Wilde's Army (36 page)

The doomed dresser pats my shoulder with her bruised right hand then walks out of the room.

Please let her live to see the truth
.

I stand then walk over to the mirror, head hung low, body heavy, mind running over so many disturbing thoughts always landing on Arland’s death. Where is he? Where is Brit?

“
Brit
?”

Silence.

“
Brit, can you hear me? Please, where are you? Where is Arland? I need to tell you what happened. Please
?”

Who am I? The girl I used to be would have run after Rhoswen and told her the truth. I would have done everything in my power to help. God, I hope all of this is important. I hope ruining that girl’s life—and everyone else’s for that matter—is worth it. I lift the blue-silk nightgown over my head then startle at the yellow bruising in the middle of my chest. I haven’t looked at myself naked since … I don’t remember when. This mark, this was my death, this was from Arland saving me. Who will save me from Dughbal now that Arland is gone? All his people are in danger—I’m in danger—so where is he?

Thump, thump, thump
.

“Be right there.” I grab the velvet dress, slip it over my head, then run for the door, envisioning his green eyes, his wide smile … .

“Good morning, love,” Perth says before the door fully opens.

I sigh, grimacing at his way too cheerful expression. “Good morning.”

He arches an eyebrow. “May I come in?”

The two guards in the hall snicker.

“Would you like me to end your lives now?” Perth scolds without taking his eyes off me. Grabbing my hand, he pushes me back into the room.

The men hush each other but return to laughing as soon as the door closes.

Perth rubs his thumb under my swollen eye. “You have been crying. I am sorry about the kiss. I do not understand what came over me … you … it—”

“It’s not your fault.” I knock his arms from mine, then make my way to the bed. “Have you seen him?” I ask, sitting and balling the comforter in my hands.

He shakes his head. “No one has seen either of them. It is quite possible they are in the room next to you, where Brit’s quarters are, but their whereabouts are insignificant. My father does not wish to punish Arland because I made it known I am happy wherever he is, as long as he is not with you in the same respect I am.”

I glare at him. “Your father is a pig.”

“I know.”

“So what does he have planned for us today? More dancing? More shoving food in our mouths? Meetings to laugh about Arland’s lack of leadership skills?”

The corner of Perth’s mouth twists up. “Probably all of the above.”

“I miss Flanna. She’d be yelling at me right now. She’d be yelling at you, too. She hates when people wallow.”

He stares at me, eyes drifting from mine to the scoop neck on my wine colored dress, then down to my hands folded in my lap. “Talking to Flanna would be a grave mistake.”

“Arland already told me. Is something bothering you? You haven’t moved from the doorway.”

“I never realized how hard this was going to be for me, Katriona. I believed I would thoroughly enjoy kissing you, holding your hand, telling you I love you—and I do, that is my problem. I wish to have all these things, and you are like a tease to my heart. My first kiss was shared with a woman imagining someone else. And when I wanted nothing more but to experience that joy again, I knew I would never have it.”

He sighs. “I should never have pressed you for more. I saw how much pain you were in, I saw how you looked at him after—I am afraid many saw.”

“I—”

“Do not try to make me feel better.” Perth stares at me, his eyes a more pastel shade of green. “You suffer much more than me. Complaining would not be in my best interest.”

Crossing the room, he stands before me, knees grazing my knees, cold filtering through the velvet like I wear nothing at all. “There is more.”

“M-more?” My heart races.

“My father felt your mother’s punishment was not strong enough. He has called a meeting with High Leader Maher and Leader Murchadha, as well as a few of the others, to try to come up with something more fitting.”

I try to stand, but Perth places his hands on my shoulders and forces me down. “Let. Me. Go.”

“And what would you do?”

“I have the power to end this, Perth.” I peel his fingers from my shoulders then jump onto my feet. “And I’m going to do just that.”

“
Katriona
!” He chases after me, expression wild. “Take my hand. At least allow me to walk you to communications.”

“Fine.”

We lace fingers, and I lead him from the room, ignoring the snide comments about who’s in charge by the ridiculously short duo outside my door. Perth and I wind our way through the dilapidated structure, nodding at the occasional passerby, smiling when necessary, whispering nothings into each other’s ears.

Such a stupid game. They want to punish my mother for protecting this world. I’m so ready to tell these people to grow up, to tell them to move aside, to tell them to get over their petty quests for power and look around. There is nothing left here for them to fight over.

“We are here.” Perth pounds his fists against the magical stone wall. It morphs into the wooden door before our eyes. “Promise to keep your cool?”

“Sure.”

Walking through together, we step into the room where the two soldiers monitor the chatter box. Static buzzes through the little area.

“Perth,” Drustan says, scooting out his chair. “We were not expecting you. Is there something I can help with?”

“Where are the Leaders?”

Drustan stands, eyeing me with his head cocked to the side. “In the back.”

I drop Perth’s hand then run for my mom. “
Mom
!”

“What is this?” Dufaigh’s sinister voice greets me as I barge into the room.

Mom, Dufaigh, High Leader Maher, Murchadha, Lorne, and Maura all sit around the table where this lie first began to weave its way into the world yesterday. Mom’s hands are bound.

“Mom?”

She glares at me. “What are you doing here?”

Dufaigh steeples his fingers. “Yes, child, what are you doing here?”

Perth runs up behind me. Taking my hand in his, he tugs me toward them. “She is worried for her sister.”

“Ahh. Well, no one has heard from her or Arland Maher”—Dufaigh flashes a cocky grin toward High Leader Maher—”since yesterday. Now, we are in the middle of pressing matters. Please, leave us.”

“We are sorry, Father.”

Perth’s
father
waves his greasy hand at us, returning his attention to my mom. “Just be gone.”

Mom and I meet eyes, then she nods.

“Okay. I am sorry for interrupting,” I say, backing out of the room.

Perth holds my hand so hard I’m sure he’ll leave a bruise, and we run from communications back into the safety of the spiral staircase.

“What you just did was dangerous. You may not like it—I never have either—but there are rules to this game we play.” He slides his finger across my cheek. “Shall we eat?”

“Are you honestly hungry?”

“No, but food always helps. And with my father and the rest of them in there”—Perth points behind us with his thumb—”we can eat without putting on a major show.”

“No kissing?”

He cringes. “No kissing.”

“Let’s go then.”

“Would you like to take a walk? Just you and me? We can try to find a place where no one else is,” Perth whispers.

I glance at the growing crowd. I haven’t seen Arland or Brit all day. No one else has heard from them either. Sitting around and hoping, waiting, is not what I want to do anymore. He’s mad at me—she’s probably mad at me—so
I
probably won’t see them any time soon. “Sounds like a pl—”

Squeaking hinges echo around the cavernous great room, followed by a loud thud of the wooden door against the stone wall. The Leaders barge in with my mom trailing at the back.

Dufaigh spots Perth and me then smiles. “May I have everyone’s attention, please?”

A hush settles over the mix of Ground Dwellers, Light Lovers, and Sea Dwellers all gathered around their tables.

“Leader Wilde has an announcement she would like to make before you all today. If you remember, she and her husband Leader Brian Wilde broke a High Leader’s law over twenty years ago and abandoned their people.”

Dufaigh pauses, raising his arms above his head and looking around the room with wide, expectant eyes, but no one moves or speaks. “We have decided not to execute her—against my better judgment—and today she would like to apologize. So without further chatter by me, I give you Leader Wilde.”

Mom approaches Dufaigh then stands directly in front of me and Perth, head held high, body as still as stone. “Thank you, Leader Dufaigh, for reminding the people of the sacrifice I had to make for them. I do not wish it upon anyone
ever
to have to go against what a High Leader deems unlawful; however, if it were not for our abandonment and travel into another world, you would not all be blessed with the hope you are today—”

Cheers erupt from the crowd, and Dufaigh clamps his hand over Mom’s mouth. “Have you any respect? You were supposed to denounce what you did, not goad these people.” He removes his hand, leaving a red impression of his fingers across her cheeks.

“You want your son and my daughter to marry, to bring happiness to these people, to unite these people before they are all killed?”

“Of course. Of course.”

“Well, I believe I just brought them happiness, and Katriona already brought them hope. You live inside your head making your power plays, and if you would ever just look at the world around you, you would see uniting our kinds would merely take a Leader like you to denounce what Foghlad did to your people all those years ago.” Mom crosses her arms over her chest. “Arrest me if you must, but I will die proud while you die wrong.”

I gasp, and both Leaders turn to face me. She’s my mother and she’d rather die than stand for Dufaigh’s behavior. Mom’s always fighting, always giving her all to save this world. But after what he did to Rhoswen, I have no doubt he will kill Mom for her words. This game is too difficult. I want to grab her and run away, protect the woman who has protected me my entire life, but I can’t. The only thing I can do is scowl at her, to keep up
my
act.

“Punish her, Father. I will escort Katriona to her quarters for the evening; she does not need to see this—she has done nothing but support you.” Without waiting for his father to respond, Perth stands, pulls out my chair, then takes my hand and we flee the great room.

We run through the hall, passing no one, holding hands all the way to my quarters. Pushing through the door, we slam it closed then lock it.

“She was right, you know?” I whisper once we’re sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Yes. That is why I feared for your safety. She has her own role in this, Katriona, and it should not bring you down.”

He takes a deep breath. “So, what would you like to do?”

I raise a brow. “Do?”

He chuckles, trailing a finger from my shoulder down to my hand. “Yes, love, do. If I leave this room, they will expect us to be together. If we stay here, we can be alone, away from all their watchful eyes. So what would you like to do to occupy your time?”

Shivering, I grab his hand then drop it in his lap. “First, I’d like you to stop touching me when we’re alone. I understand how difficult this is for you, but it’s not exactly easy for anyone else either.”

Perth sighs. “I am sorry. I feel like—”

“One of the youth smitten with lust?” I repeat the words Arland said to me once.

Perth meets my eyes and laughs. “How did you know?”

“You aren’t the first person to feel that way.” I offer him a smile, but pain radiates deep in my heart. I miss Arland. I miss the soldiers from Watchers Hall. I miss freedom, the sun, Brad, Mirain. There’s no way I can deal with two weeks of this. I may not even make it through one. But something about Rhoswen’s words—about how I need to learn all the magic—unsettles the pit of my stomach. I cannot possibly unite all these people and fulfill my duty here if I don’t understand all the races. “Can you teach me Ground Dweller magic?”

“I can.” He draws out ‘can’, reminding me of a teacher scolding children for asking questions incorrectly.

“
Will
you teach me?” I jab him in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Perth rubs his bicep. “I will teach you if you promise me something first.”

“If it has anything to do with a kiss—”

“Katriona, I am serious. Just promise to bring me with you if you decide to run away. If it gets so bad you cannot handle it anymore and you and Arland and everyone else escape this place to live out your prophecy, please, take me with you. Do not leave me behind with these … these—”

I place my fist over my heart. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” he says, mirroring my action. “So what would you like to know?”

“Well, Rhoswen snapped her fingers and lit most of the candles in here. I’m sure I could do that if I wanted, but is there a word I need to say? She said she couldn’t believe I didn’t know Ground or Sea Dweller magic.”