Logan straightened his posture, and his emerald eyes flashed. “Now wait one minute!”
“Stay out of it!” Brint and Tabby shouted in unison.
Tabitha’s breathing was rapid and shallow, and she was squeezing Logan’s hand so tightly she was impressed he hadn’t yet complained. “Now, you listen to me, Brint. I am not a child. You have no say over what I choose to do or not to do. I listen to you because usually you make sense, but right now you're behaving like an overprotective fool.”
“Overprotective? You were out here kissing!”
“Yes! Kissing, not…not… anything else,” she said with a blush. “Kissing. It’s not a crime, you know.”
Brint turned his attention to Logan. “And you! She’s my sister. As a gentleman, you should have a care for her, at least enough to think of her reputation.”
“Her reputation? Her reputation with whom? It is just us out here, and surely you know your sister well enough not to doubt her. Or do you hold her in such low esteem that you automatically assume the worst of her?”
Tabitha saw her brother wince, and she cheered internally—a direct hit!
Logan saw his advantage and pressed on. “Maybe if you did a little more kissing of your own you would not be so interested in other people’s comings and goings.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Logan snapped at him.
“Don’t be dense,” Logan continued. “Holly. You know you care for her. Tell her, for Rah’s sake. I cannot stand to watch you anymore. All you do is moon after her like a lovesick moose.”
“What?” Brint said, but with no force behind the word.
“What?” Tabby said, but her surprise was more believable.
And then, from the door of the cottage, came Holly’s voice. “What?”
Brint whirled around to see her standing there with the glow of firelight behind her, and the first rays of morning sun as they sifted through the trees illuminating the confused look on her face.
Chapter 18
“You must eat! I have even brought you meat, and you know how I despise doing that. The least you could do is try something…anything.” Siusan pushed a large platter of fish toward Brin, but he only turned his head away and grimaced.
“That’s not meat, it’s fish, and you couldn’t even refrain from throwing some weeds in along with it,” he complained.
“They are not weeds, they are carrots, and you know it. They are good for you.”
Brin turned his head to the fish and took a cautious sniff. “I’m not hungry.”
“Fine.”
“Fine?” What does that mean?”
“Just what I said—fine. If you choose not to eat, I obviously can’t force you.”
Brin hissed sharply when she used the word can’t. “Siusan! Be careful!”
She looked over her shoulder, but they were alone. The other patients had been returned to their homes, and Brin was once again the only one being cared for in the place. Still, the healers liked to pop in to check on him every now and again. Some were allies, but not many, not yet. Brin was right; she needed to be cautious.
Brin expelled a large breath of air after assuring himself they'd not been overheard. “You're going to give me a heart attack.”
“I am sorry, Brin,” she whispered. "Now that I have started to relax all those years of precision speech, it is so easy to slip when I do not mean to.”
“Keep it up and you'll find yourself slipping, all right, and Trina will be right there to catch you when you fall.”
“You do not really believe there will be any kind of serious trouble, do you? The worst she has done so far is house arrest, and that is only for those who have vocally opposed her, and a handful of Etrafarians who may have some mixed blood in their backgrounds. Maybe…maybe Aesri was wrong. Maybe I was wrong.”
“You’re kidding yourself, Siusan. The only reason it isn’t worse is because Aesri managed to get the ones who would've been in real trouble off the island. Had she not acted as quickly as she did…” Brin shivered.
Siusan got up and began to gather her things. She left the platter of fish where it lay, but put her satchel over her shoulder and slipped her feet back into her shoes.
“Do you have somewhere you have to be? When are you coming back?” Brin asked her.
“Nothing special. And I will be back tomorrow, or perhaps the next day.”
“Tomorrow!” Brin tried to rise, but didn’t get far before he sagged once more to the ground. “What do you mean, tomorrow?”
She almost relented when she saw him struggle, but he was so stubborn, and she had to remain firm.
“I think tomorrow is a fairly adequate description, Brin. The next day after the night comes. We call that tomorrow. I will be here then, or perhaps the next day, as I said.”
“But…but why? You've been with me since my injury, why leave now? Have I…have I done something to upset you?”
“Yes. Yes, you have. I am not a healer. You do not need me here. If my presence has brought you comfort and helped you to heal, I was glad to be here, but what you need most is rest and food. When I am here, you are not resting. You said yourself that you found my prattle to be the very opposite of restful. As far as food, no matter what I bring, you will not eat. Therefore, my presence here is of little use.”
Brin narrowed his gaze. “You're trying to manipulate me again. You’re always trying to manipulate me.”
Siusan did not bat an eye, nor did she respond to his accusation. First of all, he was right—that was precisely what she was trying to do. Secondly, if she spoke, she was afraid the tremor in her voice would betray her feelings. The last thing she wanted to do was leave him. He was better. Every day was better than the one before, but he was not well. He was not likely to be well for a long time yet, and she worried for him. Also, and this last part was hard to admit, even to herself, she had come to discover that her whole world now revolved around him. It was physically uncomfortable to be away from him, and that knowledge was disturbing. He was a dragon; she was an Etrafarian. The notion that she was in love with him was absurd, and yet, there it was. There was absolutely no future in it. The thought that one day he would return to Maj absolutely terrified her, but what was there to do about it?
Brin had continued to study her, but she held quiet. Finally, she shrugged having decided to ignore him altogether, and she turned to walk away.
“Siusan! Siusan! I will not be bullied into eating. I will eat when I am hungry. Don’t go!”
She did not even slow her step.
***
Siusan woke from an unrestful sleep. She reclined on her bed and watched the dust motes as they swirled in the morning light shining through her open window. “Don’t Go.” Those two words played themselves over and over in her mind.
But she had gone. She had not returned the next day, either. She asked the healers who attended him if he had eaten. He had not, stupid, stubborn, arrogant dragon that he was. Well, two could play at that game. If he would not eat, neither would she! A small part of her argued that this was pointless, and would serve no useful purpose, but the other part, her own stubborn part, did not care about the logic of it.
Siusan rose, straightened the blanket on her bed, gave her pillow a quick fluff, and reached into her closet for something to wear, grabbing the first garment her fingers touched.
There was a knock at her door, a quick, light, tapping noise. Hardly before she had a chance to open the door more than a crack, it was being pushed open, and then closed just as quickly. Aodh was panting, his coloring even paler than usual, his eyes open wide.
“Aodh! What in Rah’s name?”
Aodh took her hands. “Rah is with us,” he said.
Siusan was not too surprised. With the way he stood by Aesri, it made sense he would be sympathetic to their cause.
“Yes, He’s with us,” she answered.
Aodh nodded, and began closing the windows against anyone who might be walking by to overhea
r their conversation.
“She has done it! Trina has begun to imprison people she suspects are not in support of the council.”
“I do not believe it! People would not allow it. They would stop the council before it got that far.”
“Most do not know of it yet. Did you, before I came here? The ones that do know—family, neighbors, friends—are in shock. That, or they are worried they will be found guilty by association and end up in the same condition. They cannot help their loved ones if they are locked away. That is not to say no one has acted. Some spouses and parents put up a fuss, and they are now guests of Trina as well, though they are kept in a separate location.”
“How many have been imprisoned?”
“Maybe twenty, I think. I have not taken the time to count.”
“But how? There would be nowhere to put them all.”
Aodh sat down and rubbed the sides of his head with his fingers, as if trying to massage away a headache. “We think that is why she did not act sooner. They needed time to construct a place to keep the dissidents, but they have that now. They even built it from pieces of the Great Tree, as if using it would sanctify their actions.”
“Where are they keeping them?” Siusan asked as she grabbed a shawl from the stand near the door. The weather on Etrafa did not vary much throughout the year, but autumn had brought a cooler breeze, and she did not know how long she would be out.
“You are not going there! They already watch you. Do you want to call more attention to yourself?”
“I must. We cannot let our fear rule us. I will not abandon our people to Trina’s imagined threat. I still hope she will be brought around. When this is all over, I want to be able to look my brothers and sisters in the eye. Now, where are they?”
“In the honey field, but I beg you not to go. At least wait a little while, a day, maybe two.”
She embraced him quickly. “Do not worry, Aodh, I will be cautious.”
The honey field was exactly what it sounded like: a large field where no trees grew, filled with flowers except for in the deepest part of winter, when the plants went into a sleepy dormancy before bursting back into bloom, come spring. It was, of course, a favorite spot for the bees and butterflies. It was so near to where she had spent her days with Brin that she was surprised, and a little guilty, at the fact she had not noticed the sounds of construction that must have been present for the last couple of weeks.
She skirted the area where Brin was, not trusting herself to stay away if she saw him. She was determined to outlast his stubborn pride. Besides, she had other business to attend to at the moment.
Once she had reached the field, all hope there had been a mistake was erased. The building had indeed been constructed from remnants of the Great Tree, and lest anyone forget that fact, carvings of their sacred tree symbol had been placed frequently around the building. It was sick that the symbol should be used in such a place, but it also made a fair amount of sense. Confining an Etrafarian who did not wish to be confined was no easy task, but none of them would dare raise a hand there. It went against their very nature to even think of desecrating the Great Tree in such a way, even if it were only pieces of it.
There were guards stationed all around the building, but they made no move to stop her as she approached. There were, at least, many large windows around the building, but set within them were rungs of wood, also made from the Great Tree, that acted as bars to prevent anyone from slipping free.
Siusan walked directly to the largest of the windows and scanned the group for any faces she might recognize. She knew everyone, of course, but she did not identify anyone as being part of their inner circle.
“Good morning, my brothers and sisters. I have just learned that you were brought here, and I came to see if there was anything I could do for you, or get for you to make you more comfortable.”
There were a few nervous glances, but then one of the voices spoke up. “Can you tell my mother I am well? She wanted to come with me, but for now, Trina has seen fit to focus on the cine measctha themselves, and has not yet cast her net wider than that."
Siusan shook her head. “I do not understand, Nona. You are not cine measctha. None of you are.”
Nona laughed a mirthless laugh. “Siusan, do you not see anything when you look at us? Do you not recognize the connection we share?”
Siusan looked around at them. There were eighteen faces in all, some old, some relatively young, the youngest being around thirty, and both male and female. “No, I see nothing that would explain why you are here.”
“I suppose, you would not be old enough to know this, but all of our mothers were among those who worked the horse stations in Bandar. We were all born a little too soon after their return from that assignment. I guess the notion that husbands would be eager to reunite with their wives, and that children would be the natural consequence of that, is too much of a leap for Trina. Also, some of us fall on the taller end of the spectrum, while others have hair a shade too dark. It is enough for Trina to detain us during her investigation.”
“That is insane!” Siusan yelled, and she drew the attention of two of the guards. She knew them both well. One of them was young, just into his adulthood, and probably easy for Trina to sway, especially as she had tasked him with such an important job. The other was an older female, from a good family. She was watching carefully as well, but Siusan thought she might have detected a sympathetic look from the woman.
Nona reached a hand through the window and Siusan grasped it.
“Siusan,” she said in a soothing voice, “I appreciate you coming here. We all do, but there is nothing for you here but trouble. Tell our families we are well. We would appreciate that, but then, stay away.”
She did not know what else to say. “Rah is with us.” She uttered the words in a kind of hopeless desperation, but from the back of the group, she saw one old man lift his head and nod rapidly. Did that mean what she thought? Was he one of them and he was unable to respond, as there were too many witnesses.
She met his eyes. “Rah is with us,” she said again.
Nona thanked her for her kindness, but the old man smiled a slow, secret smile, and winked at her.
Chapter 19
One minute Siusan was leaning over the table where she and Aodh had been poring over one of the sacred scrolls, and the next she was on her back, blinking rapidly, and looking up at Aodh’s terrified eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
Was she? She must have fainted. She sat up slowly, cautiously, mindful of any dizziness that might come with her change in position. “I…I believe so. Do you think I could have some water?”
He hurried to get a cup and filled it from the rain barrel outside her door before rushing back to her side. In his haste, he spilled almost half the water, but there was enough left, and she took a few sips.
“Thank you. That is better.”
Aodh took her elbow and assisted her to her feet. He pulled the chair over and urged her to sit. “You are working too hard. When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep, or a decent meal?”
“I sleep,” she said, trying to sidestep the second half of his question. It had now been nine full days since she had last seen Brin. The healers reported he had yet to take a morsel of food, and they were worried about him. She had stuck to her plan to fast for as long as he did, and it had evidently caught up with her.
“And the meal?” Aodh persisted.
“I…I have not been terribly hungry lately, but I will eat after we finish with our work for the day.”
“Then we are finished, and you will eat now. I try to mind my own business, Siusan, but I see the shadows under your eyes. I see the way your gown hangs on your frame.”
“I will eat, I promise. I have a reason for what I am doing. It is not that I have been too busy with other things, it is just—”
“Just what?”
Siusan sighed. Now that she had started talking, she could see
Aodh would hear it all, and she would be unable to put him off with false promises or lame excuses.
“It is Brin. He has not been eating. I tried to encourage him, but he is stubborn, and I thought—”
“You thought you could sway him by starving yourself? Does he even know you have stopped eating?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Admit it, Siusan, you have not stopped eating to convince the dragon, you have stopped eating because to see him suffer hurts you, and in some twisted part of your mind, you wish to suffer with him.”
She hung her head, allowing her hair to fall forward and hide her face from view.
Aodh tucked her hair behind her ears and tilted her chin up with his fingers. “Eat something. You will feel better.”
“I cannot. Not yet.”
He looked at her a long time. She thought he was going to argue with her, tell her again how foolish she was being, but when he spoke, he only said, “As you wish.”
“Try to get some rest, at least. We will begin again tomorrow. There must be something in the scrolls we can use. Take heart. Rah knew this day would come before the first of us were ever born from the Great Tree. He would not leave us without weapons.”
Siusan nodded. “I am sure you are right, and thank you Aodh.”
***
Brin saw Aodh approaching and tried to sit up straighter. He had not spoken to Aodh often, but the two of them had enough conversations for Brin to think well of him. He said what was on his mind, even when what he thought wasn’t popular. Still, he was not mean-spirited or cruel, and even when his words were unpleasant to hear, he delivered them with a measure of compassion. Aesri liked him, as well, even though the two of them frequently disagreed.”
“Brin’du Drak’Tir, you are looking better than the last time I saw you. I am sorry I have not been before, but I admit I have had much on my mind. Still, that is no excuse to neglect a friend in need, and I ask your forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness is unnecessary, Aodh,” Brin said. He wondered what could have brought the man to him now. Despite his words, Brin doubted very much he had been overcome by a sudden urge to visit the dragon's sickbed.
Prophecy (The Destiny Series Book 4) Page 15