Ariana sighed and twisted towards Kole. “Please don’t kill her.” Her words were spoken lightly as if it were a joke, one that she used to gauge just how much damage her elderly friend had done.
“Put a muzzle on her and maybe I won’t,” Kole gritted out through his teeth.
Ariana winced, grabbing Edda’s arm and pulling her away from us. For the rest of our short walk to the main compound, Ariana did not permit Edda to be left alone and certainly not to wander back towards us.
I glanced at Kole, who still fumed, and couldn’t keep my laugh silent. “Why did you let her get to you so much?”
“She is senile,” he commented, only further fueling my intrigue.
“That isn’t an answer. But, seriously, look at her. How many more sunsets will she get to see before the sun sets on her life entirely?”
“If she were a Lysian, then she would pay for the way she spoke to you.” He growled lowly.
“But she isn’t. She is elderly, a Bavadrin. We need not make it even harder for Ariana to bend her people to our will.”
Kole’s gaze narrowed. “Since when do you let things like this roll off your shoulders? Perhaps when you were a prince, you would. But your patience had worn thin with the crown. And now you allow for this disrespect?”
“So, you are angry that I am not as furious as you think I should be?” Had he forgotten that I allowed them to put me in prison? That I had permanent scars across my back from this place? An old woman’s words mattered little compared to thedisrespectI endured previously.
Kole glared in my direction before looking back towards Ariana, who walked several paces ahead of us. “Just forget it,” he muttered under his breath.
“Seriously, what has gotten under your skin? Usually, only Iver or Eislyn get you this wound up.”
“The wrinkled onion is a threat.” Kole folded his arms across his chest, trying to keep his anger from turning towards me at my humor at the situation. “When she speaks this way to our faces, can you imagine the things she will say to Ariana in private? Doyou not think she may come between the progress we are trying to make here?”
“The wrinkled onionpractically raised Ariana. I don’t think Edda will have any more sway than she already had over Ariana’s entire life.” Though I spoke with certainty, Kole’s concerns were not unreasonable. Invisible shadows encased the elderly Bavadrin, and it inclined me not to trust her. However, that was my inclination towards every Bavadrin. I had not been around enough of them to tell how different that mistrust was with Edda compared to the others.
After the brief journey through the small city, if it could even have been called a city, we entered the main building. It was one of the few structures made of stone, as everything else was primarily made of wood and highly flammable.
Kole and I remained standing together, watching as a few others gathered in the very room where their previous leader had me whipped. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Ariana stole a flickering glance in my direction, her green eyes regretful. It lasted only a fleeting moment. The emotion in her gaze froze me in place before she averted her eyes.
My guards silently stood behind us. Ariana took a place between her two warrior friends and Edda between them and me. The few others joining completed the makeshift circle so that we all were facing one another in the cold room. It was a peculiar gathering, void of tables, chairs, or any form of comfort. Standing in such a manner should discourage any distraction from the conversation at hand. To discuss unnecessary things would prolong the need to remain in the dreadful frigid room. Which was strange, for it was not physically cold, yet it felt uncomfortably icy in the stone structure.
Edda audibly inhaled, quick and deep, instantly pulling the attention of all in the circle. “For those of you who haven’t yet guessed, our great Leader Superior no longer draws breath.What’s more, the Spirit has chosen Ariana to take his seat. She will return in twelve days for the Ascension ritual,” she informed everyone, pausing just a moment to allow for a response.
“Why have you come?” One of the Bavadrins turned to me. “You forced the breaking of the treaty, destroyed our home, and now you keep your mutts here to guard us, turning our home into a prison.”
“If you think I have destroyed your home, then you are sorely mistaken. If I wished destruction, then this place would be nothing but ash,” I replied, glancing at Ariana in time to see her frown, though I did not know if it was for the person asking the questions or my response.
“The Lysians want our help. Some of their kind have gone missing and they believe they have been taken to the Sidhe,” Ariana was quick to add, slightly shifting the conversation from theterribleLysians to those who require help.
“So, this is how they ask for help? Bringing terror to our children?” Another one of the Bavadrins spoke, voice rimmed with disgust.
Kole stepped forward. “We tried to reach out to your Leader Superior, but he was not interested in anything we had to say. However, for the Sidhe to take ours, they would likely have to travel through your lands. We assumed that you all were helping them.”
“What if he speaks the truth?” Ariana shifted on her feet, forcing a deep breath. “What if that is where our missing have gone to as well?” Her eyes did not meet mine while I stared at her in surprise. Never had she mentioned Bavadrins disappearing.
“The Spirit has taken them, for they are blessed.” Edda offered an excuse, her large dark eyes staring intently at Ariana.
“But how can we be sure of that? Maybe that’s just something some have come up with to appease the people. What if it’s a lie?”she challenged, and the unfamiliar Bavadrins looked at one another wearily. The scent of unease increased amongst them.
“Ariana, what you are saying?” Edda began, voice rimmed with a warning.
“It’s possible, is it not? Edda, tell me you know for a fact something different. Swear it upon the Spirit, but if you cannot, then you must know that this is a possibility. The Dunes Clan vanished without a trace—an entire group of people. Over the years, others with conjuring abilities have disappeared, too. We thought it was the Spirit’s will, but what if we were wrong? What if the Sidhe took them?”
Edda shook her head with the barest of movements, and it felt as if the room turned even colder.
