“Where’s Sable?” Liv asked Roar.
Aria saw her through the gap in the drapes. Liv looked like a different person from the girl she had seen earlier. She wore a Grecian dress in a burnished orange color that enhanced the bronze of her complexion. A green rope looped around her waist, and she’d swept her thick blond mane up off her shoulders.
“What happened to you?” Roar asked her.
“I couldn’t figure out the belt,” Liv answered blithely.
“I wasn’t talking about the dress.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you—”
“Roar, stop,” Liv said sharply. She moved to the table and sat.
Roar followed, crouching at her side. “Are you going to ignore me? Are you going to act like there’s nothing between us?” He’d lowered his voice, but Aria could hear everything he said. The stone room was like a stage, amplifying the sounds and pushing them outside to where she and Sable stood, watching in the darkness. She wondered if Sable could hear him too.
“Olivia,” Roar said urgently, passionately. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m waiting for food,” she said, staring straight ahead. “And Sable.”
Roar cursed, jerking away from her like he’d been pushed.
Sable laughed softly at Aria’s side. “Shall we?” he said, returning inside. He went to Liv and kissed her on the lips.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered before he straightened.
A blush crept over Liv’s cheeks. “You’re embarrassing me.”
“Why?” said Sable, taking a seat by her side. He looked at Roar, amusement in his eyes. “I doubt anyone here would disagree.”
Aria’s stomach twisted. Roar looked ready to spring forward and rip Sable to pieces. Pulse racing, she glanced at the guards standing by the door. Both men locked eyes with her. They were watching everything.
When Roar took the seat beside her, she brushed her arm past his and sent him a quick warning. Roar, stay with me. Stay calm—please.
Across the table, both Sable and Liv noticed the gesture. The room had no secrets. Every whisper was heard. Every shift in emotion scented.
Darkness settled in Liv’s green eyes. Was it jealousy? How could she dare feel that? She was marrying Sable. She had no right to feel possessive over Roar.
Servants brought out platters of roast ham and vegetables. Aria somehow felt both hungry and nauseated. She took a piece of bread.
They ate in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Aria’s gaze kept returning to Roar’s hand on the knife beside her. Roar and Liv wouldn’t look at each other. Sable watched everything.
“Was Perry happy with the food we sent?” Liv asked finally.
“The other half of the payoff?” Roar said, surprised.
“It’s called a dowry,” Liv said sharply. “You sent it, didn’t you, Sable?”
“The day I promised,” Sable said. “The Tides have received it, I’m sure. It must have arrived after your friends left. I sent forty of my best warriors there as well. They’ll stay and help however your brother needs them.”
Liv looked at him. “You did?”
Sable smiled. “I know you worry about him.”
Aria felt her last trace of hope for Roar fade. The deal was done. Liv belonged to Sable. They just needed the wedding ceremony now. It seemed like a formality.
“Did Perry send a message for me?” Liv asked.
Roar shook his head. “We had to leave quickly, so he didn’t have a chance. Even then, I’m not sure he would have sent word.”
“Why?” Liv said. “Has he lost his tongue?”
“He blames himself for what happened to Vale, Liv.”
She scowled. “I know what Vale did. I know who my brother was. How hard is it to send a message?”
“That’s a good question,” Roar said. “How hard is it to send a message? Perry hasn’t heard from you in a year. Maybe he’s afraid he’s lost you. Maybe he thinks you don’t care about him anymore. Do you, Liv?”
Liv and Roar stared at each other, unblinking. Obviously, this was no longer about Perry. Aria felt like she and Sable had disappeared from the room.
“Of course I love him,” Liv said. “He’s my brother. I’d do anything for him.”
“Touching, Liv.” Roar pushed back from the table. “I’m sure Perry will be happy to hear that.” His steps were silent as he left.
Alone with Liv and Sable, Aria suddenly felt like an intruder. The wind had blown out the candles at their end of the table. In the weaker light, Liv’s dress looked cold, like red clay. Everything looked gray and cold.
“I’ll have your brother brought here,” Sable said, reaching for Liv’s hand. “We can hold the wedding until then. Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
Liv smiled at him, a quick, shaky flash. “I’m sorry … I’m not hungry,” she said, and left the room.
Aria waited for Sable to go after her. He didn’t. He plucked a fig from his plate and ate it, watching her as he chewed.
“I know why Roar is here,” he said. “Why are you?”
His words were casual, but the look in his eyes was penetrating. Aria glanced at the door, gauging the distance, instinct telling her to leave now.
Sable’s hand shot out and clasped her wrist. With her free hand, Aria snatched a knife from the table. She held it facing down, ready for the strike she’d make at his neck. A killing strike. There would only be one shot against someone like him. But that wouldn’t help her. She needed him to talk.
Sable smiled and gave a slight shake of his head. His eyes were pale as glass at the center, and ringed with dark blue. “You don’t need that. I won’t hurt you unless you give me reason to.”
He slid his hand up her arm, pushing up her sleeve. His thumb ran over her skin, slow and firm, as he studied the ruined half Marking. Chills shot down her spine at the cold feel of his touch.
Sable stared deep into her eyes. “You’re a puzzle, aren’t you?”
Aria’s breath was caught in her throat. Sounds sharpened. The flap of the drapes, and the rush of the Snake River. The approaching footsteps in the hall. Was he seeing her hearing ability? Her life in Reverie and in the Realms, and everything else that she hid?
A guard with stringy blond hair entered. “The storm’s holding on path to Ranger’s Edge.”
Sable paid him no attention. “What do you want from me?” he said, his voice low and menacing.
She couldn’t lie. She couldn’t. “The Still Blue.”
Sable’s grip loosened. He let out a slow exhale and sat back. “And here I thought you so unique,” he said simply. Then he rose from his chair and left.
Aria couldn’t move for long minutes afterward. She hadn’t felt repulsed at being touched in months, since she’d first been cast out of Reverie. Pain woke in her arm. His grasp had been tighter than she’d realized. She set the knife down at last, returning it to its place beside the empty plate, fingers aching from gripping it.
Now what? Sable was suspicious of her. He’d pry until he learned the truth about who she was. Her life was in danger. Her mission was in danger. She drew a breath and stood. She wouldn’t let herself fail.
Aria passed the guards at the door, making her way back to her room. She noted the guards at posts and roaming the halls. Moving unseen would be difficult, but not impossible. She froze when she heard Sable’s voice. He sounded close, but she couldn’t tell for certain. Sounds bounced in strange ways along the meandering corridors. Heart thundering, she listened to him ordering the outskirts of Rim evacuated. Maybe the storm would spur him to discuss the Still Blue tonight.
Later, she told herself. She’d sneak out and learn what she could.
She wasn’t surprised to find someone waiting when she stepped into her room.
She’d expected Roar, but it was Liv.
25
PEREGRINE
That night, Perry sat at the high table, awed by the food passed before him. Ham served with raisins as gold as the sunrise. Walnut bread with warm goat cheese. Carrots cooked in honey and butter. Strawberries. Cherries. A platter with six kinds of cheeses. Wine or Luster, for those who wanted it. The aromas filled the cookhouse. Tomorrow the tribe would return to rations, but tonight they feasted.
He ate until his hunger cramps became the aches of a stuffed stomach. Every bite reminded him of the sacrifice Liv had made for the Tides. When he finished, he sat back and watched the people around him. Marron buttered a piece of bread with the same precision with which he did everything. Bear attacked the mountain of food before him, while Molly bounced River on her knee. Hyde and Gren vied for Brooke’s attention, Twig barely getting in a word between them.
Only hours earlier, he’d been in the same place, listening to them lash at him in anger.
Across the table, Willow elbowed Cinder. “Look. There’s not a single piece of fish anywhere.”
“Thank the skies,” Cinder said. “I thought I was going to grow gills.”
Willow laughed. Then Perry laughed, seeing Cinder’s ears turn red beneath his cap.
At the far end of the hall, Kirra ate with her group. They were a raucous bunch, big in their gestures. Every one of them seemed to have an explosive laugh. Perry’s eyes kept returning to Kirra. He’d set up a meeting with her later to learn of news from the other territories. Coming from the Horns, she might also know something about the Still Blue.
When they finished eating, Kirra’s group pushed aside a few tables, clearing space. Then the music began, guitars and drums playing lively tunes. Their good cheer caught like wildfire. The Tides joined in eagerly, and soon the hall filled with song and dancing.
“Did Cinder tell you about his birthday?” Willow asked.
Cinder shook his head. “Willow, no. I was joking about that.”
“I wasn’t,” Willow said. “Cinder doesn’t know when his birthday is, so it could actually be any day. And since it can be any day, then why not today? We’re already celebrating.”
Perry crossed his arms and tried not to laugh. “Today seems like the perfect day to me.”
“Maybe you could say something, you know, to make it official?”
“I can do that.” He looked at Cinder. “How old do you want to be?”
Cinder’s eyes went wide. “I don’t know.”
“How about thirteen?” Perry suggested.
“All right.” Cinder shrugged, but his temper warmed with emotion. This meant more to him than he was letting on, and how couldn’t it? He deserved to know his own age. To have a day to measure his life by. Perry was only sorry he hadn’t thought to do something like this sooner.
“As Lord of the Tides, I name this day your birthday. Congratulations.”
A grin spread over Cinder’s face. “Thanks.”
“Now you have to dance,” Willow said. She pulled him up, ignoring his halfhearted objections, and towed him into the crowd.
Perry sat back and scratched Flea under his muzzle, watching everything, relishing the lightness in his heart. Kirra hadn’t just brought food. She’d brought a reminder of better times. This was the hall as it should be. The Tides as he always wanted to see them.
