by Lizzy Ford
“We have to see the council?”
“They will be interviewing everyone in the village, including you.”
“Are you certain you should send her?” Aveline asked. “Tiana will only tell the truth, and if your people are angry with you for treating her well, they might be even angrier when they see the extent of it.”
“The truth is expected,” the chief said.
The rain fell harder against the leather ceiling of the tent.
Elk Hunter began to cough again and was soon doubled over.
“You’re dismissed,” Diving Eagle snapped at her and dropped to his father’s side.
Aveline glared at him again before whirling and striding out. She clenched her bear paw and shifted her weight. Her unnatural hand was heavy enough she had to constantly correct her posture to keep from overcompensating and leaning.
The rain was cold and dashed what warmth the early spring day had held. Aveline shivered. As she mentally reviewed the discussion with the chief and his son, dread slid through her.
Had they manipulated her into a suicide mission? Had she let her emotion cloud her judgment?
Did it matter? Not only did she have no choice, but Aveline always intended to return to the city.
Aveline had promised to help Tiana, and breaking this promise would dishonor her father and everything he stood for.
But … Aveline had always suspected the biggest threat to Tiana was her father. Someone wealthy enough to pay off Karl had tried to hire her to murder Tiana anyway. Who was in a better position than Tiana’s father?
Unable to make sense of her situation through her headache, Aveline sighed.
Tiana had not gone far from the tent. She stood near the bonfires located at the center of the village with a scrawny Native boy whose head reached her shoulder. They were hand-in-hand, their faces tilted upwards towards the sky, as if they both enjoyed the rain Tiana had never felt against her skin.
“Views the world through her heart.”
Aveline had not heard the chief’s son follow her but turned when he spoke. “That will never be a bad thing,” she told him.
“Not for her. Perhaps for those around her,” Diving Eagle retorted. “If she loses her faith in the world, she will destroy everything she touches.”
His words left Aveline colder than the rain. She could think of no comeback and watched him stalk away. The Native’s glance lingered on the two figures enjoying the rain before he barked an order. The boy with Tiana dashed to him in response, and the two left Aveline’s line of sight.
The longer she stood in thought, the more she understood his words. He saw the threat Tiana could become, if she ever saw the darker side of life. Tiana could become something worse than her father.
Except Aveline knew what Diving Eagle did not: Tiana had lived in the shadows her entire life and still glowed with light, hope and optimism. The shadows had not tamed and twisted her spirit. The darker the experiences, the brighter Tiana would glow, the way the moon overpowered the light of stars, no matter how dark the night.
The only danger to Tiana, if her abilities were as powerful as the chief claimed, was the fear of men who misunderstood her – and her father.
Aveline approached Tiana, concerned and overwhelmed by the complexity of their situation.
“I have never felt rain on my face before,” Tiana said. “Is it not wonderful?”
“It’s cold,” Aveline said grumpily. Her irritation could not dampen Tiana’s excitement at her world, and the Hanover girl stretched out her arms, as if trying to drench herself in water. “We need to talk about something. Where is Rocky?”
“This way!” Tiana whirled and began walking back towards the direction they had come.
Aveline trailed. She found herself more troubled about what was to come than how she could ever pass as normal sporting a bear claw.
Tiana waited for her at the front of a tent. Rocky emerged and caught Aveline’s gaze. He inclined his head to the side.
“I need to talk to Rocky,” Aveline said to Tiana. “Stay right here. I’ll be right back.”
Joining Rocky, the two of them walked a short distance away.
“How are you?” Rocky asked, searching her features.
“I feel like I fell out of a tree.” Aveline touched her pounding head. “Is it true what I’ve been told? Tiana tried to murder someone?”
“It was pretty impressive,” Rocky said with a smile. His eyes went from her to a passing Native. “I have the feeling we’re in trouble here.”
“We are. Lots of it,” she agreed. “They want me to kill someone in the city. In exchange, they won’t hurt any of you.”
“Sounds suspicious to me.”
She nodded, eyes on the forest. “None of this feels right.” She lifted her bear claw. “I want to find Karl but not like this.”
“Go,” Rocky said easily. “I can take care of your friend.”
“I made her a promise. My father would not approve of me leaving her.”
“Then come back,” Rocky said. “Nothing will happen to her while I’m here. You deserve closure, Avi.”
She had not expected him to agree with her. “You haven’t heard who they want me to kill yet,” she said ruefully.
Rocky waited.
The second she said his name, his expression changed from open to shuttered.
Rocky listened, concern on his face, as she filled him in on the conversation that had transpired with the chief and his son.
When she was done, Rocky rocked back onto his heels and gazed towards the clouds.
“What would you do?” Aveline asked. Never had she had to ask this question of anyone.
“You have ten days?”
She nodded.
“Don’t worry about anything out here,” Rocky said. “Find Karl. His brother Wilhelm lives in the old place where Karl used to live. You remember visiting him there when we were little?”
“Yes.”
“Get what you need from Wilhelm and Karl, and you meet me in nine days. I’ll bring Tiana and Jose, and we’ll all go somewhere.”
“You don’t think I should try to kill the Hanover leader at all?” Aveline asked.
“I think every assassin who has tried to kill a siting Hanover leader for four centuries has failed for a reason,” Rocky replied.
“Would you try?”
“No.”
Surprised by his quick, honest response, Aveline considered her position on the matter. All she had ever wanted was to follow in her father’s footsteps. What better way than by murdering the Hanover leader?
“What if …” She looked at her bear claw. “What if I’m the one person who can do it? Because of what I am?”
“You’re only half-beast,” he reminded her.
Aveline was quiet, considering. What if she could save Tiana and the rest of the city from her father? If Tiana was safe, then she could go to the Freelands, and Aveline’s oath would be fulfilled. She did not want to part ways with her friend, but the two of them had two very different goals in life.
“Let’s look at this logically,” Rocky said. “Do a dry run. Go through the motions you would go through if you were serious about it. I guarantee you will walk away from him when you realize it’s impossible.”
“Smart. As always.” Aveline lowered her deformed arm.
“Your father always said an assassination is successful here first.” Rocky tapped his temple. “You have that look on your face. Promise me you will think about it before you do anything.”
“I will,” Aveline promised. “And if it seems impossible, I won’t try.”
Rocky appeared to accept her words, for which she was grateful. Deep down, she knew she had already made her decision to carry out her promise to Arthur and Tiana by protecting Tiana from the man Tiana feared most in the world.
Impossible or not, Aveline was going to find Karl and then kill Tiana’s father – or die trying.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tian
a’s dread and fear had been building since the discussion earlier with Aveline, who believed they would be condemned to death or slavery by the council. By the time Tiana stepped into the hot tent to meet the tribal council later that night, she was overwhelmed and fighting back tears.
Eight women sat in positions of importance on a dais at the far end. What looked like half the village had crammed itself into the small space to watch the interviews, which had been going on all day long. The talk fell silent when she entered, Aveline at her side. Whether it was the charged energy of the tent, the heat that caused sweat to drip down her face before she reached her position standing in front of the council, or the stares, or a combination of all the sensations, Tiana was claustrophobic and felt sick to her stomach. The space in which she stood, before the council of middle aged and elderly women wearing severe expressions, was as confining as her old room. Her father had regarded her with this same expression every time they met. Disapproval, if not disgust, was clear on the faces of the women.
I cannot do this, she thought. I cannot go back.
Her only conscious thought was of returning to the hellish room, or worse – a cage, where she would spend the rest of her existence. Her ears began to ring, and her hair lifted wildly into the air around her.
“State your names,” one of the women boomed.
Tiana’s attention snapped to her. Aveline nudged her, and Tiana cleared her throat. “Tiana Hanover,” she replied.
“Aveline Gerard.”
Tiana sank into her mind and senses, unable to follow the discussion occurring on the dais when she was struggling to draw a deep enough breath. The women talked, Aveline responded, and murmurs went through the crowd. The pattern repeated itself, until silence fell.
Aveline nudged her again. “Say yes,” she urged.
Tiana blinked and glanced from her friend to the council. She did as Aveline said, trusting her friend with her life. Her breathing grew shallower. When tunnel vision formed and the drink ware and other belongings of the council members began to lift into the air and spin, Tiana panicked.
She raced out of the tent, desperate for air and to feel the great outdoors. Tiana stumbled twice in the mud left over from a day of rain and continued onward, heading for the peace and quiet of the forest.
Tears stung her eyes and blurred her path. She ran until the terror she experienced whenever she thought of returning to her father released her. When nothing but the patter of rain against leaves filled her ears, and the cold water dripping down her face penetrated her frantic escape, she slowed and then stopped. Tiana sank down onto her knees and leaned against a tree. Her hands shook, and her mind would not focus on any one thing let alone clarify the fog surrounding what had been said by the tribal council.
She had not had a panic attack since leaving the city. Tiana waited for the vise around her chest to release its hold. She found herself gripping the small knife Red Moon had given her and pushed up her sleeve.
Slicing into her skin, Tiana released a breath. Pain penetrated her thoughts, giving them some cohesion among her chaotic emotions. Her hair, along with the loose branches and rocks in her surroundings, lowered and returned to their natural positions.
She sagged. Matilda had been wrong about bleeding out her magic, but the sensation of cutting her skin and the pain that followed always grounded her when nothing else seemed to.
Tiana cut the scarred skin of her inner arm again and relaxed further. Warm blood streamed down her arm and mixed with rain. She drew her first deep breath and lifted her face to the night sky. The rain was cold, the mud beneath her numbing her exposed skin, but she could imagine nowhere else she wanted to be. She dropped the knife and let herself dwell in the dull pain until she was shaking and soaked.
A pool of warm light lifted the gloomy night from the area around her. It was red light, not harsh enough to disturb her sensitive eyes yet bright enough to guide someone’s path.
“Why are you bleeding?”
She tensed at Diving Eagle’s terse voice. He was always angry with her or seemed ready to strike her. Tiana hunched her shoulders, waiting for him to hit her, now that they were alone and his father was not there to protect her. He crouched in front of her and gripped her injured arm, turning the soft skin of her forearm upward so he could assess the damage in the light.
Tiana twisted her arm away, but he held it tightly. “These are not animal bites or scratches from trees,” he said.
“I did it,” she whispered.
He glanced from her forearm to her face then back. His normal disapproval was clear on his features, and he pulled out a small roll of bandages from the pouch at his waist.
Why would you do this to yourself? She read the question in his mind.
Tiana feared demonstrating another of her capabilities by answering. She watched him wrap her arm in a bandage. “Your father is not here. You do not have to pretend to tend to me,” she said.
“My father taught me to do what I believed to be right for my people, no matter who is present to see it.”
“My father taught me to suffer.”
His hands paused. “You wish me to pity you?” His tone hardened.
“I speak only the truth,” she replied. “You have a good father. I hope you cherish him.”
“He is the most honorable man in the world.” He continued with the bandage. “He is gifted. Like you.”
“He is?” she asked, interested for the first time in anything this man had ever said to her. “What is his deformity?”
“It is not a deformity,” was the curt response. “It is a blessing.”
“Mine is not,” she said quietly, distraught.
“No,” he agreed. “Yours is not.” He was quiet for a breath before he spoke again. “My father is a peacemaker. He has negotiated treaties and trade agreements with tribes who have been enemies of my people for hundreds of years. Every single one – except for the Hanover’s.”
“I have heard us called blood enemies,” she said.
“We had several blood enemies at one time,” he replied. “My father met your father once, twenty years ago.” He dropped his hands and replaced the bandages in the pouch. “My father went with the intention of offering peace, because peace is the legacy he wanted to leave after our people have suffered through four and a half centuries of war. He looked into your father’s eyes, and he left the meeting without speaking.”
Tiana listened, fascinated by an account of her father she had never heard before. “Why? What happened?”
“My father’s gift is the ability to see the spirit of everyone he meets. He can read intentions, and he knows when someone is good and when someone cannot be salvaged,” Diving Eagle said. “When he saw your father, he saw a man with a spirit not of this world, born of evil so great, even my father declared that my people must always be at war with him and any Hanover who possessed this … thing inside him.”
Tiana’s pulse raced. She feared asking the question at the tip of her tongue. Diving Eagle was quiet, and at last, she whispered the words. “What did he see in Arthur and me?”
“Not that, or you would be dead,” Diving Eagle replied. “He did not share with me what he saw, but he has defied everything we stood for to protect you.” Diving Eagle gripped her arms and rose, lifting her with him. “He is never wrong, and I do not question him.”
Tiana rested her palms against his warm chest to catch her balance and just as quickly snatched her hands back. He was close enough for her to smell his masculine scent. She braced herself and waited for him to leave.
Diving Eagle released her. “The council is debating whether or not to accept my father’s decision. They understand his insight is unique, but the war between your family and mine extends centuries before any of us were born.”
“Do you share his gift?” she asked. “Can you see my spirit?”
“If I could, I would not have invited a skinwalker into the midst of my warriors,” he growled. “And I would not be ind
ebted to a Hanover for saving them and my father.”
“I was not trying to save your warriors,” she said before she could stop herself. “I did not even kill the skinwalker like I wanted to.” Reminded of this fact, she reached up and plucked the feather from her hair. “Red Moon said I earned this, but I did not.” She handed it to him.
Diving Eagle accepted it with a glance. “Your intention is not in question. My failure to protect my people is. My father is the greatest chief since the Old World fell. His health is failing, but it is my judgment that almost ended his life.”
That Diving Eagle experienced any emotion other than anger surprised her, and she ventured to look up into his features. “But it did not,” she said. “You could not know what he was.”
“I should have.”
“No,” she said. “You should not have. I saw him in a vision where he destroyed everyone I love. You do not have my deformity, for which you should be grateful. You will never have to flee your family and home because your father wants you dead, and you will never fear what you are, and what you might do if you are distressed or cornered, because you already know what you are capable of.”
“Is that why you fled the council? Because you feared what you would do?”
“No. I felt … trapped. Like I did under my father’s guardianship,” she replied. “I want to be free. I cannot go back to being trapped. Ever.”
“Free.” He repeated the word as if trying to decide what it meant.
“I want to go to the Freelands and stay there forever.”
“They may not exist.”
“And if they do? No one can say with certainty they do not.”
He shook his head and stepped away from her. “Your dream is foolish.”
Tiana breathed deeply, relieved not to be confronted by his intensity any longer. He was not the first to call her desire this. Aveline and Arthur thought her foolish as well.
“I imagine it is better to be foolish and free than enslaved to your father,” Diving Eagle added. “The council is debating your fate. You may return to the tent you share with the assassin.” He waited.