At the top of the cliff, Arland takes off toward a group of soldiers then moves them into the cave. Some look back at Perth and I while we take our seats, but Arland keeps them walking, and within a matter of seconds, they’re all gone.
“Tell me something, Perth,” I say.
He rests his head on the rocks and stares up at the now magenta patch in the mostly black sky. “Yes?”
“If you want so much for us to be united, why do you always provoke Arland? You know it doesn’t help your cause. You must realize it only makes my position that much more difficult, as well. So why do you do it?” I watch his face and wait for some human reaction I can use to judge him.
The twisted corners of his mouth fall. He sighs. “I am sure Arland hates me for all the same reasons I hate him. For years, he has been aware his future—you—had been stolen from him by me. My father put me under Arland to be a thorn in his side, and I played into it. I knew one day you would show up and be mine to marry, and it would kill him … and his pride. I was confident in my convictions until I met with the Seer, and then when I met you.” Perth holds my gaze.
“So now, Arland is to me what I was to him, and I hate
him
for it. I could imagine no better woman to be Bound to than one just like you. You are strong, Katriona, stronger than most women could ever dream of being.”
My mouth hangs open, and I don’t even dare make a move to close it. How the hell am I supposed to make everyone happy? Brad is in love with me, but I’m in love with Arland and him with me. Now Perth tells me I’m the best woman for him. Brad has a reprieve coming, but Perth … I have no promise of a healed heart by a god for him.
“You can close your mouth. Life is what it is, and it appears Arland is a part of the same game you and I have been thrown into. I am just sorry I ever played along.” He puts his hands behind his head and stares up at the sky.
“Since … since you realize this now, does this mean you will be nicer?” Worrying about everyone’s happiness is not something I can manage, but Arland’s happiness is something I will be concerned with for the rest of my life. And I know Perth’s presence does not fill Arland with warm and fuzzy feelings.
Perth meets my eyes, and for a moment, I see a man full of pain. “For you, Katriona, I will be nicer to the
Great
Arland Maher. He and I have a sordid past, but one full of misunderstandings I never knew of until recent times.”
His soft-spoken words hold so much loss. What must it be like, raised to be a tormentor with knowledge you’ve stolen someone’s future from them and rubbing it in their face on a daily basis, only to realize it’s not the life you want, and it’s not a life that belongs to you? Perth is without a purpose. Just like Brit. Or at least I think that’s how they both see their lives.
Rocks crunch under the weight of slow, heavy steps. I look over Perth’s head as Arland exits the mouth of the cave, hands clasped behind his back.
He takes a seat next to me, facing Perth. Arland doesn’t look in my direction, doesn’t touch any part of my body. He takes even breaths in and out, rests his hands on his knees. “You have been under my charge for a number of years now, Perth. None have been pleasant. What do you stand to gain from this partnership?”
“Katriona and I were just having a discussion … .” Perth snaps his mouth closed, as if he doesn’t want to admit he’s been wrong all these years.
I could punch him. “Go on, Perth. Tell him what we were talking about, or he’ll never believe me.”
Arland looks between Perth and me, clearly waiting for someone to explain.
He sits straight, looking Arland square in the eyes. Respect—something I’ve never seen Perth offer anyone. “I stand to gain a real life, Arland. Friends, honor, maybe even one day a family that loves me and loves others. I was not raised with that, and it is something I would cherish more than life itself. The Ground Dwellers are not on the right path, and I want to make sure they get there.”
This is a decent start.
“Why have you waited so long to come forward?” Arland asks.
Perth huffs. “You and I are both aware if I had come to you, you would not have believed me. I, as everyone does, had to wait until the right time. When I found myself alone with Katriona, I knew the time was right.”
Perth pauses, shifts his focus from Arland to me then smiles. “She tried to kill me. Did she tell you?”
Arland chuckles. “You are lucky she did not, Perth. Think about all she has lost. Her home, her comfort, her closest friend—add us to the list at the time she was alone with you, I am surprised you are not wounded.”
I glance at the spot above Perth’s heart; he’s changed his shirt, but I know the cut I inflicted must still be sore.
He catches me staring then rubs his chest. “She did bleed me, but I will live.”
Arland pats my leg. “I am proud of you.”
He removes his hand and his smile fades, demeanor serious again. “Now, we need to come up with a plan. If we show up with Kate at Willow Falls, your father will want to see the two of you as a pair. Do you know any reason he would allow you to avoid being Bound to her?”
Perth shakes his head. “When we arrive and he sees Leader Wilde, he will most certainly call for her to cast a Binding spell over Katriona and me.”
I suck in a sharp breath. Perth was so adamant about getting to Willow Falls before. High Leader Maher said Perth knew all the Leaders were there. I pray I’m not putting trust in the wrong person. Pray he’s not walking me into a trap.
“Are you aware of Binding spells?” Perth asks.
“Mom explained it to me earlier.” I’m afraid revealing anything else would be too much. Mine and Arland’s marriage should be just that—mine and Arland’s. Private.
Perth cocks his head to the side, squinting, then turns to Arland. “I will attempt to convince my father we should wait before the Binding spell is cast. We can make a show of it. Festivals, long gazes, held hands, stolen kisses.”
“I am sure you would enjoy that,” Arland says, keeping his tone level.
“You know as well as I do, Katriona will never have the kind of passion she shares for you with anyone else. A Seer paired you, another told me I would be lost without love forever if I tried to obtain her, and Katriona herself cannot keep her eyes off you—she does not look at
me
that way.”
Arland and I were paired by the gods, not just a Seer, but I’ll take what Perth said as a compliment … in an offhanded way.
“Are you okay with this, Kate?” Arland asks.
No
. I don’t want to kiss Perth, don’t want to hold his hand—no offense to him—but if it’s what we have to do … . “If you believe it’ll work, I will do what I have to.”
“Good. My father will love the show. He will be thrilled to think he is hurting both your families—and in the public eye at that.”
Perth nods—an approval to himself, I’m sure. “A pretend courtship will be the perfect excuse to avoid the Binding spell, but I worry about the two of you and your ability to hide your feelings for each other.”
Arland and I exchange a quick, humiliated glance, faces flooding with red.
“Brit said she could help us with that,” I say.
“When we are finished discussing our plans, you should confer with her. Your visible feelings will be the hardest obstacle to overcome—that and your magic connection. You two shine when you use magic together—in fact, you two shine when you are together. Period. You will need to stay as far apart as possible.”
I nod. “We are aware the magic is more powerful when we’re together.”
“A couple more things you will need to work on, Katriona,” Perth says. “You need to sound like one of us. Go by your given name, slow your speech down. Stop using combined words no one here has ever heard. While most of us understand you, it would behoove you to fit in more.”
“I don’t see—”
Arland takes my hand in his. “He is correct, Kate—Katriona. It will help. They may not notice the way you look at me if there is nothing for them to see.”
“They may not notice you staring back either, Arland.” Perth laughs. “You should not, at any time, allow my father to see either of you looking at one another. The punishment would be—”
Arland glares at Perth, shutting him up in an instant. But I know what he was going to say; it’s probably the same reason High Leader Maher warned me to keep my distance: Leader Dufaigh would have Arland killed.
Perth reverts back to his submissive, child-like state.
Arland softens his expression, then he faces me. “Kate is not a name of any other Encardian, and if you speak like us … .”
“Fine, but I only have ever allowed people who are mad at me or in love with me to call me Katriona.” I stare into Arland’s eyes; he’s called me Katriona a few times, and when he did, shivers ran through me. I suspect he may be thinking of the last time he called me by my name; his gaze roams my body, transporting me to our room in the base. I wish we had privacy and a bed here … .
Perth presses his hands on the ground next to him, shifting his weight. His eyes flit between me and Arland.
Perth has called me Katriona since we partnered at Watchers Hall, and although I’m unsure of his feelings for me, I doubt he feels love … or I hope he doesn’t. “Or people who do not know me well enough to call me otherwise.”
Arland clears his throat. “So, you two will pretend to fall in love, Katriona will go by her given name and work to speak like us, but how will we work our way out of the lies to form an army?”
“
An army
?” Perth asks.
“Yes, Griandor said in order for me to form an army, I would have to unite our kind with the Ground Dwellers.”
“
Griandor
told you this?”
“Yes.”
“So a god gave you a horse and told you to form an army?” Perth’s tone is filled with as much disbelief as his words.
“He gave me the horse long before he told me to form an army, but yes, Griandor visited me before you and I ran into each other at Watchers Hall.”
Perth’s expression falls flat. “And he told you,
you
have to unite our kinds?”
“Yes, Perth, he told me
I
had to unite our kinds,” I repeat in the same empty pitch. “I know we have been at war for longer than a century, but if Griandor told me to do it, I’m sure it can be done.”
“And if it cannot?” he asks.
“It must. We will find a way,” I say.
Perth’s constant lack of faith irritates me.
I squeeze Arland’s hand. “Why else would we go to Willow Falls and put on a show if we did not need something from it?”
Perth runs his fingers through his blonde hair a few times, then drops his hand back to his lap and sighs. “If an army is what you need, consisting of both Ground Dwellers and Light Lovers, where does that leave the Sea Dwellers?”
I glance back and forth from Perth to Arland. “The
what
?”
“Sea Dwellers are a more peaceful people than both us and your kind, Perth. There will be no issue with them,” Arland says.
His confidence in their allegiance is soothing; being at odds with another group of people is too much to think about, but someone needs to give me an Encardian history lesson. I hate finding things out by chance.
Images of red-headed mermaids, swimming beside a wooden ship full of drunken sailors, pop into my head. I’m almost positive that’s not what Arland and Perth are talking about, but I’m going to ask anyway. “Are we talking mermaids and—?”
Arland laughs. “No, Katriona, mermaids do not live in this world. Sea Dwellers are Draíochtans like you and I, but they chose to live in homes over the seas.”
“Like boats?”
“Some live on boats. Others live in dwellings constructed over the water along the coasts, but that is unimportant”—he waves his hand—”Since the war began, they have been living at Wickward with the majority of our remaining population.”
Wherever they lived before the war, they are now Ground Dwellers like everyone else—yet another tragedy this world and its inhabitants have faced. I hope I get them through it because if not … .
Perth’s eyebrows draw together. “If Griandor only mentioned you need to unite the Ground Dwellers and Light—?”
“Griandor did not say I had to unite the Ground Dwellers and Light Lovers specifically; he just said I would have to find a way to unite
everyone
. He did mention another Leader, Murchadha, but I did not realize there were others. The confusion is my fault. So, before I try to wrap my head around this, are there any
other
Draíochtans I need to know about?”
“No, there are only the three kinds of Draíochtans. We have three main leaders: my father, Perth’s, and Murchadha. There are a few other remaining Leaders under the big three; however, none hold the same power or importance,” Arland says.
“What do the other Leaders do?”
“Not much of anything now, but before Darkness, they governed small towns and provided a voice for their people.”
“If so many died, who will choose the future High Leaders?”
Perth laughs.
Arland and I both stare at the Ground Dweller.
“Katriona, do you not see the irony? My father forbids Ground Dwellers from fighting against Darkness. The longer the war goes on, the more Light Lovers and Sea Dwellers die, the better chance my people have for deciding our kind as High Leader.”
“Are you telling me your father hopes for all current Leaders to die?”
Perth holds my gaze. “And anyone already chosen for the future.”
Arland
… and me.
He nudges my shoulder, casting a scowl in Perth’s direction. “I am sorry we have not discussed more of this world. I focused all our time on moving us to Wickward and failed to explain the basics. I still wish I understood why your mother hides information from you.”
I stare beyond Arland and Perth—above them—beyond the endless stars in the open patch of sky, and up to the heavens. Mom is so focused on me doing the right thing and staying on the path of Light, I think she forgets I’m committed to this world, but I do wish she’d share more.
Peace washes over me, ironing out the subtle tension in my shoulders and chest. I take a deep breath of the stale air and watch billions of twinkling lights above our heads. Whether Griandor thinks my mom a fool, the peace must be the gods’ way of telling me she’s already shared enough.