Lichgates: Book One of the Grimoire Saga (an Epic Fantasy Adventure) (47 page)

Braeden leaned against a tree. “Let’s head back to Hillside. I don’t think you should go to the village alone. Twin will keep you company until I get back, and then I’ll go with you to find the village.”

He gestured for her to get on Rowthe while maintaining an overly respectful distance from her.

She shook her head. “I’m not going to wait, even if it means that I have to go alone. I have what I need.”

“Kara, no.”

“You take Rowthe. There are other mounts in the Grimoire that can help me.”

“Kara—”

“Go.”

He tugged on her arm to make her face him. “Look, I apologize for putting you in this position, but I need you to wait. You don’t know what’s waiting there. Let me take you back to Hillside. Use it as a chance to relax or—or burn an effigy of me if you want. But wait. The village has waited a thousand years for you, and it can wait another month or two. There have to be more safeguards set up to protect the village. If you go in there angry and distracted, you’ll fail.” He paused before letting out a shaky sigh. “You might even die.”

She glared at him, but he kept his gaze steady.

“Please, Kara.”

“I’ll do more than burn an effigy,” she muttered.

He sighed and offered to help her onto Rowthe, but she mounted on her own. He pulled himself up behind her once she was situated. She shied away from his touch, and during the six-hour journey back to Hillside, they didn’t say a single word to each other.

Kara lay in her room, watching the roof of her canopy bed shiver in the subtle breezes coming in from the open window. Someone rapped on her door. She didn’t answer. The door clicked open.

“I didn’t say you could come in,” she said.

“I don’t usually have to ask permission,” Gavin answered.

She looked over her knees to see the Blood standing with his arms crossed, watching her. He looked down over the brim of his nose.

“What’s wrong, Vagabond?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Lying isn’t one of the gifts you acquired.”

“Did you just call me a bad liar?”

“I did.”

She sighed and sat up.

“Where’s Braeden?” he asked. “I heard that he left you at the gates and tore off on what the guards believe to be a flaer.”

“It is a flaer.”

“Where did he go?”

She caught Gavin’s eye and paused. She could give Braeden away right now. She could tell Gavin everything. The one person she’d thought was her best and only true friend left in the world tried to kill her, after all. Even if it was at Carden’s behest, he’d had the chance to save her and did nothing.

But she remembered the promise she made to Adele the first time she woke up in Hillside. She would protect Braeden as often as he’d protected her. Here, now, she would lie. Well, mostly.

“We ran into Carden. We only escaped thanks to that little guy.” She pointed to where Flick slept on the mantle. “And Braeden needed to—um—I guess he needed to kill something after the experience.”

“It’s a miracle that you both survived,” Gavin said. He sat on the edge of her bed and rested a hand on her ankle.

She swallowed hard as the memory of Braeden strangling her resurfaced. She clenched the sheets beneath her hands and glared at the floor.

“Are you all right, Kara?”

“I’ll be fine. I should just relax.” She had borrowed Braeden’s words. Her throat tightened.

“What you need is a distraction. I’ll send Twin to you immediately.”

Kara laughed, but the smile faded as she remembered the way Carden sneered at her and lit his own flame when hers had petered out.

“I do have good news,” Gavin said.

“What’s that?”

“Ayavel, Kirelm, Losse, and Hillside have agreed on a peace treaty. We will have the Gala in a little over a month.”

“That’s amazing,” she agreed.

“Now, since you aren’t from Ourea, you might not know that each of the Bloods expect gifts at an occasion such as this. If you would like, I would be happy to help you brainstorm.”

“Would you be helping me brainstorm your own gift?”

“Perhaps.”

“You’re shameless.” She laughed, shaking her head.

“At least you’re laughing.” He squeezed her ankle and smiled before he left the room, latching the door behind him.

She stood and walked over to the window. The cobblestone road below was shrouded in the tree tops of Hillsidian houses, and in the distance, the market quarter boomed with life. She was safe in Hillside. This was home.

Someone knocked on the door. Before Kara could say anything, it opened with the swoosh of a skirt.

“Hi, Twin,” she said without turning around.

“I’m so glad you’re back! Try this on.”

She turned to see Twin dump a pile of crimson fabric on the bed.

“What—?”

“It’s your Gala dress! I hope you don’t mind, but pants simply won’t do for such a formal affair. Quick, slip it on! I had to guess your size, and I just know it’s wrong.”

“Do I get a say in this?”

“How ridiculous! Of course not. Come on! You have to try this on for me.”

Kara lifted several layers of fabric off of the mattress, but couldn’t for the life of her find the bedspread beneath it. Twin hoisted the fabric into her arms, and the sloping outline of a formal ball gown blocked out large chunks of the sunlight before it was dumped over Kara’s head. A gap in the material appeared, and Twin grinned through it as the dress finally settled onto its victim.

When Kara’s head was freed from the red fabric, she saw a different person in the mirror. Sure, her hair was still gritty and there was a streak of dirt on her chin, but the dress made her look like a princess despite all of that. It had silver trim on the bodice and hugged her waist, tumbling out from the hips to a long train that pooled around her feet. The fabric clasped at her elbows and her wrists with round silver buttons, while hemmed slits ran down the sleeves and tugged the neckline away from her shoulders.

She brushed her hair back and as she did so, two growing bruises on her neck that were shaped like hands became visible. Twin gasped when she saw them, but Kara cleared her throat and shook her head.

“Please don’t ask.”

“Are you all right, at least?”

“Yes, I think so. Twin, did you make this dress?” she asked, trying to change the topic.

The girl nodded and began to pin it so that she could better tailor it to Kara’s body.

“I wanted to make it green and gold,” Twin explained as she worked. “It would have looked great on you, but Blood Gavin told me I wasn’t allowed to do that because the other kingdoms would take our national colors as a sign of possession. The thought! I merely wanted the dress to suit you.”

“Well, it’s stunning nonetheless. Thank you so much.”

“This is only the beginning, because we get to go shopping for accessories tomorrow!”

Kara groaned at the thought of shopping as her friend helped pull the gown back over her head.

“Is that—?” Twin stepped toward the mantle, eyes widening as she caught sight of Flick. “Is that a—?”

“Yeah, I can’t pronounce it, either.”

“What an adorable little thing!” Twin giggled and rubbed her finger on Flick’s forehead. He flipped onto his back to play with her fingertip.

“You really are a blessed girl, Kara! You have a gift from the heavens and the affection of a royal man!”

“You don’t really think—wait, who are you talking about?” Kara paused, catching herself. There was no way Twin could know what Braeden really was.

“Oh I’m an idiot!” Twin slapped a hand over her mouth and set Flick back on the mantle.

“Twin, who are you talking about?”

“No one!”

“Twin!”

“No!”

“Twin!”

“I—” The girl gasped, sat on the bed, and stuffed her face into the yards of fabric lying there in all its pinned, pointy glory.

“You shouldn’t—come on, don’t do that.” Kara tried to pull her friend’s head out of the fabric. “Seriously, stop. You must have put a hundred pins in that dress.”

“I can’t tell you, Kara. I apologize. Blood Gavin would be furious!”

“Wait, are you trying to say that Gavin is interested?”

“Oh, Bloods!” Twin threw her face in the pile of cloth and pins again.

“Twin, that has to be a rumor. Even if the political implications of a Blood and the Vagabond weren’t important, I’m not interested.”

“Not interested?” Twin looked at Kara as if she’d just slapped her. “Not only is he the Blood, but he’s a good person. How could you not be attracted to him?”

Kara raised her eyebrows. “Do you want Gavin?”

“Every girl in the kingdom wants him!”

“This isn’t what I want to talk about right now,” Kara said, her face flushing. “I need a bath. Just drop this.”

“But there are a dozen rumors about his interest in a certain vagabond. You can’t ignore that!”

“I’m the only vagabond.”

“Well there you go. Mystery solved!” Twin giggled, Kara apparently catching onto the joke a bit late.

Kara escaped Twin’s pressing conversation about Gavin’s rumored affections long enough to duck out to the orchard, but she avoided the lake and chose instead to walk down the rows of apple trees. She passed a tree and did a double-take at its trunk.

Her heart skipped a beat before she recognized Garrett leaning against the tree, watching her with a sidelong glare. She sighed and cursed under her breath.

“Can’t you just say hello like a normal person?” she asked.

“I am not a normal person.”

“This is true. Why are you here?”

“It’s a pleasure to see you as well, Vagabond.” He bowed his head in welcome.

“Sorry. It’s been a rough day.”

“Understandably. Adele wished for me to check on you after Braeden told us of your brush with Carden.”

“If Flick hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

“You would likely have died,” he said calmly.

Too many sarcastic rebuttals raced through her head for her to choose one, and the appropriate moment came and went without a word. She shook her head and sat beneath an apple tree, leaning against its trunk. Garrett did the same.

“I’m sorry that we couldn’t help you,” he continued. “We aren’t supposed to help you, Kara, remember that. Every time we do, we disobey a direct order from the Council. We can’t leave if we’re with them. This was one of those times.”

“I understand.”

“I do have something else to ask you,” he said, leaning forward. “Adele told me you consider Hillside to be your home. Is that true?”

“Yes,” she said without a pause.

“Has anyone given you a key to the kingdom?” He was motionless, and she suspected he already knew the answer to that question. She shrugged.

“No, but Gavin’s been busy. I’m sure he would give me one if I asked.”

“Don’t make excuses to avoid the truth,” he said. “If Hillside was your home, you would have a key.”

“Look, I’m sure it’s—”