He knew her well enough, he didn't need to feel the shiver of fear and anticipation and dread she couldn't quite quash. As much as they'd relaxed around each other in the past few days, Selena wouldn't appreciate a show of support here, now, where she was the center of attention.
He crossed his arms over his chest to keep from taking her hand and instead pushed calm and encouragement in a soft hum along the connection.
"No, thankfully. There was a man wearing dark red robes, though, like some of Hafgan's minions. We pegged him as the real power since he kept giving orders that had the officers snapping to." Nis paused, the lines of strain deepening around his eyes. "We saw Mora with them. She rarely left the side of Hafgan's man."
Nis glanced away, scratching at his chin uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I was hoping, somehow, we were wrong about her."
"You weren't wrong."
The declaration fell heavily into the quiet room, and every head turned toward the doorway.
Arun stood there, one hand pressed tightly to the jamb, the other arm wrapped around Omal's shoulders. The cooked muttered about pigheaded, stubborn children as she helped him make his way to the nearest bench.
He moved slowly, reluctantly leaning on the cook though it was obvious that he was still weak. He was still too pale and too drawn, and when he sat, his hand automatically came up to press into the mostly healed wound on his chest.
"You weren't wrong," he repeated once he caught his breath from the exertion. "Mora knew we were patrolling, looking for a traitor. Because I told her."
His lips twisted into a grimace of self-disgust.
"I told her everything and never realized how much I'd been manipulated. She watched me dying and talked about how easy it was to slip me a love potion the very first day. It made me easier to control. None of my feelings had been real, though she tried to insist they were. That she wanted me, still. She was angry that our interference forced her hand and that she had to kill me or face her master's wrath. I'm not sure she's completely sane."
Arun paused, frustration and hurt and embarrassment evident in the way he slumped on the bench.
"Hafgan wanted the wellspring, and when he found out we'd settled here, he sent her to keep an eye on things. He had some kind of plan, but it needed to wait until something happened in Galwei before he'd risk coming to the borderlands to claim it."
Galwei. Phelan's gut knotted. Maddyn was there. And he had no way to get a message to his older brother that he might be in danger.
"Once a Hound showed up, though, she panicked. She recognized you right away. You really need a better a disguise." Arun half-smirked and tilted his head in Phelan's direction. "After she sent the first message, she couldn't get back to the spring because of our patrols. She decided to take things into her own hands, create a bond with the power of the well to gain control of it."
Arun's hand came up to massage the tender spot on his chest.
"She was going to use my blood to do it. When she told me that, I tried to crawl, hoping to keep as much blood away from spring as possible then. She laughed and said it didn't matter if I was alive or dead when the blood went in. She'd just push my body into the pool when it was time. Then she started to cast her magic."
A few horrified gasps and whispers rose around the room as Arun described what happened with brutal detachment.
Next to Phelan, Selena stood stiff and unnaturally still. He could barely hear her breath. All he could feel from her was a jumbled mess of emotions wrapped in a layer of ice.
"I was already starting to fade when I thought I heard someone coming. I don't remember anything after that." He looked toward Selena and Phelan, a hundred questions in his eyes. "Omal told me you two saved me?"
Selena's uncertainty cut across the bond, and he stepped forward, partially shielding her while he lied to her brother.
"We found you by the spring in bad shape. Selena healed you while I tried to chase Mora, but she got away. Once you were stable enough, we got you back here."
Arun opened his mouth, more questions obviously hovering on his mind, but he looked past Phelan to his sister. Whatever he saw there made him bite his tongue and nod in acceptance instead.
Discomfort and uncertainty spread through the room, oppressive silence trailing in its wake.
Then Eloise, the quiet, unassuming stablehand, stepped forward.
"If Hafgan wants the spring, we can't let him have it. We have to hold it or die trying."
Her bell-like voice rang like a call to action, and the entire room erupted into shouts of agreement and cries for duty and honor and resolve.
For a heartbeat, Phelan considering keeping quiet. His missions had always depended on secrecy and holding his cards close. But this crazy family of outcasts and refugees was beginning to make him believe in strength in numbers.
"You don't have to fight to protect the spring. There is another option. I came here to make sure that Hafgan never got his hands on it. I have a... last resort. It will destroy the spring and the reasons why Hafgan wants it. We can get everyone well clear of the outpost and then I can set it off."
The room descended into a cacophony of conversation again, but Selena's eyes cut sharply toward him. No one else seemed to have caught the implication of what he said, but the strong feeling of angry denial rushing into him told him Selena understood the unspoken implications. And she did not approve of him even considering sacrificing himself to protect the spring.
He forced his best Finn smile and shrugged. He'd known when he left d'Hara Manor that this was the way things might end for him.
"That feels wrong," Arun said. "The spring. It's necessary here."
"If we destroy it, it might stop Hafgan," Selena said, stepping up next to Phelan, her shoulder brushing casually against his. "But what else does it do? If... Will it have a ripple effect, elsewhere? Will it affect the land itself?"
Phelan winced at the implication. They hadn't shared the cause of the blight in Marnak with the rest of the outpost yet. Or the fact that this shrine seemed to be tied to two others. What would happen to the surrounding land? Worse, what would happen to the other shrines? He hadn't thought to ask about those repercussions when he was making his plans.
Still, he knew they stood little chance against the might of Marnak.
"There's one other thing we can try," Phelan said. "But it's a long shot."
Selena looked as calm as ever, but she shared the wave of relief she felt when he didn't pursue the self-destructive course of action.
"I can go to the Tribes. My clan was wiped out, but our kin-tribes remain. And their home territory isn't far from here. My brothers and I were declared outcast when we accepted the gift of the Milesans, but I have made some contacts there over the past few years. And the Tribes are not going to appreciate Tresk's troops or Hafgan's minions here on their doorstep in the borderlands."
His announcement spurred another round of questions, shouting, and discussion. By the time Omal started shooing everybody away so she could start the noon meal, they'd hammered out the bare bones of a plan.
Everyone was insistent they stay to protect the outpost and the spring. They'd use whatever time they had to reinforce the defenses and build in a few traps to surprise the invaders.
In the meantime, Phelan would ride to Tribes land and do everything in his power to get them a little backup. If worse came to worse, they always had their last resort, blow up the spring.
On that sobering note, Arun stood, leaning slightly on Anes for support.
"No one has to stay that doesn't want to. Everyone here as been through enough and you've done your part."
Nearly as one, the group stubbornly shouted him down, insistent on staying and seeing it through. No matter how it ended.
When the room was mostly clear, Phelan approached Arun and Selena and Nis.
"I should get on the road. The sooner I approach my kin-clans, the sooner I can bring back help." His eyes l
ingered on Selena, but he knew he needed to leave before he was tempted to do something stupid. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Turning on his heel, Phelan left the dining hall on quick feet. He only made it as far as the main staircase before Selena's soft hand fell on his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks.
When he turned to face her, she was close. His hand came up to curve around her waist without a thought to where they were or who might see.
Her eyes searched his face for a moment, before she asked softly, "What you're doing is dangerous to you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, well, they won't exactly greet me with open arms. I have a couple of contacts though, that should be able to help if I get into too much trouble."
He narrowed the bond, hoping she wouldn't catch the regret and doubt he felt. There were members of the Tribes who would be happy to gut him first and ask questions later.
Needing to touch her one last time, his free hand came up to brush a stray lock away from her cheek, and she leaned into the caress.
"Thank you," she murmured into his hand. She didn't say anything else, but he felt a tremor of trepidation run through her.
Phelan shifted a little closer to whisper quietly in her ear.
"Don't worry about the bond too much. It's been long enough. The separation should be easier, now, than it was in the beginning."
"I'm not worried." She smiled at him and turned, brushing along his cheek and down his jaw. Then their lips met and clung. Sipping tiny kisses of promise until Phelan felt like he was drowning in her.
A door opening startled them both and they jerked apart.
Selena frowned and leaned away to look back through the entry into the dining hall.
He leaned with her in time to see Arun slipping out the back door on faltering steps. Alone.
"Damnit, I have to—" She stepped away but looked back with eyes beseeching him to understand.
"Go," he said forcing a smile of understanding. "I'll see you..."
She was already through the entry and halfway across the room.
"When I see you, I suppose."
He waved a final salute at her retreating back, hoping that wasn't the last time he'd get to hold her. Then he headed up to his room to gather his gear.
*****
Selena easily caught up to Arun in the kitchen garden as he hobbled along alone.
"You should be resting," she scolded but dropped into step beside him
"I need to see it."
She didn't need to ask what it was. If their positions were reversed, she'd need to reassure herself as well.
"Fine," she said with a put-upon sigh. "But let me help before damage yourself all over again.
Together, they slowly made their way out to the clearing. It was obvious Arun wasn't completely recovered, but he walked under his own power, gaining strength and confidence with every step.
When they got close enough to the spring, Arun dropped down to one knee and dragged his fingers through the water.
His eyes took on a faraway look and Selena shifted her own gaze to examine the flow of magic around them. It was still as pristine as she left it this morning.
"You cleaned it up already," Arun said, though didn't really sound surprised.
"Of course. I couldn't leave it like that." Selena nudged his shoulder carefully with her hip, in silent reproach for doubting her. "Besides, I needed the water safe to stop you from being a such a laggard."
They stayed still and quiet for a long time.
Eventually, though, Selena had to ask.
"How are you feeling? Are you really all right?"
A half-laugh escaped his lips, sounding strangled and shrill
"Never better. I've been dosed with sorcery to believe I loved someone who may yet end up killing us all. I've been betrayed. Stabbed. Woke up to find we're about to withstand a siege," he paused, and his voice sharpened. "Also, my sister is keeping secrets from me."
"Arun," she said, startled and unsure how to side-step his questions.
"Not about here," he waved at the spring. "Not about that night. Honestly, I don't think I want to know what really happened. What I remember is... Yeah. I think it's better if that is one secret that you keep."
Selena let the air out of her lungs in a silent sigh of relieve. Until he turned knowing eyes on her.
"There's more you aren't telling me, isn't there?"
She couldn't help hesitating, trying to decide if she really wanted to talk about the moon-bond with her brother.
She wanted to keep the bond secret before because she hadn't wanted it. Had fully expected the it would go away at the end of the moon cycle. Now, though, Selena wanted it to be real. And that frightened her more than anything else. Because it wasn't real. More than ever, she understood that Phelan wasn't staying. That he couldn't. He had a place and family to go home to.
And what they were planning to do here at the outpost meant pitting themselves against Hafgan and Tresk. Once they started that war, there'd be no end for them. At least, not a happy one. She needed to stay and see this through. She owed that much to everyone who had stood by them.
But there was still some time left. And Selena wanted to spend as much of it with Phelan as possible.
So, with a sigh of resignation, she said it out loud for the first time.
"I have a moon-bond. With Phelan."
Surprise widened Arun's eyes, but they quickly narrowed with doubt. Before he could start asking questions, Selena started telling him about the first kiss. And almost everything that had happened since.
When she finished, Arun simply asked, "You're going with him, aren't you?"
The question was an unexpected razor in her heart.
"I-I want to. I feel—but my responsibility is here."
"But, nothing. I'm fine. Or I will be soon. I can lead the fortifications here. And I can protect the spring as well as you can, if it comes down to it. However easy he makes it sound, what he's doing is dangerous. He needs you at his back."
"And what about after? I'll still have responsibilities here."
"We don't even know if there will be an after. But now we know we’re not the only ones fighting. That we may have allies from outside who want to stop Tresk and Hafgan just as much as we do."
Arun made a shooing motion. "Go. I'll be fine. Tell Omal to send someone out to let me know when the food is ready. I want to stay here for a while and reassure myself that Mora really didn't destroy all this."
"Thank you," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tight. When she started to pull away, he held onto her a little longer.
"Tell him."
She didn't need to ask what he was talking about.
"I—" Guilt and shame and fear tripped her tongue.
"Tell him," Arun repeatedly sternly, letting her go. "Considering his own history, if anyone is going to understand, he will."
"I'll think about it," she promised. Maybe. She wanted to tell him. Wanted to give him back the honesty and trust he'd given her in saving her brother. But she was scared. Because her secret was a curse she'd been hiding for years.
Selena kissed his cheek in a silent goodbye then headed back into the outpost, stopping to give Omal his message. Then ran up to her room and threw together her pack with quick, sure movements. For the first time, Selena found herself grateful for a lifetime of uncertainty that required her to travel light and fast.
She arrived at the stable to find Phelan leading his horse out. She shot Eloise a look and got a nod in return before the stablehand disappeared back inside.
"Going to leave without saying goodbye?" Selena asked.
"I thought that's what we did by the staircase earlier," Phelan said, mouth curling down in confusion. His eyes shifted to the pack she carried, and the frown deepened.
She couldn't read the jumble of feelings pulsing from him to her, but she was ready to bristle and fight if he tr
ied to dissuade her from going along.
Again, he surprised her.
"If you'd told me you'd intended to come, I'd have had your horse ready."
"It's fine. Eloise has got it," she said, relief widening her smile. She met Eloise halfway, secured her pack and mounted.
*****
They rode for an hour or so before Phelan broke the companionable silence that had fallen between them as soon as they'd left the gates of the outpost.
"The kin-tribes aren't going to be welcoming. This is going to be dangerous."
"Are you trying to scare me away? Now?" Selena asked with disbelief.
"Wouldn't even think of it. I just want you to be prepared." He grinned lazily for a minute, then a serious expression chased the humor away. "If it goes bad, I need you to promise you won't wait for me."
Selena stared at him with hard disdain. "I've never deliberately left anyone behind. I'm not going to start now."
He wanted to argue. She saw it in his eyes. Felt it buzz in the bond. Before he tried, she asked, "Would you leave without me?"
Phelan blew out a sigh and dropped his head in capitulation.
"No. No, I'd stay and fight until the bitter end."
Selena bit her lip to hide her smile, and they eased back into the comfortable, quiet ride.
-12-
THEY hadn't bothered bringing a tent, knowing they needed to ride light and quick.
So, when exhaustion finally forced them to stop for the night, making camp mostly consisted of laying out their bedrolls and starting a fire.
They sat side by side, eating the modest rations Omal had packed for them.
"We used to go camping when I was a kid, all six of us. Me, my brothers and our parents. We'd pack up way more than we needed and spend a couple of nights on one of the smaller uninhabited islands," Phelan said, surprising himself. He hadn't thought about those trips in years. "I loved it. Of course, if I had realized how much of my adult life I'd end up sleeping on the ground, I might not have been so enamored with it."
By Blood Betrayed (The Lost Shrines Book 3) Page 14