Ariana raised a single brown eyebrow. “Perhaps I do.” Her lip quirked at the thought. She glanced at her hands as if imagining what it may have been like.“Does having claws hurt?”
I held an open hand between us and when her attention focused on it, claws slid out, between the nails and fingertips of my hand. Her eyes widened and I pulled them back sheathing them once more underneath the nail bed.
A breath passed between her lips, and she met my stare. “Impressive.” Still, not a scent of fear.
I snorted at what sounded like a complement.
The moment between us was light for only an instant before it flickered out of existence. Her gaze dropped to the stone ground in thought.
“Who are you?” she finally asked.
I peered at the guard behind her, watching like a hawk. Though his eyes were trained on us, it was unlikely that he heard a word we said with our voices so low.
“My name is Erik.” I told her the truth. Everything was already set in motion. There was no way she could change the course now. “I am one of the four sons of King Sten.” That was also true, though slightly misleading. I wanted to give her only enough to know of the dire situation they were now in, to know there was no going back for her and the Bavadrins.
The ancient treaty had been created by the Spirit and the leaders of the three races centuries ago. Sealed with blood, ash, and the single tear of the Spirit. The ones to break the sacred promise were to be cursed, shunned by the Spirit.
The Bavadrin Leader Superior never even asked who I was, only why I had come. My answer was the truth, and he raised a hand against me. His act broke the treaty, freeing my Lysians to attack without prejudice, for the Spirit would smile upon us and curse them.
Ariana remained quiet for a long moment. She must have realized the gravity of the situation. That which had protected her people was now shattered, and her father’s actions had set events into motion that could not be undone.
“Why did you do this?” The calm she arrived with remained, though there was the slightest quiver in her voice. Good, perhaps she was understanding the dangers surrounding her.
“What I said was true. There are enslaved Lysians in the Sidhe lands,” I told her.
“How is that even possible?” Anger cracked through her calm exterior.“How can you even know something like that?”
“Perhaps the Sidhe have a way to get around your lands, though the most probable theory is that they go through them,” I told her, answering the first question.As for how we knew, other than their disappearance from our lands, everything was confirmed by an Oracle. But I was not going to tell her that.
Her brows drew together. Goosebumps covered her flesh.
Capturing her along with her father in the days to come wasideal; however, it placed her life at risk to remain in the city set to burn. There was a likelihood that she would be killed, especially if she tried to fight a Lysian.
“You should run. Get away from this place before it burns,” I said quietly, urging her to flee.Before I burn it from within.This would be the only kindness I return for hers today.
The warning served two purposes: it was true advice, and secondly, it was something that would help me if she were to stay. The burden of blame for what was to come would become partially hers. The responsibility for the destruction of her home would be shared, for she would shoulder that reality with me whether she wished to or not. And she would not see the warning as what it was: a tactic to gain her trust and share the blame. No, she would see it as a mercy, for I gave her a chance out of the goodness of my heart. It would push her a step closer to trusting me.
Ariana stood but did not leave. Instead, her mind must have been racing, for her vision clouded over with thought. Again, her senses dampened and she left herself incredibly vulnerable standing in my cell in such a manner. I did not know how the girl had survived for so long with no awareness of the danger she put herself in.
Her response was unexpected. “They are my people. I won’t leave them.”
“Bavadrin rulers are chosen by some form of ritual, correct?” I prodded gently, trying to give her a reason to reconsider. “If your father, the Leader Superior, dies, the responsibility of your people may not fall to you.” Their rule was not passed down through bloodlines like ours.
“I already am responsible.” She looked at me coolly. “If you get Fraser, what happens to the others here?”
“If they stand down, they will not be harmed,” I assured her. “The Lysians seek access to your lands, but we also plan to bolster our forces with those able to fight alongside us.” I would notsugarcoat the truth of her reality, for she appeared to need a good shaking to clear her head enough to lucidly see the danger surrounding her.
Ariana accepted my words, her pulse quickening with resolve. “If you succeed, I beg you not to kill those here. Spare them. It is not their fault they follow a monster. Don’t condemn them for something they have no choice over.”
For centuries, we had been told of the heartless and deceiving Bavadrin ways. Yet she didn’t appear to fit that mold. She did not ask for her safety but that of her people. I seriously doubted that her father would ever be so noble as to make such a request as his daughter did now.
Without fully meaning to, I offered a single nod. Apparently, it was enough of an answer, for she quickly retreated after that. The sound of her steps rushed away until they disappeared altogether. Landin, the guard, closed and locked the gate to my cell immediately upon her exit before taking to staring at me with his arms folded across his chest. It appeared as though his allegiances rested more with their leader’s daughter than with Fraser. Interesting. If they were a people divided, then they would be that much easier to gain control over.
As I lay back down on the stone slab, the cool sensation of the healing salve on my wounds, I couldn’t help my thoughts drifting to Ariana and wondering what she would do with the information I gave her.
4
ARIANA
