“I don’t know what you mean.” She was flat out lying but after what he’d done, she felt no guilt.
“I think it’s time to clear up some things between us.” His smile left him. “If you want to hear what my next plan is, I need you to tell me the truth.”
“Whatare you planning next?” Her mouth was set in a hard line. “Will your mother have to summon wolves? Will I have to use a knife to...” She couldn’t speak of what she’d done. “I’m still not sure the town won’t come for us.”
“To thank us? That isn’t what I mean. It seems that the first time you and I met was at a dance.”
“We didn’t actually meet. I’d seen you and your divine father cavorting about with swans. He was truly magnificent. He was—” She stopped because Mekos got up, and she could see that he was serious.
“If you aren’t going to tell me the truth, there’s no reason to continue. We can go back to the house and...” He shrugged. “And go our separate ways.”
The last thing Aradella wanted to do was separate from him. They were scheduled to leave the Lair tomorrow morning, that is if there was no firestorm over Valona’s death.
He looked at her with those eyes that could see more than a full human could. “Since we met, you’ve kept secrets from me. I’m now asking you to tell me the truth.” He took a breath. “I know it was you who kissed me that night I fell off the roof. That wasn’t a kiss with no meaning, there was something behind it. I want to know what it was.” His eyes grew serious. “I must know what you feel.” He paused. “About me. The truth. All of it.”
Aradella had lived a life of hiding, of keeping life-or-deathsecrets, so it wasn’t easy for her to bare her soul. When Mekos took a step away from her, she knew she had to reveal herself. “It wasn’t your father from the show, it wasyou.”
He turned back to her. “Tell me,” he said softly as he sat back down.
It wasn’t easy for her, but she told him the whole story of that dance.
Aradellawas sitting in the shadows and looking around the room. She was careful not to pause as her eyes passed Tanek’s tall, beautiful son, Mekos, but she was memorizing everything about him. His long hair was still damp from the water of the show. She wondered if he always kept his ears covered. During the swan show, she’d seen that they werepointedand she found them exotic and enticing. He wore a white shirt with a black leather vest, black trousers, and tall black boots. When he picked up a cherry by the stem, then let it dangle over his mouth before pulling at it with his teeth,Aradellafelt quite dizzy.
Mekos was walking around the table, looking at the food. She’d watched him devour one plateful and he was filling a second one. It made her think that no one was feeding him, which made her fantasize about learning how to cook. She wasn’t like her glorious cousins who could lure men to them merely by being there, so she’d need some talent or knowledge. But what did she know? She could read the English of Earth. She could identify plants. What possible use were they compared to a girl with a big bosom, a tiny waist, and a face like an angel?
Later, after her dance with Tanek, he asked if she’d like to meet his son.Aradellahad stepped back, trying to keep control so her shock didn’t show. “Perhaps another time,” she’d managed to say. She knew she’d make a fool of herself if she came face-to-face with the beautiful Mekos. He was for girls like her cousins, not for her.
When Aradella finished, Mekos didn’t smile or even comment. “And the Reaver? What happened that night?”
Aradella tried to keep her voice from shaking. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Hale always did the market runs andshe kept me up-to-date on the gossip on the island, of which guild was angry at another guild, that sort of thing. We usually laughed—except when she told of Telma. I guess you know that she’s the head of Olina’s government.”
Mekos gave a brief nod but said nothing.
“She’s a greedy, bad-tempered woman who sets herself above everyone. We all knew she stole from us and it was rumored that she shared the profits with Olina. Then suddenly, the Reaver showed up. Everyone said that a woman dressed in black was fighting back against the corruption of the government. We all knew that if she was caught, she’d be executed publicly and horrifically.”
Aradella took a breath. “Hale and I stayed out of it. We had our own secrets and couldn’t risk becoming involved in any more. One of our secrets was that on some evenings we’d leave the Cauldron and go to farmland where we didn’t have to be silent. We could clash swords and not worry that someone would hear us.” She looked at Mekos. His face was unreadable; his usual laughter wasn’t there. He waited in silence for her to continue.
“I did take precautions by wearing a mask over the top half of my face.” Aradella closed her eyes, remembering that night that came to be so important to her.
It was close to dawn whenAradellaand Hale left the field. “Look!” Hale said. There was just enough light to see the shadow of a person leaping from one roof to another. “That must be the Reaver.”
Aradellawas staring. “I don’t think that’s a woman,” she whispered.
Hale hissed, “Get down!”
Coming out of the shadows was the Queen’s Guard, an elite troop of women who protected Olina. They’d been hiding and waiting to catch the Reaver.
Aradellathought fast. “Distract them!”
Hale pulled her hood up, outstretched her cape, then gave a cry like an animal in pain. The noise seemed to echo across the fields. Instantly, the guards ran after her.
With all of them rushing toward her, swords drawn,Aradellaran toward the trees. She stayed hidden, her eyes searching for the person on the rooftops. She saw a shadow heading toward her. When there was a loud cry from the forest, the figure tripped and fell. She watched in shock as the Reaver tumbled off the roof.
Forgetting about keeping herself hidden,Aradellaran forward. Lying on the ground was a figure all in black, face half covered, and appearing to be unconscious. She bent down and removed the black mask. With a gasp, she recognized Mekos from the swan show of years before—and he was still the most beautiful human she’d ever seen. She smoothed his hair back and saw his pointed ears. When they twitched, she drew back, startled. He was awake! When he tried to sit up, he seemed to be dizzy. “You are an angel,” he said. He had a beautiful voice!
As though it was a natural thing to do, he put his palm on her cheek, his fingers in her hair, then leaned toward her. She met him halfway and experienced her first kiss. It was sweet andlovelyand it stirred things in her that she didn’t know existed. When he pulled away, his eyes were wide, as though he too was surprised. “Who are you?”
She didn’t dare tell him! When he reached up to remove her mask, she quickly stood up, then turned toward a noise coming from the forest.
