by S.J. Drew
dangerous, Donnan. I'm not a woman to be trifled with."
"I know that. But if you try hurtin' me or mine, you'll find out how dangerous I am."
There was another silence. "Very well," she said finally.
"Anything else?"
"No."
He stood up and bowed to her slightly. "Then I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." When he was out of her sight and anyone else's, he called a darkling to him. "Watch her. Listen to what she says. If it sounds like she's planning to cause me trouble, or my brother, or Blake or Aolani, let me know. But don't pop out of the shadows or anything. Just wait until I'm alone to tell me."
It bowed and vanished.
He headed out feeling pretty good about the conversation. He cleaned himself up and headed out to meet Aolani for dinner and coffee.
Winter continued to give way to spring in Tallis Marrom. It took nearly a week before anyone asked about Davin. It was Aidan who asked, and he didn’t press when Eliora told him Davin had gone home. He was clearly glad Davin was gone and got even more flirtatious. Eliora found she missed Davin, and her options for company were quite limited so she spent more time with Aidan. She told no one, not even Jomei, about the kiss she shared with Davin. She decided instead to focus her attention on her duties as the LightBearer and try to avoid any greater emotional attachments than friendship, a task that Aidan was making rather difficult.
“Eliora,” Aidan said, sounding exasperated one night at dinner, “I know Davin was your friend but you really need to quit moping.”
“I’m not moping,” she retorted.
“Yes, you are, and I’m about to take your king because you’re not paying attention.”
She stared at the board. “Oh. Right.”
“Honestly, I just don’t understand why you care about that char-kin. Char-kin aren’t very trustworthy, you know, and now he’s just up and run off again.”
“He didn’t just run off. He had something to take care of.”
“Oh, what did he tell you?”
“If you really must know, he’s gone back to help with the battle,” she answered shortly.
“What, he actually joined the Hunters?” he replied, taken aback.
“Not exactly, but I guess what he’s doing could be Hunter business.”
Aidan was silent for a few minutes. “Well, that’s more than I’ve been giving him credit for. Good. I’m glad he’s helping us out. I wouldn’t want to go into the Charred Lands myself and I don’t think any other Hunter would either.” He made another move on the board. “Say, Eliora, did you get my solstice gift? I gave it to that demian to give to you but you never said anything about it.”
“Hanae did give me the gift.”
“Well, did you like it?”
“Honestly, I put all of them in my closet.”
His face fell. “All of them?” he repeated. “You got more than one?”
“Rather more than one.”
“Well, I guess that’s to be expected. So why did you just put them away like that?”
“I’m trying not to play favorites.”
“But I’m the only one here now, so you can’t play favorites,” he said with a smile.
“That’s not entirely true.”
“Come on, Eliora, why do you have to so difficult? I do like you, if you hadn’t noticed,” he said with a blush rising on his pale face.
“I’m not trying to be difficult, exactly. And I had noticed.”
“Oh,” he replied, obviously disappointed.
She took one of his warriors. “I do like you too, Aidan.”
He cheered up immediately.
“But I have other matters to focus on. I can’t be distracted by courtship right now. By the way, you need to defend your king.”
“What? You couldn’t have...” his voice trailed off as he stared at the board. “Damn it. Anyway, who said anything about courtship? I’m not looking to get married, just enjoy your company.”
“That’s called friendship where I come from,” she replied severely. Suddenly she had a lot more questions and some doubts about her kiss with Davin.
Now his face flushed with embarrassment. “Oh. I guess your culture’s a bit more rigid.”
“Yes, very much so,” she replied, trying not to sound angry.
“I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”
“It’s fine. You didn’t. In fact, you gave me a bit more insight on this culture so I can adjust my expectations accordingly.”
“You’re welcome?”
She sort of laughed.
“There we go,” he said, looking relieved.
“By the way, I win again.”
“What?” he exclaimed, staring at the board. “How did you do that? You weren’t even paying attention half the game.”
“I was paying more attention than I thought.”
“Well, at least the guys aren’t around to see this,” he said glumly, putting the pieces away. “This is humiliating.”
“You’re getting better.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“No, I mean it. I’ve just been playing a very long time.”
“Then let’s play cards now. I’m much better at those games.”
“Alright.”
He dealt out the game. “Are you sure about the equinox?”
She gave him a sharp look. “What have you heard about that?”
“I heard you were persuading a lot of clerics to tell the world about this battle. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No, I’m not sure, but the world needs to know about this and I’d rather people have some idea of what’s going on before I get into a big fight with the ShadowWalker.”
“Do you think that’ll happen?”
“I wouldn’t have learned to fight if I didn’t think it wasn’t a possibility.”
“So I see wanting to give the world a bit of advance notice, but won’t this cause panic? Everyone here was kind of panicked when you showed up.”
“It may, but I don’t think there’s a way to deliver this sort of news that won’t run that risk. What would you suggest?”
He sighed. “I don’t have any other suggestions. I’m just kind of worried about how this is going to be received. Like I said, everyone here was pretty upset and didn’t know what to think, and we’re all here to fight, you know? I’ve been thinking what my family would think if they found out about this battle, and I don’t think they’d take it very well. Most people I know aren’t very religious so this will come as a complete surprise. Of course, I don’t know if being religious will make a difference, but I think religious people will take the news more seriously.”
“You don’t think people will believe the clerics when they tell them about the battle?”
“It’s not that,” he said, thoughtfully. “It’s just most people I know don’t think the gods have that much power. So when the clerics tell them about the gods’ Avatars, they won’t think the Avatars are very powerful. But then again, people remember the Mage Wars, and they may start thinking something like that will happen again.”
“I know. The Council discussed this with me,” she said. “But I don’t think there’s any other way.”
“What do you think will be accomplished once the world knows about this battle?”
“Well, since you seem to have heard so much anyway,” she started.
He didn’t look a bit ashamed of himself.
“I’m hoping this will help bring the ShadowWalker into the open. I want people to start thinking a little bit more about anyone who’s suddenly come into power, political, magical, or otherwise.”
“Oh, you want to flush him out.”
“That’s a hunting term?” she asked, unsure of the meaning of the expression.
“Yeah. It means to surprise or startle the prey into coming out into the open where you can target it better.”
“That’s about right.”
/> “But you know, sometimes startled prey is the most dangerous, especially if you startle something you didn’t expect to find. I had that happen once. I was hunting a pheasant and ended up startling a badger. Damn thing thought it was cornered and tried to attack me. I ended up running away. The guys had a good laugh over that. But seriously, I wouldn’t want you or anyone else to get hurt if the ShadowWalker reacts badly to this news. He’s going to hear about it even if he doesn’t go to the ceremony.”
“I know. But there’s no other way.”
“You aren’t going to the ceremonies, are you?” he asked.
“I thought I might.”
“Just be careful. If you do find him, you’ll know where he is, right, but then he’ll know you know where he is, and that could be dangerous to you and to the city.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she said. She had planned to attend the Renfrew ceremony to try to confirm her guess that the ShadowWalker was located there, but Aidan had a good point. She considered other options that wouldn’t involve letting anyone know she’d already encountered him.
The spring equinox dawned bright and clear. The Order of Light had arranged for a special ceremony throughout the city-states at the main Temple of Day in each. Already the curious crowds had filled the worship room and the courtyard outside the front doors.
“Are you sure you want to be here, my Lady?” Eldoris asked.
“I’m sure. Don’t worry, I won’t go outside the temple,” Eliora answered. “I just want to see how the people react for myself.”
“As you will. I do hope our wards are enough to keep you hidden.”
She had already checked the integrity of the wards that protected the building. She figured as long as the ShadowWalker wasn’t specifically looking for her, she would be safe. She also didn’t