Mist Rising by Eve Langlais
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Are you coming or not?”Maric barked from the lift. He appeared to be waiting only for her, as Xaav had disappeared.
She really didn’t want to get close to him, but refusing wouldn’t do her any good. She stomped over to the lift and stood as far from him as possible.
Looking out at the forest, he had his hands tucked behind his back, and her dagger out of sight.
“Give me back my knife,” she demanded.
“Maybe later.”
“No maybes. I need it to protect myself.”
“While you’re with my squadron, you won’t need protection.”
Agathe snorted. “Not reassured. How soon you’ve forgotten that one of the acolytes was snatched from right under your nose. And who rescued her?”
“The idiot who ran off alone into a dark hole with no plan.”
“Not alone. Hiix was inside.”
“Also being foolish. You both should have waited.”
“Waiting wasn’t an option.” Everyone knew that once a monster snatched, the rescue had to happen quickly.
“Charging in alone wasn’t the best idea.”
“You mean I should have let you do everything.” She snorted.
“Is it so hard for you to accept help?”
“More like trying to understand why you’d risk yourself coming after me.” Because, logically, he only needed the so-called Blessed.
“Next time, I won’t bother.”
“Good.” And, yes, she sounded petty, but their bickering served a purpose. She no longer wanted him to kiss her.
As the lift finally lurched into motion, she veered the subject. “How long do you think that shaft under the Abbae existed?”
“Probably a very long time.”
“What makes you say that? The cave only seemed recently occupied.”
“Most likely, the creature lived closer to the bottom and rarely climbed so high. But of late, the monsters haven’t been acting as they should.”
An uncanny observation that mirrored hers. She hugged herself. “What if that shaft had gone all the way to the rim? The monsters could have spilled into King’s Valley without impediment.”
“It’s happened. To a little hamlet called Clay Spring.” The words emerged bleak. “We arrived just in time to dispatch the beast and seal the fissure.”
“Oh. No.” Her hand went to her mouth.
“So you see, it has happened before, and it will happen again.”
She eyed him. “There must be a way to stop it.”
He glanced at the forest as he said, “I don’t know if we can anymore. We might have reached the point of no return.”
“Surely, there must be something you can do. Something that doesn’t involve abducting young girls.”
“And what if I said the Blessed are the only answer?”
The very idea made her laugh. “How do you figure? Other than the color of their eyes, they’re not special in any way.” She wasn’t about to let him know that she knew about the magic. Not when it seemed that only one child had ever been able to wield it.
“And that’s where you’re wrong.”
The elevator arrived with a jolt, but Maric shifted to stand in front of her instead of getting off.
She had to look up to see his eyes. “What do you want?”
“Why are you determined to hate the King?”
“I don’t hate him. I simply disagree with what he’s doing.”
“What if I told you he wishes the festival weren’t necessary? That he doesn’t take the Blessed because he wants to.”
She glanced at him and quite seriously said, “I’d call him a liar. He’s the King. He can do anything. Like cancel a barbaric ritual.”
“You think you know so much when, in reality, you know nothing. You are too immersed in your hate. You can’t think to wonder why perhaps something is being done. Unwilling to contemplate the ugly necessities that must happen.”
“Because there is no reason I can think of that excuses the slavery of people.”
“And what if I told you the fate of the Kingdom rests upon it?”
She shoved past him as she spat, “Find a better way.”
