Promising Light (58 page)

William looked over her shoulder at
the other men. “Where are the others?”

“Either dead or escaped,” Kilar
said.

“And him?” William asked,
motioning. Grace turned to see who he was talking about and she
looked at Dar. Her breath caught in her throat as he stared at the
ground. Dar. He was alive. He hadn’t died from the wound in his
stomach. She realized he’d been here all this time, walking along
like nothing was wrong with him. Why had they healed him? She’d
been so set on saving his life. Had she been the one to save
him?

“What about him?” Kilar asked with
a scoff.

Grace stared at Dar. Something was
in the back of her mind, calling for her to remember it.

Father cleared his throat. “Your
Highness, I think Dar should be let go.”

Grace felt a surge of gratefulness
and she smiled.

“Let him go?” William said, venom
in his voice. “Why would we do that?”

She studied William’s angry
expression. No, William was right; why would they let Dar go? He’d
kept her away from William for weeks.

“He only tagged along with the
group to keep Grace safe, your Highness,” Father said.

Grace found herself nodding; of
course that was true. She should say something; she should defend
Dar.

“He’s the reason they took her in
the first place,” William said.

Grace’s anger flooded into her;
yes, if he’d never have been with her, they never would have chosen
her for the prophecy! But if he hadn’t been with her, then she
wouldn’t have had those wonderful times with him, times in the
vineyard, times late at night in the horse shed. She shook her head
like a dog clearing water. She was in love with William.

“Please stop it,” she spoke over
her father’s response. “This is giving me a headache.”

William stared at her for a moment.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked Father.

Father shrugged. “I don’t know.
She’s been with Avialies for weeks. Roaming in the jungle all day.
She walked out of a cave all by herself. We should get out of
here.”

“Fine.” William motioned to Dar,
his lip curling in disgust. “We’ll deal with him at Peter’s.” He
glanced at Grace before turning away.

She frowned, almost reaching out
for him, but she caught Dar’s gaze on her. When she looked at him,
he glanced away, and something nagged at the back of her mind
again. She’d forgotten something… what was it?

* * *

Chapter
Thirty-Four

When they entered Nyad, they used
the royal flags and everything. Dar thought they could be more
conspicuous, since Avialies were probably here. But the royal group
and the Protectors seemed exhausted. Many of them were wounded, and
Dar heard them quietly talking about those who’d fallen. Kyler had
never made it to the jungle; he was in the medical center in Nyad.
The Avialies had vanished from the jungle, and Dar hoped it was
because Sierra had taken the ancient texts and fled. He didn’t
speak a word until they got to Governor Peter’s house.

The prince apologized for arriving
unexpected, but of course the governor had no choice but to house
the eight men, one woman, and one prisoner. The Governor suggested
they take Dar to the prison in Nyad, but William and Kilar wanted
him close-at-hand. There was no equivalent to a cell in the house,
but they dragged Dar to a half-empty shed, and William told Grace
to come with them, as well. Kilar lit torches, and they chained Dar
to an empty horse stall.

Half the men left, leaving William,
Kilar, Grace, and Grace’s father. Dar tried to be relieved that
Kris wasn’t sticking around, but his chances of a peaceful night
still weren’t good.

“What are we doing here?” Grace
asked. She hadn’t spoken much on the way here, just stared at
William’s back and occasionally asked how he was. Dar kept his eyes
on the ground.

“What do you—” William turned on
Dar. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Dar said
quietly.

“He didn’t,” Grace
said.

William paced around. “Why are you
acting so strange? Why didn’t you demand to go back to the
Avialies? Why aren’t you running after the ancient
texts?”

Dar let his gaze travel to her. She
was pinching the top of her nose, looking confused. She hesitantly
said, “Because it’s over. Sierra and I broke the curse. We found
the ancient texts.”

Dar gasped, his mouth falling open.
It worked. It worked, but how? The men stared at her, and William
swore, kicking at the door.

“But William, I wanted to come
back to you,” Grace said. She put her hand to her head again. “I…
something happened… something changed, and I… I didn’t want to run
from you anymore. I didn’t want to be away from you.”

“Where are the ancient texts?”
Kilar asked.

Grace glared at him as if he was a
nuisance. “They’re with Sierra. I told her to run with them.” She
sighed. “William, you must forgive me. I don’t know what’s happened
to me these last few weeks. I’ve hated being away from you. I’m
sorry.”

Kilar swore and left the shed. He
came back for a moment and said, “I want to know everything he
says.” Then he was gone again.

Grace stepped closer to him, taking
his hands. “I’m sorry, William. Listen, if I could go back and
change it all, I would.”

At that, William
pulled away. Dar clenched his teeth; hadn’t Matilda said it was
a
mild
love
potion? Grace seemed ready to die for him. She would have died for
Dar, and she’d taken this potion for him instead. Dar stared at the
ground, fighting to keep his face emotionless.

William ran hands through his hair.
Dar wished Grace were faking it instead; she wouldn’t say stupid
things like that. She wasn’t really in love with him. It was just a
love potion. It’d wear off in a week. And then what? What would
Tisha and Kilar do to her?

Prince William looked at Dar again.
“I want to know what’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on. She’s…” Dar
gave a weak shrug. If Grace couldn’t lie, he would. He could lie.
Isn’t this what he’d wanted for Grace, anyways? To have a life with
the prince? But no, he wanted her to willingly choose him. Not for
a love potion to affect her emotions. He wanted her safe, and she’d
be safe with the prince. Or would she? Would the Protectors mess
with her body? He took a deep breath; he had to say something.
Staring at the ground, he said, “She cares about you… ever since
Aron, she’s been… wondering if she can do both. Help the Avialies
but have you, too. She said she’d go as far as Mumbar Jungle and
then she was going back to you.”

William stared at him and shook his
head. “I don’t believe you.”

Grace hesitated, meeting Dar’s eyes
for a moment. Then she took hold of William’s arm, turning her
attention back to him. Like Dar was invisible again. “It’s true.
It’s like I told you, I don’t believe the Protectors are right or
that the Avialies should die. But what I said in the carriage, it’s
not true anymore. I don’t care if you’re with the Protectors. I did
what I could with the Avialies, but it’s over now. I want you,
William.”

“What about him?” William motioned
to Dar.

Grace’s gaze fell on him, and she
stared at him as she had back in the jungle, as if she was trying
to figure out a puzzle. “I… I think you should let him
go.”

Kilar came back into the shed. “I
told the others, and we formed a search party.”

“Aren’t they tired?” Grace’s
father asked.

“Of course, but the Avialies will
be on the move,” Kilar said. “I understand if you want to stay with
Lady Grace.”

William and the general exchanged
glances, nodding. “Yes, we will.”

“And Dar?” Kilar asked.

William studied Grace’s face as she
gave him a weak smile. Dar averted his eyes again; he couldn’t
stand to see her look at him like that. He dug his wrists into his
manacles, letting the pain distract him.

“Just let him go,” she said
softly.

“I still don’t trust you,” William
said, pulling his arm from her.

She looked hurt as he walked to the
shed door. William asked Kilar, “What do you want to do with
him?”

Kilar looked at Dar. “Keep him
overnight, and we’ll question him in the morning. I need to speak
with Tisha about it. We’ll be back soon.” He left, and Dar prayed
Sierra and the others were far from here.

“Do you want to say goodnight?”
William asked Grace as he motioned to Dar.

Grace paused. “He’s staying in
here?”

“No, we’ll find a more secure
place for him,” William said. “But I’d like to escort you to your
room. I asked the governor to have a warm bath ready for
you.”

She smiled, looking down as her
cheeks went pink. Dar dug his wrists into the manacles with as much
as strength as he could bear. He had to think about something else.
Anything but her and William. She turned toward Dar. “Goodnight,
Dar.”

He inclined his head to her, not
trusting himself to speak.

“We’ll be back,” the prince told
General Daniel. Grace stared at Dar for a moment before leaving
with William.

Daniel crouched in front of Dar.
“You’ve ruined her life,” Daniel said quietly.

Dar thought of a variety of things
he could say: he tried to stop it, he never should have started it.
He could apologize; he could beg for mercy from the man; he could
shift blame. Dar realized he had a small hand in things. Yes, he
brought Grace to the attention of his family. But they’d chosen
her, and she’d chosen to help. Whatever she’d done in the cave,
she’d done of her own freewill, without any care for the wishes of
Dar or her father or the prince. She hadn’t let anyone control her,
and Dar had fallen even more in love with her because of
it.

In the end, he said nothing, and
neither did Daniel until the prince returned. They dragged him to a
room inside, chaining him to a bed and leaving him in his bloody,
sweaty clothes. Dar lay on his bed, staring at the manacle and
chain. Grace had subjected herself back under their power for him,
and he would do anything to get her out of it.

* * *

Lisbeth was reluctant about leaving
Grace with the Protectors, but Sierra convinced her Grace would be
fine without them. Even if Lisbeth had wanted to find Grace, no one
else seemed keen to. People were injured, and they were antsy since
they knew the Protectors would be searching for them.

Once the news spread that they’d
found the ancient texts, they stared at Sierra with awe. She was
grateful to be with her group from before as they rode in carriages
toward Jolen. Her clothes stuck to her with sweat, and she couldn’t
cool down. She watched the passing trees with wariness. The
carriage was flanked with guards, and Lisbeth had kept the ancient
texts with her. Matilda and Evan sat in the carriage with
Sierra.

Lee had left with Caleb and Adrian,
headed to Kleisade to keep his mother safe after what happened to
George. Evan had nearly volunteered himself, but Sierra had grabbed
his arm and asked him quietly to stay with her. In his hesitation,
Caleb and Adrian had stepped up, and Sierra had nearly cried with
relief.

She waited until they’d traveled an
hour from Nyad before leaning forward, setting her elbows on her
knees. “I want to tell you about Grace’s plan now that we’re
alone,” she said.

“Please tell me it doesn’t have to
do with that love potion,” Matilda said, her voice
scratchy.

Sierra nodded, rubbing her
forehead. “She had a Mahri poison and a love potion. She said she’d
tell the Protectors she’d take the poison unless they healed Dar,
but if they did, she’d take the love potion for the
prince.”

Sighing, Matilda put her head in
her hands. “And she thought that was going to work?”

“She thought the Protectors would
need her alive,” Sierra replied, “to placate her father and the
prince.”

Matilda swore quietly. “Love
potions are dangerous.”

“Where did she get it?” Evan
asked.

“I sold it to Dar when he first
brought the four of you for protective spells,” Matilda said. “I
can’t believe she even remembered it.”

“She said it was a mild one,”
Sierra said, half a question.

“Mild by terms of love potions,
but it’ll still wreak havoc on her mind.” Matilda shook her head.
“And she’s already in love with Dar, so that will only make it
worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“The love potion isn’t going to
erase her love for Dar. It’ll just confuse her, tear her in two
different directions.” Matilda looked out at the starry sky. “But
if she’s in love with William, she’ll tell him anything he wants to
hear.”

Sierra nodded. “That’s why I knew
we needed to get away.”

“Nothing’s safe. Lee’s mom,
Kaiden…” Matilda shook her head. “We should tell
Lisbeth.”