“He has dedicated his life to studying them and their impact on Vamala. Together, we decided to travel here, to visit their—”
“It is unfortunate, but you have made a mistake.” All pretense at welcoming him withered under the ice in Mother’s voice when she cut in.
Halvor stuttered to a stop. “No … I, ah … I’m quite certain this is their—”
“And now you must go.” Mother’s gaze turned flinty when it flashed to meet mine, skipped right over Inara, who had watched the entire exchange silently, to land back on Halvor. She grabbed him by the bicep and using every bit of strength in her tiny body—which I’d learned more than once was surprisingly considerable—began to drag him away from us, back to the courtyard.
“I apologize if I have said or done something to alarm you, but I assure you I mean only to study the Paladin’s citadel. I mean it—and you—no harm!” Halvor protested, even as he allowed himself to be pulled away. Though he did throw a pleading glance over his shoulder.
“No need to apologize. You are leaving. Now.” Mother’s voice carried on the parched breeze as she marched him away from us.
“What’s happening? Who is that?” Inara’s voice was very small, unsure. I was losing her.
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully, deliberating my options. I hated to lose any time with Inara, not knowing when I’d get more. But, acting on an impulse I didn’t fully understand and wasn’t sure was wise, I added, “Stay here,” and hurried after them. I’d told him to leave as well, only moments before, but the hint of desperation when he’d said he only wanted to study the citadel had unexpectedly struck a chord deep within me. A scholar who meant us no harm … who also happened to be an expert on the Paladin … and Mother was dragging him out of my life before I’d even realized I didn’t actually want him to go.
Mother didn’t even glance back, practically breaking into a run in her desperation to be rid of him as quickly as possible.
Who was this Halvor Roskery and why had he come in search of the citadel, when nearly all of Vamala had seemingly forgotten what the Paladin had done for them, and over the years had grown to fear them and the power they wielded? Fear, left to fester, turned to hatred, and according to Sami, that certainly was true when it came to the legends of the Paladin.
But not to Halvor. He’d been more than eager to come here. He believed Inara to be a full Paladin and rather than fear or loathing, I’d never seen such excitement on a person’s face before.
For some unfathomable reason, the hedge had allowed him through; Mother had forced me to spend my life preparing for the day this very thing happened. And now she was making him leave?
Heat rose from the baked soil in unbearable waves, the dry earth stirred up into eddies of dust by their unrelenting charge toward the hedge and the gate still visible between the greenery. No matter the weather—drought or floods, heat or cold—the hedge never faltered, never wilted, never grew. The wall of greenery hid thorns as long and sharp as fangs that ran along every inch of the branches and vines beneath the lush leaves. Anyone intending to try and pass through it quickly learned of the threat beneath the beauty. An elegant, deadly prison warden.
The dark iron of the intricately wrought gate was a deep shadow cutting through the blinding glare of the unfaltering afternoon sun. Still visible—still accessible. Mother quickened her pace, and for the first time, I noticed Halvor resist her ever so slightly.
“Please, Madam, if you’ll only allow me to explain—”
His voice carried over his shoulder, a whisper of words that I barely caught as I rushed to reach them before he was gone forever. But she jerked his arm forward, pulling harder than ever.
“Mother, wait!”
She flinched at the sound of my voice, but ignored me, doggedly pressing onward, almost at a run now, as if fearing the hedge would close over at any moment. I broke into a sprint—to do what, I wasn’t sure. I only knew I had to stop her, had to stop him, before he was gone forever. She’d spent years forcing me to sew and prepare and plan for a wedding that I’d believed impossible; and now the first time a boy was allowed past the hedge, she was throwing him out because he’d dared speak of the Paladin, without even giving him a chance. Had it all been a lie, then? A clever ruse intended merely to keep me busy?
How did she intend to force him out, though, I wondered? If she had to drag him all the way to the gate, the hedge would surely block his exit, as it had never allowed her to leave. I could only hope that remained true and then the hedge I’d hated for so long would become my unwitting ally, buying me the time I suddenly wanted.
But they hadn’t come close enough to be the cause when the hedge suddenly moved, rushing to close over the gate, hundreds of leafy, thorn-covered vines spreading across the dark iron like a stain, an otherworldly emerald blood blooming across the only view I’d ever had of the path leading to our home—and the older gentleman charging up it toward us.
“You there! What are you doing with my pupil?”
“Master Barloc! I’m sorry, I had to go ahead—”
The older man—Master Barloc—and Halvor spoke simultaneously, but it was too late. I’d no sooner made out the craggy features of the other man’s face; the squint to his eyes, as if he’d spent too long reading books in low light; the gray-streaked hair he had tied back at the nape of his neck; his surprisingly wide shoulders underneath a dusty traveling cloak; when the hedge closed him out—and all of us back in.
Including Halvor Roskery.
FOUR
“No!”
If the hedge had been capable of fear, surely my mother’s bellow of rage would have forced it to shudder and retreat. Instead, it resolutely stayed shut, blocking off Halvor’s exit.
I stared at Mother’s back, at her white-knuckled grip on Halvor’s arm, and then the impenetrable wall of green beyond them. Had she gone too close to the gate—or was it because of the gentleman on the other side, refusing him entry?
“What have you done? What sorcery is this?” The older man—Master Barloc’s—shout reverberated through our stunned silence; the hedge could block his body, but not his voice. “I demand the release of my pupil at once!”
“We did nothing. Your pupil is the one who trespassed.”
Master Barloc, perhaps encouraged by the barrier, ignored Mother’s unmistakable wrath and blustered, “He did no such thing. Halvor merely came to investigate what has long been told to be an abandoned property—”
“This is our home—”
“—and has unwittingly been taken hostage!”
“Hostage?” The word burbled out of my mother’s throat as if she were choking on her own incredulity.
“I didn’t see her do anything to control it,” Halvor called out, though he sounded more than a little alarmed at the wall of green that had cut off his exit. “She seems as upset by it as you are!”
“What is going on?”
I spun to see Inara hesitantly moving toward us, her eyes wide and bright—too bright. We were going to lose her again at any moment.
“If this is truly your home, I demand you remove this—this abomination and let me in at once!”