Anyon, Lord Soterius's groundskeeper and the only living witness to the massacre, waited for them in the garden. Tris looked across the once-manicured garden and past it to fields that should have been high with grain. Even with Danne's care, the garden showed where the soldiers had trampled the plantings and uprooted the beds. Below on the hillside was the stone fence, only partly rebuilt. The fields were empty. Beneath the trees were the barrows where Danne, Anyon, and Coalan had buried their dead.
Tris moved down the steps toward the rear lawn of the manor house, motioning the others to remain where they were. Coalan moved closer to his father, and Danne laid a hand on his shoulder. Tris opened himself to the magic. The spirits obeyed his summons. Lord Soterius, a round, stout man, bore a deep wound where a sword had run him through. Lady Soterius had a knife gash in her chest. Tae, Soterius's sister and Coalan's mother, stood with her murdered children, all of whom looked to have been trampled. Servants came, bearing the scars of fire. Soterius's three older brothers, Caedmon, Innes, and Murin
appeared, each stabbed multiple times, their necks still red with the mark of the noose.
Tris felt the spirits' anger and sorrow. Blinding flashes of their memories seared through him. Soldiers in the livery of the king, breaking down the door, running Lord Soterius through. Lady Soterius, fleeing toward the gardens, only to face more soldiers coming from the back. Terror, as Tae and the children fled toward the woods with the sound of pounding hoof beats growing ever closer behind them. All-consuming fire as the manor burned, trapping servants between the flames and the soldiers' swords. Tris sent his power to the revenants to appear without their death wounds. Lord Soterius's ghost approached him. "I am so sorry," Tris said. Lord Soterius's ghost took Tris's hand in his own and knelt in fealty.
"I know you are, m'boy," Lord Soterius said. "There was nothing you could have done."
"Father-" Ban Soterius's voice was a strangled cry. Lord Soterius rose. "Welcome home," Lord Soterius said. "I never meant to bring this on you," Soterius said. "Anyon told me what the soldiers said-"
Lord Soterius shook his head. "I never believed the soldiers. I want you to know that. I know my son. Reckless, yes," he said with a sad smile. "A traitor? Never."
Lady Soterius joined them and placed a spectral arm around Ban's shoulders.
"The night you came back to the manor, we saw and heard everything," Lady Soterius said. "And although our spirits can't move beyond our lands, we watched over you as best we could." Lady Soterius brushed her hand across Ban's face. "We're proud of what you did, helping Tris escape and take back the throne."