Promising Light (13 page)

“Lady Grace, I’m so pleased to
meet you,” the man said. “I’m Jeshro, Lisbeth’s husband. Please,
sit.”

They served an extravagant meal.
Grace hadn’t seen this much food since last visiting the castle.
She thought of the prince and wondered how far they were. Dar would
know to look at the manor, wouldn’t he?

She looked around at all the faces.
Everyone stared, whispered, in awe at her very presence. Lisbeth
and Jeshro must have told everyone what she was supposed to do.
Disregarding her personal wishes. How far were they willing to go
to preserve their family line?

“Grace, I’m sure you’re confused
about all of this magic you’ve seen,” Jeshro said. “I know your
father is adamantly against it, so he’s probably done all he could
to keep it from you. Few magical folk are allowed in Renaul or
Wharfedale because of the political presence of the
Protectors.”

Grace raised her eyebrows and
sipped her wine. “Interesting.”

“Yes.” Jeshro frowned. “It all
started about forty years ago during the conflict between Jolen and
Haltar. A Jolenian shape changer named Custer infiltrated Haltar’s
royal court as a spy. He paraded around as different officials. Of
course there were laws surrounding that kind of use of our
abilities and measures to prevent things like that, but the king
had grown very old and his advisors were distracted by other
things.” He waved his hand. “Anyways, Haltar lost very valuable
information, and when the court found out, the Protectors were
first formally recognized. They executed him and three other spies.
King Thomas was crowned a decade later, and they gained a lot of
political power.”

Grace couldn’t believe all of this
had gone on without it being common knowledge. “How did they keep
it secret? Why don’t more people know about the magical
families?”

“Well, as a rule to protect
ourselves, we don’t make a habit of revealing ourselves to
outsiders,” Jeshro said. “What Custer did and what other magical
folk do quite often isn’t orthodox. We know magic can breed greed
and distrust. We try to keep to ourselves, but some people don’t
want to. Custer was one of them, and the Protectors didn’t like
it.”

Grace tried to imagine how her
friends might react to this news. Kyler probably wouldn’t believe
her. Jocelyn would. She had the imagination of a four-year-old.
“And the curse?” she asked. “How did that happen if the Protectors
don’t like magic?”

“They believe one can use magic
for good in extreme cases, and this curse was for the good of all
people.” Jeshro shook his head. “It happened ten years ago.
Tensions were very high between the Protectors and the Avialies.
They were trying to push us out of Haltar altogether, and a group
gathered in Renaul to defend our right to stay. It grew violent,
and there was a battle, and sometime after the battle, rumors
spread that the Avialies were now cursed. It took a few years to
realize the extent of the curse, but no child survived the
pregnancy, and some of the mothers died, as well. It’s a Thieran
curse affecting all who held Avialie children, even those in other
countries. It’s been ten years since our kind last gave
birth.”

Grace looked around at the faces of
the people sitting around the table. Some eyes were downcast, but
most weren’t listening to Jeshro’s story. She looked at Lisbeth.
“And when did you have your vision?”

Lisbeth nodded. “Three years
ago.”

“What happened two years ago?”
Grace asked.

Lisbeth and Jeshro glanced at each
other. Grace swore Lisbeth’s eyes had widened.

“Two years ago?” Jeshro
repeated.

“With Sierra and Sashe. Dar told
me a lot of people were killed.”

“Yes, the Protectors trying to
reassert their power.” Jeshro shook his head. “It was a devastating
attack… completely unprovoked.”

Grace looked at her empty plate.
‘Completely unprovoked.’ Then why did Dar want to apologize to
Sierra? Why had she left them all behind? She looked around the
table again. Some of the guests had left, but others were still
eating and talking loudly. She wondered when, or if, they were
going to tell Dar and his family about her presence here. Her gaze
found Amina and Vin, who were talking to each other as though no
one else was in the room.

She thought of questioning them
more, but she was exhausted. Tomorrow. Turning to Jeshro, she said,
“I’m tired. I’d like to go to bed now.”

Jeshro nodded. “Of course, Lady
Grace. Myra, can you take her to your room?”

Myra, who’d been dozing off in her
seat, stood up. Some of the conversations quieted as people turned
to see Grace standing up. She was glad to leave the room and not be
the center of attention. Myra led her down more intricate corridors
and to a door with a pattern of circles carved into the wood. It
was a furnished bedroom with a four poster bed, a wardrobe, a desk,
a body-length mirror, and a tub of water that was now lukewarm.
Myra helped start a fire in the wood stove and showed her a
nightgown and dress for the night and day.

Grace hesitated before getting in
bed. Would she be safe in here tonight? What if they forced her
with another man? After pushing the desk in front of the door, she
fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Chapter Eight

Scraping noises and frantic knocks
woke Grace from her heavy sleep. She rubbed her eyes, then realized
someone was trying to get into the door. The desk was moving an
inch or so each time someone pushed on the door, and Amina’s voice
came from the corridor.

Grace pulled herself out of bed.
She still wore her riding clothes from yesterday. She went to the
door, which Amina had open by half a foot.

“What do you have in front of the
door?” Amina demanded.

“It’s a desk. What time is
it?”

“Time to wake up,” Amina said,
“but there are some people who want to see you first.”

“Who?” Grace asked, narrowing her
eyes.

“Some of the Avialies who are
leaving.” Amina looked over her shoulder. “They have gifts for
you.”

“Gifts?”

“Will you just let us
in?”

Grace pushed the desk out of the
way and tentatively opened the door. Amina stood in the corridor
with more than a dozen people behind her, all of them with things
in their hands. Grace stepped back to let them in, and Amina came
in first with a jewelry box. “For your jewelry, Lady Grace,” she
said, then set it on the foot of her bed. She curtsied in front and
motioned for the next person to come in.

They came in, one by one, leaving
their gifts at the foot of her bed. They curtsied or bowed in front
of her, each giving their thanks. Grace watched in awe, her stomach
twisting in guilt and confusion. She’d never received so many
beautiful things or seen such hopeful faces.

Some of them were crying, others
beamed at her. She tried to match each face with their gift. The
teenage girl that let them in last night left her a pearl necklace
with matching earrings. An older man with a large nose gave her a
journal with ink and a fountain pen. The rider from the kidnapping
left a glass globe, Myra an elegant green dress, a woman with short
black hair two novels. They spoke for just a moment, thanking her,
telling her how long they’d waited. The youngest girl Grace had
seen among the group said, “I can have babies someday!” Grace
fought back tears as she hugged her.

When they were gone, the room was
full of new things. Amina remained, closing the door behind the
last person. “They’re going home, but they wanted to express their
gratitude.”

Grace stared at the gifts. Her
voice quiet, she said, “They shouldn’t have given me these
things.”

“Why not?” Amina asked
sharply.

Grace didn’t respond. She tried to
calm the thoughts in her mind. They were all putting their hope in
her because of Lisbeth’s prophecy. She didn’t even want to be here,
but of course she didn’t want to leave them to the Protectors.
Their powers were frightening, but did it warrant killing the
entire family through such cruel magic? What would she think about
life if she knew she couldn’t have children? If she got pregnant,
she’d have to lose the baby and her own life might be in
danger?

“Breakfast is in an hour,” Amina
said. “Lisbeth wanted me to offer you any help.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll just bathe
and get dressed.” Grace walked to the tub of water. The water was
chilly now.

“Is that the water from last
night?”

Grace nodded. “I was too tired to
use it much last night, I just washed my face and fell
asleep.”

“I should get some warmer water.”
Amina looked at Grace as though she expected her to say
something.

“Yes, please,” Grace said. She
wanted a warm bath after the riding yesterday.

Amina pursed her lips and left the
room. A few minutes later, she returned with two teenage girls.
They began heating up buckets of water above the wood stove. Grace
fought to keep herself awake as the water warmed.

When it was finally ready, Grace
undressed and bathed behind the screen. The water was lukewarm,
definitely not as warm as her baths at home. She had just been
kidnapped, though, so she suspected she should be grateful for a
bath at all.

After washing herself quickly,
Grace changed into a yellow dress Amina had brought, and Amina
pulled her hair into an intricate design.

“All right, we must hurry,” Amina
said. “We’re already late.”

They walked to the dining room
together, the girls trailing behind her. Grace tried to keep track
of where they were, but lost her bearings halfway there. She nearly
had to jog to keep up with Amina.

Half of the group had left; now
about ten people sat around the dining room table. Jeshro again
gave her the seat of honor. As breakfast was served, he introduced
her to four other elders of the Avialies, two of whom were from the
country of Jolen. Grace wondered if they had known Custer or his
family.

“You received the gifts from the
rest of the family?” Jeshro asked.

“Yes,” Grace said, “I’m very
grateful.”

Jeshro smiled and patted her hand.
“So are we.”

Grace looked at Lisbeth. Did she
tell her husband or the other elders about her courtship with the
prince? About her reluctance? Or did she just proclaim she’d found
the one to break the curse and soak in the glory?

Grace ate some fruit and bread, but
couldn’t take the silence for long. “So, where do we go from
here?”

Lisbeth looked at her with a glare.
“Let’s eat breakfast and we’ll have a meeting
afterward.”

“You didn’t tell them?” Grace
asked quietly.

The other elders looked up. Grace
saw Adrian heave out a sigh.

“Tell who what?” the old bald man
named Mort asked. He had a Jolenian accent, every word
clipped.

Jeshro frowned. “We shouldn’t have
waited so long,” he said, putting down his napkin. “Although
Lisbeth first thought Grace may be the one two months ago, Grace’s
father proved to be difficult to get around. Just a few days ago,
she started a courtship with the prince.”

The Jolenian woman, Nilee, said
something that may have been a swear; Grace couldn’t understand it.
“She’s not with Dar anymore?”

“Dar returned to Shyra after a
Protector tried to scare Grace away from him,” Lisbeth said with a
shrug. “But she still cares for him.”

Grace gritted her teeth. “That’s
beside the point. The prince is looking for me right now.” She
raised her eyebrows at Lisbeth. When she said nothing, Grace added,
“And Dar is helping him.”

The elders stirred, and Nilee swore
again.

“He’ll know to come here,” Bea
said. She had long black hair untouched by gray, but the wrinkles
in her face revealed her age.

“Dar is probably only helping the
prince under pretense,” Lisbeth said, leaning her elbows on the
table. “He needs to keep himself and Lady Grace safe.”

“I don’t believe that,” Adrian
said. “He doesn’t trust you, Lisbeth.”

“He wants us to survive as much as
we do,” she said. “The benefit of us kidnapping her is it makes it
seem as though she was unwilling to help. If we have to return her
and work with her while she courts the prince, then she would
appear innocent.”

She looked at Grace with her dark
eyes. Grace thought it looked as though she was pleading with her,
but for what? To help? To look like she wanted to help? She did
after hearing Vin and Amina’s story and seeing their faith in her,
but this couldn’t be the way.

“We won’t have to do that,
though,” Jeshro said, rising his voice. “We’ll keep her with
us.”

“Do we have enough men to keep her
safe from the Protectors?” the third male elder, Harver asked. “To
keep us all safe?”

“We should join forces with the
other magical families,” Jeshro said. “We’ve experienced the worst
persecution, but they’ve all had problems with the Protectors. If
we combined, there would be more of us. More powers to fight
against them.”