Kol squeezes my hand, and I can see by the concern in his eyes that he saw Lees, too. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I have to go after her.” I slip my hand out of Kol’s grip and hurry away.
The path to camp is empty. I walk all the way to the ring of huts alone. Lees must have moved fast. I creep along the outside edge of the huts, crouching low in what little shade they throw. I know the Manu must suspect that betrothals are being discussed today, and I don’t want to raise any questions by being seen alone. So I stay out of sight and consider where I might find my sister.
I head first to the hut of Kol’s family, but the door hangs still and everything’s silent. Standing outside my own hut—the hut Kol and Pek built on our family’s first visit so we would always feel welcome in this camp—I hear the shuffle of feet from inside. I slide through the door, expecting to find my sister and Roon.
Instead, I find myself face-to-face with Morsk. He must have followed right behind me when I left the beach. And like me, he took care not to be seen.
There’s something disconcerting about his uninvited presence here in this private space, but I refuse to let him see my unease. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but if you’re looking for Lees, I’m quite sure she doesn’t want to see you.”
Morsk replies with a quizzical smirk. He runs a hand through his hair in a disarmingly shy way. Under different circumstances, I might concede that Morsk is handsome, but as my brother’s conspirator in a plot to control my sister’s life, I see nothing attractive about him at all. Any charms he might possess are as alluring as venom.
“I’m not looking for your little sister,” he says. “I’m looking for you.”
“Me?” I take a step back. Morsk is broad across the shoulders, and all at once he seems to fill the room. “Why are you looking for me?”
“I have a proposition for you.”
I take another step back, but Morsk takes two steps closer, coming within arm’s reach. I draw in a deep breath and remind myself that he’s close enough to kick in the groin. “Which is?”
“I know you don’t want Lees to be forced to marry me. And I don’t either, actually. I’d much rather have you.”
Sometimes when I’m startled, my head fills with a buzzing sound that drowns out the world. But not now, not this time. Instead, a stark silence stretches between me and Morsk, a silence wide and glaring like a field of deep snow. The only sound that breaks through is the sound of Morsk’s exhaled breath as he takes a half step toward me.
I let the point of the spear I hold at my side angle toward his chest, not as a threat, but as a reminder to myself that I am safe. He can’t control me. Not Morsk, not even my brother. Thoughts tumble and fall in disorder in my mind. “I thought you didn’t like me,” I say.
He smiles, but his smile is for himself, not me. “I didn’t think I did. But when we crossed paths with the Manu again, I changed my mind about you. I realized I didn’t want a girl like Seeri after all—a girl who would fall right into the open arms of a Manu boy. I wanted someone with enough nerve to resist the clan that killed her mother. I saw the way you rejected Kol, the way you refused to accept a man who I myself find quite unacceptable. I saw the way you fought to protect your people when Lo and her clan attacked.
“Your brother wants one of his sisters to carry on the Olen High Elder line, but it doesn’t have to be Lees. Lees is safe—you can make sure of it. With one word, you can save Lees from her betrothal to me. All you have to do is take her place.”
SEVEN
“But I’m already betrothed,” I say, planting my spear in the space between me and Morsk so that the point hovers right in front of his face.
“Betrothals can be broken.”
He’s right, of course. “Yes. They can, and yours to Lees will be broken. But mine to Kol will not. You and my brother may think that you can manipulate my life and the lives of my sisters, but you will learn that you are wrong.”
I don’t wait for Morsk’s reaction, but I think I see a hint of self-doubt in his eye as I jostle past him and push my way through the door. My pulse pounds so hard in my ears my steps fall out of rhythm as I turn and hurry back down the trail to the beach.
Halfway there, at a spot where the trees grow crowded together thick enough to create some patchy shade, I hear something moving. I slow my steps, and from the corner of my eyes I see a shadow slide between darker shadows. Someone steps out onto the trail right in front of me. My pulse quickens even more, and I flinch back.
But it’s Kol.
He smiles. “Did I scare you? I’m sorry.”
“You scared me on purpose,” I say, but my tone comes out teasing. He can’t tell that the tremor in my voice is left over from my encounter with Morsk.
For a moment, I consider telling Kol what happened. After all, it concerns our betrothal, so it concerns us both. But then I bite my lip and keep the words inside. I don’t want to talk about Morsk right now.
Kol looks down, his dark hair sweeps forward like the door of a hut, and I can no longer see his eyes. “You’re right,” he says, still keeping his gaze on the ground. “I shouldn’t play like that with you, at least not right now. I know you’re upset about Lees.”
He looks up, flipping the hair from his eyes, and one corner of his mouth hitches up. “I was just happy to have one brief moment with you alone, I guess—”
“We were alone last night—”
“That’s true, but it’s different now.” Kol steps closer to me—close enough that I feel his breath on my ear when he speaks. “Now we’re betrothed.” Kol lets this last word roll on his tongue, as if he’s tasting it. A shiver runs down my spine, and I want to pull him into my arms. “But this isn’t a time for play,” he continues, taking a half step back. “Did you find her? Is she okay?”
The memory of Morsk’s smirk presses on my chest like a weight. His words—All you have to do is take her place—tumble inside me like falling rocks, hammering it down. The weight is so heavy I feel like I can barely breathe—like my lungs can’t lift to fill—and I marvel that Kol can’t see how I’m struggling.
But he does see. He just misunderstands. “Mya, what is it? What’s wrong with Lees?”
“I couldn’t find her,” I say. “I’m sure she’s found Roon. At least for now, I’m sure she’s fine.”
This thought of Lees and Roon together is so airy and light, it sweeps some of the heaviness from my chest. My hand moves to the pattern on my tunic, and I feel it rise and fall with my breath.
Kol’s gaze moves to my hand. A question lights in his eyes for just a moment, and then he reaches for me.