Arbiter (The Arbiter Chronicles Book 1) (18 page)

When she first expressed her feelings to Cathel, he confirmed that the lands were different in more ways than one. Alcian's lands had been much more willing to work with his magic, even at their most difficult. In Alcian's lands, he had been able to make a shelter out of stone and weave paths through the woods. In Elrithea's lands, he could barely freeze water.

It wasn't that the lands were hostile. But Rae got the impression that they were regarding them carefully.

Watching.

Waiting.

Seeing Elrithea's castle was almost a welcome relief. It rose up above the forest ahead of them, standing at the top of a hill. The castle was made out of black stone, rising up above the tops of the tallest trees. Slender spires rose up high above it, lights shining in some of the windows.

As it loomed over them, growing closer and closer, Rae's relief faded away, becoming something else, something darker.

It was time to meet the High Lord.

The forest path eventually gave way to a stone road that wound its way up the hillside. It was night by the time the three of them started to climb, and the way was lit only by the light of the moon and the faint golden light that emanated from Larin. Cathel and Mika had called up light of their own as they walked up the mountain, the latter having just mastered that spell. Rae didn’t bother with it. The moon was on the waxing side of things again, the new moon having passed while they were in the woods, and the powers she had obtained from Alcian had shifted to light. The change was just another thing that reminded her of how fast time was passing by. It had already been thirty-one days since her arrival in the Twilight Realm.

One month.

She knew realistically that if she was seeing two Lords within a month she was making good time, because there were twelve months in the year. But it was one thing to have the math worked out in her head and another thing entirely to believe it.

Still, that wasn’t what she had to worry about now. She had to get Elrithea to acknowledge her. Otherwise, this whole trip would have been a waste of time.

“Nervous?” asked Cathel, glancing at her as they made their way up towards the castle.

“A little,” she admitted. “You?”

Cathel's eyes moved up the hillside and fixed on the imposing castle that loomed over their heads. “…A little. You mentioned that High Lord Elrithea and High Lord Alcian don’t get along?”

“She wouldn’t attack her sister’s
tarethan
, would she?” asked Rae. “I mean, they dislike each other, but they don’t dislike each other that much.”

Cathel gave her a sidelong glance. “With all respect, Rae, you don’t know anything about siblings. When they fight, they fight. I don’t think Ivali siblings will be much better.”

Mika grinned slightly to herself from behind Cathel.“That's true,” she said.

Rae glanced between the two of them. Mika, she could understand, but what about Cathel? Did he have siblings? She realized that she didn’t know much about his life before she had met him.

Did she want to know?

If she was being honest with herself, she would admit to being a little curious. She knew bits and pieces of Cathel’s past. He had grown up at a different Tower, and had moved to Laria Tower for some reason. He had been enchanted by the Ivali since he was a child, even though it went against the beliefs of the town he lived in. At some point, he and Varra became friends, and he and his Master had had a large falling out over something. And at one point, he saved Ania, Alcian’s daughter, from something terrible and earned himself the mark of
tarethan
.

These were all great things, and she was sure they were all significant events in his life. But they were only bits and pieces, small snapshots of the whole of him.

She didn't like the feeling of curiosity that Cathel gave her. She’d never wondered about other people’s lives before, or if she did, it was the sort of thing that she tried very hard to suppress.

But Cathel was different. Cathel...

“I know you’re dangerous, but for some reason…I can’t look away…”

She turned away from him as the memory of his words came back to her, lowering her eyes to the ground. After a moment, she looked up at Mika instead. It was safer. The younger girl was walking beside her, quietly regarding the castle in front of them.

“What d’you think she’s like?”

Rae shrugged. “We’ll find out in a minute.”

They reached the top of the hill, coming to a stop in front of the entrance to the castle. The castle had a wall surrounding the perimeter, with two guard posts by the gate. The gate itself was wide open, the portcullis raised. There was no sign of any guard or any servant in the area, just a straight path through the courtyard toward the castle doors castle doors. The three of them paused, looking around as if they expected Ivali to jump out of the woods at any moment.

No one came. Rae held out her hand, letting Larin float over towards it. The wisp rested lightly on her fingertips, slowly sinking back into her skin. The last of its light faded away as she turned towards the other two.

With a loud groaning sound, the double doors at the end of the path swung open, exposing the castle’s dark entrance hall. The three of them stared.

“Looks like she’s expecting us,” said Mika after a while, staring at the door.

“Mm,” said Rae with a nod.

From her other side, she heard Cathel exhale. “Well. Let’s not keep the High Lord waiting.”

Rae nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah.” She stepped forward, crossing over the threshold into the courtyard. Mika and Cathel followed her, hesitantly at first but more confidently as they continued to walk. The castle courtyard was still, and just like on the path leading up to it, they caught sight of traces that people lived here, but no sign of its inhabitants.

Rae began to wonder if this was some sort of elaborate joke, and if Elrithea did not in fact live in this castle.

Her wondering ceased when they walked up the steps and through the doors, and the entrance hall was suddenly flooded with light.

It wasn’t the ethereal silver light that surrounded Alcian. Instead, it was a harsh, bluish light, coming from orbs that surrounded the perimeter of the room. They revealed a large entrance hall, a deep velvet carpet moving up a curving flight of stairs towards the second floor. The castle’s interior walls were stone, and they were not decorated by any paintings or tapestries, surrounding them with stark gray walls and curving windows. Out of the corner of her eye, Rae caught sight of a tall mirror framed in black that decorated the far wall. She quickly averted her eyes from it as she remembered the old man’s warning,  instead trailing her eyes up the staircase.

A woman stood at the top of the stairs, watching them.

Her hair was long and black, falling down her back in a single sleek wave. She was tall and slender, and wore a deep black gown, a single silver chain around her neck. The tips of her fingers were blood red, and for a single disquieting moment, Rae wondered whether or not they might have actually gained their color from blood, but she dismissed the thought. Her skin was pale white, the same color as the moon, but her eyes were perhaps the most disconcerting part about her.

They were a bright gold.

In some ways, with her unbound hair and her youthful appearance, she looked younger and less severe than Alcian. But in other ways, it was the complete opposite. Alcian, for all of her regal bearing, possessed a warmth that this woman didn’t quite have. If Rae hadn't known better, she would have wondered if they had taken a wrong turn and had somehow ended up in a Dark Lord’s lands instead.

“…Arbiter,” said the woman, turning to face her. “What brings you to my abode?”

“You know what we're here for, High Lord,” Rae replied, not in the mood to play this High Lord’s games. A small smile appeared on Elrithea’s face, and she nodded once.

“I do,” she said. “Although I will admit that I did not expect you to start it in so…” Her eyes twinkled in amusement. “…unconventional a manner. I suppose I should have informed my sister about my new guard dogs. But no matter, you are safe. You bear my sister’s mark, and the mark of another…” Her eyes drifted over the assembled group, and she raised her hand towards them magnanimously. “Enter Arbiter,
tarethan
of my sister, and human girl. You must be tired from your travels. I have prepared food. You will dine with me in the next room.”

She turned, walking away from them and through a set of doors at the top of the stairs. Mika grinned, turning towards Rae and Cathel. “Honestly, I don’t care if she’s evil,” she said. “She had me at food.”

“Hey.” Cathel moved as Mika stepped forward, grabbing the girl’s wrist to stop her. Mika looked back at him.

“What?”

Cathel lowered his voice to a whisper. “Stay on your guard. Don’t disrespect the High Lord. And try not to embarrass yourself?’

Mika grinned.“I don’t get embarrassed.” She pulled her hand out of Cathel’s grip. “That’s you. But okay, I’ll behave, since you asked so nicely.”

Rae followed Cathel and Mika up the staircase. The walls on the balcony at the top were lined with mirrors. She kept her eyes studiously on the tiled floor in front of them, making sure not to let her eyes wander anywhere that wasn’t absolutely necessary. She did note, though, that Cathel and Mika seemed to be able to look into the mirrors without anything happening to them.

She wondered if there was any truth to what the old man said, or if he had just said it to mess with her. She decided that she wasn’t willing to take the chance.

The dining hall in the next room was lavishly decorated, the curtains opened above the windows to reveal a glittering night sky outside the castle walls. There were no mirrors in this room, so Rae allowed herself to relax somewhat, but she knew that more than the mirrors, the true danger in this room was the woman who sat at the head of the table. High Lord Elrithea.

“Come,” said the High Lord as they entered. She waved her hand, gesturing for Rae to sit beside her on the right and Cathel to sit beside her on the left. “It is so seldom that I have human guests. Sit, and tell me your names.”

She hesitated, but stepped forward anyway, not wanting to insult the High Lord. Rae had to admit, after weeks of being on the road, the spread that the High Lord had set in front of them looked especially appealing. Mika’s eyes widened, and she scurried over to the seat next to Rae’s, sliding into it with a small bounce. Cathel frowned at her from across the table, where he took his own seat. Rae paused, slowly pulling out her own high-backed chair and settling into it. The chair was comfortable, but it was large and wooden, with arms that made her feel boxed in. It wasn’t a feeling she liked, especially so close to Elrithea.

The High Lord turned her golden eyes towards Rae first.

“My name is Rae Miller,” she said quickly, not sure what else to say. “I’m from the Daylight Realm.”

Elrithea frowned slightly at her. “I’d heard. Quite an interesting journey you must have taken to get here.”

“It was something.” Rae paused, lowering her eyes to the food in front of her. She picked up the roll that had been set in front of her plate and tore off a small piece of it, glad to have something to do besides look at the High Lord.

“I’m sure,” said Elrithea. “To face the Thief is no easy task…although it appears as though in your ignorance, you may have brought on us a great curse.” She paused, looking away from Rae and turning towards Cathel. “And you,
tarethan
?”

“I am Cathel Alvain, High Lord,” replied Cathel with a respectful nod at Elrithea. “…A mage at Laria Tower.”

Elrithea’s mouth drew into a tight line at this, and Rae eyed her out of the corner of her eye as she took a bite of bread, not missing the way her expression suddenly changed. She tensed, already beginning to feel around for her Source.

Elrithea, however, did not act. Instead she simply gave Cathel a stiff nod. “Ah, of course. You must forgive my rudeness. The Towers are no friends to the Ivali. But your mark says otherwise. For now, I suppose I will trust my sister’s judgment.”

She said it as though the words physically hurt. Rae wondered, not for the first time, what had happened between Alcian and Elrithea, and how close the story Alcian had told her was to the truth.

“I assure you, I mean no harm to any member of the Ivali that does not mean harm to me,” said Cathel, stiffly polite. Rae’s eyes moved towards him as she took a drink of water, dabbing her mouth lightly with the napkin. Mika shifted restlessly in the seat next to her, and Rae noticed that she had already finished her bread and was now eying the food hungrily. She gave the girl a disapproving stare, going back to watching Cathel. She didn’t miss the vague threat in his words.

“…And you, human girl?” asked Elrithea, turning towards Mika. “What shall I call you?”

Mika flashed Elrithea a smile. “Mikaela James, at your service. My friends call me Mika. Nice to meet you.”

The smile Elrithea returned was vastly less warm. “I see you are also from the Daylight Realm.”

“Yep,” said Mika. “I’m here to help Rae help my brother.”

Rae moved her foot, swiftly nudging Mika’s ankle with her own heel under the table. She saw Mika stiffen, but the younger girl said nothing. Rae fought to keep her expression neutral. Now wasn’t the time to be willingly divulging information to the High Lord.

Elrithea smirked, resting her slender fingers against her cheek. She noticed. Rae was sure of it. “…I see,” she said. “Very interesting. Well, Arbiter,
tarethan,
Mikaela, if you abide by my rules, you are welcome in my home. Eat.”

Mika grinned, picking up her plate and beginning to serve herself quickly. “Thought you’d never ask.”

“Mika,” snapped Cathel, his eyes wide as he half-stood out of his seat. Rae stared at her as well, her eyes wide.

Elrithea laughed, a musical sound that echoed in the dimly lit chamber. “
Tarethan,
you must not worry over such things,” she said. “Let children be children.”

Mika set her plate back down on the table, taking her seat. “I'm not a child,” she said. “I'm sixteen.”