Page 86 of Daemon Master

Elana, for her part, appeared shocked into silence.

“There, you see?” Leda declared triumphantly. “The girl admits it herself! Surely, you realize now I was right. These outsiders are nothing but trouble. Let us be rid of them, once and for all!”

Seymour bristled beside Adrian, but he motioned the watcher to silence. Standing up for themselves would only make things worse. Their fate lay in Elana’s hands. Hers…and her daughter’s.

“It’s not like that!” Freya protested. Squaring her shoulders, she raised her voice so the other gathered villagers could hear. “All Adrian and Seymour have ever done is try to help us. By now, most of you have spoken with them yourselves. You know as well as I do that they are good people who have offered us nothing but the truth.”

“The truth?” Leda said disbelievingly.

Freya gave a firm nod. “Yes, thetruth, whether we’ve wanted to hear it or not. What we do with that truth is up to us, and I, for one, intend to do everything I can to help them in return.” Her voice turned imploring as she faced Elana. “Please, mother, you have to understand.”

Elana still didn’t say a word. She kept her face an unreadable mask. The only sign of anything amiss were the deep wrinkles between her eyes. Tension gripped Adrian. If she turned againstthem or even just refused to defend them, it was clear which way the winds would blow.

Perhaps sensing she had the upper hand, Leda smirked even as she shook her head sadly. “Oh, she understands all right. She understands how you gave into temptation and became the very thing we fled to avoid. But it’s not too late.” She turned toward Elana. “If we banish these interlopers, we can excise the corruption before it spreads and—”

“If you banish them, you’ll have to banish me too!” Freya strode to stand beside Adrian and Seymour with her arms crossed and a defiant set to her jaw.

Adrian leaned into her. “You don’t have to do this,” he murmured. “We’ll be all right.”

“I’m not doing it for you,” she said. “Or, at least, notonlyfor you. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”

An expectant silence settled over the crowd while Elana studied her daughter with that same unreadable expression. When she rapped her staff hard on the ground, Adrian jumped at the sudden sound. Seymour rolled his eyes.

“Enough,” Elana said, her voice weary. “Freya, come with me. We have much to discuss.” Her eyes flicked to Adrian and Seymour, her expression softening. “I assume we have you to thank for resolving the initial incident here?”

Adrian cleared his throat. “I, uh, I suppose so, yes.”

Elana nodded as if she’d expected as much. “Then, I imagine you’d like to get some rest. No doubt we’ll have time to talk again ahead of our upcoming meeting.” She turned to leave, Freya trailing after her with her head bowed.

“Have you lost your mind!” Leda screeched. “You can’t honestly plan to ignore this…thistravesty! That’d be akin to endorsing daemon bonding!”

Elana paused. Without looking back, she said, loud enough for her voice to carry, “I know not all of you approve of the true bondor would wish to adopt it yourselves. And I ask that, if youareinterested, you hold off until we can discuss how best to move forward as a community.”

She took a deep breath, her shoulders tensing. Adrian found himself holding his own breath, his skin tingling with anticipation for her next words.

“However,” she continued, “I have seen enough to acknowledge the truth of Seymour and Adrian’s claims, and I find myself agreeing with my daughter on their virtues. Perhaps…perhaps we can find a place for their true bond among us after all.”

Beside him, Seymour went rigid. Adrian could hardly believe his ears. A giddiness he hadn’t felt since…well, maybe since before his parents had died bubbled within him. It wasn’t quite a complete endorsement—Elana hadn’t even confirmed whether or not they’d be allowed to stay. But it certainly seemed like a promising sign. Perhaps all their plans would work out after all.

“You are no sister of mine,”Leda hissed. With one last withering glare directed at Seymour and him, she turned on her heel and stormed off, vanishing into the stunned crowd.

twenty

Revelations

Adrian awoke the dayafter Ghosttear’s partial meltdown with a tight knot of anxiety squeezing his throat. Sure, Elana had given them the benefit of the doubt. But how would the rest of the Enclave react to news of Freya’s bond? Would they respond with curiosity, or with fear and loathing as Leda had? Had Seymour and he lost whatever fledgling progress they’d made?

Groaning, he forced himself to rise and go about his usual morning routine. Hiding in their hut wouldn’t solve anything. He found Seymour already outside, overseeing a training exercise between Tremorfist and Shadowlash. No direct combat, thank the spirits—the last thing people needed to see after yesterday was daemon-on-daemon violence.

Seymour eyed him as he approached. “You all right?”

“Fine,” Adrian muttered, running a hand through his tangled hair.

“Really?” Seymour turned back to his daemons. “Because you seem as nervous as a watcher recruit on their first assignment.”

Adrian took a moment to answer, scanning the ring of stones and logs that had become the impromptu meeting spot for their morning discussions. “Where’s Freya?”

Seymour shrugged. “Not here.”