Page 41 of City of Promise and Light (Mates of Gods and Fae #1)
“Thank you for your patience.” Ezra’s voice rang out, grabbing everyone’s attention, including the villagers.
“Tie off your horses and start searching the area. The villagers have been told to help in any way possible and, as always, remember to be respectful. You know my rules on how to treat those in the outer villages.”
The soldiers bowed before tying their horses to a nearby fence and splitting off into groups to search the village. Ezra kept an eye on them for a long moment before focusing on me. “You’ll come with me while I search further in the village.”
I nodded, taking a step toward him when Arianna grabbed my arm tightly, pulling me to her.
“Actually, she will be coming with me,” she said coolly.
“Apparently,” she paused, looking me up and down, “we have some issues to resolve.” She gave me a tight smile, then looked at Ezra, blinking innocently.
Ezra grimaced. “Fine, but I will be joining you. I refuse to leave her alone with you after the last time.”
Arianna shrugged and walked to the nearest building, her hips swaying as she went. Exhaling, Ezra followed her. I groaned, tilting my head back to look at the cloudless blue sky. This was going to be fun.
Forty minutes passed while we searched homes and alleyways without anyone finding a trace of rebels being in the area. Ezra leaned against a nearby tree, impatiently tapping against the hilt of the sword that hung at his waist.
“I think it’s safe to say that there’s nothing suspicious here,” he growled to no one in particular, but I had a feeling he meant for Arianna to hear. His eyes narrowed on her while she shuffled through empty pots that lay broken in front of a building that had been boarded up.
“I know we are supposed to be looking for rebels, but what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?” I whispered to Ezra.
The search had felt aimless with Arianna rummaging through a few of the homes in our section of the town.
Each home seemed to be chosen randomly. At some, she just opened the door, only to turn back around and choose an entirely different house.
Ezra just eyed the villagers that passed us, never speaking to them.
Arianna scoffed, overhearing my question, leveling me with an icy glare until movement caught our attention.
A younger faerie with dark ebony skin and eyes that looked like bright gold was eyeing us, pulling two children along behind him.
Arianna’s glare flickered with delight, her lips curling into a sharp smile that sent chills down my arms.
Arianna yelled at the man to stop as she marched to him.
He froze, the muscles in his arms flexing, his wide eyes glancing around looking—hoping—for someone to help.
But when she drew near, he snapped out of his panic, pushing the children behind him.
They looked like twins, with the same golden-brown hair and honey-colored eyes as Silas.
They held onto his legs, trembling under Arianna’s cold gaze.
“This is exactly the type of thing we are looking for,” Arianna said to me, circling the man, eyeing him hungrily. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” she said to him with an unsettling interest.
The man straightened his back, steeling himself. “I came here a few months ago with my siblings from the mountains. Our parents died and we couldn’t stay, so we moved here,” he said, his voice slightly trembling.
“And these are your siblings?” Arianna said, studying the children.
The man hesitated, his gaze flicking to Ezra and me. “No, my siblings are at home. These are Silas’s grandchildren.”
“Right. And what made you come here, of all places? Certainly, there are other villages closer to the mountains than this one, yes?”
The man hesitated, like he didn’t know how to answer without further condemning himself and before I knew it, I said, “I know I’m new here so correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s not a law that says he must go to one of those villages, right? He is free to move wherever?”
The man’s gaze cut to me, gratitude flickering in his eyes.
“No, there isn’t a law,” Arianna hissed. “But these rebel scum like to travel between villages to convince people to join their cause.”
“Right,” I interrupted, keeping my face as calm as I could. “But we haven’t found any rebels, and he is here because his parents died. Shouldn’t we give him some slack?”
Whirling, Arianna marched toward me, the fierce expression in her eyes had Ezra carefully monitoring me with a hand on the hilt of his sword.
I steeled myself, holding my breath even as she loomed over me with fire in her eyes.
“You don’t get to dictate that, girl,” she said, her voice was low, edged.
I didn’t give up my ground, meeting her glare with one of my own. “He isn’t here to harm anyone or start some rebellion. He is trying to take care of his family.”
“You are nothing but a child who knows nothing of this world. You do not know how they operate—how they think.”
A beat of silence followed, and Arianna turned her back on me, marching over to the man, but her words echoed in my mind.
I recognized that rhetoric, that hate, that line between us and them.
“You’re wrong. What you’re doing is wrong.
He hasn’t done anything to warrant this type of treatment.
” It started off with a whisper, my voice barely audible, but it grew louder and stronger with every word.
Arianna turned to me, snarling. She took a step, just one, before shadows whirled around her and then she was in front of me. So close that I could feel her breath on my face. A powerful hand gripped my shoulder, pulling me back as Ezra stepped between us, his eyes narrowed on Arianna .
“You need to calm down,” Ezra demanded, his voice tight. “Sybil is right, the boy was just getting the children out of the way so the soldiers could search the area, like we told them to do. You cannot fault him for listening to our orders.”
“Look at that boy and tell me he doesn’t look suspicious, Ezra,” Arianna insisted, the veins around her eyes starting to glow crimson. “He doesn’t belong to this village.”
“He told you why he’s here,” I argued, unable to keep quiet at her words and lack of empathy.
I knew she was a part of the aristocracy, but her lack of understanding and her blatant disregard of the people outside her circle made my blood boil.
My gaze cut to the man and the children, who stood frozen, watching us with careful calculation.
“Go, take the children and get somewhere safe.”
Giving me a quick thanks, he turned, pushing them toward the villagers that had started gathering around us. Silent agitation rippled through the crowd, the tension stretched so much it was on the brink of snapping.
Arianna growled and started toward the family.
I followed, not really knowing how I was going to stop her but that I needed to before she could reach them.
Ezra grabbed my arm to keep me from going further, but I jerked my arm out of his hand to run in front of Arianna, blocking her from the villagers.
“Let them go, Arianna,” I warned, my voice trembling slightly. “They haven’t done anything wrong. You said earlier that it's not a crime for them to come here. He is allowed to be here.”
“Get out of my way,” she seethed, the crimson glow now snaking down her neck. My own magic was beginning to hum inside of me. “You are getting in the way of an investigation. I command you to step aside.”
“I’m not part of your army, and I don’t take orders from you,” I reminded her. My knees felt unsteady. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing. “There is no investigation here, just you creating a problem out of nothing.”
“If you don’t get out of my way,” Arianna said severely, sliding her sword from its sheath, “then I will cut you down.”
I swallowed, the scrape of her sword against its sheath sending an icy chill down my spine. I fought against a tremor, begging my heart—my magic—to calm its frantic beating.
Ezra cursed, moving between us again, his body strained and restless, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword.
“You both need to calm down,” he ground out.
“The kid didn’t do anything wrong by coming here.
He is trying to protect his family. We aren’t here to interrogate anyone.
We are here to see if there were any signs of rebel activity.
There is none, so put your sword away and return to the palace. ”
“No signs of rebel activity?” Arianna scoffed. “ He is a sign of rebel activity and you’re letting him walk away.”
“You don’t understand what life is like in the mountains. Life is hard and unforgiving. He is doing his family a favor by bringing them here. Cut him some slack.”
“If we gave everyone with a sob story some slack, we would be overrun by rebels,” Arianna snarled, her eyes narrowing on Ezra. “Stand aside, or else.”
Movement caught my eye, and I glanced around us. A thick silence blanketed over the villagers. Though it was subtle, they had surrounded us, ready to defend their town from Arianna and the soldiers. Even from me, I realized, the thought making me sick.
Sensing the growing agitation in the air, Ezra swore and shifted in front of me to guard and protect.
“I didn’t bring any weapons for you,” he said, handing me a small dagger.
His voice was steady but edged. His eyes were unreadable as he watched Arianna, tracking the veins glowing as they slithering down her arms. “Try not to hurt yourself with it and don’t be afraid to use it if you need to, even if it’s against Arianna. We need to?—”
A pebble rolled away from a tree close by, our heads snapping at the sound, where a small child trembling behind it.
I wasn’t sure how she got there—or when—but Ezra’s sharp inhale told me everything I needed to know.
Arianna saw her, and when a serpentine smile curled up her face, fear, cold and swift, shot through me.