Copyright © 2009 Irene L. Pynn
All rights reserved, Wild Child Publishing.
"Am I in danger, Vul?"
Her whole body moved as she nodded. "Yes."
"Does that put Caer in danger too?"
Vul sniffed. "Yes."
Eref let go of Vul's hands and reached out for her face. He found it at his chest level. He wiped little tears off of her fuzzy cheeks, and she sniffled.
"Please help," he said. "Caer saved me, and now she's in trouble for it. Tell us what you know about the guards. How can we escape them? Where can I go to be safe without bringing you any more trouble?"
"I...I don't know much," she said.
"Vul," Caer said from behind them. Eref hadn't forgotten she was there. He had given Vul his full attention but had felt Caer's eyes on him the whole time.
"Caer," Vul said. "I'm sorry. I was so scared when I saw him here. I didn't know what to think."
Caer stepped in front of Eref and embraced Vul. "It's fine. Just please help us."
"The guards are everywhere. All over Dark World. I heard they're setting up mostly at the Shade and the Pyre."
Eref stood next to Caer and tried to face Vul. He knew he wasn't meeting her eyes and felt self-conscious. At a time like this, he wanted to be confident and in control. Instead, he felt like a cripple.
"What's the Shade?"
Caer answered. "It's the heart of our world. A huge tree with great roots. Everything happens at the Shade. Our Governors live there. We go there to worship. It has a hospital for the sick. We're given lessons in the Shade, too, up until we turn eighteen. Then we go there for our Eighteener Entrance."
"In Light World," Eref said, "we have a place like that. It's called the Center. Our Governors live there, and our Eighteener Entrance is held there too. But it has roads that lead to everything else, like our hospital and our school."
"Then you can see why they've put so many guards at The Shade," Vul said. "It's the most important place in our world. They feel they need to protect it from...."
"From me."
"Yes."
"And there are guards at the Pyre?"
"Yes, but not as many."
"That's where I found Eref," Caer said.
"The opening to my world is above the Pyre," he said. "That means your execution area is right below ours."
Vul's voice grew tense. "What were you doing at the execution area of your world?"
Caer touched Eref's side, and he knew to let her talk.
"He could see past their lies, Vul."
"They were putting him to death?"
"Well--"
"You're a criminal?"