Chosen by Marlena Frank

Author:Marlena Frank [Frank, Marlena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Parliament House

Colin insisted on going first as they stepped through the gap in the hedges and out into the open. The wind was still cold but had thankfully died down from earlier when her teeth had been chattering; Shaleigh shivered a little. After all the outrage and discussion inside the hedge wall, it was strange stepping out to the silence of the forest. It was dark, but the starlight and crescent moon provided enough light in the clear path down to the lake.

Together they walked down toward the lake, looking for the captain. Their footsteps sounded so loud in the quiet. Tall grasses along the edges of the path swayed in the wind and the crickets had even died down. There was a threatening electric energy to the air despite there being no clouds in the sky.

Shaleigh couldn’t shake the feeling that they were noticed. She looked around at the trees in the distance. These trees weren’t Pello Pines, but beyond them she knew the forest was full of them. “Stay close, Colin,” she said, keeping her voice low.

Colin glanced to her, slowing as he looked around. “I don’t hear any of them around. We should be safe here.”

She shuddered. “I guess I’m just on high alert right now.”

He gave a knowing smile. “It’s okay, we all are.”

As they neared the lake, she spotted the captain, who had made it down to a boulder near the lake, not too far from the bush where Shaleigh had once come onto shore. She was leaning her head and arm against it, staring down in the dirt––Shaleigh couldn’t tell if she was exhausted from her trip down, or if she was crying.

“Captain?” Shaleigh whispered, feeling the need to keep her voice down out of respect.

The captain jumped and turned toward them with fearful eyes. “What’s wrong?” her hand dropped to where her sword used to be on her hip, but she had no weapon.

Colin put out his hands. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “We just wanted to help. You were pretty badly injured, and we were worried you would get attacked out here.”

She gave a weak chuckle. “I’m pretty sure I would notice if a Pello Pine was sneaking up on me, but I appreciate your concern.”

The captain might notice out near the lake, since they were so far from the tree line, but Shaleigh knew there was no way she would be able to escape. She had seen how fast the Pello Pines could move, and how slowly the captain limped away earlier. Surely the captain knew that too.

As Captain Briar turned back to the water, Shaleigh could tell her cheeks were wet—she had been crying. Shaleigh couldn’t help but feel bad for the woman, brought so low when she had once been such a fierce and independent person. Someone who had her faults, her flaws, her prejudices, but had thought she was in the right. It had to be gut-wrenching to realize that she had truly been in the wrong.

Shaleigh understood that though. She had been there herself not too long ago.

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