Promising Light (15 page)

“This is what I said at
breakfast,” Lisbeth said, putting a hand on her chest. “Our
kidnapping makes her look innocent. Although we may be punished for
it, she now knows her calling.”

“You think we should let her go?”
Bea asked. “But what if the Protectors kill her?”

“They won’t,” Dar said, “because
the prince will be courting her. When she starts to show, we’ll
take her away.”

“And by then, we should have the
support of the other magical families,” Jeshro said, throwing a
fist out. “She will break the curse, and we can fight the
Protectors together.”

“Dar,” Grace said quietly, taking
his hand. She couldn’t just have his child because of what these
people said. This was all moving so fast. Could this really be how
he felt, when just a few days ago he’d told her he had no future
with her?

Dar crouched down
and met her eyes. “Grace,” he said softly, “I know it’s confusing.”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “But remember Kate from
The Sunset
? Remember
what she did for her family?”

It took her a
moment to move herself from this room deep in the manor back to the
vineyard, when Dar read her
The
Sunset
. Kate, the antagonist of the novel,
who lied and deceived people and said it was for the greater good.
Dar’s words were a ruse to get her away, to whisk her back to the
prince and the life that nobility had laid out for her. Grace
swallowed, nodding, hoping that wasn’t a day that Lisbeth was
spying on them. “Yes, I remember.”

“We have to be like her,” Dar
said, squeezing her hand. “Have her courage.”

“We wanted to give you a wedding,”
Lisbeth said quietly.

Dar shook his head as he stood.
“There’s no time. I thank you, though. If I bring Grace back to the
prince, it will keep us all safe for a while. I’ll visit her
often.”

But Grace knew he wouldn’t. He’d
stay in Shyra and make excuses and lie until his family found out,
and he was hoping that by then she’d be married, either to the
prince or some other noble. She should have seen it before he
reminded her of Kate.

And her? What did she
want?

She’d be with Dar again, if there
was a way, but he kept pushing her away. She’d been content with
courting the prince, but with this kidnapping, she had so many
questions. Could there be a way she and Dar could be together
again, or would he leave her behind again? Even if he wouldn’t, she
wasn’t sure if she trusted him enough after the way their
relationship had ended. Not to mention the Protectors and the
prince would want to keep them apart.

“Stay one night,” Jeshro said. “We
can give you one night together before you have to go back to the
shadows.”

Her face heated up, and she looked
in the fireplace.

“I don’t know,” Dar said. “The
prince hardly trusted me to come here by myself.”

“We’re not letting her leave any
sooner than sunrise tomorrow,” Jeshro said, crossing his hands
behind his back. Grace wondered if he had any theory about Dar’s
duplicitousness.

“One night,” Lisbeth said, “since
we couldn’t give you a wedding.”

Dar cleared his throat and nodded.
“All right. One night.”

* * *

Chapter Nine

Grace was bathed, covered in oils
and fragrances, given a lavish dark blue dress to wear, and sent to
a new bedroom. The room and the bed were twice the size of the one
she stayed in the previous night. They wanted her to sleep with Dar
in that bed. She wrung her hands in front of her as she thought
back to the time they’d snuck Dar into her bedroom. They’d spent
hours in her bed, exploring each other’s bodies. She swallowed hard
and looked away from the bed.

A warm dinner sat waiting on a
small table next to the window. She looked around at the rich
furnishings: tapestries of tigers on the walls, a crystal
chandelier hanging from the ceiling, ornate designs carved into the
wood.

She stood by the window, waiting
for Dar, twisting her hands around. She saw the forest in the
distance and thought of the prince waiting there for
her.

She heard voices in the corridor.
When they walked closer to the door, she recognized Dar and Lisbeth
arguing. “You don’t trust us?” Lisbeth asked.

“Do I have a reason to?” Dar
replied.

A third voice—Angela—spoke in a
language Grace didn’t understand, reminding her of the language Vin
spoke outside of the camp. A moment later, the mirror that stood
next to Grace was suddenly Adrian. She gasped and stepped back. Dar
opened the door, and when he saw Adrian, his face darkened. He
pointed to the corridor. “Get out.”

“We don’t have a reason to trust
you, either,” Adrian said, walking out of the room.

Dar glanced around the rest of the
room, hardly noticing Grace. When he seemed to be satisfied, he
nodded to Lisbeth and shut the door and locked it.

Grace fidgeted with her
dress.

He turned around and gave her a
tired smile. “Good thing she did the revealing spell.”

“Would he have spied on us?” Grace
asked, frowning.

“Yes. Now I’m sure we’re
alone.”

“But why wouldn’t they trust
us?”

“It’s me they don’t trust. Not
after living in Renaul for a year, then helping the prince.” Dar
motioned to the table. “Shall we?” He pulled a chair out for her,
then took a seat across from her. “Have they treated you
well?”

She shrugged. “Aside from the
kidnapping, yes… I tried to run, so they were a little rough.
Mostly they’ve been very generous.” Dar dished her up some roast
and vegetables. “They showered me with gifts this
morning.”

He frowned. “Who did?”

“All sorts of people. I don’t
remember all of their names. Myra, Caleb, younger girls… it’s all
where I slept last night.”

He let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It
seems like they’re trying to manipulate you into
helping.”

“I wouldn’t mind helping them… I
just don’t want to do it by getting pregnant.”

“Of course. And they’ve just made
things worse for all of us.”

They fell into a silence for a few
moments. Grace looked at Dar sharply when she remembered the events
of the day. “She showed me the prophecy. That’s what she said she
did, at least. Angela, she’s a Cosa and a Zinna, and she showed me
what Lisbeth saw. Is that possible?”

Dar stared down at his plate with a
thoughtful expression. “Yes, I think so. It’s rare, but it could be
possible. The Cosa and Zinna magic working together…” He looked up,
meeting her eyes. “What did you see?”

Grace explained the flurry of
images: her birthmark, the waterfall, the hands, Vin and Amina’s
baby. “You don’t think it was… I don’t know, fake?”

He paused before responding. “I
don’t know. Sashe said she lied to them about the vision two years
ago.”

“What? Why would Lisbeth tell Lady
Sashe about the vision?”

He let out a sound of exasperation,
looking out the window. “She thought she saw two women in her
vision at first. Sierra and Sashe. They both miscarried. The
Protectors came in, killed nine people and nearly killed Sashe.
Sierra escaped after they killed Evan.”

“Who was he?”

“Sierra’s husband.”

She frowned, shaking her head. Why
didn’t someone tell her? Vin and Amina both denied knowing anything
about it, but who could miss the deaths of nine people? “Did Vin
and Amina know?”

Dar nodded, stabbing at his food.
“They were there.”

She huffed. She felt like she’d
been betrayed, even though she hardly knew Vin and Amina. “They
should have told me! I kept asking people if she’d ever had
prophecies before, but no one told me about that. They lied to
me.”

“But if they hadn’t, they knew you
wouldn’t have believed her. The gift of prophecy usually comes late
in life for Avialies, say fifty years old. Lisbeth was seventy-two
when she had this vision.”

“What did she lie about in the
vision?”

“She first told Myra about the
vision because Myra’s mother had the gift of prophecy. Then she
told all of us she saw Sashe pregnant, but she forgot to tell Myra
the lie, so she accidentally exposed her. But I wasn’t there when
the truth came out. Sashe told me about it later, after the
Protectors attacked.”

“There were…” Her face flushed.
“There was an image of a couple…” She motioned to the bed. “You
know, and they both had dark hair. Maybe that’s why she thought it
was Sashe.”

Dar’s gaze flicked to the bed, then
back to Grace, and her face grew even warmer. She stared down at
her roast.

If Lisbeth had lied to Sierra and
Sashe, would she lie to Grace? But she hadn’t shown Grace an image
of her getting pregnant. After a moment, she asked, “Why did the
Protectors kill them if they still miscarried?”

“Lisbeth and the others were
supposed to learn a lesson, but obviously, they didn’t.”

She took a drink of wine and
watched it settle in the goblet. “Did you know this would happen?”
Her voice was quiet.

“No… I knew they were desperate,
though. I knew if they found out, they might try, anyway. That’s
why I wanted to keep the two of us a secret. And because of the
Protectors.”

“Is my father a
Protector?”

“I’ve never seen him in battle or
at councils, but I’m almost sure he is. It’s why he doesn’t like my
family.”

She remembered all too well the
visit to Dar’s family’s house when she was seventeen, and the
hostility in the air. The arguments they had. When she and Dar had
flirted, Dar had distanced himself from her, saying her father
didn’t like men like Dar. Maybe she should have known back then
they wouldn’t work out.

As they ate, Grace realized Dar
looked as though he’d been pampered, too. His dark hair was clean,
and he wore a tunic that matched her dress.

“How many hours did they spend on
you?” she asked.

“Two,” he said with a roll of his
eyes.

“Two! They had me for at least
three. They scrubbed and oiled every inch of me.”

Dar’s eyes hovered on her low dress
for a moment, making Grace grin. “Do you like my dress?” she
asked.

Dar smiled as his cheeks reddened.
“It’s beautiful.”

They finished their meal, and their
dessert was berries with cream. Grace glanced at the door. “So,
we’re locked in here until sunrise?” she asked.

Dar nodded. She couldn’t deny she’d
thought about spending an entire night with him again since he’d
snuck into her house two months ago, but these were the strangest
circumstances. A shape changing family thought she’d be able to
save their family by getting pregnant.

“What do you know about the
curse?” she asked.

Dar stretched his hands above him.
“I was fourteen when it happened. It was a curse from the Thieran
family, and they didn’t realize right away that it affected
everyone with Avialie blood, not just those present at the battle.
Adrian’s wife died from it. She was pregnant when the Thieran cast
the curse.”

Grace frowned, thinking of Adrian.
Quiet, stoic, determined. “Couldn’t the Thieran family undo
it?”

“They’ve been searching for
someone powerful enough, but most of the powerful Thierans work for
the Protectors. And the ones that don’t don’t want to get in their
way.”

Grace stood up and walked around
the extravagant room. A small desk with two books stood against the
wall. Maybe she could do some reading, since neither of them had
any plans to carry out the elders’ wish. She glanced at him and
caught his gaze on her. He smiled, looking away.

“What did you tell the prince?”
she asked.

“I told him they wouldn’t let me
take you until morning. He probably isn’t happy, but we don’t have
any choice.”

She picked up one of the books. It
was a novel; she thumbed through it mindlessly. “I was really ready
to say goodbye to you a few days ago.”

He got to his feet, stretching his
arms over his head. “You’re not anymore?”

“Everything’s changed. It’s not
just you anymore.”

He joined her by the desk, picking
up the second book. “You don’t have any obligation to my
family.”

Grace met his eyes. At this
proximity, she could smell the fragrances they’d put on him. It
smelled dark and tangy, and she found herself taking a deep breath
to smell it. “I don’t want them to die out.”

“What choice do you have? Do you
really believe that getting pregnant will change their
fate?”

“No… but what about finding a
Thieran who could break the curse?”

He rubbed his chin. “I don’t want
to talk about this.”

“Why not? And if not now, when?
I’m supposed to leave tomorrow morning and pretend I never met
these people?”