Page 6 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Saoirseknewher mother was listening now. “Not anymore.” Zylah fell silent again. She shifted her body, then settled, still staring at Eimear and the younglings. “War is at our doorstep,” Saoirse said. “It could happen any day, and if reportsare to be believed, we’re not just going to be fighting Fae. I just—” Saoirse crossed her legs, leaning forward. “I just want to know you’re okay.”

“I’m a healer.”

“That didn’t stop you when we were in Ruadhán. I think your words to Arianna made it clear how much you want to fight.”

“So, if I agree to train with you, you’ll sleep tonight?”

“If you agree to train with me, I’ll sleep whenever I’m commanded.”

“Fine. But no lewd comments from you or I quit.”

“Deal.”

The pair fell silent as they continued watching the younglings play. If only the games could remain so simple.

Chapter Three

Arianna

Arianna stared at the desk and the stacks of papers waiting for her. She’d already visited the infirmary tent for an hour to heal any who needed it. Most were small wounds from training exercises. She always chastised the warriors to be more careful and they’d bow their heads in shame.

She settled into the chair and picked up the first pile. It was the simplest of the bunch, with handwritten requests from the village elders asking for approval of any changes they wanted to make. She honestly didn’t know why they needed her input at all.

The next stack was a series of reports that she rarely got to read. Rion usually filled her in. It was everything from attacks on nearby towns to the location of Dark Fae that’d been spotted roaming the roads at night. Then there were the reports of movements from any large forces that seemed like they could be problematic. Thankfully, all those groups were still too far to the north, likely just patrols. She hoped. The other reports regarding decimated villages concerned her more, but her father said it was outside their territory and there wasn’t much to be done.

Unseating the High Lord of Pádraigín would do a lot of good, but they had a long road to travel before then.

One report from two nights ago claimed Talon would return today, hopefully with news about her sister. If he came back empty-handed again, she wasn’t sure what their next move would be.

They’d been sedentary too long, stuck in a limbo of decisions.

Her father wanted her to convince the village elders to move to Móirín where they’d be safer and better able to defendthe masses. But Levea still had a crowd of refuges outside its border that would need to be brought inside if they hoped to fortify the area. Adding more mouths to feed would only serve to stress the already overpopulated community. She supposed they could scatter them between the various villages across their territory, but that would be unfair to those villages, and she couldn’t be in fifty places at once. Not to mention, splitting up friends and comrades didn’t seem like the best move when they might be on the brink of war.

Arianna sighed and rubbed her temples. Not to mention the fact that village elders didn’t want to move at all. She’d thought about leaving, just to make this place less of a target, but if she chose to move silently, as everyone would advise, then Niall would still think her here, which would defeat the entire purpose.

Arianna picked up another handwritten request. A group of nobles were asking for housing to be built on the far side of the village, outside the wall, then another wall to be erected around them. They’d been asking for the same thing for weeks, but Arianna knew the real reason. They wanted to be separated from the half-breeds. Her father said it might be best to let them have what they wanted in order to keep the peace. Just temporarily, but if she gave in to the segregation now, then it would continue and thrive until they were right back to where they started.

There’d only been a few small skirmishes between the nobles and half-breeds, but what would she do if it escalated? What would happen if someone were killed like the noble in Ruadhan? Not that he hadn’t deserved it.

She set the note aside unanswered and moved onto the next. A request for where to place farm land. As if she were the most apt person to ask such a thing. She didn’t know the first thing—a shrill alarm cut through the mid-morning bustle.

Arianna’s heart leapt into her throat, but she remained still, listening for another. It didn’t come.

One alarm. That meant an unfamiliar group had been spotted approaching the gate.

Arianna let the paper fall from her hands and marched outside. Her guards had their weapons drawn. People had paused everything and were staring toward the northern gate, wondering if it were just a passing traveler or someone more sinister.

Many watched her and she could scent the fear floating through the air. They had little more than a wooden fence as a means of defense. Something they desperately needed to change. Perhaps she could work with Rion on creating a stone wall around the village instead, though they’d also have to teach the villagers how to properly man it in the event of a siege.

Arianna’s magic sparked at her fingertips, already creating a trail of frost in her wake as she marched toward the edge of the village. She’d taken one step up the stairs when she felt her mate beside her, his magic mingling with her own.

Her heart skipped a beat, then their eyes met. For reasons she couldn’t explain, her magic quelled her fear. So long as the beast lurking in her veins was awake, she could tolerate the presence of Rion’s magic. It practically purred in her mate’s presence, drawing him closer. His magic answered in kind.

Rion allowed her to walk in front of him. The guards parted, and she peered over the edge, only to find a lone figure walking with a cloak obscuring their face and hands held up in surrender.

Alone. Why in the gods’ name would anyone be traveling alone right now? The factions were in an uproar and the entire continent was on the brink of civil war. Then there were the Dark Fae themselves. Creatures they hadn’t even been able to name, let alone understand how to deal with.

Her heart jumped with the possibility of Niall, or worse, the High Lord of Pádraigín himself. Both could likely level this place in an instant. But if they’d planned to attack, they wouldn’t announce themselves. Unless they just wanted her.

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