Fire and Light
Page 10
He stepped closer to Sierra and Evan and dropped his voice. Sierra had to lean closer to hear him over the music Vin and his friends were playing. “May the five of us speak for a moment? Alone?”
Sierra and Evan exchanged looks. “Sure,” Evan said with a smile.
They led him to their bedroom, their hands linked. Evan and Seth had built a four-poster canopy bed for the room. A matching wardrobe stood in the corner. Sierra grinned at Evan, squeezing his hand.
“Do you mind?” Jeshro asked, motioning to the door.
Evan shook his head. “No, of course not.”
Jeshro closed the door all the way, then wrung his hands together. Matilda’s mother took Sierra and Evan’s free hands, muttering under her breath. Sierra peered at her, her brow furrowed. “What’s going on?”
“You know that for years the ancient texts of the Avialies have been lost,” Jeshro said, rubbing his chin. “But we’ve passed down one piece of information about them for years now. My father, when he was about to die, told me that. . .” He trailed off and glanced at Matilda’s mother. She nodded once, then left the room promptly. Lisbeth locked the door and turned back to them.
Sierra stared at her. “What—”
“The tigers knew where the ancient texts are,” Jeshro and Lisbeth said in unison.
Sierra stared at him for a moment, then glanced at Evan, whose face was drawn and serious. “The tigers?” she repeated. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. We’ve been searching for them for centuries. That’s all we know. And Lisbeth and I choose Avialies to let into this secret. . .we chose you.” Jeshro put his hand on Evan’s shoulder. “I know you’re going to help us against the Protectors.” Jeshro glanced at Sierra, smiling. “Both of you.”
Sierra tightened her hold on Evan’s hand, unsure what to say in response.
His gaze remained steady on Jeshro. “We’ll do everything we can, Jeshro.”
He nodded. “Matilda’s mother was in here because this is paired magic. You will not be able to say the phrase, or variants of it, without both of you being present. It’s the same with Lisbeth and I.” He motioned to Lisbeth, who took his hand. “It will keep our family’s secrets safe.”
“What if. . .” Sierra swallowed. “What if Sierra’s mother dies?”
“Her magic will remain,” Jeshro said. “It’s very strong magic. Only a powerful Cosa can do it, and none have been able to undo it.”
“The magic depends on your relationship,” Lisbeth said. She dropped Jeshro’s hand and stepped forward. She put her hands on Sierra’s shoulders and kissed her on both cheeks. “This was a perfect day to tell you.”
“Who else knows?” Evan asked.
“We cannot tell you that,” Jeshro said. “To keep us safe. But not many. Will you protect this information with your lives?”
Sierra rubbed her forehead. “Our lives? I don’t understand. The ancient texts. . .aren’t they just storybooks? Legends?”
Jeshro shrugged. “I don’t think our ancestors would go to such great lengths to keep them safe if they were. I wish I knew for sure, wish I could hold them in my hands.” He looked down at his hands and the sunspots on the backs of them. He let out a sigh and looked back up at Sierra and Evan. “Will you protect the ancient texts?”
“Of course,” Evan said in a low voice.
Sierra nodded. She still didn’t understand the big fuss, but Jeshro knew more about the history of the Avialies and their ancient texts than she did. He and Lisbeth had trusted her and Evan with information they considered valuable, priceless. She would do her best to protect that.
Jeshro smiled. “We were both honored to be apart of this day.”
“Thank you for coming,” Sierra repeated what she’d told guests all day. It fell flat after the strange Cosa magic and news about the ancient texts.
Lisbeth smiled at her and stepped away. She and Jeshro left in silence, leaving the door open after them.
“What was that all about?” Sierra asked.
“I’m not sure,” Evan said quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist again. He stared after the elders as they rejoined their guests.
“Come on.” She tugged on his hand. “We need to get these people out of our house.”
Evan laughed as he followed her back into the mass of people. The guests didn’t leave until all the food was gone, until the sun had set, until everyone complained of tired feet from dancing. Natalia and Lisbeth cleaned up a little bit, but Sierra rushed them out, eager to be alone with Evan. They’d clean up later.
Evan came up from behind her and grabbed her around the waist. She let out a shriek as he picked her up. He carried Sierra into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He kissed both of her cheeks.
“A long day,” he said, picking up her hand and bringing her knuckles to his mouth.
She smiled. “A perfect day.”
He kissed her other hand, then leaned down so their foreheads were touching. Her smile faded as she hooked her arms around his neck. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you.” Then he kissed her until they were breathless.
SYNOPSIS OF SHIFTING LIGHT
Shifting Light is the first novella in the Protectors prequels. Fire and Light is certainly readable even if you haven’t read the first one, but this short synopsis is designed to help you catch up on everything that happened.
A group of nobleman called The Protectors do not want shape changers in the country. The Avialies, another word for the family of shape changers, travel to Renaul, the royal city, to lobby to the king for help against the Protectors. The Protectors take the assembly in Renaul as a threat and kill nearly two dozen shape changers. Sixteen-year-old Seth fights in the battle, killing four Protectors and saving the lives of two Avialies. His parents are killed, but he survives. The story begins when he moves to Shyra, a farming state in the country of Haltar.
In Shyra, Seth moves in with Evan and meets Sierra and Sashe. They are two girls who have grown up with Evan’s cousin, Dar. Dar’s father, Alastor is the Governor of Shyra, and he took Sierra and Sashe in ten years before the story when their parents died. The girls are not shape changers.
Seth and Sashe immediately have a connection and flirt with one another. Seth tells Sashe what happened to him in Renaul and the battle he fought in.
While Sashe and Sierra are visiting Allison, a shape changer friend of theirs, they overhear a conversation between Allison’s parents and two leaders of the Protectors. The Protectors threaten to hurt Allison if her parents don’t help, but they refuse. They confirm the rumors that the Protectors cast a curse on the Avialie family. Though women can get pregnant, no Avialie child will survive the pregnancy.
Allison and her mother are killed by the Protectors, and her father flees from Shyra. This leads Seth to ask Alastor if he can train Sierra and Sashe in combat training. Alastor agrees. After the third lesson, Sashe and Seth kiss and start a relationship.
Sashe and Seth see a pregnant Avialie woman die, along with her child. Allison’s father returns to Shyra after killing the men who killed his daughter and mother. Though Evan, Dar, and Seth want to help fight the Protectors, Alastor and Allison’s father say they’re too young. The novella ends as Seth swears to fight for his family while Sashe swears to keep him safe.
Fire and Light takes place two and half years later.
What’s next?
Chronologically, The End of Light is next in The Protectors prequels. It’s available now wherever ebooks are sold.
Read it today!
Two and a half years after the events of Fire and Light, an elder of the shape changers comes to Shyra with life-changing news. She's had a vision, and in it, Sashe and Sierra break the curse the Protectors set on their family — by becoming pregnant. Yet a pregnancy hasn’t been carried to full-term for eight years, and many women have died from the curse.
Sierra, Sashe, and their husbands must decide whether to trust the elders and risk their lives fo
r a chance at breaking the curse. And when a spy reveals the vision to the Protectors, the consequences could be catastrophic.
If you jump ahead to the first novel in The Protectors series, Promising Light, you will find out the events of The End of Light since Promising Light takes place two years later. So read at your own risk!
About the Author:
Emily Ann Ward is an author living in Salem, Oregon with her husband and their two cats. Along with writing, she loves to read and travel. She’s currently studying to teach English overseas. Her other works include Le Garde series, Finding Fiona, and The Protectors series.
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