Chapter 1 #2
“If I do not accept, then he will see it as a threat and attack.” Her gaze lifted, finding mine across the table.
Having her attention momentarily immobilized me, the flicker of sadness within those green eyes tore at me.
Though she tried her best to conceal it, she could not hide it.
Not when my focus was intently on her. Every trace of emotion that slipped through the cracks in her calm demeanor may as well have been shouted.
It stirred a ripple of anger from within.
If I ever got my hands on the Sidhe King, then he would know what pain felt like.
I would make sure of it, and I would take my time with it.
“You are accepting.” The way Willis said it, it was as if to confirm what he suspected. It was not a question. A completely ridiculous assumption that she was going.
“Yes,” she answered, still keeping her gaze locked with mine.
I stiffened. “No. You are not going to live in some mountain with a madman. You are the Leader Superior to your people. You cannot abandon them.” It was absurd.
“I would do this for them.” She clarified, remaining outwardly calm while my control was slipping with every breath.
I shook my head. “Ariana. I will stand with you. My Lysians will stand with the Bavadrins. We can take the Sidhe together. There is no need for this.” Sitting beside me, Kole nodded his head in agreement.
The young Sparrow archer turned to Ariana. “I am afraid that I agree with the Lysian. We just got you back, Ariana. I do not wish to let you go so easily.”
Thank the Spirit, one of her friends had a decent head on their shoulders.
Ariana’s gaze finally broke from mine as she looked at the table before her.
“We would lose,” she said as if it were a fact, no question about it.
“Between the two of us, we may pull together a few talented conjurors while he has who knows how many powerful ones.” She then turned to the other Bavadrins in the room.
“He has the Dunes Clan. They did not disappear years ago. They live under his command.”
Ariana turned to me as she explained who they were.
“The Dunes Clan lived in our lands but not under our rule, at least not directly. They were granted freedoms partially because they lived in the desert and hardly interacted with us. But they were incredibly skilled fighters, gifted, their skin enhanced by conjuring abilities. They were rumored capable of standing their ground in hand-to-hand combat with Lysians.”
“So, we will find some other way.” I was desperate.
Ariana had always been out of reach, even when she had been living in my home. I only recently began to think of her as more than I previously allowed for. And now, she was slipping away before I ever even got to–
“He has Iona,” Ariana spoke my sister’s name, and my heart nearly stopped in my chest. My train of thought stolen.
“You saw her?” Kole’s voice was ghostly.
Her attention slid to his with a frown. “No. But he confirmed it.”
“Then we do not know for certain.” Though I said those words, I knew I believed the same as her: my sister lived in the Sidhe lands. My hands balled into fists as I worked at keeping them close to my body so as not to break anything with my growing frustration.
“Erik. My mind has been made up. This is not for discussion. It is not your choice but mine to make.” Despite everything weighing on her, she kept her head held high.
Pain flickered in her eyes, but fear did not.
She did not waiver on her decision. The fear I smelled coming from her earlier was for what she had to tell Willis, nothing more.
How was it possible for her to face such a decision without terror?
“You are not going to be his prisoner.” A growl vibrated my throat as I bared my teeth.
Edda’s dark gaze cut to me. “What’s the matter Lysian, you only like her being your prisoner?” Every Bavadrin in the room looked at me with a spark of anger, except for Ariana.
“I never harmed her.” I seethed.
Edda’s lip curved up. “Sure, not physically. But what of the mental pain you caused?”
“Edda,” Ariana said in warning, but it did not stop the old bat.
“You tore her away from everything she knew, leaving her to wonder whether her people lived or if they were burned to ash. Whether she would meet the same fate as those who had given life to her. Despite that, she found it in herself to forgive you. And when she finally tried to break free of your hold, you attacked her.” Her already black eyes seemed to further darken.
“Tell me, Lysian, how long did it take you to decide to let her go instead of to burn her out of existence?”
“You know nothing.” I hissed through clenched teeth.
“No?” Her brows rose in mock surprise.
“Edda, that’s enough.” Ariana’s voice was flat.
Edda turned to her. “You should hear this too, so you know how close to death you could have been.” Her eyes then sliced back to mine. “You know what I can do, Lysian?”
“You’re a Seer,” I stated.
“More like an out-of-control wrinkled onion, if you ask me,” Kole mumbled under his breath.
Kiora chortled, somehow unbothered by the growing tension.
Edda smiled viciously. “I can see things, some clear, others not so much. I knew this entire mess was heading Ariana’s way, and in it, I saw you, Erik, and the threat you posed.
I am the one who taught Ariana to use her conjuring.
So, do you think I simply forgot to teach her to not use her hands as a crutch?
” She scoffed. “That was done on purpose because, with a crutch, you would see her as weak. Thus, in that moment of heightened anger and before you had enough time to truly think things through, you would be more inclined to set her free. If she conjured properly, chances were higher that it would have ended in one of your deaths. I spared both of you from that pain.”
My throat went dry.
Edda laughed. “Don’t look so pale. You would have mourned her death if that had been the outcome.
I know for certain that she would have mourned you if things ended in her favor.
But it left too much to chance. So, she had a crutch, one that would save her life when she found herself at your mercy.
Placed in that position, just because she desired to trust you instead of dropping you to your knees and taking the breath from your lungs as she should have. ”
Ariana closed her eyes. “I will not ask you again, Edda. One more word of this, and I will have you removed from this room.”
Edda shrugged, brows raised, as if she had no idea the discomfort she was causing. “I just thought to remind you that some of those who you place your trust in so eagerly may not be deserving.”
“You are one to talk.” Ariana leveled her stare at the old woman.
“Pardon?” Edda’s tone turned sour, her lips thinning. The entire room stilled.
“You knew more of the Sidhe than you had ever let on. You never told me of the threat there, that our own kind was being stolen away. You expect me to believe this is the first you know of any of this?” Ariana shook her head before continuing.
“You had supported the outrageous belief that conjurors were taken by the Spirit to a better place. That they were gifted something special. It sounds ridiculous now, but everyone believed it partially because that is the story you supported. When in reality, who knows what type of horrors they have endured under that monster’s command.
” There was a sharp edge to Ariana’s words.
She placed responsibility on Edda, and she had a point to do so.
If the old woman was a Seer and knew of the truth, why did she keep it hidden for all these years?
Edda’s eyes narrowed. “When should I have informed you of this? When your father was alive? When you were imprisoned by the Lysians? When you hardly had a chance to start your new life here as the Bavadrin Superior?” She challenged Ariana with questions; however, they only revolved around informing Ariana.
As an advisor to the previous Bavadrin Leader Superior, she could have told him of the dangers.
Perhaps he wouldn’t have cared. Though the way Fraser behaved when he decided to punish me for a crimeless act, he did not believe me.
There was no hesitation which likely would have been present if he knew the truth.
Edda never shared the reality of the Sidhe with Fraser.
Ariana took a deep breath. “I do not have the will to argue, but do not pretend to be innocent.” She viewed all who were in the room.
“I am going to go to the Sidhe lands, and I do not know for how long. Clause has spies here, for he knew things he shouldn’t have.
Therefore, what we share here in this room is to stay between us and those paramount to the plans to come. ”
She turned to Willis. “We will need to prepare for a war, for I do not see this ending in any other way. I will also want to train before I leave in several days. All of you at this table are invited to develop a training strategy for me. Ideally, it will involve all of your skills together. We will meet in the morning the day after tomorrow to go over whatever you may come up with and go from there. However, tomorrow morning we will have the departure ceremony for Landin, and the rest of the day will be yours to do with as you all see fit.”
“When do you think the forces will need to be ready by?” Willis asked, as if the mention of Landin did not carve at his heart.
She shifted in her seat. “I don’t know for sure, but I hope I will be able to learn as much as I can while I am with the Sidhe and pass that information to you as you all prepare.”
“How would you get the information out?” I asked, even though this plan was ridiculous. How much training could she get in several days? It was not enough time.