Heir of Scars I: Parts 1-8 by Jacob Falling Read Free Book Online Page B

lap. But few of those who even knew that the scout referred to her father and her brother could have guessed the full meaning of the news. Her eyes went from Preinon’s to those of Mateko, who had sat a little distant from her tonight, unusually.
    If only I had known before the council, I could have spoken with him alone.. .
    But Preinon had not taken her aside. They walked among the Aesidhe now, where a matter of family was a matter for all.
    Adria looked around the circle, most of them her elder, deciding when and how to speak. After scanning those assembled twice in silence, she met Preinon’s eyes again. He nodded to her, very slowly and evenly, a subtle sign of understanding and encouragement. The last of the scouts had finished, and no one else spoke. Adria took up Náme in her arms, careful not to wake her, and rose to her feet.
    “ I speak my turn .” There was stillness and complete silence, every waking eye turned to her. Only an Aesidhe with grave or urgent news rose to speak. Adria had rarely done so before, and the attention of so many of them took the breath from her for a moment. She was glad that they were Aesidhe — that she could take as long as she needed to gather her thoughts, and they would only appreciate her words better for it.
    Many around her were strangers, or nearly so. But the Runners were there, and many of the Shema Ihaloa Táya whom she had come to know. But when she spoke, she spoke as if all the Aesidhe were there, every tribe she had known, every refugee she had seen to safer camps — those she had suffered for and with.
    “ I am Lozheskisiyama , and I am Pukshonisla , and I am Adria Idonea . I know you all as my family, and I would never leave my family without a deep reason, but this time has come. It is known to many among you that I have another family, but even this understanding is not enough to explain why I must go. The deep reason is that I… once made a promise to a brother, a promise that I must now choose to fulfill .”
    She paused, and heads nodded, and voices rose in agreement, “ It is true .” The Aesidhe knew the value of a promise, far more than any Aeman Adria had ever known. She had learned this value from them, and it was this understanding which left her no choice.
    They would have me do nothing else, nothing less , she had realized, long before this particular night and this particular news — for she had long known it would come, even when she hoped it wouldn’t — hoped it would somehow pass her by.
    But it had been a foolish hope.
    To stay now would be a betrayal of both families, a betrayal of both of my lives. But the conflict would remain there, nonetheless, and the sense of betrayal. She was not simply leaving the Aesidhe. She was leaving them for their enemy.
    But she said none of this aloud — there was no need or reason. Instead, she met the eyes of the Runners gathered there, one by one, beginning with Mateko and ending with Preinon.
    “ I made a promise without understanding its depth ,” she whispered, just above the sound of the fire, and with real regret, “ And now I must... go... home .”
    There was nothing more for her to say, though her words seemed far too simple for the feelings that had made them. She sat again, lowering Náme once more into her lap — picking up the golden-haired doll from where it had fallen and enfolding it within the girl’s arms again.
    Many spoke after her, with words of encouragement, in thankfulness for her service, but also in sadness. Most of these Aesidhe had seen many things in their lifetime, and suffered much change and death, but were nonetheless still saddened in simple parting from a friend, a sister, a child of the People.
    Their words were chosen to strengthen her resolve rather than to question it, and when the final thanks to the spirits were given, and the council retired, Adria felt heavy and airy at once, at last believing she knew the reason for her recent distraction.
    It was no ghost