Promising Light (21 page)

Evan looked up at Dar, and his
mouth fell open. “Dar,” he whispered.

Tears stung Dar’s eyes. He glanced
from Sierra to Evan. “It’s really him?”

“Yes,” Sierra said, nodding. “It’s
him.”

Evan’s nose looked broken, blood
covering his face. He slumped down, hardly able to sit
up.

“What did you do them?” Dar asked
Tisha, clenching his hands into fists.

“You’re lucky they’re alive,”
Tisha said, raising his voice. Kilar put his hand on Tisha’s
shoulder, and Tisha shoved his arm away.

Tisha walked up to Dar, stopping
inches from his face. “We’re doing a favor, Dar. I would have left
this scum to die in that fire, but Niculai insisted on keeping him.
And now Niculai is dead, so I’m letting him go on the faith that
you’re not going to lose your common sense. Do you understand
that?”

Dar clenched his teeth. The last
thing he wanted was to be in debt to Tisha. No, the last thing he
wanted was to lose Evan again. “I understand.”

Tisha pointed at Evan. “And if I
ever see him again, I’ll kill him. So you better keep him out of
Renaul and out of my sight.”

“We’re—you’re letting us go?” Evan
asked, his voice hoarse.

“Yes,” Tisha said, clapping Dar on
the back. Dar stepped away, curling his lip up in disgust. “Dar’s
just lucky enough to be on my good side.”

Sierra had a piece of brown fabric
tied around her arm, possibly from a wound, and open cuts on her
other arm, blood covering her. She slowly got to her feet and
turned to Evan. “Evan, let’s go,” she said.

“I don’t think I can,” Evan said,
looking down at his lap. Dar saw the dark patch on his pants and
realized he’d soiled himself. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the
men around the room.

“Can I take them to the castle?”
Dar asked.

“The castle?” Tisha
repeated.

“Lady Sashe is there, and they’re
not healthy enough to travel all the way back to Shyra,” Dar said.
He had to fight to keep his voice quiet, ready to kill the people
responsible for this.

Tisha waved a hand impatiently.
“Fine, I’ll send a letter with you. As long as he’s not there when
I come to visit next week.”

Sierra and Dar exchanged glances,
then helped Evan up. His arms around their shoulders, they moved
out into the corridor.

* * *

Chapter
Twelve

Grace had been home for almost a
whole day, and her mother still randomly bursted into tears. During
breakfast, during the trip to the castle, during lunch, and
especially during the meeting they had as the Protectors who worked
in the castle told them about the new precautions Grace’s family
would have to take.

Lesado took charge of the meeting,
explaining the Avialies and their magic to her mother and brother.
He spoke of them as malicious, greedy, and blood-hungry. Grace
wished they could meet Vin and Amina and Dar.

“Wait,” Kyler said, “how do we
know it’s really Grace? If they’re shape changers.”

“I had someone perform Cosa magic
on her,” Lesado said. “Cosas reveal things and they hide things. If
she were a shape changer, we would know.”

“I thought you were against
magic,” Kyler said. Grace half-smiled, grateful for his presence
here.

Lesado smiled, looking at Kyler as
though he was a child. “We have to allow some until we can wipe it
all out. Otherwise, we’d never be sure. We wouldn’t have been able
to test her.”

Everyone in the room looked at
Grace as though she may change in front of their eyes. She wished
she were a shape changer; she could turn into a bird and fly away.
Sit in a tree while she tried to think things out. Sing merrily
with the others, feeling the wind through her feathers. It seemed
stupid, but she’d do anything to get away from this.

Lesado offered them protective
spells from a Cosa family member who worked for the Protectors.
Grace remembered Jeshro’s ideas of uniting the magical family and
his disdain of those who worked for the Protectors. She sat quietly
as the men discussed things and her mother cried into her
handkerchief, everyone glancing at her occasionally. Prince William
especially watched her, his dark blue eyes steady.

As the meeting came to a close, the
king announced he invited some of the nobles to the castle for a
celebration that Grace was safe and well. Her mouth fell slightly
open. “What kind of celebration?” she asked.

“Food, wine, games, dancing!” the
king exclaimed. He laughed, clapping his hands, and stood up. He
seemed more excited than anyone else in the room.

Grace learned that ‘some of the
nobles’ to the king meant nearly every noble. The ballroom was full
of men and women who were gathering around the tables of snacks and
wine, dancing in the center and playing games and instruments. When
she and William entered, they stopped and cheered for her. Her face
flushed.

William said into her ear over the
applause, “The official story is you were kidnapped for a ransom by
gypsies, and Sir Dar and I rescued you.”

She glanced at him just as Jocelyn
and their friend Sarah came out of the crowd. They pulled her into
hugs, giving her sympathetic yet curious looks.

How had she not heard of a party of
this size? Even her father’s men were there: massive soldiers with
bloody histories. Most of the nobles kept a safe distance from
them, but a few women fawned all over them. Her father pulled her
over to a few of the soldiers. “These men will personally take care
of anyone who hurts you,” he said.

They nodded grimly. One of them,
named Leck, clenched a meaty fist. “Anyone who hurts a lady
deserves nothing more than death,” he said, looking
disgusted.

Grace swallowed. All she knew about
Leck was that he often gave his victims slow and painful deaths.
Her father put his hand on her shoulder. “Nothing’s going to happen
to you again, Grace.”

She met his eyes and tried to
smile. “Thank you, Father,” she said quietly.

The room soon became stifling.
Every eye followed her as she walked around, trying to force some
cheese and grapes down. People weren’t sure whether to ask about
the kidnapping or pretend it never happened; she often had one
person doing both in one conversation.

After half an hour of such
discomfort, she took her glass of wine and went to the balcony. It
was quieter in the fresh spring air, the din of the party fading
behind her.

She leaned against the railing,
looking down at the courtyard. The stables stood just past the
gates of the castles, and she watched the stableboy come out with
an empty and head to the well around the back of the
castle.

She heard someone approach behind
her and wished they’d go away. Kyler joined her, and she gave him a
small smile. He was the one person she didn’t mind talking to right
now.

“I can’t believe he planned this,”
he said quietly.

Grace shook her head, chuckling.
“Me, neither. I want to go home.”

“I’m sorry, Grace. I can’t believe
this happened to you.”

Grace looked down in her wine.
“They didn’t even hurt me.”

“But still… kidnapping you, trying
to force you into a marriage…” Kyler trailed off. “Although I have
to admit it’s all… interesting. I never thought that stuff really
existed. I thought it was just tricking the eye.”

“It’s real. I saw it.”

Kyler didn’t say anything for a
moment. “I’ll go find Father; maybe we can go soon.”

He left, but Grace knew they’d be
here for some time. Her mother was busy socializing and soaking up
the attention. Her father was probably meeting with the Protectors
again. She thought of his serious face, how tightly he’d hugged her
when she’d come home. She wondered what would come of this, if he’d
help the Protectors even more because of the kidnapping.

A few more moments had passed when
she saw two riders on horses approach the castle gates. One of
them, who looked like a male from this distance, was slumping,
nearly falling off. The other rider was a female, and she spoke to
the servant at the gate. She had long brown hair and seemed
familiar, though Grace wasn’t certain. As they were speaking, the
male rider slid and fell off his horse.

Grace watched the scene as the
female got off and tried to help him to his feet. With a start, she
realized it was Sierra. She left the balcony and moved through the
party. She tried to look conspicuous as she left the ballroom, but
she felt sure nearly everyone was watching her.

A few minutes later, she left the
castle. Sierra was coming through the gate, supporting her partner,
and the horses trailed behind them. A servant rushed past Grace
into the castle, and she suddenly felt silly. Why had she come down
here?

Sierra collapsed, her partner too
heavy for her. Grace rushed down the path. “Do you need help?” she
asked Sierra.

Sierra looked up at Grace, panting.
“Who… wait, you’re…”

“Lady Grace,” Grace said. She
looked at the male; blood was on his face, and he looked
unconscious. He was thin, his cheekbones jutting out of his face as
though he’d been starved. “Is he all right?”

“Um…” Sierra tore her eyes away
from Grace to look at the male. “I don’t know. He was tortured all
day.”

Grace gasped. “What?”

One of the horses nudged Sierra in
the arm, and she batted him away. She looked up at the castle,
panting. “Is Sashe here?”

“Yes.” Grace had just seen her at
the party. “Can I help with… him?”

“We should just wait,” Sierra
said. “I sent a letter to the prince.”

A moment later, Prince William
joined them. He held up the letter. “What’s the meaning of
this?”

“Isn’t it self-explanatory?”
Sierra asked, her voice tight. “Tisha Slonan asks that we can stay
here as Lady Sashe nurses us back to health.” Grace just noticed
the dried blood on her arms.

“Where is Sir Dar?” William
asked.

Sierra half-glanced at Lady Grace,
then pointed at one of the horses. Grace’s eyes widened, and she
took a step back. William turned to Grace. “Lady Grace, could you
please—”

“I’ll go get Lady Sashe.” She
turned and jogged up the path.

“Grace!” William called after
her.

She ignored him, going back to the
ballroom. It took her a moment to find Lady Sashe, but she was
playing the piano with Knight Tylin and laughing loudly.

“Lady Sashe,” Grace said. “Lady
Sashe, someone’s here to see you.”

Sashe looked at her, her eyebrows
raised. “Who?”

Grace paused. “I don’t know,
there’s a man and a woman outside. The prince sent me to get
you.”

Sashe stood and followed her, but
kept stopping to talk to people. After the fourth interruption,
Grace finally grabbed Sashe’s arm and said, “It’s someone named
Sierra.”

Sashe gasped, her eyes widening,
and she pushed past Grace out of the ballroom. Grace followed,
though she knew it wasn’t her place. She paused at the front doors,
watching as Sashe ran to Sierra, who was now standing and arguing
with the prince. The two women threw their arms around each other
and began crying. Then Sashe pulled away and saw the male. She
shouted and stepped back. She looked as though she was about to run
back to the castle, but Sierra grabbed her arms.

Prince William looked over his
shoulder, meeting Grace’s eyes. He merely shook his head. She
stayed where she was, leaning against the doorpost. As she watched,
Sashe led the two horses to the stables and came out with Dar. Dar
came to the male figure and picked him up. Grace stepped back once
they started for the castle doors.

William came last, and he stopped
in front of her. “Lady Grace, please go back to the
party.”

“Sierra’s been through the same
thing I have,” she said. “I want to talk to her. To both of
them.”

“To her and Evan?”

“Who? No, to Sierra and Sashe.”
Grace paused, letting out a sigh. “They’re the only ones who
understand what I’m going through right now.”

“The Protectors won’t be happy,”
William said.

“They’re not Avialies. Sierra
hasn’t seen any of them for two years. Please, William.”

Grace wondered if it was the act of
using his name that made him give in. He let out a sigh. “Okay,
follow me, but please don’t ask any questions until we’ve sorted
everything out. And if your father doesn’t like it, then I’ll ask
you to leave.”

“So now you care about what my
father has to say,” she said. He actually smiled, shaking his
head.

* * *

Sashe’s room was nearly the size of
half the ballroom. Dar laid the man Grace assumed was named Evan
down on the bed; it was a large four poster bed that reminded Grace
of the one she and Dar had stayed the night in.

Sierra collapsed in one of the
armchairs next to the bed, panting. Her face had lost much of its
color. Sashe was ordering around a young woman who seemed like a
maid; she asked for towels, water, bandages, and new
clothes.