Ah.
“Well, just keep that in mind when you get to the front. Maybe there will be a chance to talk then.” I could only hope I’d swayed him a little.
He nodded. “I will.” He rose. “It was a pleasure to see you again, Legs.” His eyes roamed over me, like he wanted to remember me like this. “But I do not intend to spend tonight alone and I must woo another it seems. Take care.” He bowed and moved back toward the crowds near the dance floor.
That’s when Dove and Hale found me.
“We’re going for a walk in the gardens,” Dove said, a bit breathless and glowing with just a hint of perspiration from her dances. “Would you like to come along?”
I shook my head. “You two go, be all romantic. I’ll just get in the way.”
“No, I’d love to get the chance to know my beautiful Dove’s sister,” Hale said. He didn’t look winded at all. “And the gardens will be quiet, easier to talk.”
I shrugged. “Are you certain?” I would have thought he’d want to be alone with Dove.
He nodded. “Yes, please come along.”
I rose. “As you wish.” I linked arms with Dove. On her other side, Hale enveloped Dove’s hand in his. And the three of us left the hall, stepping out into the night.
And that was where everything went to The Deepest, Blackest Pits.
Chapter 11
It was a warm spring night,but compared to the great hall, it was crisp and cool outside, refreshing. I took a long invigorating breath as we moved out from the dazzling, multi-colored light cast from the many windows of the manor.
Hale pulled Dove close, his arm going around her, which pulled her away from me. She leaned in to him, head on his massive shoulder as they walked. I was happy she’d found someone. For now, I walked beside them.
There were pleasant little lanterns here and there among the sprawling gardens, which allowed passers to enjoy the streams, fountains, and greenery even at night. We walked in silence for some time before Hale spoke.
“I’m dying to know,” Hale said with a certain eagerness in his voice. “How you survived a battle with a mistweaver and killed her!”
I was a bit surprised Dove had told him that. She hadn’t known herself until the previous day. She must have mentioned it while they danced.
“It was harrowing indeed,” I said, recalling the events, while not really wanting to recall them. Perhaps I’d just gloss over things. “I don’t know yet who sent her, but she’d been sent to kill the king and queen of Vauphan, perhaps to enflame this war between our two nations. But she was also there to kill me.” It wasn’t her first time trying either, but I didn’t mention that. “Another of my House was in danger, and there was information he needed to get back to those here in Elista. So… I thought to give him time. In truth, I didn’t know if I could fight the mistweaver. I wanted to live, but was uncertain that would be possible. She came at me from all sides, using the mists themselves to attack me, but… I began to learn how to sense her in the mists. I spun some of my webbing and when she appeared next — though I was half-dead — I managed to cover her mouth and nose with it. She couldn’t breathe. Then, while she struggled, I used her own dagger against her.” I shivered. Even saying that much was making me tremble and sweat in the night’s breeze.
“That easy?” he said with a laugh.
“It wasn’t easy at all, and I wouldn’t have survived if one of my House didn’t have a spirit-gift of healing to bring me back from the brink of death.”
“Too bad,” Hale said with a sigh.
I was a bit confused. “Too bad?”
He laughed. “Too bad she didn’t kill you.” He pulled Dove close, his arm having been around her, a meaty hand on her hip. “I was really looking forward to consoling my little Dove here when she got the news. Maybe then she’d finally spread her legs for me.”
“Hale?” I could see Dove’s confusion, trying to pull away from him. “What are you—” The rest was a muffled scream, which only I heard. We’d walked a good distance from the house now, no one else was around as Hale pulled Dove close, one hand over her mouth, the other pinning her back to him. There was panic in her wide eyes as we both caught on too late to what was happening.
“Let her go, you—”
“You don’t make the demands, girl. I’m the one holding your sister’s life by a thread. One wrong move or a shout from you and I’ll snap her pretty little neck.”
I was frozen, not quite believing what I was hearing, even as I felt something hard and powerful rise inside me.
Oh… I think that’s your gift, whatever we’re calling it, Auwei said.But I don’t know what to do. Though, why isn’t Dove veering?
I was thinking the same thing. As a bird, she’d have a moment of being much smaller, hopefully enough to fly away. “Dove, you need to—”
“Veer?” Hale sneered with a laugh. “She can’t. And neither can you. That’s my spirit-gift. I can even cut you off from your Lumani entirely.”
