Promising Light by Emily Ann Ward

Grace’s
disappearance?”
    “Yes,” Dar said, catching his
breath. “Perhaps you could tell me more of the snake
bite.”
    Prince William motioned to the left
about ten feet away, where a heavyset woman sat on theside of the
road, drinking water. “She woke up half an hour ago. We’re not sure
if the bite has any lasting effects.”
    “May I?” Dar asked.
    Prince William nodded stiffly. Dar
walked over to the woman and said, “Ma’am?”
    “Yes?” the woman said. Her pallor
was slightly yellow, and she clutched the water skin, her knuckles
white.
    “Are you Thurma? Were you with
Lady Grace before she disappeared?”
    Thurma nodded.
    “Can you tell me what
happened?”
    “Well, she was relieving herself,
and I saw a snake,” Thurma said, her accent thick. “A bright green
one, like I’d never seen before. I told her to be still, but she
stepped back, and the snake bit me, and when I woke up, they said
she was gone.” She let out a shuddering breath. “I don’t know what
happened, everything just got fuzzy, and I heard Lady Grace
screaming before I went unconscious.”
    Dar clenched his teeth, reminding
himself they wouldn’t hurt her. He crouched down on his haunches.
“Where did it bite you?”
    Thurma showed him the bite on her
shoulder. “It moved so fast.” She had two small bite marks, but the
skin wasn’t red or swollen.
    “The bite was probably just to
stun you,” he said. “Not poisonous, so you should be fine. I’ve
seen those snakes before. Their venom only disables prey for a
short while.”
    Thurma nodded, letting out a
breath.
    Dar could tell she didn’t believe
him. “You heard Lady Grace screaming? Did you hear anything
else?”
    She slowly shook her head. “No,
nothing else. I’m sorry.”
    He stood and returned to the
prince. “It was probably an Avialie.”
    “Why do you think so?” Prince
William asked, his voice tight.
    “It wasn’t a poisonous bite.” Dar
gazed into the forest, trying to figure out how far they may have
gotten with Grace. “Nonpoisonous snakes are rare in this area. It’s
a little too convenient that the snake bit at the same time Lady
Grace disappeared.”
    “I thought so, too.” A man had
joined them. Dar had seen him before around the castle. He was lean
with a pale pallor and thinning brown hair.
    “Dar, this is my advisor, Lesado,”
the prince said. “He knows most of your family.”
    “Unfortunately,” Lesado said. He
glared at Dar, perhaps searching for a flicker of anger, but Dar
kept his expression blank. Lesado cleared his throat and asked, “Do
you think Lady Grace is the one to break the curse?”
    Dar rolled his eyes. “No. But if my
family has her because they think so, they’ll keep her safe.” He
paused. “They may even send for me.”
    Prince William raised his eyebrows
and crossed his arms. “You think so?”
    “They must have known about our
relationship from somewhere,” Dar said. “So, they’ll try to match
us since they think it will make it easier for Grace to accept
it.”
    “You seem to know a lot about
this,” William said, his voice low.
    “I saw it happen with Sierra and
Sashe. Lady Grace isn’t in any danger right now.” Dar glanced at
Lesado. “Except for when it comes to the Protectors.”
    William turned to Lesado, his
steely expression flickering with, perhaps, worry. “Are the
Protectors going to hurt her?” he asked. Dar had never considered
the possibility that the prince might actually care for Grace. He
wasn’t sure how to feel about that, wasn’t sure whether it was
better or worse than a political move to please the
general.
    “Of course not, your Highness,”
Lesado said in a calm voice. “Lady Grace is an innocent noble
kidnapped by savages. If the Protectors had reason to believe she
may be aiding the Avialies, however… we may have to do something.
But even with the situation two years ago, we left the two women
alive.”
    Dar scoffed. “Barely. Sashe was
bedridden for