Promising Light (44 page)

“If the family is in Nyad, though,
that’s the opposite direction of Kleisade,” Sierra said. “Are we
going to have to backtrack? They already have rewards out for half
of us.” She paused, looking at Matilda. “I don’t know how much
magic you can keep up.”

Matilda gave her a small smile.
“Depends on those strengthening potions and how much rest I can get
while we travel.”

“Nyad is closer to where the
Protectors might still be,” Grace said as she tore blades of grass
out of the ground.

“And Kleisade is over the
mountains,” Sierra added.

“It’s a gamble both ways,” Chad
said. “I think wandering the country for tigers is going to be
harder than bearing the mountains. If we can at least get a lead
from the Borens in Kleisade, we’ll have some direction.” He looked
at Matilda. “You pick up any information?”

“New charges,” Matilda said.
“Murder and theft. They doubled the rewards.”

Sierra groaned. Why couldn’t Evan
have left the guards? He squinted up at the sky with a frown, but
otherwise didn’t respond to the news. “And how much is that?” she
asked.

“Four thousand ryrels,” Matilda
said. “It’s still only two thousand for Grace. They have your
sketches up at the county jail and a few bars around the
city.”

Evan swore. “They moved
fast.”

“I vote we go to Kleisade,” Grace
said.

“But if we’re going to back to
Nyad, anyways,” Sierra said, “what’s the point?”

“We won’t be wandering blindly,”
Chad said, getting to his feet. “We should get as far as we can
tonight.”

“But shouldn’t we go straight for
the tigers?” Sierra asked.

“The Nyad jungles are huge; they
could be anywhere,” Chad said. “We need more
information.”

The others stood up, and she said,
“Shouldn’t we vote or something?”

Evan held out his hand. “Come on,
Kleisade is nice this time of year.”

She let out a huff, taking his help
to get to her feet. “The mountains are always snowy.”

Evan kissed her on the forehead,
and she smiled at him in surprise. “I love you,” he whispered, “and
I’ll kill anyone who tries to turn you in for a reward.”

Sierra’s smile faltered; she hated
thinking about him killing people. She gave him a hug and said, “I
love you, too.”

* * *

Chapter
Twenty-Six

When they arrived in Aron five days
later, the city bustled with activity, carriages and horse-riders
filling the narrow cobblestone streets. People kept bumping into
Grace and Sierra and getting frustrated with their horses when they
wouldn’t move forward into the space they saw. The buildings were
low and mostly built of wood.

The lively city was a welcome
relief from those barren roads with nothing but trees and the six
of them. They passed a collection of merchants: a woman selling
roses, an older couple with pastries, a man with colorful
blankets.

Chad led them through the thick
center of the city and to a less crowded area with stone houses.
They were going to his aunt’s house. They’d stay there while
looking for a Boren who knew about tigers in Nyad. Chad claimed his
cousin Lee was a stronger Boren than him and might be willing to go
to Nyad with them. Grace hoped he would.

She was also really looking forward
to a warm, comfortable bed. The last few nights as they passed over
the mountains, their group had shoved themselves into a tent to
keep each other warm. She enjoyed sleeping next to Dar, and they
even spent most of their watches together, talking to keep each
other awake. They’d huddle close to the fire, and Dar told her
about the magical families or his childhood in Shyra, and taught
her how to make a rabbit trap. He tried to teach her how to skin an
animal, but she’d nearly thrown up when she saw the dead
rabbit.

There were other times when she was
sure she’d never be able to feel her toes again, times when she
nearly fell off her horse from exhaustion. Times when everyone
snapped at each other and they all began to doubt Evan’s confidence
these texts existed and could break the curse. Evan was the only
one who didn’t waver. He told them every detail of the images he
saw, and Grace in turn read to him what she’d written about
Lisbeth’s vision. Three images from Lisbeth’s vision had happened:
the birthmark, of course; the man changing into a lion; and the
group of riders in the snow. The images from her and Evan’s visions
didn’t overlap, but they did seem to have similar styles—only
fractions before moving onto the next.

Chad stopped at a larger house,
this one actually two stories, and dismounted. “Let’s all get off
here,” he said, motioning.

Chickens ran freely around Grace’s
feet as she followed the others to the door. Chad knocked, but
didn’t wait for someone to answer. He walked in, calling,
“Hello?”

“Chad!” A stout woman came out
from the kitchen and rushed to Chad. She threw her arms around him,
grinning.

They walked into a warm living room
full of furniture. Couches and chairs, covered in bright colored
blankets, huddled around tables and stools. They hardly found room
for all six of them to stand; Grace ended up squeezed between the
fireplace and Dar. A gray cat walked through their legs, meowing,
and Grace could see two more cats, one sitting on the couch, the
other watching them coolly from its perch on the window.

“Matilda,” the woman said, kissing
Matilda on the cheek. “Oh, you’re quite warm.”

“I think I’m coming down with a
fever,” Matilda said with a smile. Grace noticed she was a little
pale, too. She’d done constant magic for the past week to keep her
and Sierra and their horses hidden.

“Who are your friends?” the woman
asked, glancing at Evan and Dar in their different forms. She
glanced at the gray cat who was rubbing itself on her leg. “There’s
some Cosa magic hiding a few more, aren’t there?”

Matilda chanted in her language,
and the familiar feeling of being revealed pushed into Grace.
Matilda’s shoulders relaxed as the woman looked directly at Grace
and Sierra. “Hello, I’m Diane. Call me Di.”

Chad introduced them and told Evan
and Dar to change to their original forms. They hesitated,
exchanging glances, then did so. “Avialies,” Di said, raising her
eyebrows. “I knew you wouldn’t be here if it was good
news.”

“Aunt Diane,” Chad said with a
pout.

“Well, sit down! Make yourselves
comfortable, and I’ll bring out some tea.”

Grace precariously moved to one of
the couches and sat down. It was quite comfortable; one she could
sleep in. The orange and white cat didn’t want to move, even as Dar
nudged it. Grinning, Chad called its name, and the cat went to his
lap. Dar sat down next to Grace, shaking his head.

Di came in with a tray overflowing
with cups and biscuits. She poured them all tea and then sat down
in an oversized armchair. Still more people could find room to sit.
Grace wondered if anyone else lived here.

She caught Di’s gaze on her and
smiled. “These are great biscuits.”

“So, they didn’t kidnap you,” Di
said.

“No. I left willingly.”

Di set her teacup down on the table
and crossed her arms tightly.

“What have you heard here in
Aron?” Chad asked, leaning toward his aunt.

“Oh, she was kidnapped by Avialies
because of the prophecy,” Di said with a shrug. “The Haltar
government is trying to convince us to put out arrest warrants, but
you know Kleisade. They couldn’t care less about Haltar’s problems,
but King Thomas arrested Harne last year for Kleisade, so…” She
shrugged again. “What are you all doing? Just running from the
Protectors?”

“No,” Chad said. He hesitated,
looking at Matilda. “Could you enchant the place?”

With a sigh, Matilda nodded. She
walked around the cramped downstairs, whispering under her breath.
Grace watched her with concern as she sat back down.

“We’re looking for the Avialie
ancient texts,” Chad said.

Di raised her eyebrows and waited
for him to go on.

“We have a lead. The elders of the
Avialies have said for hundreds of years that the tigers know where
the ancient texts are,” Chad said. “We visited some tigers with
Childress’ Traveling Circus, and they said their family has a pact
to protect the Avialies. They don’t know where the ancient texts
are and they last saw their family in Nyad.”

“Nyad,” Di repeated
faintly.

“We came to Aron to ask around to
see if anybody knew about the pact,” Chad said. “Or if they could
help us find this family.”

Di took a drink of her tea and
pursed her lips. She didn’t say anything for a moment. “I see,” she
finally said.

“Have you heard anything about
that?” Chad asked. “Tigers protecting Avialies?”

“No, but Chad… do you think this
is the best idea?” She looked at Dar. “I feel for your family, I
do. But this is dangerous. Do the Protectors have any idea what
you’re doing?”

“Probably,” Dar said. “They
tortured Evan for two years trying to figure out where the texts
were… they’re looking for them, too.”

Di stood up and walked to the
kitchen.

They watched after her, and Chad’s
shoulders sagged. “Sorry,” he said quietly to the others. “Aunt Di
usually stays out of this stuff.” He called over his shoulder,
“Where’s Lee?”

Di rushed back into the living
room, her eyes wide in anger. “Oh, no, Chad, you are not bringing
Lee into this!” Her gray curls quivered as she shook her head. “I
didn’t move to Aron to be pulled back into this
violence!”

Chad stood. “Listen, I
understand—”

“Do you? Your uncle is dead
because of them, but you’re still running around with Avialies! You
still live in Haltar!”

“I’m not going to run to Kleisade
to escape them.”

“No, you’re risking your neck for
books that don’t even exist!”

“They do exist,” Evan
said.

Di ignored him, staring at Chad.
“Why are you doing this?”

“I want to help the Avialies,”
Chad replied in an even tone.

“Why?”

“Once they win against the
Avialies, they’re going to realize they can do more to the rest of
us. They’ll target more families, and they won’t stop. We have to
defeat them, and saving the Avialies is one way.”

“But you could move to Kleisade…
they’re not here.”

Chad shook his head. “I’m not
leaving my home.”

She sat down in her armchair, her
shoulders sagging. “And you’re here to ask Lee to help.”

“If he wants to help, we’ll take
it,” Chad said. “But we just need a place to stay while we ask
around about the ancient texts. See if anyone knows about tigers in
Nyad.”

Di sighed. “You can stay here, but
if you bring any trouble to me or Lee, you’ll have to
leave.”

Chad nodded. “Of course. I don’t
want anything to happen to you two.”

She crossed her arms, looking at
Grace. “Aren’t they going to come looking for her?”

Grace felt her face warm. “We think
they’re more concerned with the ancient texts right now. We hope
so, at least.” She wasn’t sure if her father or the prince cared
about the ancient texts, but Tisha and Kilar—they couldn’t care
that much about her, right? She hoped not. Yet they’d come to her
manor to discuss her with her father.

“The reward isn’t out here yet,”
Di said quietly. “I heard about it because the magical families
know, but I doubt regular folk have heard about it. We’re not very
concerned with Haltarian affairs here.”

Grace half-smiled. “That’s good to
know.”

Di sighed, examining each of their
faces. “You all look horrible. How about some warm
baths?”

Grace’s smile widened. After five
days of traveling and hardly any bathing due to the frigid cold
water, a warm bath sounded heavenly. She nudged Dar in the side.
“We can finally get that stench off of you.”

* * *

They spent the afternoon bathing,
going through their supplies, and growing warm by the fireplace.
Di’s house was cozy and warm, though it did get crowded with all of
them. After Grace’s bath, Sierra brushed through her hair for her
as they sat in front of the wood stove. She closed her eyes as the
strokes nearly put her to sleep.

Dar came in from his bath and sat
next to her, their thighs touching. His hair was damp, and he shook
his head quickly, spraying water droplets on her and Sierra. Grace
giggled, poking him in the stomach. “You smell much
better.”

He grinned at her. “You should have
seen the water.”

Di began cooking a large meal, and
the aromas of food soon filled her small house.

“Completely vegetarian, of
course,” Chad told the others. “No meat with a Boren.”

Grace realized Chad hadn’t eaten
any meat during their time with him. As she was musing this, the
door opened. A tall man with a beard walked in. He looked as though
he could have been Chad’s brother; he even had the same content
look. The look turned to confusion when he saw the guests, but then
he saw Chad and he grinned.