“Good.” He smiled tightly. “Did the Spirit choose you?”
“What do you think?” Landin cut in with a heartfelt smile.
Ariana nodded in answer.
“Then perhaps there is hope yet for us,” Willis said. His attention briefly drifted to where I stood with Kole and Edda. The scars on my back no longer bothered me but, in that moment, they itched. “How long are you staying?”
“I think it’s just the day.”
Willis frowned. “Better keep moving then. I know the old advisers will wish to speak with you.”
The smile slipped from Ariana’s lips. “I will need to get some new ones,” she grumbled under her breath.
I watched from a close distance as Ariana made her way through their small town with the two Bavadrin males. She stopped by what seemed to be a home of children. Kids greeted her with squeals, cries, and hugs. Ariana made a point of speaking to each child, leaving the keeper of the home with a large supply of food. It was clear that the little ones loved her, and suddenly I felt a sliver of guilt.
From what I knew of Ariana, she had a difficult go at life. Her father killed her mother, and I recently took her father’s life. Though raised in a harsh environment, she did not allow it to harden her against the world. Instead, she gave the world life. She tended to the unwanted children of her village. She even tended to my wounds, and I was the Lysian who threatened her entire world. I would have destroyed countless amounts of her people to get to her father without an ounce of remorse, all because I thought I knew the truth.
There was a saying that nothing was more dangerous than someone certain they knew the truth when they were wrong. I was sure the Bavadrins were not blameless for taking my sister even when I had no proof. And now, I still had no evidence. Instead, I was getting to know one of them and learning that possibly they were not as evil as I had always assumed.
One child pointed a dirty finger at us, fear in his big brown eyes.
Ariana kneeled and grabbed his hand, taking it in hers.
“You needn’t be afraid. They will not harm you,” she said to the boy in a gentle voice.
“But they attacked our village,” the boy whispered in rebuttal.
“They did that because they were afraid . . .” Ariana said. Kole scoffed beside me, not liking that she called us fearful. “Someone very important to them has gone missing, and they thought we had something to do with it. They were afraid, and so they attacked, but that is all over now. No one will harm you. I swear it.”
The boy’s brown eyes glanced at me, looking as if he were on the verge of tears before turning back to Ariana. “But you are very important, and now they have taken you from us.”
Kole released a low whistle to replace the curse he would have said otherwise. Just like that, I became like those who had taken my sister. I stole someone precious from them.
I believed the Bavadrins were not to be trusted. Evil. All of them. They worked with the Sidhe and kidnapped my sister. But perhaps I was wrong for thinking that. Perhaps in Ariana’s life story, I was the villain who destroyed their home. I was the monster.
Ariana pulled the boy close, embracing him. “Sweet child. I’m here with you now, and soon I will be back for good.”
“Promise?” He sobbed against her.
“I do,” she vowed, while gently stroking his hair.
“She’s always been good with the little ones,” Edda stated,turning towards Kole and me. “She is a blessing. You may have ensured that the treaty broke so that the curse fell upon the Bavadrins, and it may have benefited you up till this point. But the great Spirit favors Ariana and if you ever try to bring her any harm, it will be your greatest regret in life.” Her tone turned icy.
Kole’s eyes grew large in pure surprise. “Have you lost all the marbles in your head? That is not how you speak to the Lysian King, not when he can destroy you without lifting a single finger.”
Edda smiled. “Far scarier creatures than a couple of Lysians have threatened me in my very, very, long life. Yet here I still stand.” Her bold fearlessness coupled with her blatant careless comment, which bordered on a threat, infuriated Kole.
“What scarier creatures?” I asked before Kole could reply.
“What’s going on?” Ariana joined us, her eyes darting between myself, Edda, and Kole’s red face. She then turned to Kole and me. “Whatever Edda foolishly said, I apologize. Unfortunately, she has a habit of speaking without fully appreciating how her words affect those around her.”
“These two big grown Lysians can’t handle a few words of wisdom?” Edda commented, and Kole immediately growled under his breath.
Ariana spun around, grabbing the old woman’s shoulder. “Stop it. If you want them to let you come with us when we leave, then you need to quit burrowing under their skin.”
Edda’s dark eyes twinkled as she glanced at Kole and then feigned a brief confusion with a shrug of her shoulder. “Whatever you say. I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”
None of us believed a word of it.
