Promising Hope (9 page)

Quietly, she left the room and walked towards the
kitchens. Her stomach growled as she thought of the feast last
night. She’d do anything for some more seared tuna.

The kitchens were empty, and she looked around at the
cabinets and drawers. The room was expansive; each wall was lined
with shelves and crates. A mixture of smells wafted through the
air: fish, bread, fruit. On one hand, she was happy not to have
anyone wait on her. On the other, she had no idea where anything
was.

After rummaging for a few moments, she had a bundle
of food from last night: a loaf of bread, a bundle of grapes, and
some dried fish. She turned, meaning to go back upstairs, but she
jumped when she saw Lisbeth in the doorway.

“Lisbeth, I didn’t hear you,” Sierra said as she dove
for a couple grapes before they fall on the floor.

Lisbeth smiled. “I’m sorry.”

Sierra shrugged. She hadn’t been alone with Lisbeth
in quite some time. She cleared her throat. “I should go back
upstairs. I’m starving.”

“We all slept in this morning,” Lisbeth said, moving
out of the doorway. “Jeshro wants to call a meeting as soon as
everyone stirs. Perhaps after lunch.”

“Oh, yes?” Sierra’s face warmed. “Has he considered
what I said last night?”

“Yes.” Lisbeth’s smile could have been condescending,
but maybe that was merely Sierra’s interpretation. “We both want
Grace and Dar safe. It’s a good idea. We should try to get them
sooner rather than later.”

“We should,” Sierra said, grateful for her agreement.
“We definitely should. Evan and I will eat breakfast, then we’ll
come back downstairs.”

She nodded to Lisbeth then ducked out of the kitchen.
At least Sierra’s tipsy behavior hadn’t turned Lisbeth off the
idea. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have mattered. She’d push at the
meeting as hard as she could.

Evan was still asleep when Sierra returned to the
room. He looked peaceful; Sierra touched his forehead softly before
returning to the food at the desk. She didn’t remember Evan having
any nightmares last night. Maybe the alcohol had helped.

She ate quietly, but after a few minutes, she decided
to wake him up. “Evan,” she called from her seat. “Evan, wake
up.”

He stirred, mumbling to himself.

She stood up and shook his shoulder softly. He woke
up, blinking up at her groggily. “What is it?” he groaned.

“It’s time to wake up.”

“Don’t speak so loudly,” Evan said, touching his
forehead.

Sierra smiled. “Have some food. It makes it
better.”

Evan stumbled out of bed and washed his face. “That’s
the best sleep I’ve had in years,” he said as he dried off his
hands.

“Good. You deserve one.”

He flopped down in the chair next to her and grabbed
a piece of bread. “I wonder when we’re leaving to find
Gregorio.”

Sierra tensed. “Did you hear what I proposed to
Jeshro?”

“No.” He gave her a wary look.

“We convene a meeting with the Protectors,” Sierra
said, brushing crumbs off of her fingers. “It’ll be a good time to
see where we stand with them, but ultimately it’ll be a
distraction. We can rescue Grace, Dar, Vin, and Amina while it’s
happening.”

Evan studied her appraisingly. “What if they aren’t
in the same place?”

“We’ll have to send a few scouts beforehand. Jeshro
seemed fond of the idea, but I made a pretty big fool of myself
last night when I proposed it to him.”

“How so?”

“Well, it was sometime after I fell over from
spinning so much,” Sierra said, “so I definitely wasn’t my
best.”

Evan laughed. His smile was bright and pure, and she
wanted to capture the moment forever. Hide it in her memory to take
out and cherish whenever she needed to. “What did he say?”

“He seemed to approve, but he didn’t want to talk
about it. Lisbeth said he wanted to have a meeting about it
today.”

“It’s a good idea, Sierra.” He squeezed her knee. “It
just might work, if they played it right.”

She touched his hand. “I was hoping you’d help
us.”

Evan frowned. “I thought we already talked about
this.”

“I think the men who are going to go after Gregorio
should help,” she said carefully.

He huffed, standing up. “This is a ploy, isn’t it? To
keep me here.”

Sierra gritted her teeth. “No, it’s not. It’s a plan
to get those who were kidnapped by the Protectors.”

“Why can’t you let me leave?”

“You will leave! As soon as Grace and Dar are back
here.” She stood up. “You and the other men are valuable. You’re
the ones who could break them free while we’re in the meeting.”

“Why would you be in the meeting?” Evan scoffed.

Clenching her hands into fists, Sierra took a few
deep breaths before responding. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t want to help them. You keep saying you’re
not an Avialie.” Evan lifted his shirt over his head and threw it
onto the bed. His body was gaining weight, his muscles slowly
returning as he worked out and ate much more food than the
Protectors had ever given him. Sierra was glad of it, but why was
he being so harsh to her?

“I’m going to the meeting because I have a say in
what happens to the Avialies now,” she said. “Jeshro respects my
opinion.”

Evan shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it.”

“Then what is it, Evan?” She crossed her arms,
glaring at him.

He shrugged. “He’s probably just afraid of what the
others would do if he left you out.”

“What—why are you acting like this?”

He stormed into the bathroom, and she followed
him.

“I’m talking to you!”

“You’re yelling at me!” Evan said, turning on
her.

“Evan, I’m not trying to keep you here.” She forced
her voice to stay at a reasonable volume. “I need you to help me
with this rescue attempt. Without you or the other men, we couldn’t
do it. It’ll only delay the trip a few days—”

“We have to wait for the spy first,” Evan said as he
stripped off his pants. “Then we have to go there, then we have to
bring them back—”

“It’s not going to take as long as you think.” Sierra
glanced towards the bath. “That water’s cold.”

“I don’t care,” he shot at her. “It’ll take too
long.”

What did he want from her? She shrugged. “Well, we’ll
just have to see what happens in the meeting.” She turned and left,
shutting the bathroom door behind her. She closed her eyes and took
a deep breath.

She went back to the desk and munched on a few
grapes. Why was he so angry? He really thought this was a plan for
her to keep him here. She had to make it clear it wasn’t. She had
to let him know she supported his decision to go after Gregorio,
even if she didn’t like it.

When they went to the meeting an hour later, they’d
exchanged little words. Sierra stopped Evan before he entered the
meeting room, taking his arm. “Evan,” she said softly, “I need you
to support me on this.”

His jaw tightened. “I needed your support with
Gregorio—”

“Look, it’s one week, two at the most,” Sierra said.
“We can ask about Gregorio during the meeting. We’ll have more
information. It’ll give you men more time to prepare. It’ll only
work if we have you and the other men.”

Evan paused, looking thoughtful.

She didn’t say what she was thinking, that in the end
it wouldn’t be his decision. She still needed his support.

“This isn’t about keeping me here?” he asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head, “I told you you can
go if you want. I’m not going to stop you.”

He took her hand, nodding. “Let’s go in.”

Inside the meeting room, the elders and the men who’d
signed up to capture Gregorio sat around the long table. Lee and
Matilda had also joined them. A warm breeze blew through the open
windows, stirring the plants in their pots.

“Welcome, Sierra and Evan,” Jeshro said. He had bags
under his eyes, and he stifled a yawn as Sierra and Evan sat
down.

“Thank you for calling this meeting,” Sierra
said.

“Of course.” Jeshro cleared his throat and stood up,
facing the table. “Here’s the proposition. We send a spy or two to
figure out where Grace, Dar, Vin, and Amina are. My guess is Grace
and Dar are at the palace. General Ellengreen will think it’s the
safest place for Grace, and the Protectors will want to keep Dar
close. Vin and Amina, I’m not as sure. Could be prison, could be
the dungeons, or they could be forced to help around the palace. Do
we have any information on their whereabouts?”

He glanced around the table, but no one responded,
merely shook their heads or glanced at each other. “I didn’t think
so. That’s why we have the spy. They communicate with us by Zinna,
and we move in on the pretense of having a meeting with the
Protectors. We can try to strike up a treaty, attempt to clear
charges, or what-have-you. While the Protectors are distracted with
the meeting, Adrian, Evan, and their men move in to rescue as many
of the four as they can. Hopefully all of them.”

Sierra let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d
been holding. He’d actually said it right. That had been her
proposal, and he was actually siding with her. She glanced around
the table to gage reactions.

“Would the Protectors believe we’re coming to arrange
a treaty?” Nilee asked, raising her eyebrows.

“I think so,” Jeshro said. “We’re in a weakened
position after the battle, and they know how much we all want to go
home.”

“But how long would this take?” Adrian asked. “Every
day Gregorio gets farther away from us.”

“Gregorio is probably with the Protectors,” Jeshro
said, “or at least protected by them.”

“We could ask about him during the meeting,” Sierra
suggested. “We probably won’t get much information, but it might be
something.”

It took time to convince Adrian. To her surprise,
Jeshro was continually on Sierra’s side. He thought it was more
important to try to get Grace and the others. He proposed that some
of Adrian’s men could leave on the quest for Gregorio while others
helped with the rescue. Sierra tensed, expecting Evan to jumped at
the opportunity to leave, but he calmly said he’d stay to go to the
palace.

They chose four men to go to the palace during the
meeting, including Evan, Caleb, and two Jolenian Avialies. Sierra
still wondered where the women were, but she knew it wasn’t the
right time to ask.

When they came to the topic of who would go ahead,
Matilda cleared her throat. “I’ll go,” she said.

Sierra smiled. She and Matilda would probably never
be friends, but she was slowly coming to trust the Cosa.

Jeshro paused, glancing around at the other elders.
“This is a big undertaking,” he told Matilda.

“I know,” she replied. “But I’m the strongest Cosa
here.”

“Did anyone see you at the battle in the jungle?” one
of the elders asked.

“I think so,” Matilda said, “so I’m not safe as
myself, but I can hide easily.”

Lisbeth leaned forward. “What if Angela went with
you?”

“Is she the Cosa and Zinna? She might be useful.”

“She could contact us, too, to tell us where they’re
keeping Grace and the others.”

“Where is she?”

Lisbeth glanced at Evan. “I’ll go get her.”

Sierra looked at Evan, raising her eyebrows, but he
seemed oblivious to Lisbeth’s glance.

“Are we sure we can trust you?” Caleb asked. He
leaned towards Matilda, studying her with his dark eyes.

Matilda gave him a dry look. “Really? You don’t trust
me after helping them traipse across three different countries
looking for the ancient texts?” She motioned towards Evan and
Sierra.

“We need to be sure.” Caleb pursed his lips.

“I don’t know what else I can do,” Matilda said. She
looked at Sierra, amused, and Sierra shrugged.

“I trust her,” Sierra announced.

“I do, too,” Evan said.

“So do I,” Jeshro added.

Matilda put a hand over her chest. “That’s truly
touching.”

“It’s not a joke,” Caleb sneered.

Matilda rolled her eyes.

Caleb was the only one who seemed to have a problem;
the others approved of Matilda and Angela. Lisbeth returned with
Angela.

They discussed tactics, pouring over maps, the worst
possibilities, the timeline. Sierra wished she could go herself,
but it would be hard enough for Matilda and Angela to keep
themselves hidden. The Protectors had found Angela at the Belisha
manor when they’d infiltrated back when Grace had first been
kidnapped, so they knew her allegiance. Sierra wanted to ask why
Angela was with the Avialies instead of her own family after the
meeting.

Once they finished, Angela and Matilda lingered in
the hall. Evan walked off with Mort, and Sierra joined the girls.
They fell silent when she joined them, and she wondered if she
interrupted something. “Thank you for going,” she said, “both of
you.”

“You’re welcome, mighty protector of the Avialies,”
Matilda said with a smirk.

Sierra gave her an annoyed look. “I didn’t mean it
like that.”

Matilda waved her hand. “I know. It’s kind of funny
how Jeshro passed this idea off as his own, though.”

“Did he?” Sierra thought back to the meeting, trying
to place a time when Jeshro credited the plan to her.

“He didn’t even mention you,” Matilda said, shaking
her head.

Sierra actually didn’t mind. As long as it was
getting done, she didn’t care who the men thought conceived the
rescue attempt. “How did you know it was my idea, then?”

“You told me last night.” Matilda peered at her,
grinning. “You don’t remember? You were complaining about how you
were so sure Jeshro thought you were an idiot because you were so
drunk.”

Sierra’s cheeks warmed. “Oh, no. I don’t remember
that.”

“You were quite tipsy,” Angela added.

“You noticed?” Sierra chuckled. “I don’t even
remember you being there last night.”