man for centuries.
There had once been Adorian women in Middengard as well, but not many. The few remaining who were not killed had returned to Adoria after the elders decreed that the age of guardianship had come to an end, after Gabriel's death. Michael never agreed with this and still rode with his men, doing everything in his power to keep Palingard from Ereubinian reign. In the end, though, his effort simply wasn't enough.
The elders rose from where they sat several rows deep in a circular pattern that was sunken into the floor of the room, as Michael took his place at the center.
'My Lord, we have been informed that forces have been sent to the border?' Jenner's statement — more of a question — was spoken on behalf of the elders. Jenner functioned as the elders' voice much of the time, leading their discussions with Michael, and he remained standing after the others had reseated themselves.
'What you have heard is true. With the healer now is a girl I found near the southern stone, an Ereubinian.'
'How can you be so certain she is Ereubinian, my Lord?' a voice asked from behind him.
Michael held up the cloak, clenching his fingers into a fist through the wool. 'Not that Aulora needed to comment on her adornment, but she confirmed that our visitor is not human.'
Jenner stood wordless for a moment, unable to argue with what Michael revealed. The healer was never wrong. She spoke very seldom, but what she said was never questioned. The Elder's eyes glazed over as murmurs and whispers floated through the room, filling the uncomfortable silence for several moments. 'Are there any among us who are not accounted for?'
Jenner's question would normally have irritated him, but on this night, in combination with the Adorians laid to rest at the Torradh just days earlier, it infuriated him.
'Are you suggesting that one of them would betray me, lead an Ereubinian in, then leave her to defend herself, alone in the dark, in a realm she has never seen?' This had been a constant source of dissension for the council, leaving Michael pained as to how best to protect Adoria and yet maintain peace among the various provinces. 'Do you believe Eidolon's dark grasp to have traveled so far as to corrupt one of our own? You would believe this before you would believe that they had found a way past the divide? Insanity does not begin to — '
Jenner cut him off. 'My Lord, please, I meant no slight to you. This just seems to make little sense.'
'Truly, it does not make sense for them to send in a seemingly innocent girl, one whom we would have little wish to harm. Do you not see the logic in this?' He pulled the sword from a sheath at his back and held it aloft for the council to see. 'This sword was near her when she fell, she could not have come alone. Sending forces to reinforce the borders will not be enough. You know my sentiments on this.' Frustrated, Michael sat down against the large stone that served as the centerpiece of the room. Sighing, he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and stretched out his wings.
'You cannot lose your faith in the divide, my Lord.' Jenner gave Michael a tight-lipped smile, but the attempt at placating him failed.
'This is what the council wishes, for us to sit back and let them destroy all that is left of our world? Or is there another option that you are failing to tell me?'
Jenner frowned at Michael's tone. 'We have many ways of defending ourselves, the least of which is militarily. We will re-read the writings of the ancient ones, as tradition urges us to do in such dark times as these.'
Michael opened his mouth to respond when the heavy door to the sanctum opened and a young servant girl with the robes of a Bedowyn peered in at them.
'The healer wishes to tell you that the girl is in need of rest but will recover. She is awake, if you wish to speak with her.' Michael glanced at Jenner, who nodded and rose to join him.
'We will return and gather again at first light,' Jenner said to the remaining twenty-three elders as he joined Michael, who was already standing in the doorway.
The two men walked briskly through the hallway, neither of them speaking. They descended the stairs and entered the small room where Michael had left the girl. She was sitting up in bed, her face just as pale as before, but her cuts had been tended and she wore clean clothing. The broken-off shaft and arrowhead lay on the table beside her, blood still covering its surface. Michael winced at the sight and felt a twinge of remorse over wounding her, but as his suspicion of her lineage returned, his regret faded.
Jenner approached the girl first. She looked to be not much older than twenty-one, twenty-two at the most. At average height, Jenner was not as tall or overpowering as Michael. He knelt down and rested a hand beside her. 'I can see that you are weary,' he said and turned toward the healer. 'Have you given her something for the pain?' The old woman nodded. Jenner rose to sit on the edge of the bed. The girl's eyes were glassy and she was having trouble keeping them open. 'Where are you from, child?' he asked.
'Palingard.' Her voice was hoarse and ragged from exhaustion, a sound Michael knew well.
Jenner seemed to believe her despite what the healer had said, but Michael's gut told him that her appearance in Adoria meant something grave indeed. 'Then you are human? What name have you been given?'
'Ariana.'
Michael leaned into the door frame, his chest heavy as he listened to her talk. Suspicion turned to sympathy as she told Jenner about the siege. Her words were formed from a delirium far stronger than what the healer's tonic would have caused. They were lucky she was making any sense at all, considering how jumbled her phrases were. It concerned him.
Michael lifted the cloak and stood closer to her. He took her chin in his hand and turned her toward him. 'You were wearing this,' he said softly. 'Where did you get it?'
'Chased me. Into the Nethers.' She furrowed her brow. 'I fell. My ankle. He told me to wait until dark.'
Michael glanced wearily at Jenner. The girl wasn't in her right mind. They would ascertain nothing while she was in this state. 'She is tired, Jenner, far too tired to answer anything clearly. I am still concerned, and you know my intentions when we convene with the others on the morrow.'
Jenner nodded, thanking Aulora for her aid with the girl's health, and started for the door. Michael, who'd stepped in front of him, whispered in an Adorian tongue his wish to know whether she had come alone. 'Ne dost narromai denlot ta allolost.'
They had almost made it completely through the threshold when she said it.
'Nigh allolost domay.' It was barely a whisper and, had they been any farther past the door, it would have been construed as inconsequential mumbling.
'What did you say?' Jenner asked. Michael was too stunned to say anything and could only watch as Jenner sat down once again at her bedside.
'I said — I entered alone.'
Jenner smiled. 'My wits, child! You are Adorian. I cannot imagine it. How could you have been left behind?'
'We spoke to each other in this… way. I was little. Before he left. No one but us.'
Michael walked around Jenner and took her face into his hands, resting his palms against her cheeks, elated beyond expression that she was not of dark blood. 'Tell me. What name was given your father?'
'His name is Gabriel.'
CHAPTER FOUR
As dusk settled across the horizon, the Moriors flew like dark shadows in the air. The Dragees' heavy frames pounded the earth, kicking up dirt and mire, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Garren was silent for most of the lengthy journey back to Eidolon, stopping as little as possible and speaking only when he was addressed with something that interested him.
Those who survived the siege were imprisoned at the back of the caravan. Held in iron cages, they sat listless, staring beyond their captors. Everything was as it should be, having captured more souls at less cost than many other conquests Garren had led. Yet, he felt ill at ease. He pictured the girl's face, replayed her words. Her
