Page 67 of Dawn of Hope
“What? No!” I splutter. “Why would you think that? I just met him.”
Her eyes bore into mine, like she’s trying to figure out if I’m telling the truth. “He was gone. For a long time. Then suddenly, he comes back, and he comes back with you. Were you sleeping with him back home, and came here to steal him and the elixir from all of us? Is that how you got him to bring you?”
“No, Mara, no. I’m not here for Dane. I’m here for my mom.” I didn’t even think about the words before they left my mouth.
Mara is the first person I’ve told that the reason I came to Dawnlin is my mother. Dane doesn’t even know, and he’s never asked. Maybe the Guardian can’t, or maybe he simply doesn’t need to know.
Mara hasn’t given me any reason to trust her. She hasn’t even really given me a reason to like her. But I did. Maybe giving her a glimpse of me will convince her I’m not here for the wrong reasons.
She doesn’t speak, she just stares at me, her eyes boring into me as she tries to decide if I am telling the truth.
“I’m not trying to steal anything from anyone. I just want to help my mother.”
She takes a step back and looks down at her feet, and a single tear runs down her cheek. She wipes it away angrily, as if the tear betrayed her.
“I can tell he likes you.”
I shrug. “Maybe. But that’s not why I’m here. I didn’t coerce him to bring me. I actually pulled a blade on him when he startled me at the fountain.”
I don’t want to talk about any feelings I may have toward Dane with her. Although, if this conversation is any indicator, she may have feelings for Dane, and I don’t know how long those feelings have been growing.
The corners of her lips rise a little before her face drops again. “I’m here for my mom, too. She was all I had. Is all I have. It was always just me and her.”
I stay quiet, watching another tear fall on her cheek. She doesn’t wipe this one away.
“It’s been…a long time. I keep looking every day, but deep down, I think she’s already gone. I didn’t want to give up, to give up on her. I thought that maybe if I found someone, I could just stay here. I don’t know if I could handle being home without her. She’d want me to be happy, right? I have nothing to go back to if she’s gone. I’ve been too afraid to have Dane take me back to check.”
My heart breaks for her. Everyone I’ve encountered on the island so far has such a tough exterior. They are so determined and strong. I realize now it is just to hide the pain they feel every day that they return unsuccessfully. Every day they are afraid of going home empty-handed with time wasted, to find out it was too late.
I don’t want that to be me. I want to succeed. I don’t know how I can differ from everyone else trying, but I want to be. I will do everything I can, use all my skills, and do my best to trust the island and not lose hope.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but thank you for telling me your story. I’m not trying to take anything from you. That’s not my goal here.” I pause, trying to decide if I really want to know the answer to the question. “Were you two ever together?”
“No, but I always hoped that one day he might finally see it.” She crosses an arm over her body and grips her elbow tightly. “And now hereyou are. You’re so beautiful. You couldn’t have just left Dane alone and chosen any of the suitors that I’m sure you had falling all over you at home?” There is a hint of humor in her voice, but I can tell she is still disappointed and discouraged.
I blush at the compliment. I’ve never had anyone call me beautiful that wasn’t preparing me for a ball, and it was usually Tila.
“Believe it or not, there aren’t suitors lined up at home for me. I’m pretty alone back home, too.”
She scoffs. “Yeah, sure. I believe that.”
We need to move forward, for both our sakes, instead of dwelling on possibilities and feelings. I can hear Edmond murmuring in the back of my mind, “Be diplomatic. Find a common goal.”
“Let’s not worry about that, or about Dane. I know we got off on the wrong foot, but maybe we can learn to work together? To trust each other? We both want to save our mothers. We have a better chance if we focus on that, not on how Dane feels.”
She eyes me, cautiously. “Do you actually know how to shoot that thing, or were you just lying to me?”
My change in subject tactic worked.
I pull the bow off my back and grab an arrow, nocking it and turning to point it at her. Fear flickers over her face before she schools her features again, trying not to portray any sort of weakness. I aim and release. The arrow flies past her head and slams into the trunk of a tree about fifty feet behind her. Dead center.
She lets out a breath as she spins around to look at the arrow, then turns back toward me.
I hang the bow over my body again and shrug. “Have I given you something not to trust me about yet?”
“I guess not,” she answers, looking back at the arrow. “Alright. But I promise you, as soon as you cross me, you’re done.”
I nod. “Agreed.”