Promising Light (31 page)

Dar had never seen the person who
opened the door, a short man with brown hair and a crooked nose. He
could feel the Avialie magic, just faintly, like the Cosa spell was
fading, but he knew that Vin and Amina weren’t the only Avialies in
this village.

The man’s eyes widened as he saw
Sierra and Grace. “Sierra! Come in, come in.”

“We’re looking for Vin and Amina,”
Sierra said.

Amina appeared over the shoulder of
the unfamiliar man. “Who’s your friend?” she asked, eying
Dar.

“It’s Dar,” Sierra said
quietly.

“Oh! Come in. It’s just a
precaution, you know,” Amina said. “Tie your horses up in the
back.”

A few minutes later, the three of
them entered the small cottage. Vin changed into his natural form.
His right eye, purple and black, was swollen shut, and his cheek
was bruised green. His hands were bandaged. A wave of anger washed
over Dar. Who on earth did the Protectors think they
were?

As Amina hugged Sierra, Dar changed
to his natural form, as well. Grace watched him with fascination on
her face, then turned to Vin and fiddled with her hands. “I’m so
sorry about the other night,” she said.

Vin shook her head. “Don’t worry,
you tried.”

“What happened, though? Did you
come by yourself?” Grace asked.

Amina’s smile had faded. “I wanted
to bring it, but Lisbeth didn’t trust me.”

“Caleb was supposed to distract
your family while she gave you the potion, but we arrived at
different times.” He moved to stand next to Amina, wrapping his arm
around her and lightly kissed her forehead.

“Wait, what happened?” Sierra
asked.

Grace explained how her father had
found Vin, and the Protectors had taken him to the castle to warn
him against contacting Grace again.

“What was the potion?” Sierra
asked.

“A fertility potion,” Grace
said.

“Whose idea was that?” Dar asked
Vin and Amina, keeping the annoyance out of his voice.

“Lisbeth’s,” Vin said. “But
anyways, what are you doing here? Would you like some
tea?”

They sat around their small living
room as Vin prepared some tea. The place soon smelled like tea
leaves and smoke. Dar remembered when Vin had built the modest
table they sat at, remembered when he and Amina first moved here,
shortly after they got married.

Amina cried when she found out Evan
was alive, and Dar could see Sierra blinking away tears at their
joy. Sierra explained most of it: finding Evan, Dar’s rescuing
them, Grace’s involvement.

Grace then told them about how she
confessed her plans to meet Sierra and Evan once they started
hurting Dar. She fidgeted with her teacup and looked at Sierra.
“I’m sorry, but… I told them. I’m sorry, I just
couldn’t…”

Sierra touched her arm. “It’s okay.
We… we took precautions, just in case someone followed you. We saw
them, but we were hidden.” She half-smiled. “I actually came to
your house last night to tell you off.”

Grace laughed, but it turned into
something of a grimace. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“It’s okay,” Sierra
said.

“I almost went insane when I found
out they took Vin,” Amina told Grace, reaching across the table and
squeezing her hand.

“I don’t know what I’d do if they
took you,” Vin said. He bent down and kissed Amina on the forehead
again.

Dar swallowed, looking at Grace out
of the corner of his eye. He’d left to avoid that weakness, but he
couldn’t turn off his affection for Grace, and she obviously still
cared for him. How his emotions had fought yesterday in that chair:
selfishness in wishing she’d speak and save him from the pain, and
selflessness, ready to do anything for Sierra and Evan’s safety. In
the end, he hadn’t had to choose; Grace did. She chose him, and a
small part of him took great pleasure in it while the rest of him
knew how much it put them all in danger.

“Anyways,” Grace said quietly. She
told them about the conversation she overheard the Protectors had
with her father and how she left as soon as she could.

Sierra explained their plan with
Evan, the worry evident on her face. She didn’t mention the ancient
texts. “I hope you don’t mind that we came to you,” she
finished.

“No, of course not,” Vin said. “We
care about this just as much as you.”

“The important thing is keeping
Grace safe,” Amina said. She looked at Vin. “The underground
shelter?”

After discussing it, they settled
on a plan. The Avialies in the village had an underground shelter
for emergencies. The three of them would stay the night there, and
in the morning, they’d find a Zinna to communicate with Jeshro or
Evan. Sierra wanted to try sooner, but they knew it’d be too
dangerous. Communication with a Zinna took a lot of energy, and
Evan couldn’t spare any. Vin also said the Zinna they’d pay in the
next village only worked during daylight, and the sun was just
setting as they started talking about it.

Vin led them to the underground
shelter once it was relatively dark. The trapdoor hidden under
branches and leaves led them to a set of steps fashioned from wood
and mud. He left them, promising to be back with food and water.
The shelter was long; Dar held the lantern up and couldn’t see the
back. It wasn’t very wide, though. The ground was hardened dirt,
the walls around them a combination of wood and packed dirt. Other
than a few trunks, the cave was empty.

They made their beds, and Vin came
down with a warm meal. “Are you really all right, Vin?” Grace
asked. She shuddered. “It was so horrible.”

“I’m fine. I knew if I got caught,
something might happen.” Vin tentatively touched his black
eye.

“What happened with Caleb?” Dar
asked, frowning.

“He had the wrong information.”
Vin shrugged. “It’s all right.”

“I’m sorry,” Grace said. “I wish I
could have done more.”

“It’s okay,” he said gruffly. “We
did it for you, and then they just poured out the
potion.”

She looked down at her stew,
stirring it around with her spoon. “You shouldn’t have done
that.”

“We took the risk for you and the
prophecy,” Vin said. He glanced at Dar, then looked over the
underground shelter. “I wish we could… I don’t know, get you
something a bit more… accommodating.”

Sierra snorted while taking a bite
and started coughing. Dar patted her on the back, and she took a
drink of water. “I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly. “It’s just…
accommodating!” She started giggling.

After a moment, Grace joined in.
Vin sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “Come on, you know
what I meant. I just—it’s the prophecy…”

Sierra doubled over, laughing so
hard her eyes squeezed shut.

“She’s losing her mind,” Dar said,
smiling at Vin. “It’s not your fault.”

Grace leaned against Sierra as the
two of them giggled endlessly. “I’m so exhausted,” she choked out
through laughs, holding her stomach.

“We can tell.” Vin got to his
feet. “Want me to take your dishes?”

“No, I’m not finished,” Sierra
said, finally calming down. “But… maybe next time you could bring
some aphrodisiacs?” She and Grace howled with laughter again. Dar
and Vin shook their heads, but Dar couldn’t help smiling,
too.

After they calmed down, Vin said,
“All right, I don’t want to sour the mood, but if someone other
than me or Amina comes, run that way.” He motioned to the back of
the cave.

Dar looked to the side. “What’s
that way?”

“It’ll eventually lead to the
manor in Belisha,” Vin said. “It’s a risky trail, though, quite a
maze. Hopefully it won’t come to that. But it might be your only
choice if the Protectors catch us.”

* * *

Chapter
Eighteen

Dar stirred and shifted to rub his
eyes. The cold air from the cave hit him like a wave, and he buried
himself under the covers again, keeping only his face out. He
turned on his side, facing Grace. The three of them were bundled up
in blankets on the dirt floor, Grace in between him and
Sierra.

“Are you awake?” he heard Grace
whisper in the dark.

“Yes.” Dar paused, then smiled.
“Are you?”

“No, I’m talking in my sleep,”
Grace said, and he heard the smile in her voice. He couldn’t
believe how dark it was in here. It could be daylight outside, and
he wouldn’t even know. It felt like morning, but Vin had shoved
grass and branches over the trap door, blocking out any outside
light.

“How’d you sleep?” Dar
asked.

“Wonderfully.” Grace shifted, and
the cold air flooded in. She gasped and pulled the blankets back
down. After a moment, she added, “But now my back
hurts.”

“From all the riding?”

“And the ground.” He heard her
yawn. “When do you think Evan will get to Belisha?”

“Probably in a couple hours.” He
worried again about Evan’s weakened state. If he didn’t made it
back by lunch, Dar decided he’d go after him. But then he thought
of Grace and the Protectors who were looking for her. He hoped he
wouldn’t have to choose.

“I hope he gets there all right,”
Grace whispered. “He’s your cousin, right?”

“Right. We grew up in Shyra
together.”

“Who was Seth?”

“Another cousin,” Dar said. He
didn’t continue, and Grace didn’t press him. As the silence
stretched on, he thought back to their childhood, the years in
Shyra where they’d grown up. He thought of all the times he’d
almost told Grace about the prophecy, the slaughter, the powers,
and everything that had happened to them. He’d always held back,
but now she knew so much about his family. What harm could it do?
He found himself wanting to talk about the times they’d had
together.

“We all lived in Rahuda, the main
city,” he said in a whisper. “Seth moved in with Evan after his
parents were killed in the first battle with the Protectors. We
were fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. The three of us were together all
the time. Playing tricks on the girls, dueling, running off on
stupid adventures.”

He fell silent, and Grace didn’t
say anything. He thought maybe she’d fallen asleep and he’d been
talking to himself, but then she said, “It sounds nice.”

Dar half-smiled. “It was… even with
the curse. We kept this balance, somehow. Even though the curse was
killing people and the Protectors were watching everything we did,
we still managed to be idiotic teenagers. Especially when we
started noticing girls.”

“Boys can really be idiots around
girls,” Grace said.

“Things got harder,
though.”

“Right, I guess we only cause
problems.”

“Of course not. It just… changed
things.”

She said nothing in response, and
Dar sighed. “Don’t you know how it is? One moment, you’re a child,
and everything’s innocent and easy. The next moment, the world is
dangerous and you want to do more than chase girls around and tease
them… or, you know, be chased and teased by boys. Suddenly,
they’re…” he trailed off, thinking of his infatuation with Matilda
when he was eighteen. “You don’t know what to think about them. And
while we were falling in love, everyone around us was dying, and
the women were losing children, and we realized we’d never have
normal lives.” Dar closed his eyes, even though it had little
effect on his vision.

“It seems like I grew up a lot
later than you,” Grace whispered. “You’re the one who…”

Dar opened his eyes, waiting for
her to finish. “Who what?”

“You’re the one I fell in love
with, and I’m seeing I’ll never have a normal life.”

He swallowed and reached his hand
out for her. She started when he touched her nose, and he
whispered, “Sorry.” He traced the outline of her jaw softly. “You
still can have a normal life.”

Grace’s fingers found his mouth,
covering his lips. “No, I can’t. Not after… after seeing the shape
changers and the Protectors.” She led her hand down and rested it
on his chest.

He took it in his grip, wrapping
his fingers around hers. The fact that she was willingly helping
his family terrified him, especially after the Protectors took so
much in the last two battles. He couldn’t bear to think of anything
happening to her, but she’d made it clear it wasn’t his choice to
make. She was with the Avialies now, and he would do anything to
keep her safe.

“Maybe someday,” Dar said quietly.
“Maybe it won’t be normal like you imagined, but… maybe you can
still get married and have children. Even if…” he trailed off,
wondering what the future held.

“Maybe.”

Dar dozed off again, his hand
holding hers.

* * *

Sierra was eager to visit the Zinna
in the next village. Vin accompanied her, leaving Amina with Grace
and Dar. Sierra was sure Amina would give them plenty of privacy.
She rolled her eyes thinking about it.