Sierra hit Dar on the knee. “It’s your turn.”
“Hold on a second, I want to hear more about this.”
“Why? What are you going to do?”
Dar ignored her and looked at Matilda. “Do you have any idea why they’re in town?”
Matilda shook her head, leaning into the circle a bit. “No. You should ask your dad about it.”
Sierra scoffed. “Right, he’s going to tell a bunch of sixteen-year-olds what’s going on.”
“I don’t expect you to understand,” Matilda said like she was talking to a child. “But we’re interested because they’re usually looking for blood. Try to remember what it’s like for us.”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Evan interrupted.
“Like what?” Matilda spun around to face him. “Like she’s not one of us? Because she isn’t.”
“They’ll target her, too, because she’s lived with Dar all her life.”
“She doesn’t have to live here.” Matilda brushed a curl away from her face. “She probably stays because it makes her feel special.”
“I’m sitting right here,” Sierra snapped.
“I knew it wouldn’t be long before you reminded me,” Matilda said.
Evan shook his head. “You’re unbelievable, Matilda.”
“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
“All right, calm down,” Dar said, holding up his hands. He’d dropped his cards in the middle, face-up. Sierra huffed and threw hers down as well. Dar folded his hands in his lap. “Matilda, were there any others with them?”
“Two others. One smelled like a Cosa, the other I don’t know.”
“A Cosa. . .Jared?” Evan asked. Even if she was a jerk, he had a begrudging respect that she was so interested in defeating the Protectors. Could be because her father was killed in the battle nearly three years ago.
“Maybe,” Matilda said. “He was strong.”
“I’m going inside,” Sierra announced, sitting up.
“I’ll walk you,” Evan said.
She didn’t say anything as she went down the ladder. Evan told Dar and Matilda he’d be back, and he went down the ladder after Sierra. He caught up with her at the barn door.
“She’s so irritating,” Sierra muttered.
“She’s just jealous,” Evan replied.
Sierra glanced at him. “Of what?”
“Of you.”
Sierra let out a skeptical laugh. “Right.”
He didn’t push it, but he thought it was pretty clear that jealous and envy drove Matilda’s dislike of Sierra. That she was closer with Dar, that she was wealthier, maybe even that she was prettier, but Evan doubted Matilda was that shallow.
“I consider you like one of us,” he said, “even if you don’t have magic in your blood.”
“Thanks,” Sierra said quietly as they approached the manor. Neither of them mentioned Evan’s idiotic episode two and a half years ago when he accused of Sashe giving up on the Avialies because she wasn’t in danger. He’d regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, and since then he’d made sure they knew he thought otherwise.
Evan held up his hand. “Wait, this should cheer you up.” He closed his eyes and concentrated on changing into Matilda. Lengthening his hair, becoming shorter, curvier. He loved this feeling and he wished Sierra could feel it just once. When they were younger, she used to lament to him how strongly she wanted to be a shape changer.
He cleared his throat and flicked red locks off of his shoulder. “Oh, Dar!” His voice came out normal because he’d forgotten to change his vocal chords. He did that all the time.
Sierra giggled behind her hand, and he quickly adjusted his voice.
“Oh, Dar!” he said in Matilda’s voice. “I’m pretending I don’t like you even though I never stop staring at you.” He batted his eyelashes at the thin air and twirled around.
“If only she was like that.” Sierra gasped, a sly smile coming onto her face. “Do Lionel!”
Evan changed again, back into a more natural form but with Lionel’s unfortunate face. He straightened into a stiff position. “Oh, Sierra, if I find you and Evan in Kale Saven’s orchard again, I just might have to tell your father.”
Sierra clapped her hands in delight and laughed.
Evan grinned. He loved making her laugh. Seth was usually the more charming one of their group, but he could always make Sierra laugh.
Sierra shook her head. “You don’t look Lionel when you smile like that.”
He put on a blank expression. “I’m so sorry, Sierra. Does this suit your tastes?” He really wanted to talk with Matilda and Dar about Tisha and Niculai, but he couldn’t deny a little bit more time with Sierra. He motioned to the manor. “Perhaps we could go inside and play games without the bad-tempered redhead in the barn.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Without Protector-talk?”
“What are these Protectors you speak of?”
“Perfect!”
He opened the backdoor for her. “After you, my lady. I hope you are ready to lose once again.”
Sierra laughed. “You captured Lionel’s arrogance perfectly.”
He winked at her. “That wasn’t coming from Lionel.”
“I know.”
***
The next day, Sierra and Dar had lessons with their tutor. Dar showed up to their study first, and Sierra came in yawning. He grinned. “Up late last night with Evan?”
She sat down next to him, shooting him a cold look. “We just played some games in the sitting room since I didn’t feel like talking about the Protectors. Did you have fun with Matilda?”
Dar’s face warmed. He and Matilda talked for a long time about how to figure out what Tisha and Niculai wanted. She left after telling him that if anything happened to him, she’d kill a couple Protectors for him. “I guess we had fun.”
They waited for a half hour after when their tutor was supposed to show up. Sierra groaned. “Honestly, we’re sixteen. We don’t even need a tutor anymore.”
“I’m going to go find him.” Dar stood and left. Their tutor was an older man named Riann. He’d tutored Dar’s father. He told them story after story about Rahuda and the families that had lived here over the years. He was one of the only normal people who knew about magic folk, hadn’t written them off like they were an old legend. It wasn't like Riann to be this late.
Downstairs, Dar went to his father’s study and knocked. A moment passed before his father’s voice called him in.
Inside, Dar’s father sat with Riann and two other men. Dar had only seen Tisha once before from visiting Renaul, but he remembered his jet black hair, pale skin, and cold face. The other man had dark blond hair and he stood when Dar stopped in the doorway.
“Is this your son, Alastor?” the blond man asked.
Father stood. “Yes, this is Dar. Dar, this is Niculai and Tisha. They’re men from Renaul.”
Dar inclined his head, keeping his face straight though his heart was pounding. What were they doing in their house? What did they want? The last time these men had been to Rahuda, they’d asked an Avialie for his help and when he refused, they killed his daughter, Allison. Dar still remembered her bloody body in his father’s arms.
“How old are you, Dar?” Niculai asked.
“Sixteen.” For a moment, he considered asking how old Niculai was, but he didn't have Evan’s cheek. “Sierra and I were just wondering where Riann was.”
Riann cleared his throat and gave Dar a lopsided smile. “I'm afraid you’ve become too old for a tutor, Dar. I think you and Sierra will get along fine without me.” He shrugged a bony shoulder.
Dar frowned as Tisha and Niculai exchanged pleased looks.
“You'll have a new tutor, Dar,” Father said. “We'll need to start training you to be the governor to take my place.”
Dar looked at his father, gritting his teeth. What was he trying to say? That that would be sooner than they thought? �
�It'll be years before I take your place.”
“God willing,” Father said.
Dar shot a glare at Tisha and Niculai. “I'll go tell Sierra Riann won't be coming back.”
“Why don't you bring Sierra down here?” Tisha asked. “I've heard so much about her, I'd like to meet her.”
Dar looked at Father, who nodded and waved him towards the corridor. Dar jogged upstairs.
Sierra sat in their classroom, looking at maps of Haltar. “Did you find him?”
“He’s downstairs with Father, Tisha, and Niculai.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes widening. “What do they want?”
“I don’t know, but Riann isn’t going to be teaching us anymore.”
She shook her head. “Those bastards.”
“They want to meet you.”
“What? Why?” Her voice quivered.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but come on.”
“No. No, I’m not going down there. They killed Allison!”
Dar hesitated, glancing back at the door. “But. . .”
Her eyes shone with tears. “I don’t want to meet them, Dar. What if they threaten Alastor? What if. . .”
Dar wished Sashe were here. Sierra hardly ever cried since they’d become teenagers, and when she did, it was at traumatic times like Allison’s death or the time they saw Adrian’s wife die. And most of that had taken place almost three years ago. He swallowed and walked up to her chair as she shook her head frantically. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Sierra, we’re in our own house. They’re outnumbered if they try anything, all right?”
“I hope you won’t be counting on me,” Sierra said, narrowing her eyes.
“You have your dagger, right?”
She shook her head again.
“We can get it on the way. Come on. It’ll be okay.”
She took a deep breath and stood up. They stopped at the weapons room on the way, and she strapped a dagger sheath around her ankle. Dar really hoped she wouldn’t need it.
He couldn’t understand such hate and bigotry from the Protectors. He’d never felt that towards anyone or anything. Of course he hated the Protectors, but that was because of what they’d done first. He tried to imagine growing up in a different family. If he saw magic when he was older instead of growing up with it as a part of him, how would he react? He hoped in a different way than the Protectors.
They reached the study, and Sierra smoothed down her hair. Dar knocked and opened the door.
“Ah, here she is,” Father said. “Niculai, Tisha, this is my adopted daughter Sierra.”
Niculai and Tisha stood, both of them taking Sierra’s hand and kissing it. She looked slightly ill.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Sierra,” Tisha said. “It’s not often we meet someone like you, living with the Avialies freely.”
Sierra folded her hands behind her, her chin high. “My sister and I were very blessed to have been adopted by Alastor and Natalia.”
“Your sister, she’s married now, isn’t she?” Niculai asked. Dar was surprised he didn’t mention that she was married to an Avialie, of all people.
“Yes.”
“Perhaps we’ll have the good fortune to meet her, too,” Niculai said.
Sierra nodded stiffly and looked at Riann. “Dar tells me you’re not going to tutor us anymore.”
“No, my dear, I’m not.” Riann took Sierra’s hand. “We all believe you’re old enough to go on without me.”
It sounded like such a weak excuse, especially since he tutored Sashe until she was eighteen. “We’ll miss your stories, Riann,” Dar said.
“I’ll miss you two, of course,” Riann said. He stood up and nodded to the other men. “If that’s all, I’ll be leaving now.”
Father shook Riann’s hand. “Thank you, Riann. We’ll be in touch about payment.”
“It was a pleasure tutoring your children.” Riann hugged Dar and kissed Sierra’s hand. Dar frowned as his old tutor limped out of the study. He wondered what the Protectors said to him. Did they threaten him? Bribe him? He shook his head and shut the door behind Riann. Another person gone from their life because of the Protectors.
***
“Children, please sit,” Tisha said, motioning to the open chairs.
Reluctantly, Sierra sat down next to Tisha, and Dar took the seat closest to the door. Tisha leaned towards them. “Now, Sierra, it’s our job to look after normal folk. I’m afraid you may have gotten the wrong impression about Protectors, but we’re not violent people. We just want to be sure no one is being exploited by magic or magic folk.”
With pursed lips, Sierra nodded. She had to fight to stay quiet with every word. They weren’t violent people, but they’d kill Allison because her father wouldn’t help them? They would curse an entire bloodline? They only cared about exploitation, but they exploited strong magic folk for their own means?
“We don’t want you to feel unsafe,” Tisha continued. “I’m not sure what Alastor has told you, but you are free to leave the Avialies whenever you want. No one will hold it against you. In fact, people may be more open to you because you left them behind.”
Sierra let out a breath before responding. “Alastor and Natalia have already given me opportunities to leave. They know this life is dangerous because of what you and your men have done. But this is my family, and I’m not leaving.”
Tisha’s face darkened, and he leaned back in his chair.
Niculai chuckled. “Sierra, this life is dangerous not because of us, but because of the kinds of creatures you live and associate with.”
“This life was safe until three years ago when you cursed them. It was safe until you started hunting them out.”
“Sierra,” Alastor said in a low voice.
“How can you entertain them in your own house?” Sierra stood up. “I’m not even an Avialie, and I have more respect for the people that they killed than you do.”
Alastor stood, narrowing his eyes at her. “This does not need to be a hostile meeting.”
“They killed Allison!” Sierra’s voice broke, and she struggled to keep her tears back.
“Alastor,” Tisha said, “what have you been telling your children? What happened with Lyle’s daughter was a terrible accident and—”
Sierra turned on him. “I was there when you threatened them. I was there when Lyle promised to kill you and I’m sorry he hasn’t yet.” She moved to the door, eager to leave before she said anything else. She wanted to find Evan, even if she knew how he’d react.
“Sierra!” Alastor called.
“Let her leave,” Tisha said.
Sierra looked over her shoulder, glaring at Tisha and Niculai. Tisha returned her cold look; Niculai actually looked amused. At his smirk, she nearly burst out again, but she didn’t want to make things even worse for Alastor. She left the study and slammed the door behind her.
She ran to the stables and saddled her horse. She wanted to be far, far away from these men and their lies. She rode to Lina and Damon’s cherry orchard and ran between the trees. She thought about calling his name, but she didn’t want Seth or Damon or other workers to hear her. She found him on a ladder by a tree. A belt around his waist was weighed down by large sacks full of cherries as he picked them off the trees.
She watched him work as she approached him. His face was shaded, but she could see a bit of cherry juice on his cheek. He was one of her best friends. If she could only choose one Avialie she was staying for, it was him. Two years ago, it might have been Dar, but she and Evan had grown ever closer. Even with his romantic feelings for her between them now, their relationship was one of the most important to her.
He popped a cherry in his mouth and tossed the stem on the ground. A moment later, he spit the pit out, and she had to sidestep to avoid it. He saw her and grinned. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
She smiled. “I’ve been standing here for ages.”
“Well, it’s about time to unload these.”
Evan stepped down the ladder carefully. The sacks on both sides of him were full nearly to the brim with cherries.
Once his feet touched the ground, she closed the distance between them and hugged him. His arms wrapped around her without hesitation. She closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of sweat, dirt, and cherries. He rubbed her back, and she felt his breath on her neck.
“Tisha and Niculai were at our house.”
Evan’s body tensed, and he pulled away. “What? Why?”
“They said something to Riann, and he’s not going to tutor us anymore.” Sierra took a cherry out of one of his sacks stepped away. “They tried to talk me into leaving the Avialies behind.”
Evan’s jaw tightened. “How dare they.”
She put the cherry in her mouth and closed her eyes as the juice burst into her mouth. Cherries would always remind her of home, of Evan.
“What did you tell them?”
She opened her eyes and studied his face. The face she’d known since she was four years old and he was five. She didn’t remember the first time they met; it felt like he’d always been in her life. “I told them this was my home.”
CHAPTER FIVE: VICTORY DAY
Sierra sat through a long lecture from both Alastor and Natalia in the study. She couldn’t endanger herself; she needed to be careful; they were trying to appease the Protectors without helping them.
“If you were helping them, I would leave,” Sierra said in a low voice.
Alastor glared at her. “If you honestly think we could help them, then you don’t know us at all.”
She studied him, then looked at Natalia. “You let them in your house. You let them send Rainn away. Did they threaten him like they did Lyle?”
“I’m doing what I have to to keep us safe.” Alastor’s voice rose. “That doesn’t mean I’m helping them persecute Avialies. I petition the king every time I’m in Renaul. I send men—I don’t need to explain myself to you, Sierra. You cannot speak to them that way. You’ll get us all in trouble.”
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