Mara shrugged. “I . . . don’t know how I feel about it all. Apparently, there’s a curse on the land and a prophecy that I would be the one to break it. Mom and Dad even confirmed that it’s true. It would seem that they’ve been hiding a lot from me. It was overwhelming to hear.” She sat up, rubbing away the sleep from her eyes. She needed to stay at a higher rate of alertness with everything going on. “Anyway, Vareck said he would help me find you, and in turn . . . I’ll . . . I don’t know. Try to help him figure things out, I guess.”
She wasn’t sure now was the time to dive into further details. Mara rubbed at the back of her neck, shoulders sore from the long day. Her hand lingered down to over her chest, clutching to the left-hand side. The way she had left her parents earlier weighed heavily on her mind. What would fate bring to her? Mara hadn’t even had the chance to properly process everything. She shook her head, putting on a fake smile. Mara needed to change the subject.
“That being said, I didn’t think they were your type either.”
“Hm?” Sadie asked.
“The elite,” she mused, eyes subtly flitting over to Sebastian before returning to her sister.
“Oh, he’s a total dick. You gotta learn to use your resources at a time like this. I’m playing the long game.” She licked her lips, pulling her legs in as she wrapped her arms around them. “Are you alright? You’re looking a little down.”
Of course Sadie could read her like an open book. “Yeah, just thinking about Mom and Dad. I sort of used my persuasion on them when I left.”
“You did what?” Sadie said in shock.
“I had to. Oliver said the bit about you missing after you’d gone to search for me, then I said I was going to find you. They started to panic, and they were trying to stop me. So I used it, and I made them sit down and eat and I ran off to find you.” Mara sighed. “We’re both in a lot of trouble when we get back.”
“If we get back,” Sadie corrected. “Mom’s gonna have her own restaurant open by then. I stopped by there before I used the compass to find Lou. There wasn’t room left on any of the counters.”
“I know. When I went over there it was the same. Food everywhere.”
“That’s what she gets for having a bunch of troublesome redcap children,” said Sadie.
“We do our best,” Mara said and laughed, leaning her head against her sister’s shoulder.
“Yeah . . . I hope we get to see them again.” Sadie’s voice had dropped below a whisper, eyes darting over to the Okalri.
“Me too, but this isn’t the end. Not here. I have some sort of prophecy to fulfill, remember?”
“You do. Not me.” Sadie cleared her throat. “But I’ll protect you, like always. I’ve got your back.”
Mara blinked, surprised by how much this all seemed to be seeping into her sister’s core. She didn’t blame Sadie for being unnerved by the idea of talking cats and blood cult sacrifices. When they moved into the human realm, a lot of magic had been taken out of their lives. Redcaps didn’t worry about dying their hair with the blood of their enemies in high school. Although, it would have probably been the best place in the world for it. It wasn’t until Mara started artifact hunting with Lou that Sadie had truly been pulled back into the world. If she really broke it down, this was kind of all her fault to begin with. Or Lou’s. It was really that shifty leprechaun’s fault. He’d caused nothing but problems the day he walked into her life.
“Hey. Don’t sweat it.” Mara held up her pinkie finger toward Sadie, wiggling it in her direction. “We’re in this together. Until the end. I promise.”
Sadie took Mara’s pinkie in her own, taking a deep inhale before speaking. “Until the end.”
Vareck
With the land put to rest, a fire roared. Sadie had assured him this was just a nightly camp routine, but it seemed far too threatening to simply be for warmth. The circle of Okalri had moved in, settling to rest like an exterior rock pit around them. He couldn’t tell if this was their way of actually keeping them warm and away from the frost that nipped at the edges of the cave, or if this was just the way they guarded them to prevent their group of captives from walking out.
Vareck wiped away the grime from his lower lip, still on his aching feet as he observed the creatures. The inner circle of Okalri had powered down, their runes now pulsing as they faced toward the middle with dead eyes. If this was the way they slept, Vareck needed a better word than unnerving to describe it. The rock carved inwards where their eye sockets should be. The void where the colorful magic usually sparkled out from was uncanny. If Vareck was far enough away, he would have sworn that they were human.
A steady number of questions were piling up for his familiar in the future. But right now he needed to prepare for their escape. This was no time to ponder the origin and power that Corvo once held over this community. This realm. As the firepit crackled, Vareck turned to his companions. “Are you all prepared?” He kept his voice down, barely above a whisper.
“Good enough,” Mara answered as she stood, cracking her knuckles before releasing a pop of pressure in her neck. Sadie nodded with crossed arms as she stood at Mara’s side. Her head turned toward Sebastian who only shrugged in return.
“Come on, you.” Sadie wrapped her arm around the prince’s shoulders, tugging him toward the group. “Don’t make me drag you out of this hell. I’ll pull you by the ear if I have to.”
“How about instead, we can all reconsider our actions? It’s foolish and they’ve taken good care of us.” Sebastian lightly brushed Sadie off his shoulder, straightening his worn tunic.
“They’ve done their job prepping us,” Mara corrected. “In case you don’t remember what Corvo said, we are to be sacrificed.” Vareck wondered how many times she planned to try to cram sensible information through his nephew’s thick skull. The king brought a finger to his lips as he attempted to hush the group. He raised his other hand, palm open. They stood silently as Vareck initiated the first part of the plan.
One foot after the other, he treaded lightly toward the perimeter of Okalri. The tribe sat almost shoulder to shoulder with a miniscule space between them. The outer guards stood a handful of yards down the way. Each held a torch that gave away their location in the eerie darkness of the forest. Vareck dared to take another step forward, only a few feet away from one of the smaller sleeping rock golems. He moved his hand in front of one of the creature’s faces, holding his breath as he awaited a response. Nothing. At least he knew they weren’t attracted to movement.
Vareck turned back to the awaiting party, pointing over at Sebastian. The prince pointed to himself, mouthing the words, “Me?” Sebastian violently shook his head, shoving his hands toward the girls. Vareck grit his teeth and his jaw clenched, eyes narrowing as he focused on his nephew. How in the world had he ever even considered handing Faerie over to this coward?
Mara rolled her eyes, stepping toward Vareck. She stopped as Sadie grabbed her shoulder. She ruffled Mara’s hair as she stepped ahead. Fine, let Sadie be the first one over the barricade. Vareck didn’t care who went first across the wall of Okalri as long as they hurried. Lowering down onto one knee, Vareck cupped his hands together. Sadie pressed her boot against his palm, turning toward the king and nodding. The king lifted her up and she used the momentum to vault over the waist-high rock barrier.