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“Your interruption is not smiled upon, Master and Mistress Grey. Return to your stations and wait as those around you are,” Dameon called out, narrow gaze fixed on both of us.
I could see that Auriol was mortified by the outburst. Her shoulders had raised, chin forced down to her chest as though she wished to disappear. But she could never disappear, not looking the way she did. The dress she wore was lace and the purest of white. I had only even seen design work so intricate on the spiderwebs in Tom’s bedroom ceiling. Her brunette hair was not backcombed and obnoxious but sleek and tumbling, like waves of rich chestnut rolling down her back. She did not need to paint on her beauty, for she was blessed with it in abundance.
I watched, helpless and pathetic, as she dusted off her embarrassment, faced Dameon and delivered a smile so beautiful that even the lines upon his face seemed to soften. “Apologies, Watcher Dameon. It would seem my brother is as excited as I am for the chance to change his fate. Let us hope our guardians pick one of us.”
“Yes,” Dameon replied, lips twitching. “Your family could do with some good fortune.” His comment felt like a slap.
There was no time to dwell as Auriol’s pink-blushed lips pulled into a tight line and she gestured to the space beside her. I could see the words form upon her lips. “Here. Now.”
Every eye within Tithe watched as I rushed to my place beside my sister. Dameon did not speak as I did so, allowing the muted whispers of those who watched as they burned at my soul.
“I can’t believe you are doing this,” Auriol said, body pinned straight at my side. She didn’t look at me as she spoke but faced towards the tree as Dameon started up once again. “There will never be enough words to express how upset you have made me.”
Iwas frantic, not caring for the scene I had caused, but only for the burning desire to get my sister as far away from the Choosing as possible. “I can’t let you go. Not with them.”
“Can’t or won’t? Do you wish for me to be miserable until the end of my days? Cooped up in a hideous home that’s haunted by the memories of everything we have lost?”
“You don’t understand…”
“No, Arlo, you are right. I don’t.”
A few of those near us pressed fingers to lips and sneered to silence us.
“If you go, then I will lose you.” Just speaking it aloud made my heart crack inside my chest. If you go, then everything I promised our parents, everything I do to stop the same sickness from taking me, will be for nothing.
My body was frozen as I screamed in my mind at her.
If you go, then there is no reason for me to stop fighting it. Leaving seals my fate, and I am not ready to face death yet.
I had wished to tell Auriol that I had the same sickness that stole our parents from us. For years, I had fought the urge to speak it aloud for fear of what it would do to her. To us. I had kept it buried, swallowing my words even when my will was weak.
But now, standing before the tree, which would soon ripple like water as the elves passed through from their realm, I desired to tell her more than ever.
Maybe she would understand.
Maybe she would stay.
Or perhaps it would only solidify her desire to run from me.
Auriol surprised me by taking my hand. Her fingers slipped within mine, skin warm and fingers trembling slightly. She gripped onto me like she did years ago, holding on as though she wouldn’t dare let go.
“Today is promised, but tomorrow is not. We both know far too well what can happen and I cannot just wait around in a life I am not happy in. Not anymore. Let me have this moment. Arlo, please listen to me.”
I bit down on the insides of my cheeks and glanced at her, fighting hard to keep the stinging tears at bay. “I am listening, always.”
“There is no saying I will be chosen by them, but I just want this moment to dream. If they leave and I am still here, then I promise you I will try to make better with the life we have been given. But please, just today, let me pretend.”
Pretend. That was what I had been doing this entire time. Pretending I was fine. Filling my body with the sickening gore of the undead to just pretend.
How could I deny her that?
“Okay,” I forced out, knowing it was still very much far from okay. “But I refuse to leave your side. I can’t and won’t leave you.”
As always, I could hear the smile in her voice without having to look at her. Auriol squeezed my hand, and I returned it with a squeeze of my own. “That is all I could have wanted. Oh, and about Tom... I told you he was an idiot.”
I almost spluttered a laugh. “That you did.”
There was a shift in the air. It thickened, like when a summer storm settled over the world, and the warm air crackled with lightning as the icy winds clashed against it. It laced a strange taste across my tongue, stifling any further words from spilling out from my mouth.
