Page 7 of The Light Between Worlds

Cervus leaves my side and stands beside my sister. Venndarien falters beneath the combined force of their stares.

“They come from elsewhere,” Cervus says. “They were born beyond this world, just as the first of your Tarsin line were.”

Whispers ripple between the Imperial soldiers, like the sound of an uncertain breeze. They are all alike, as paper white as their leader, with the same balefire gleaming in their eyes.

Venndarien stiffens. “Impossible. No one has walked between the worlds since my forefathers first came to this place from Heraklea and founded the fledgling Empire.”

Cervus shakes his great head. “I assure you, I speak the truth.”

“Bastion, a dagger,” Venndarien snaps. One of the lackeys behind him hurries away to the horses and returns bearing a knife set withcrimson gems. “Which of these pretenders will offer up blood, to prove that it still calls to another world?”

Jamie steps forward at once, before Philippa or I can even consider it. He doesn’t flinch as Venndarien pulls the dagger across his palm. When Jamie’s blood drops to the clearing’s green-clad floor, a cloud of smoke rises from where it fell. The whispers coming from the Tarsin delegation grow to a dull murmur.

“And yet you deny a Guardian’s power,” Cervus says quietly.

Venndarien scoffs. “There must be some trickery or witchcraft at play here.”

Philippa holds out her hand. Even at thirteen, it never takes her long to find a way to master a bad situation. “There is no lie in what Cervus says. Test my blood. Test my sister’s. You will find another world singing through the veins of all three of us.”

“And you mean to stay in the Great Wood?” Venndarien asks in disbelief.

Jamie, Philippa, and I nod in unison.

The Tarsin heir’s eyes narrow. “Do you know what we could offer you in the Empire? Lands. Titles. Riches beyond compare. And more than that—safety. Come with me, and give Tarsa the secrets of your world. Leave this little forest, and I will show you wonders.”

Philippa swallows, but Jamie’s mouth twists. “No fear of that. We may be from elsewhere, but we know what a devil’s bargain looks like.”

Venndarien scowls. Before he can speak, Cervus cuts him off.

“Kneel, children,” the stag commands.

Philippa, Jamie, and I look at each other. There’s a tightness in my chest and my brother and sister seem uncertain, but I turn to Cervus. He’s waiting expectantly, his wild face a careful blank, and somethingin me still calls to him just as it did a world ago in the midst of all that darkness and panic. When I drop to my knees, he lowers his head almost imperceptibly.

Philippa and Jamie do as I’ve done. From her place in the middle, Phil slips her hands into both of ours and squeezes.

Cervus speaks the words of an oath, but never looks down. He stares past us, at the Tarsin heir. “Children from another world, do you swear to serve the people of the Great Wood faithfully for as long as you remain here?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you swear to withstand the enemies of the Great Wood in whatever way will safeguard its people best?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And do you swear to hear your fellow Woodlanders, holding their thoughts and words in the same high regard you would your own?”

Cervus’s stare is all but a weapon, and I don’t know how Venndarien can possibly hold up beneath it.

“Yes, sir,” I murmur, in concert with my brother and sister.

“Then as Guardian of the Great Wood, I bind you to our cause. Rise, and face our people.”

We stand and turn. The gathered Woodlanders are absolutely silent. They watch us without moving, their faces unreadable. But Venndarien Tarsin’s thoughts are etched clear in every angry line of him.

Two weeks in the Great Wood, and we’ve already made an enemy.

5

THE DORMITORY AT ST. AGATHA’S IS A BEEHIVE OFactivity. Girls buzz every which way, shouting names and laughing. Suitcases make a minefield of the hall and when I step into the room that’s been mine since I first arrived here six years ago, Georgie’s already sitting on her bed.