Promising Hope (15 page)

“Grace didn’t even want to go with us,” Lisbeth
muttered. “She was just fine with the prince.”

“
What
?” Adrian demanded.

Matilda gave Sierra a pointed look.

Sierra nodded and stood. It was time they knew.
“Wait, before you judge Grace… let me explain.”

Lisbeth raised her eyebrows and slowly sat down.

Sierra cleared her throat before continuing, “When
they found us in Nyad, before we were going to go into Mumbar
Jungle, General Daniel stabbed Dar. I’m sure some of you saw it. It
was a wound that would have been fatal, but after we found the
ancient texts, Grace went to the Protectors to bargain for his
life.” She swallowed and continued, “She had two potions—a poison
that would kill her and a love potion. She told me if they healed
Dar, she would take the love potion, but if they wouldn’t, she’d
kill herself. I’m assuming, since they’re both alive, that she’s
under the love potion.”

“But…” Lisbeth trailed off. “Love potion for
whom?”

“Prince William.” Sierra forced her hands still. No
fidgeting. “She must have talked with the Protectors and her
father. Her father would want to save her life, and the Protectors
know how valuable he is to them. She probably told them that her
friends knew the plan and would tell the prince they were the
reason she was dead. Under the love potion, she could be subdued…
at least for a little while, and they could keep their political
allies.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I tried to give her the antidote,” Matilda said,
“but her father stopped me. I think he knows.”

“Matilda, you knew?” Lisbeth asked. “It’s been two
weeks! Why didn’t either of you tell us?”

“I was afraid you’d leave her behind,” Sierra
said.

“Well, she’s not much use to us anymore, is she?”
Adrian said with a scoff.

Sierra slammed her hand on the table. “She left
behind her family and her home to help you! She left Dar bleeding
to death to find the ancient texts! And now she’s stuck in that
palace under a love potion and the Protectors still see her as a
threat.” She turned on Lisbeth. “You saw her stick up for us in
that meeting. I think no matter how in love she is with William she
will still fight for us, and she’s only in Tisha and Kilar’s
way.”

“Well,” Matilda said haltingly, “if she had a strong
enough love potion, she’d put aside everything for him. I hope they
don’t try something stronger, though, because it won’t be good
while she still has feelings for Dar.”

“How do we know how strong it is? Where did she get
it?” Lisbeth asked.

“I made it,” Matilda said, “and Dar bought it from
me, though I have no idea why. It’s mild, but anyone who is already
in love with someone else will experience side effects. Headaches,
dizziness, confusion.” She looked at the ceiling for a moment.
“Let’s see, it’s been… almost two weeks? It’s been long enough that
it probably would have worn off by now. I’m sure the Protectors
gave her a new one, though.”

“So, that will shut her up for a little while,”
Adrian said.

Sierra opened her mouth to yell at him, but Evan
surprised her by speaking. “Don’t talk about her like that,” Evan
said.

Adrian glared at him in disbelief.

“She saved this family.” Evan leaned forward, his
shoulders tense. “She’s marked to protect us, and we cannot desert
her.”

“But don’t you think there are more important
battles?” Adrian said with exasperation. “Gregorio, fighting the
Protectors, returning home—”

“Do you think Grace has exceeded her usefulness?”
Evan asked. “You think the magic that broke the curse is gone? You
heard what was on the scroll. She and Sierra have a magic in them
that we don’t.”

Sierra was hopeful for a moment that that might mean
he would stay behind to help her get Grace, but he continued,
“While we search out Gregorio and while the elders plan against the
Protectors, we must always have someone searching to rescue Grace
and Dar. Until they’ve come home.” He looked at Sierra with raised
eyebrows.

She touched his shoulder. “I agree.” She slowly sat
down. She had never considered that magic lived inside of her and
Grace; she had thought what happened with the ancient texts was a
one time occurrence. But now that she thought about it, why
wouldn’t they be able to protect the Avialies again? If there was
another curse, if there was more threatening magic, it wasn’t crazy
to believe they could clasp hands and chant those mystical words
again and something might happen.

“Still,” she said, “even if Grace had no more magic
in her, she did enough for this family that she deserves our
protection.”

“Of course,” Evan said quietly.

“What else happened at the meeting?” Adrian asked,
pinching the bridge of his nose. “Did you learn anything we didn’t
already know?”

“The queen isn’t for the oppression of the Avialies,”
Sierra said. “She seemed to think it was silly, but she didn’t have
much say, either. They kept silencing her.” If she was in the
queen’s position, she’d be furious.

“The king wants us to find a compromise,” Jeshro
said. “He said he was tired of the violence, but he bends to Tisha
and Kilar’s will.”

“Wonderful,” Evan grumbled. “The king and queen want
to give us rights, but Tisha and Kilar are controlling the
kingdom.” He glanced at Adrian. “Once Gregorio’s gone, I think it’s
clear who should be next.”

Jeshro straightened. “No. Gregorio, yes, we have no
choice. But we will try to get what we want diplomatically.”

Adrian stared at him as though he’d suggested
completely surrendering. “You just tried that!”

“We need to search for alliances in the other magical
families,” Jeshro said. “While you search for Gregorio, back here,
we will be finding alliances. We will approach the king when we
have all six families, and if the king doesn’t relent then… then we
will consider a different route. But after today… I know the king
wants to end the violence, and I think we can convince him that we
deserve our rights. We deserve to come back home.”

“And if he won’t consider a treaty with us?” Lisbeth
asked.

“He won’t,” Adrian muttered.

“Then we will do what we have to, even if it means
declaring war,” Jeshro said.

A shudder went though Sierra, and she found Evan’s
hand under the table. She squeezed it, and he glanced over at her,
a grim smile on his face.

“Get some rest,” Jeshro said, suddenly sounding
tired. “We’ll meet again tomorrow with the others.”

Sierra and Evan walked out in silence. “Do we need to
see the Thieran for that cut on your forehead?” she asked. She
stopped him and got onto her tiptoes to look at it. “Or anything
else?”

Evan yawned. “I’m fine, Sierra.”

She tugged on his arm. “Please indulge me.”

He shrugged and followed her, his feet shuffling on
the ground as they walked to the Thieran. Ivan had been the one to
help them at the battle in Nyad. He’d healed Sashe after the
Protectors had cut her open. Sierra couldn’t believe her sister
could even live in the palace after all they’d done.

He had a special room in the Jolen castle with cots,
calming smells, open windows to the sea, and candles when it was
dark. When Sierra walked in, Vin and Amina were sleeping in two
cots, and Angela lay in another on her side while Ivan worked on
her. She looked asleep, but she kept mumbling as Sierra came
in.

“Sierra,” Ivan said. “Angela is almost asleep… she
had quite a busy day.”

Sierra sat on an empty cot and smiled at Angela.
“They were great.” Evan had actually been able to change when she
and Matilda lifted the Cosa enchantments. “I don’t know how they
got through the barriers to speak to Nilee.”

Angela mumbled something, then her body relaxed
completely. Her breathing steadied, and Ivan pulled his hands away,
a smile on his face. “Wonderful,” he said. “Who’s next?”

Sierra pushed on Evan’s shoulder. “Evan’s
forehead.”

Ivan nodded and stood since Evan made no motion to
sit. Ivan hummed under his breath as his hands moved over Evan’s
face. Evan’s shoulders relaxed, and when Ivan stepped away, even
the scab was gone.

“Anything else?” Ivan asked.

Evan shook his head, yawning again. “A few bruises
and scrapes, but otherwise, nothing.”

“I can take care of those, too.”

“No, I just want to sleep.” He turned to Sierra and
took her hand. “Are you ready?”

“Are Vin and Amina all right?” Sierra asked, looking
over the sleeping couple. Amina looked malnourished. Vin’s arm was
reached out over the distance between their cots, his fingers
inches from her.

“Yes,” Ivan said. “A little rest, and they’ll be like
new in the morning.”

“Thank you so much, Ivan,” Sierra said. She tugged on
Evan’s hand. “Come on, let’s go to sleep.”

The walk back to their bedroom seemed longer than the
ride from Renaul. Evan collapsed on the bed, and Sierra chuckled as
she helped him with his boots.

“Just leave them,” he mumbled into the pillow.

She pulled off his tunic, which had streaks of dirt
from their travels. “Do you want to take a bath?”

Evan moaned.

“I’ll take that as a no.” She took off her own boots
and cuddled next to him. His eyes were already closed, and he
wrapped his arm around her. He smelled like sweat and horse and
dirt, and she didn’t care one bit. She kissed him softly on the
lips and curled into him. She wasn’t sure how many more
opportunities they’d have like this.

* * *

Chapter Ten

The first night was the hardest: pain shot through
Dar’s back whenever he moved, but even when he lay completely
still, his shredded skin screamed in agony. Blood soaked his shirt
and his cot. He came in and out of sleep and had nightmares where
Grace was being strangled by her father. She had again saved his
life, and he’d done nothing to help her. She was in this situation
because of him. He had to do something to help her. But he couldn’t
even move without pain shooting through him.

The next morning, Jon woke him up with no regard for
his injuries. He was with a young blonde servant girl who jumped at
everything. “Bandage him up. Dar, meet me in the stables when
you’re done.”

Dar stripped off his shirt, which was pretty much
ruined from blood. The servant girl gasped at the sight of his
wounds.

“That bad?” He smirked and glanced over his
shoulder.

Her eyes widened, and she nodded. “I hope they don’t
get infected.” She spread a strange-smelling ointment on the cuts,
and he hissed at the sting. “I’m sorry. This will help with the
healing.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. Her fingers hardly touched
his skin as she daubed the ointment over the gashes. After a few
moments of silence, she said, “You helped Amina and her husband
escape.”

He nodded.

“I’m surprised they didn’t kill you,” she said
quietly.

“They almost did.”

“I liked Amina.” She paused. “I’m glad she’s not here
anymore.”

“Me, too.”

She unrolled a bundle of clean fabric, and he looked
ahead again. She wrapped the fabric around his torso. Apparently
they couldn’t waste tape on him. She tied the fabric off at his
hip. “There you go.” She looked up at him through blonde eyelashes.
“I’m Jill.”

“Dar.”

“I can check on you tonight,” she said, standing.

“Thank you.” He pulled on a shirt and noticed her
eyes on his chest.

Her face flushed when he met her eyes, and she
cleared her throat. “Okay, goodbye.” She left before he could say
anything.

He walked to the stables. Jon gave him just as much
work as usual. Dar wasn’t sure why he’d expected special treatment.
He was only an Avialie, after all, and one who’d helped other
Avialies get away. The ointment seemed to help, though, giving the
gashes a cooling sensation through the day. He wondered if it was
Mahri, then decided they probably wouldn’t waste Mahri magic on
him.

He kept hoping to see Grace, but he didn’t. She
didn’t seek him out, and he had no way of searching for her. She’d
saved his life yet again, and now she’d vanished. He considered
asking about her, but knew it’d be foolish. He mostly fantasized
about it through his day, fantasized about sweeping her up and
taking her far from the palace. They could run away to Jolen and
live on the sea. Though he knew it’d probably never happen, it got
him through the next few days.

* * *

Grace paced the length of her room, wringing her
hands. William had taken breakfast and lunch in his room, but
Marisa said he’d be there tonight. She stopped in front of her
mirror and looked herself over: she wore a light blue dress with
silver trim, and Marisa had put her hair in a fancy braid and done
her make-up.

She kept thinking about the day before and had no
idea what had gotten into her. Why did she care about Dar, anyway?
He’d been a fun fling; that’s all. She was glad she saved his life,
but she couldn’t keep putting Dar above William. She belonged with
William.

A knock on her door made her heart skip a beat.
Marisa opened the door, and Sashe came in. Grace’s shoulders sagged
in disappointment. “Lady Sashe,” she said, smiling.

Sashe smiled radiantly. “Lady Grace. What happened
yesterday?”

Grace sat down in one of her chairs and motioned for
Sashe to sit. “Did you see anything?”

“I was out for the day. When I came back, Vin and
Amina were gone, and Dar was being whipped downstairs.”

Grace’s brow furrowed. “Well, the Avialie elders and
Sierra came for a meeting—”

Sashe’s eyes widened. “Sierra was here?”

Grace nodded. “I was surprised, too.”

“Someone should have told me,” Sashe said
quietly.

Grace explained what happened at the meeting and how
the Avialies that had broken into the palace gates to rescue Vin
and Amina. “I ran downstairs, and my father dragged me back to my
room. But I got out in time to see them taking Dar downstairs.” She
paused, biting her lip. “I asked William not to kill him, and he
agreed not to.”