[Others had made that suggestion to Yurick once Lazulis and the Gurak were no longer at war: to return to Lazulis Castle and set aside the mercenary for the mantle of a teacher. The mage children in residence could learn much from him. But something he can't recall, something twisting unpleasantly in his guts like a knife, leaves him chilled and sickened at the thought. It's not the teaching or the children that upsets him, it's something else about being there in that castle.

If only Marie had given him that memory. But would it leave him paralyzed and useless to the group?]

... is this something you want, Nagisa? Your teacher wanted you to have a future, but the shape it takes is, in the end, your choice and no other's. And if it's not something you can do in your world, if you need to escape....

[Yurick takes a deep breath.]

Maybe you can return with Jonathan. Or me.