Read Online 03 - Sworn by Kate Sparkes - Free Book Online

shadows the displeasure that flashed over Ulric’s face was clear. “Just wondered whether you were planning to re-join us. Everyone was so pleased that we saved them. Might as well make the most of it while we have their attention.”
    “Good thing we did that,” Aren responded.
    Ulric frowned. “Let’s go, then.” He nodded politely to me, then led the way back toward the flickering light. Aren followed.
    We do need to talk, I thought, and followed at a slower pace to give them their space. Something was very wrong, and Ulric couldn’t keep me out of it forever.

       
    4
    ROWAN
    T he first shriek sounded like a terrified animal, and was quickly joined by more human shouts and cries. By the time I poked my head out of the tent, a stampede had started. A slow one, granted, a jumble of confusion and uncertainty, but the herd had picked up on the idea that something was wrong.
    “What’s happening?” I asked a young woman as she passed, hauling a child under one arm.
    She didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to. The tent I was to share with Aren sat far enough from the fire pit that though the music had been overwhelmingly audible, the only light in the tent had come from the oil lanterns set up on the roughly sketched street outside. The bonfire now flared high enough that it lit the area, and when I squinted toward it, I caught a glimpse of flames licking at tree branches.
    I ducked back into the tent and stuffed everything I had so carefully unpacked back into my bag.
    Someone cheered as the light faded, and the crowd responded with happier shouts. I didn’t bother stopping anyone this time as they passed by, but stepped out and headed toward the fire pit. When the crowd became too dense to pass through, I climbed into the lower branches of an accommodating old oak to get a better view. Ulric stood to the left of the fire pit, shaking hands with the people who crowded around him.
    Aren was nowhere to be seen, nor were any of my friends.
    I supposed I couldn’t count Ulric among that group anymore.
    Stop it, I ordered myself as I went back to the tent to unpack again. A ren told you exactly what his father was. How he used people, how cold he could be. Well, he used you to escape, and it worked, and now it’s Aren’s turn. It’s not personal.
    But it was. I’d known the sting of rejection before. I’d felt it first when my parents sent me to live with my aunt and uncle, rarely visiting. Victoria and Ches and their servants had done much to help with that, and I’d moved past the pain and learned to thrive at Stone Ridge. But lately it seemed everyone was turning on me. Callum, who I’d once planned to marry, had lured me back to Darmid and imprisonment. Felicia, my dearest friend, had offered to shelter me and had instead turned me in. And now Ulric, who had comforted me after my death sentence and had taught me to control my magic, apparently wished I’d just disappear.
    Well, I won’t.
    I finished re-arranging blankets on top of a pair of large, flat crates and considered climbing into bed. I could have gone back to the party. Judging by the resumed music and hearty laughter, it was going on like nothing had happened. But I’d had a long afternoon of failed attempts at making friends, I’d made the leather-and-dirt scented tent feel as comfortable as I could, and I was ready to rest. I had no desire to dance or mingle, or to see Laelana leaning in too close when she spoke to Aren, resting her hands on his arm and laughing deep in her throat.
    And sleep would make for such a lovely respite from the world. Ever since our escape from Ardare I’d felt off. Flat, somehow, and far more exhausted than I should have. The return to Tyrea and its magic had improved my mood and allowed me time to recover, and I was grateful to be back with Aren and our friends. Still, I felt myself slipping.
    I just didn’t know into what.
    That afternoon, I’d tried to use my magic to call water at the lake.