[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]
Then it stopped as abruptly as it began, and the absence of the sound was as chilling as the sound of her laughter itself.
“Give him to me and maybe I can turn them away from you.”
It set my teeth on edge. “Phelan had nothing to do with you losing your father, Thesan.”
“It doesn’t matter if he did or not,” she said, rising a bit higher above the shadows below. “I don’t care. He’s just the best bargaining chip that I have in this fight—and the best weapon I have against the lot of you. That’s my value to them—that I can distract you for long enough for them to strike you and strike hard. Once they win, I get my father. I get what I always wanted.”
I was almost afraid to ask exactly what it was she wanted—even though I somehow knew that Seamus would sacrifice himself if it meant protecting the people he cared about. Maybe that was why I was afraid to ask.
The girl was completely off the deep end and probably didn’t really know what she wanted, just that there was something and it was something about her father—her absent father.
Yes. That would end badly either way.
“Them,” I echoed. “Who are you talking about?”
“The army I’ve joined, silly,” she said. Her manic grin stretched her mouth wide and even at a distance I could see a strange light in her eyes that was madness and mania mixing with something else, something real. I shuddered to think that it could be pride—or, more heartbreaking, hope. “They’re coming, you know. They’re coming and they’ll wipe you out, and they’ll take your pitiful little village and woe be it to the survivors because you’ll belong to them.”
“You make some very rash assumptions,” I said quietly, forcing myself to stay calm—it was easier than I thought it would be, really, perhaps because I actually believed the words I was about to say, or perhaps it was because there was a part of me that knew my soul—and those around me—had faced such trials before, had faced the enemy she spoke of before and had emerged the ultimate victors in the contest.
Or maybe I’d just finally become numb, all these months of fighting and preparation later.
“Do I?” Her voice came as a curious little sing-song, the light growing brighter in her eyes. “Do I really, Seer? Marin. His leánnan. Truly, do I make assumptions? You’re here, aren’t you?”
“I am,” I admitted. “But I’m also the only one. You’ve failed, Thesan. Give him back and maybe we’ll spare you one more time.”
It was a big maybe, but it was a possibility nonetheless—regardless of how slim a chance it was.
“We’ll see,” she said softly.
She vanished and my world went black.
