“And you think she is alive and in the Sidhe lands?” After three years, he and his brothers still held hope that she lived.
“Yes.” Erik shifted to better see me.
“How do you know any of this?”
He watched me while seeming to consider his response. “My father saw an Oracle after she went missing. It is confirmed that the Sidhe have her.”
My eyes widened. An Oracle was told to be able to sense all of time, able to sift through it for answers, moving forward or back. Unlike a Seer, who was shown only glimpses of a possible future.An Oracle could sift through it all, searching for specific answers. “Where is this Oracle?” My heart threw itself against my ribs at the threat of such a being under the Lysian’s control.
Erik’s head moved slowly from side to side. “Not information you are privy to.”
I swallowed, willing my pulse to slow. Maybe the Oracle was not in their capitol, if they were then surly Erik would have sought out answers already regarding me or the Bavadrins. They would have told him we were not involved in his siter’s disappearance. Erik said his father saw the Oracle regarding his sister. So, Erik had not been there? Was the Oracle somehow out of reach? That would have been a Spirit’s blessing.
“Are you willing to help us?” Midnight-blue eyes viewed me intently, waiting for a response.
“I already told you thatifwhat you say is true, then I will, but not as a prisoner.” I needed it to hit home with him as much as possible that I was not a threat. That I would be of use, even when I returned home. Edda was correct. It was time for me to forge my way, and I needed to be free to do so.
“If I release you, then you may go to the Sidhe and side with them against us.” Erik shared his dilemma out loud. And if I knew anything about Sidhe, perhaps I would have sought their help with ridding my lands of the Lysian control.
I did not respond, as several things became clear. Erik wished to not need to hold me against my will, but he seemed powerless to do otherwise, for he feared the risk to his people. A risk he would never take, and thus I would never be released. Freedom was not something that was going to be offered. I needed to take it.
My path was laid out before me. If the Lysians wished to use me, then the ceremony for me to claim the power as the Bavadrin Leader Superior needed to happen soon. And after it did, then I would use my people to help break free of the Lysians.
Though Erik gave me a room with a bed and a window, it wasstill a prison. I was not freed from the confines of my father’s shadow to stand in someone else’s. My decisions were going to be my own.
I would break free of my temporary shackles. No one other than a Bavadrin born would lead my people. Ruling under the thumb of another race was simply unacceptable. Surely, even Erik understood that.
Silence spread between us for some time before the Lysian King turned to me. “May I ask you something?”
I glanced at him. His features were sharply striking in the moonlight. “Sure.”
For the time being, I was stuck in his world. I may as well welcome his questions and allow him to get to know me so he could learn to see Bavadrins as more than the evil people the Lysians believed us to be.
“Where does your bravery come from?” He paused before elaborating. “From the little I understand of your life, it seems you have experienced things that could break a person, send them running for shelter. But you do not hide behind anything or anyone. You do not close your eyes to the horror of the world. Instead, you step forward and approach the dangers with very little hesitation.”
In a way, he was correct. With time, I learned to face demons, for the other option was to let them completely have their way. Had that made me brave or simply a survivor? The picture of who I was would never be complete without exposing my biggest secret.
I could not simply answer such a question.
So instead, I said, “Is it not more dangerous to run from a wolf than to face it eye to eye?”
His lip twitched. “Am I the wolf in this scenario?” Did he enjoy being seen as a predator? Yes, clearly.
I thought it over for a moment. “No, you are more of a bush between me and the wolf. An obstacle.”
Amusement touched his dark eyes. “A bush?”
“Don’t worry, you have thorns,” I answered, realizing that perhaps I should not have called the Lysian King a plant. Thankfully, he found it more humorous than insulting, for the corner of his mouth turned up.
“Then who would the wolf be?” he asked, not taking his eyes off me.
“Destiny,” I stated.
A low laugh rumbled through him, the sound surprisingly warm. “You believe that all that is happening to you is your destiny? That I am but an obstacle in your path towards your destiny? Which is what exactly?”
“When I was young, a Seer told me I would live a long and tumultuous life. That I would know much happiness and much sorrow. I was to meet many strangers on my path, some friends, and some foe.” I hoped Erik would not be the latter, for I did not want him as a foe. Even in trying to be cautious, I said too much. Though I left out the fact that the Seer was someone close to me and very much still a part of my life.
“So, you are brave because you assume the Seer is correct and that your life will be long, meaning that it isn’t actually in danger right now?” He held my stare, and the power behind those eyes was breathtaking.
