Promising Light (25 page)

“If you send us a letter tonight,
we’ll wait until you’re done with lunch to leave. Better yet, you
should meet us as the festival grounds. But if there’s no letter,
we’ll leave without you, and you’ll probably be better
off.”

Grace half-smiled and let go of
Sierra’s hand. “We should probably get back.”

* * *

Grace sat in the study, staring
down at the desk. A piece of parchment lay next to an inkwell and a
quill. She could write the letter easily, just dip the quill and
write some drivel, then send it off to the palace. She looked at
the books she found on legends of the magical families. Shape
changers who could turn into air, people who could kill with the
snap of a finger, others who could make people fall in love. She
understood why the Protectors felt threatened. She understood their
desire for order.

She walked to the window; the sun
was setting, the sky painted orange, red, and pink. Closing her
eyes, she wondered if any magic could turn back time. Or to go
forward in time or predict the future based on certain decisions.
What would happen if she went with Sierra and Evan? What would
happen if she ignored the Avialies and put them behind her
forever?

A quick movement outside caught her
eye. She leaned forward, and she saw two men dressed in black
dragging a struggling form to the back gate.

Grace turned and jogged downstairs.
She went out the backdoor and froze in her tracks. Her father had
joined the other two men. She’d seen them at parties, but couldn’t
remember their names. The struggling person she’d seen from the
window was Vin. He wore traveling clothes, and they had him on his
knees.

“What’s going on?” Grace asked,
stepping forward.

“Lady Grace!” Vin said
breathlessly.

“He was trespassing on the
property in another form,” Father said, glaring at Vin. “The magic
protecting us revealed him.”

“What are you going to do with
him?” Grace came to stand next to Father.

He finally looked at her, letting
out an annoyed noise. “It’s not your concern, Grace. You should go
back inside.”

“Why shouldn’t it be my concern?”
she asked. “He came looking for me, didn’t he?”

“We just wanted to be sure you
were all right,” Vin said. He half-glanced at Father. “We made a
grave mistake and we wanted to be sure the Protectors didn’t hold
it against you.”

“Of course we wouldn’t,” Father
growled. “She’s completely innocent. She wants nothing to do with
you.”

Vin looked at Grace, his eyebrows
drawn together.

“What are you going to do with
him?” she repeated.

Father glanced at the two men who
were holding Vin by the arms. “Probably take him to the castle to
put him in a cell.”

“Father… he didn’t do anything
wrong.”

He looked at Grace, his eyes wide.
“Why are you defending him?”

She hardly ever contradicted him;
neither of them were used to Grace arguing. She took a step back.
“Father… if he said he was checking on me, then…”

“He had this with him,” one of the
men said, holding up a small flask of black liquid.

“What is it?” Grace
asked.

“We’re not sure, but it smells
like a potion.” The man pulled on Vin’s wrist. “What is
this?”

Vin remained silent, his eyes on
Grace’s father.

“I’ll get a carriage,” Father
said.

“Can’t you just let him go?” Grace
asked, her voice cracking.

“No, I can’t.” A vein in his
forehead throbbed. When she was a young girl, she knew it was time
to be quiet and go to her room when that happened. “Who knows what
he was here for? What that potion is? What he might have done to
you if he found you? We’re taking care of this.” He turned to walk
back in the house.

She followed him. “I want to
come.”

“No.”

“He said he came here for me.”
Grace walked a few steps behind him as he went to the servants
quarters and asked for a carriage to be drawn up. He turned, and
she stood in his way.

“I won’t let just any male noble
sneak around looking for you, and I especially won’t let Avialie
scum,” he said, his lip curling in disgust. “It may be the last
mistake he makes.”

His words sent a chill through her.
She swallowed. “If you don’t let me go, I’ll just follow with my
horse.”

Father glared at her. “Fine, you
can follow.”

They dragged Vin to the carriage
and tied him up. Grace saddled her horse and rode behind them on
the way to the castle. Her heart was pounding by the time they
reached the gates, both from the speed of the trip and anxiety. Why
had Vin come? What was the potion for? And where were the other
Avialies? Had he come alone?

They stopped by the back entrance
of the castle; Grace glanced toward the forest with the Cosa
protected bench. She dismounted her horse and left her in the small
stables by the gate entrance. A moment later, they pulled Vin from
the carriage and led him to the back doors of the
castle.

These corridors were vaguely
familiar from her lunch with Sierra and Sashe, but they soon went
deeper into the castle, down into the dungeons. She felt like the
walls might close in on them. Only a few torches lit the dungeons,
and Grace heard strange noises from the doors they passed:
whirring, clicking, shouts, music. One of the men jogged off
halfway down the corridor, leaving the four of them.

They soon came to a large room with
a long table in the center and large paintings of battle scenes
hanging on the walls. The men tied Vin to one of the
chairs.

“I still think you should let him
go,” Grace said as she watched.

“And that’s why we didn’t ask for
your opinion,” Father said in a low voice. “If you are not careful,
Grace, the prince and his advisor will think you feel affection for
this man.”

Grace’s mouth fell open, and her
cheeks warmed. “Father, that is not the case. I just don’t
understand why you’re treating him like this.”

After a few tense moments, the man
from earlier rejoined them with Lesado, Prince William, and another
man Grace assumed was a Protector. William looked at Grace with
raised eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to be sure Vin is treated
fairly,” Grace said. “He didn’t come with a weapon. He was only
making sure I was all right.”

Lesado chuckled. “You don’t know
very much about shape changers.”

“I know enough about Protectors to
worry about his well-being.”

“You’d have no reason to worry if
he weren’t sneaking around,” Lesado said, pacing around Vin’s
chair. The Avialie’s jaw was tense, and he stared at a spot on the
floor. “The potion is with our Mahris. They’ll let us know what it
is soon enough.”

He interrogated Vin, but he
repeated her earlier answers. He only came to the house to make
sure Grace was safe after the mistake the Avialies made. He said
the other shape changers were quite fond of Grace and he offered to
run by Grace’s house.

“Why you? Why not a woman?” Lesado
leaned in, his face inches from Vin. “I hope you don’t have some
kind of crush on Lady Grace.”

Vin bared his teeth. “I’m
married.”

Lesado scoffed. “That hasn’t
stopped an Avialie before.”

Vin shook his head. “That’s
improper.”

“What, an Avialie and someone
normal? I agree.” Lesado straightened his back. “And the
potion?”

Vin’s face faltered. “It’s a
fertility potion for my wife.”

A low growl came from Father’s
throat, and he clenched his hands into fists by his
sides.

“Your wife has a problem getting
pregnant?” Lesado asked.

“I just thought maybe the
fertility potion would help bring the pregnancy to full term,” Vin
said, avoiding his eyes. Grace caught the lie; the potion was for
her. Her face flushed.

“Really? It wasn’t for Lady
Grace?”

“No.” Vin met his eyes again. “We
let her go. We don’t believe in Lisbeth’s prophecy
anymore.”

“You don’t have any hope she could
save your family?”

Vin half-glanced at Grace, then
back at Lesado. “We’ll always have hope. But we’re not acting on
it.”

“That’s good,” Lesado said,
“because Lady Grace isn’t interested.” Grace looked at him sharply,
wondering when he became a spokesperson for her. “Neither is Sir
Dar. He recently made a deal with us. He’s not going to see Lady
Grace ever again unless it’s a supervised event such as a special
occasion at the castle.”

Grace saw the flicker of confusion
on Vin’s face before he put on a blank expression. “It almost seems
like you’re afraid the prophecy could be true,” he said.

“This is for Lady Grace’s
protection.”

“Of course.”

The door opened, and a man came in
with the potion. He spoke with Lesado for a moment, then left.
Lesado turned the potion over in his hand. “He wasn’t lying,” he
told the others. “A fertility potion. Probably meant for Lady
Grace, though now Vin knows she has no intention to
help.”

There was a moment of silence, and
then Lesado suddenly struck Vin across the face. Grace gasped and
covered her mouth.

“You’re not welcome here,” Lesado
told Vin in a quiet voice. He hit him again.

Grace stepped forward, but William
grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

Lesado looked at Grace, raising his
eyebrows, then at her father. “Your daughter needs to keep her
affections in check.”

“I have no affection for this this
man,” Grace said, pulling her arm from William.

“Then you won’t mind this.” Lesado
hit Vin again, so hard his chair rocked to the side, and his lip
began bleeding.

“Leave him alone!” she told
Lesado.

“Grace, stop it,” Father said,
stepping forward.

“This is none of your business,
Lady Grace,” Lesado said.

“Yes, it is!” Grace rose her
voice. “It’s my fault he’s even here—”

“It’s not your fault, he brought
this on himself,” Lesado motioned to Father. “Take her
out.”

“No,” Grace said, but Father took
her arm. With a painful grip, he pulled her to the door. William
followed, and a moment later, Father pushed her into the corridor
and shut the door, leaving her alone with the prince. Grace tried
the knob, but it was locked. She pounded on the door with her
fists, yelling for them to let her back in.

“Grace,” William said, touching
her arm.

She shied away from him. “Why are
you letting them do this?”

“He planned to
give you that fertility potion,” William said. “Who knows
what
else
he
planned.”

She spun on him. “He’s
married!”

His jaw tightened, and he gazed at
her. “First Dar, now Vin?”

She huffed and shook her head. “I
can’t believe you’d think that of me.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to
think, Grace.”

“Trust me, I don’t think of Vin
that way.” She remembered when he lied to her about Lisbeth’s
visions, deliberately kept back what happened to Sierra and Sashe
so she’d believe Lisbeth.

A long yell came from the room, and
Grace tried the door handle again, though she knew it was locked.
“What are they doing to him?”

“They have to make sure she
doesn’t come back.”

She gasped. “Are they going to kill
him?”

“No, they’re just teaching him a
lesson.” William glared at the door as though he could see Vin. He
turned to Grace. “Would you like some dinner?”

She stared at him. How could he be
thinking of food at a moment like this? “No. I’m not
leaving.”

Only a few minutes passed, but they
seemed to go on forever. The door finally opened, and Father pushed
her into the hall. The other Protectors brought Vin out. His hands
were bleeding, and the side of his face was swollen and red. Grace
fought back tears as they moved toward the back entrance
again.

“Are you going to let him go now?”
she asked.

“Yes,” Father hissed. “Why are you
making this so difficult?”

“Because he’s
innocent!”

They reached the back entrance, and
they untied Vin. Grace caught his eyes, trying to give him an
apologetic look.

Lesado poured the potion out on the
ground, saying, “You won’t need this anymore.” He handed him the
empty flask. “Save yourself the heartache.”

“I’ll walk him to the front of the
castle gates,” one of the Protectors offered.

“I’m sorry, Vin,” Grace
said.

Vin gave her a small smile, then
followed the other Protector out of sight.

Lesado smirked at Grace. “You’ve
really taken a liking to them, haven’t you?”