Page 52 of The Poison Season

“What do you mean?” Leelo pretended to be fascinated with her arrows so she could avoid Sage’s gaze. She still had the hawk feather that Jaren had rescued for her. For some reason, she hadn’t wanted to cut it for fletching.

“Your cheeks are bright pink. Did you get a sunburn on your day off? Where were you, anyway? I feel like you keep disappearing.”

“I’ve just needed time to think, that’s all.”

“About Tate?”

“Yes, about Tate.” The lie was bitter on her tongue. It didn’t stop her from deflecting, however. “Mama said she thinks Aunt Ketty is trying to get close to the Harding family. Are you interested in marrying Hollis?”

Sage scowled, and Leelo couldn’t help but smile. Sage never hid her feelings. Leelo doubted she could even if she tried. “My mother thinks it would be good for our family. She doesn’t seem to care that Hollis is a hulking brute who has no interest in me whatsoever.”

“Are you sure? He didn’t seem to mind sharing Watcher duty with you.”

“Tolerating me and wanting to marry me are two very different things, Leelo.” Sage sighed and tugged off her boots, followed by her stockings. She winced as she touched a painful-looking blister on her big toe. Sage had a way of wearing through her boots twice as quickly as Leelo did. It looked like Ketty would be trading for another pair soon. “I don’t know. I thought I could like him, maybe. At least for the sake of the family.”

“And you don’t?” Leelo asked.

“I hardly know him. I guess I just thought my mother wouldn’t make me marry someone I don’t love. Not after...”

She trailed off, but Leelo wanted this secret, at least, to be out in the open. “Not after the way your father treated her?”

Sage looked up. “How do you know about that?”

“My mother told me. Don’t be angry. It’s good that I know. It explains some things.”

Sage bristled, ready to defend her mother, but Leelo shook her head. “I just mean I understand Aunt Ketty a little better now.”

Sage raised her eyebrows. “You do?”

“Yes. If my husband beat me, I wouldn’t love him, either. And I would probably be distrusting of other men.”

“Is that all your mother told you?” Sage asked, her tone wary.

Leelo had thought she finally knew the truth, but now she wondered if she had only scratched the surface. “Why? Is there more?”

Sage was quiet for a long moment. She put her socks and boots back on and rose. “Come on. If we hurry, we can be home in time for lunch.”

Leelo caught her hand. “Wait, Sage. Tell me the truth. Is there more?”

Sage’s expression shifted as she glanced down at Leelo’s hand. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled something out. “I made you this.”

It was a crude carving of a long-necked bird. Leelo took it, a bemused smile on her lips. “What’s this for?”

“It’s to go with the fox I made. So we each have one. It’s supposed to be a swan.”

“Why a swan?” Leelo asked. “Why not a matching fox?”

Sage released a soft puff of laughter. “Because you’re nothing like a fox, Lo. Foxes are sly, resourceful, alert.” She brought her hand up to Leelo’s face, tucking a strand of her corn silk hair behind her ear with calloused fingers. “You’re like a swan, rare and beautiful. You have so much magic in you, Leelo.”

Leelo began to smile, but Sage’s fingers slid lower, wrapping loosely around Leelo’s neck.

“But you’re so fragile, cousin. Anyone could break you. I know you think I’m too hard to feel like you do. But if I told you everything, if you knew the truth, it would shatter you like glass.”

“Sage—”

Sage’s hand slid away. “You might be as naive as those swans that land on a lake full of poison, but you’re still mine. And I’ll protect you, like I always have.”

Leelo’s confusion quickly turned to anger. “What aren’t you telling me, Sage?”

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