"I don't blame you," Ariana said. She closed her mouth after the words escaped, and then realized she truly did mean them. She couldn't imagine the suffering Sheridan had endured and wondered if she would be as strong if the roles were reversed. "I wish I could say I’m sorry your mother is hurt...I am sorry for how you must feel though."
Sheridan continued inspecting Ariana's arms as she responded. "My mother will recover. It's you and Alec I'm worried about." She let out a ragged breath. "He shouldn't have attacked her. I don't know what she'll do when she's better."
Ariana turned face away, a few tears escaping as she felt the overwhelming finality of her role in Kellen's plan. "She'll kill me. And she'll make him watch."
"She won't kill you," Sheridan said though her words weren't meant to be comforting. She said them as if living were a worse fate than death. "She needs you. At least until the others are...gone."
Ariana felt no comfort at the light terms Sheridan used to paint a still grim picture. She squinted at the edge of the bed she sat on as if the blankets might somehow answer her questions. "I don't understand. If you guys don't want my people to have all the power, meaning me, why not just kill me? Why is she keeping me alive?"
Sheridan's eyes locked onto hers with intensity. "Because with your power on our side, we would be able to win this war once and for all. Then things will be better. The Duillaine have had their chance to make things better, and they haven't. They have the power to change things, but they won't. Now you have the power to change things. We need you."
Ariana could see she really believed that and wanted to press her, get her to see the light, but she knew this was her opening to get the information she needed. Kellen had been trying to weaken her, but the opposite had happened. Though the act had been incredibly painful, she felt the power within her unlock, and now she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt magic was there, waiting to be used. Now she just needed to figure out how.
"I don't have any power," Ariana said, using the guilty tears trying to spill as an effect to add to the confusion she hoped to convey. "I mean, I've seen what you guys can do. I've felt it," she added as an aside. "I can't do anything like that. I wouldn't even know where to start."
"It's not about where to start,” Sheridan explained as she applied the salve to Ariana's arms. “Your power is always there."
"What do you mean?" Ariana asked, trying her best to sound as if she had simply a casual interest in the subject.
"Well, there's this connection you feel to everything around you. The heat from the sun feels different, like there's this thread between you and the element, and you can pull on the thread, pulling some of the heat to you and using it." Sheridan started chewing on her bottom lip. "Does that make sense?"
"A little bit. I just wish I could feel what you’re talking about," Ariana added wistfully though she was starting to think she might be experiencing it now.
At first, it started off as a tingling sensation in her fingertips spreading up the arm resting at her side. There was a faint vibration dancing across her skin, just like she had felt when Kellen had called the power through her, but she couldn't be sure if the sensation was real or imagined.
Ignoring the questions in her mind, she forged ahead. "I feel like if I could, if I knew there really was this great power in me, then all this might be a little bit easier to deal with. I just can't help but think they're wrong about me. That it isn't me they want, but some other Ariana somewhere else."
"Oh no, you are definitely one of the Duillaine Ainnir,” Sheridan said with certainty. “You might not feel your power, but I felt it. When you helped me use my gift," she elaborated at the look of question on Ariana’s face. "You were focusing just as hard as I was, and it was like you let me borrow some of your power. Or maybe you can tap into the gift of seeing too since it's usually an elemental gift, and as Spirit you sort of represent a piece of them all," she speculated. "Either way, I felt you use your power when you helped me."
"I still don't understand, though," Ariana said, frustration mounting at unwittingly using the power she had been desperately seeking within herself pretty much since her arrival here. "So, what, you just close your eyes and will fire into your hand or something? No chants, no Latin words? No wands even?"
Sheridan frowned. "Why would we need all that? Besides, it’s much more complicated than repeating some words or waving a stick. You have to be careful how much of the element you call to you. Keeping Alec pinned against the wall was hard because it takes so much out of you. The link you have to the elements goes both ways. You use some of them, but they pull back on you too."
"Balance in all things," Ariana muttered, somewhat annoyed by the idea of there being boundaries to magic. She had been hoping to be able to open up the magical can of whoop-ass she now sensed within herself so she could break herself and Alec out of here. Knowing she had been able to tap into her power before and learning more about how to use her magic would definitely help in any escape plans.
Ariana was distracted from hatching any plans as Sheridan moved on to inspect Ariana's feet and winced as if the outlook wasn't good. "What? What is it?"
Sheridan tried to give her a look of reassurance as she brushed her hands off on the side of her dress. "It's fine...they're just...well, a lot of blood caked up on them. I need to get them clean before I can dress the wounds. I should probably let you go soak for a while before doing anything more, really."
"Go soak?" Ariana looked around the room expectantly. "Where?" She had found their indoor bathroom facilities to be less than modern with what she had heard referred to as chamber pots in place of toilets, adding to the idea she was trapped in some historic horror film.
"We have an outdoor bath behind the manor," Sheridan answered. "The pools lead to one of the main rivers of our world."
"Your world?" Ariana asked the question as innocently as she could, knowing she probably wouldn’t receive an answer to aid her in her plans. "Does this world have a name?"
"No. I can't tell you where we are."
Ariana scoffed and gestured to her feet. "Why? Does it really look like I'm going anywhere anytime soon?"
"I'm not worried about you," Sheridan explained. "I’m worried about your sister Isauria. She has the gift of seeing, like I do. Which means she could be watching and if I say where we are...."
Ariana nodded her understanding, tucking away that useful bit of information for possible use later. "My family will come storm the castle to get me out."
"Exactly. I really should get you to the bath so I can get back to my mother. I can get one of the guards to carry you." Sheridan started to walk toward the door, but Ariana stopped her with a frantic hand on her arm. "What? They aren't bad, I promise. I'll make them give you some privacy."
"Please, don't. After hearing what Kellen said about giving me to one of them...Just let Alec do it? I trust him. I'm not sure if I should, but I do."
"Alec is a good guy," Sheridan assured her. "He doesn't think he is, and he thinks he has some huge burden...Once we win the war, and he's free, he'll see." She turned back to the door, opening it and allowing Alec to come inside. "I'm going to take Ariana to the baths, but I need you to carry her."
He let out an annoyed sigh. "I could probably use one too, I guess. Or am I going to be dismissed there as well?"
Sheridan gave a genuine grin at his annoyance and pinched his cheek teasingly. "Oh, I think someone's feeling left out." She laughed at the sneer he gave her in return. "Come on. I'll tell the guards to hang back some so as to give you some privacy, Ariana."
"Thanks," Ariana said with warmth. Her face turned serious once Sheridan's back was turned. As Alec lifted her into his arms, she placed her mouth by his ear and whispered, "Pay attention to any escape routes you see down there. I have a plan."
***
"This isn't your place," Terrena argued fervently as they marched along the corridors leading to the main meeting hall.
"I don't care," Rhaya shot ba
ck as she pressed forward with determined purpose. "They should be keeping a better eye on her."
Terrena grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her away from the doors ahead of them. "She’s barely left her room, Rhaya. She refused to meet with the Duillaine, even. What trouble can she possibly cause from her bed?"
Rhaya jerked her arm away. She had hoped her sister would be on her side of this issue, but she had made every effort to stand in her way. "You don't know her, Terrena. She isn't just going to lay there forever. She's going to do something stupid, and we need to do something before it's too late."
"And what do you expect her to do? Sneak off in the dead of night into a world she knows nothing about armed with powers she can't use in the hopes she might find him when there was no trail left at all?"
Saying it like that, Rhaya felt like her worries might be unfounded. But she has sensed the anger in her. Zelene was the one who usually muttered about taking action. She shook her head as if to shake off the doubts Terrena was trying to plant in them. "What would you do if it had been Garrett?"
The words hit Terrena like ice and her eyes widened. "How did you—"
Rhaya held up a hand to halt her questions. "That doesn't matter right now. What matters is Zelene is lost and heartbroken, and we need to be there to stop her when she decides to take matters into her own hands."
Terrena's arguments were halted as another's arguing voice carried through the doors. Rhaya, looking as just as stunned as her sister at the sound of Arland's shouts, carefully crept to the doors and cracked them open. She knelt down low as she peered through the door and though Terrena admonished her for doing so, she soon felt Terrena's hair brush against the top of her forehead as she too leaned forward to see what the commotion was about.
"Stand down, Arland," Sylvanna shouted as she jumped to her feet.
"I will not," he shouted back, his face reddening from his place in front of the women he addressed. "My wife is dead. My daughter missing while another lies helplessly in her bed, her life slipping away as she does your bidding. And now Zelene!"
"Zelene is fine," Solanna said as she stood up and stepped toward her brother in law. "And we have tried to get Isauria to see reason, to come out of this state before she causes herself further harm. She does not stay on our orders, Arland."
"No," he spat back as he stepped away from her offered comfort, "she stays to do what you will not. She searches for Ariana."
Meridel rested her chin in her hand wearily as she responded. "It is as we have said before, Arland. We are doing everything in our power to find Ariana, but we cannot simply storm Cahira in the hopes of finding her. She would be dead before we reached her."
He laughed humorlessly at this. "Everything in your power? You have done nothing in your power for the past twenty years! The Duillaine have sat here upon these thrones for generations, content to do nothing while they wait on the Prophecy to unfold, and you are no different. It is your inaction that led to the death of my wife!"
"You cannot blame us for our sister's death, Arland," Meridel responded heatedly. "She left of her own accord. If she had remained in Anscombe, she would have been protected."
"She left to find our children," he bellowed, his hands forming claws in front of his face as if he could tear away the veil seeming to be hiding reason from them. "You all knew. You heard the same rumors we did. The Cahirans had found them and were plotting against them. She begged you to see reason, to aid her in rescuing them before it was too late."
Meridel sighed in frustration. "You know we could not act. Our actions must be thought through, Arland, or we risk losing everything. With the Prophecy—"
"I don’t give a damn about your prophecy! These are my daughters—"
"Enough," Sylvanna shouted, her commanding voice echoing throughout the halls. She lowered herself back into her seat as if she were composing her temper. "We will hear no more of this Arland. We have been tolerable as you are husband to Nandalia, and you are still grieving, but we will not stand for such accusations. What you say borders on treason, aligning you with the likes of the very people who murdered your wife. You forget your place and who you are speaking to."
"I am well aware of my place," he said, his voice dropping to a threatening level. "My place is between you and my children, as it should have been eighteen years ago when you took them from me. I will not make the same mistake again, Sylvanna."
Sylvanna narrowed her light green eyes. "You dare threaten me?"
"It is not a threat, Sylvanna. It is a promise," he accentuated the word as he jabbed his finger toward them. "I will not sit by idly while you leave the fate of my daughters to chance. You forget why I was married into this family. My family still holds great influence, and I will use that influence and any means necessary to get Ariana back. You have been warned."
Both Rhaya and Terrena gasped at the same time, knowing their uncle had gone too far even as the eldest Duillaine Banair called the guards forward.
"I believe Maistir Arland needs some time to cool his temper," Sylvanna said calmly as her attention shifted to the two sets of eyes peering through the cracked doors. "Close those doors! I will not tolerate spying, even from our own."
The doors snapped closed in front of their faces, just barely missing Rhaya's nose as she fumbled backwards. Terrena helped her up, and they both looked at the now closed off room with apprehension.
"What do you think they're going to do to him?" Rhaya asked.
Terrena shrugged, her own concerns evident on her face. "I’m not sure. Take him to his room and lock him in there until he calms down, I suppose. Do you understand now why I was trying to convince you not to march in there and make demands?"
Rhaya was unhappy about this, but she nodded. "He isn't wrong, you know."
Terrena said nothing, but the frown on her face made it clear she agreed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
"We have to," Alec pressed.
"We can't risk it, Alec," Ariana argued. She was tired of having the same conversation with him and over and over for the past week. The salve had worked its magic, and she had recovered nicely. Nicely enough that they would be able to act on their plan at last. Truthfully, they had to act soon, or they risked incurring Kellen's wrath once she was well enough to take her revenge. "I understand you want to help, and believe me—I wish we could. But we can't. If one thing goes wrong—"
"I know the risks," he snapped. "But I can't leave her here, We have to help her, Ariana. She needs to escape as much as we do, if not more. I would have expected you of all people to see to it she gets the aid she needs."
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, offended though she wasn’t quite clear as to why.
"That I expected more of the future Duillaine than this! You would leave her behind, even after all you have seen her go through? Are you really that selfish or just callous?" he challenged angrily.
"Alec," she snapped, growing impatient. "You don't get it. She isn't going to come with us willingly."
"Then we will force her. She will see reason eventually," he said, his mind made up.
"We can't do that," she hissed, trying not to raise her voice. "First of all, kidnapping her makes you no better than them seeing as how that is exactly what they did to me. Second, we have to keep a low profile once we're out of here. Dragging a prisoner along with us, one who is probably pretty famous around these parts no less, is going to raise more red flags than we can deal with."
He threw his hands up in the air in frustration, angry she had a point. "Then we will convince her." He rushed over to her, taking her hands into his own with urgency. "Please, Ariana. I will do anything you ask after this. I will be your willing slave. Just do this for me. I am begging you."
She dragged in a deep breath to suppress her groan. "Fine. I can’t do any of this without you. But here's the deal: You do not tell her our plan. Any of it. You feel her out and try to convince her to come with us. And then we act. Whether she agrees to com
e with us or not, we are out of this place within minutes of talking to her. Got it?"
He gave her an exaggerated bow. "As you wish, Ainnir Ariana."
"And don't call me that," she snapped.
He glanced up at her from under his dark lashes, still frozen in the bowing position. "It is a title you must get used to holding, Ariana. When we get to Anscombe this is how they will refer to you. This is how I must refer to you once we return."
She shivered, not wanting to think about what was ahead of them once they escaped from Kellen. "I don't think titles go very well with the whole incognito thing. Let's just get out of here first, okay?"
He nodded and straightened. "Fair enough. Do you think you are ready?"
Ariana gulped back her nervousness. She had been practicing the manipulation of Air ever since Sheridan had mistakenly instructed her on how, and she had proven to be pretty adept. She had even sent Alec crashing into the wall on accident yesterday. She knew she didn't have the time to master her power. What she could do now would have to be enough. She would make sure it was.
"Yes."
"Then we should go see Sheridan." He gestured for her to go ahead. "Do you have a plan to get us to her?" he said somewhat mockingly.
Ariana knew Alec didn't like her plan at all, but he hadn't come up with a better one since their last escape attempt. Truthfully, she felt part of him might be too terrified to act for fear of what Kellen would do to her if they failed. But they both realized they couldn’t sit back and wait for Kellen to recover.
Ariana opened the door and was face-to-face with the same two guards who had been watching over them when they had first tried to escape. She cursed to herself silently, but pressed forward with their plan. "I would like to take a bath. Alec said he needs to reapply the salve Sheridan gave me, but Sheridan made me bathe first last time." She bit her lip, knowing she had started rambling since she was nervous, but hoping they wouldn't interpret her nerves for what they were.
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