Show them my memory.”

Color bled from the Ninecloud audience hall, then the vision vanished completely. They were back in his room, and Dross appeared in front of Lindon.

[Um…you’re not shouting at me, but it feels like you want to shout at me, and I don’t understand why.]

Dross often misunderstood Lindon or toyed with him, but this felt different. He sounded honestly baffled.

“I wanted you to show them the memory as it is. Why are you changing things?”

Dross’ mouth hung open for a second. [I didn’t change anything. That’s exactly how you remember it.]

For a long moment, those words made no sense to Lindon.

[If you’re worried about the blurring, that’s how memory works. The best way to get a pristine memory is to use a construct to record it as it’s happening. I could sharpen the faces of the crowd, but I’d be making it up myself, so they’d probably all end up looking like Eithan.]

“Good choice!” Eithan called.

Lindon stepped away, holding Dross in his Remnant hand. It was easier to grip him with that than with his left hand.

“Dross…that was how you see my memory?”

[Reproduced exactly!] Dross said proudly.

So you don’t see Sha Miara? Lindon thought, still wary of speaking her name out loud.

[I told you I’d never heard of her.]

And Northstrider?

Dross sighed and brought Lindon into another memory. Just Lindon, this time.

He and the imitation Suriel drifted above an endless ocean, only instead of floating on nothing, they stood together on a blue Thousand-Mile Cloud.

“Northstrider,” Suriel said. “Path of the Hungry Deep.”

She spread her hands and a viewing construct appeared beneath them. Showing him deeper into the water, where a man plunged with his arms crossed. Northstrider.

“He consumed sacred beasts in the deepest places in the world. Used to take their powers with him when he fought on the surface.”

Lindon took an involuntary step back as Dross canceled the vision.

[Lindon, are you okay?]

Lindon’s head spun.

He could remember Suriel’s visit clearly. So clearly. They had plunged down together into the water. She had taken him to real places in the world, not making up visions. And all the details were different.

His left hand plunged into his pocket, feeling the warm marble there.

The glass ball still comforted him, its blue candle-flame burning steadily. He focused his spiritual perception on it, basking in the familiar feel of order and restoration. It made him think that everything was right with the world.

[Lindon?]

Lindon took a breath and faced Dross, calmer than he had been a moment before. He didn’t doubt his own memory. Too many things would make no sense if the visit from Suriel hadn’t occurred as he saw it.

“Apologies, Dross,” he said. “I was confused.”

Yerin and Mercy now looked concerned, and they were whispering to one another.

He turned to them. “Is there a way to protect memories?”

“If she was a messenger from the heavens,” Eithan said, “then you would think she could do anything. But yes, it is common practice to alter or conceal memories to prevent them from being stolen or recorded.”

“But I’ve never heard of a technique to alter a memory for everyone except you,” Mercy said. “If the memory was changed, you should remember the altered version too.”

She seemed contemplative, not doubtful.

Eithan raised a hand. “I, for one, need no further proof. I trust you completely, my student.”

Lindon was touched for a moment, but he could feel a second statement on its way.

“Also, I had figured it out myself.”

Yerin turned to him with doubt clear on her face.

“Many Heralds and Monarchs have made strange comments about the Ninecloud team or one of the competitors. Sha Leiala hasn’t shown herself openly in years, the Celestial Radiance ability to transfer power to an heir is something of an open secret, the Luminous Queen has made several interesting addresses in recent months that suggest immaturity…”

Eithan paused and glanced around to make sure their eyes were on him. “…and you mentioned her name to us about two years ago. I value you so highly that I remember every word you have ever spoken.”

Lindon hoped that wasn’t true, but he took a deep breath. “Gratitude. Thank you, Eithan.”

Mercy spoke as though each word was being pulled from her. “I’m…really sorry, Lindon, really sorry, but…I can’t…it’s hard to take that on faith. I believe you that your memory was altered! But you were Copper at that point, weren’t you? You didn’t know what a Monarch was, so…how could you tell you weren’t just seeing an Underlady?”

He hadn’t even had a dream of Copper at that point, but otherwise he understood her point. He was about to argue for himself when she continued.

“Please don’t be offended when I check for myself.”

Mercy closed her eyes, and suddenly the room grew darker as shadow aura surged. Madra licked out of her, black and unformed, and the ghost of a violet book loomed over her. It was made of bright, Forged madra, and it had an intricate layer of script-circles on its cover.