Wilde's Meadow (Darkness Falls #3) (35 page)

She leans forward, strands of brown hair sticking to the bark, and smiles. “Waiting for you to remember.” My sister laughs; the sound echoes around me like a taunting bully. “In the meadow where we liked to play, there grow many trees you don’t see every day. As children, we enjoyed their shade and imagined our adult lives; it is where your husband first talked with his wife. The town has one; it’s as old as sin. Behind a veil of time, he is trapped within.”

I run to my sister, then fall on my knees beside her. “He’s trapped in time?”

“Do you remember what you’ve seen? Do you remember what you love?” Brit asks, form fading into obscurity. “Do you remember who you are?”

Lunging for her, my hands touch nothing. I hit the ground, landing on my palms. “Don’t leave me. Please, Brit. I need you. Tell me, is he trapped in time like Mr. Tanner and Gary were?”

The warmth of her presence swirls around me, lifting my hair from my shoulders and tingling my skin. “Go to the town square. You will find him there. Remember his last words to you. This is what you must do.”

Tears rush from my eyes, trailing down my cheeks as fast as cars on a racetrack. I dig my fingers into the cold dirt. “Why are you talking like this, Brit?”

“You have all the information you need. Wake up and proceed.”

The trees and chilled earth between my fingers disappear. White overtakes darkness, blinding me with its intensity. I close my eyes and cover them with my forearm. “Brit! If he’s trapped in time, why can’t I see him?”

“Ma’am?”

Someone nudges my shoulder, pulling me from my disturbing dream about Brit. Sharp scents of the charred daemon remains fill my nose and turn my stomach. I’m definitely back in reality. Definitely without Arland again.

”Cadman?” I open my eyes, and all I see is his narrowed, concerned gaze. “Brit told me how to find Arland … I think.” Sitting up, I cover my face with my tunic sleeve and breathe in filtered air. Sort of.

“What did she share with you?” He tosses another log into the fire, a small smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

“Her message was odd, but strangely clear.” I stand. “We have to find the Leaders first, then we’re going to the square in The Meadows so I can pull Arland from time.”

Cadman’s smile widens, and he smacks his hands together.

“Wake up,” he shouts, running to Perth and Rhoswen, then prods them with his boot. “Kate is going to end this very long night.”

Perth yawns, stretching one arm high above him while the other stays wrapped tightly around Rhoswen’s middle. “You remembered?”

“Not exactly.” I pick up the blanket and then head for the horses.

“What do you mean?”

I roll up the wool, attach it to Mirain’s saddle, then untie her reins. Turning back toward the others, I mount. “Brit visited me in my dream. She said Arland is trapped in time, and if I remember his last words to me, I’ll find him at the chestnut in the square.”

“A tree of life,” Cadman says.

“My mom mentioned the willow where Arland and I were Bound is a tree of life. What does it mean?”

“They have existed here as long as, if not longer than, we have. The trees’ survival rate is incredible. War, drought, heat, blizzards, nothing kills them—”

“I wouldn’t say nothing, Cadman. The chestnuts in the square and at Watchers Hall look to be on death’s doorstep.”

“It is widely believed that those trees are the source of all life in Encardia,” he says, avoiding my comment about death, “but there is no recorded history. We should get going.”

Rhoswen jumps to her feet, then pulls Perth to his. “What about the shifters?” she asks, dragging him toward the horses. “Do you want to go back into The Meadows while they still have control of the Leaders?”

“No—”

“She will return to The Meadows alone. We will travel to the Crossing Caves to rescue the Leaders.” Cadman steps into Euraid’s stirrup, then mounts.

Everyone falls silent, staring at Cadman, mouths hanging open.

“Did you believe I would allow you to return to the caves?” He shakes his head. “Find Arland. Bring Light to Encardia, Katriona. We will bring the Leaders to The Meadows.”

“Are you suggesting we leave her alone, Cadman?” Perth glowers, his horse shifting under him. “What will my father say if she returns to town without us?” He holds up his hand. “He will say she killed us, he will say she turned away from Light, and he will have her arrested—no matter what good she has done. Kate will not have an opportunity to find Arland because you can be sure my father will be waiting for her.”

“That is why you will return with her, Perth. Protect her; fulfill your promise to Arland. If your father threatens Katriona, do what you must.” Cadman rides away and looks over his shoulder. “You were the only one of us unaffected by the Crossing Caves, Rhoswen. Are you coming with me?”

Rhoswen’s green eyes fill with tears. “Cadman is correct. The two of you nearly jumped to your deaths in the caves.” She rides toward Cadman a few paces, keeping her gaze locked on Perth.

He follows but stops shy of her, glances back at me, revealing his worry, his ache for her, and then he looks at Rhoswen again. “Be safe. Travel fast. I do not trust my father, and considering how close we have become with Katriona, I am positive he no longer trusts me.”

I look around at what remains of my army, what remains of my life. Losing anyone else would destroy me, ruin any chance I have left for a positive future. Cadman knows everything yet doesn’t share what I want, what I need to hear. “Promise me you aren’t leading me on some wild chase for nothing, Cadman. Promise me I’ll see Arland again?”

“You are the only person who can make or break that promise, Katriona.” He tips his head toward Perth. “Take care of her.”

The weight of this world, and probably every other, rests on my shoulders. No one tells me the end result or how to reach it. Everyone leaves me to figure it out by myself when most of them seem to know exactly what will happen.

Cadman clicks his cheek, and he and Rhoswen start for the Baccain Forest, galloping their horses hard and fast toward the dense line of trees, leaving Perth and me alone.

“Are you ready?” I ask, watching Perth stare after the others, prepared to get to Arland.

Perth shudders. “Yes.”

Torches flicker in the night, lining the path into The Meadows. The abandoned homes we passed on our previous ride into town are now full of Draíochtans peeking out their windows. No one comes out to greet us, wish us well, say hello.

The shifters and Dufaigh have already poisoned them against us, against me, and it’s only been one night.

“What do you suppose my father said to have all these people draw their curtains closed on us tonight?” Perth asks, white-knuckled grip squeezing tighter around his saddle horn.

I snort. “He probably told them I bewitched all of Encardia and killed a good god, and now everyone is being punished by the remaining gods.”

Perth laughs. “Why, Katriona, it would seem you have channeled my father perfectly.” He reaches over and pushes on my shoulder. “Are you a shifter working for him?”

“
Psst
.”

Perth’s smile fades. Flames engulf my skin, illuminating Saidear’s friendly face peering out from behind a tree next to the path; although his thinly pressed lips suggest he’s anything but happy right now.

“Said—”

“Wait,” Perth says, low and firm.

I look over my shoulder. “It’s Saidear, Perth. We can trust him.”

“A day ago, we could trust every Draíochtan, but now they all stare at us like we are as evil as Dughbal was. We should proceed with caution.”

“Right.” Drawing my sword, I ride toward the edge of the path.

“Saidear?” I whisper.

Saidear steps from behind the pine, hands up in surrender. “You have no reason to trust anyone, but you
can
trust me.” He glances at Perth. “Your father has proclaimed you both enemies, stating you abandoned The Meadows in our greatest time of need. He said Katriona lied about her affiliation with the gods and killing the leader of Darkness. All Encardia’s Leaders are in agreement—even your
mother
, Katriona—that anyone who does not denounce you is also an enemy.”

“And you’re out here because you are the only one who would not denounce us?” I ask, keeping my eyes on his hands.

“There are a few of us who refused to speak against you. We all escaped quickly, but there are two children we could not free.” Saidear’s gaze drops to his feet.

There are only a couple children who would be crazy enough to stand up for me, and one of them doesn’t like telling lies. I’ve protected the pair so many times. Left them. Made promises I didn’t know I could keep, but I will not let them down.

“Who?” I ask, although I already know: Marcus and Anna.

Saidear lifts his head, worry lines creasing his forehead. “Anna and Marcus. I know you are fond of them, which is why I have Tristan, as injured as he may be, watching over their cells.”

“Their
cells
? Dufaigh is treating them like criminals? They’re just children!” Anger replaces worry, boiling my blood. Dufaigh is no better than Dughbal, and I’m going to kill him just the same. “Your father will never change, Perth.”

Perth growls, deep and agitated, clenching his jaw. “Lower your voice. We are not alone.”

Saidear leans to the side and looks behind me. “Ride away, fast.”

I glance over my shoulder and see at least twenty of my former soldiers standing with swords and bows drawn, eyes glowing white in the night. They’re cursed like all the Ground Dwellers once were, or maybe that’s just how evil presents itself: white eyes, selfish acts. Doesn’t matter. I’m going to fix them, too. I don’t care how odd it is that Dufaigh was able to turn them against me so quickly.

Saidear removes his sword from its sheath then holds the iron in front of him, bending his knees, readying for a direct battle. “He plans to execute the children tomorrow morning—”

“
What
?”

“At the chestnut in the square. All three will burn.”

“All
three
?”

“The tree as well. Dufaigh said the trees of life will burn as a sacrifice to the gods for your sins.”

Saidear smacks Mirain’s hindquarters, and she rears, nearly throwing me from her back, then bolts forward through the trees and away from the path, leaving me no opportunity to ask what time, why, how to stop this … leaving me to figure it out on my own.

Just like always.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Perth and I race on for half an hour in silence, small branches scraping our arms, leaves flying up behind our horses, our faces pale. I don’t know where we’re going, don’t know how to rescue the children.

Does Dufaigh know one of Encardia’s next already-appointed High Leaders is trapped in the chestnut? Maybe he hopes to kill Arland, or anyone I love, in order to stop me from fighting him. The greasy pig—as Flanna so accurately described Perth’s father—already has control over the Draíochtan minds. Why does he want to stop me? I’m no threat to him when he can just tell lies.

Perth tugs on his horse’s reins, drawing her to a stop, and I do the same.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, chest burning from the cold air filling my lungs.

His face is void of the happy appearance he takes on when he’s around Rhoswen, void of life. He’s pale, sweating, lips cracked and chapped. “We need to turn around.”

“What’s bothering you?”

“Now there is an odd question.” Perth snorts, pointing to his left, and we ride at a slower pace down a short hill densely covered with trees. “How many people have died? Rhoswen is racing toward the Crossing Caves, you are pregnant and racing toward capture and possible execution, my father is about to burn the two children you care about most at the tree where you have to find Arland, and your mother and the other Leaders have been taken over by shifters … there is a lot bothering me.”

I blink hard. “We will save them. We will save everyone.”

“Who will save you, Katriona?”

“I’ll be fine,” I say, pushing a branch from my path.