The Poison Season(12)

She walked to the edge of the lakeshore, and for a moment Jaren was afraid she might actually walk into the water. But she paused at the edge, bending down to release something she held in her cupped hands.

He rose from the stump and made his own way to the water’s edge. He was directly across the lake from her, and it was easy to pretend that this clear blue water wasn’t full of poison, that the girl on the other shore was just an ordinary girl, like his sisters. She watched the object she’d released float for a few moments before it sank beneath the surface. She stood, smoothing her dress, and looked up.

Too late, Jaren realized he had left the safety of the trees. He was as exposed as the girl; there was no chance she didn’t see him. For a moment, the superstitions of the villagers pricked at his conscience. What if she started to sing? Would he be strong enough to resist?

He shook off the idea almost as fast as it struck him. Even if he wanted to go to Endla—and he truly had no desire to—there was no boat available for him to cross.

Besides, the girl wasn’t singing. She wasn’t doing anything but staring back. He couldn’t make out her features from this distance, and he doubted she could see his. They were just two ageless, faceless people, watching each other over a lake full of poison.

So when the girl raised her hand in a wave, Jaren figured there could be no harm in waving back.



Chapter Seven


Leelo left the festival before Sage. She had hoped after the ceremony she would feel different somehow, altered. That participating in these rites of passage would help her understand why things on Endla had to be this way. But she still felt like the same girl she’d always been. And she still couldn’t accept the fact that Tate was leaving.

She spotted a small white crocus that had fallen from a Watcher’s crown and saved it from being trampled by the dancers. Singing a quiet prayer for the first time in weeks, she carried it with reverence to the water’s edge, releasing it as she had the lily, this time as a symbol of her brother. But unlike the lilies, the crocus bud sank almost instantly, like a bad omen.

Leelo rose, wiping tears from her cheeks, and saw the man. He stood directly across the lake, watching her.

She thought about running. The closest village was across the lake on the other side of the island, so it was strange that he was here at all, and there was something about the idea of an outsider watching the ceremony that made her stomach turn. It was sacred to Endla.

But for some reason, she hesitated. He was younger than she’d first thought, perhaps a year or two older than Leelo, and beardless. She had keen eyesight, which Ketty had said would make her a good Watcher, but she couldn’t make out much of his features from here, other than his hair, which was a chestnut brown.

She didn’t realize she was waving to him until she saw his arm go up. She dropped her own instantly, a warm rush of blood flooding her cheeks, but she didn’t turn away. It wasn’t like he could hurt the Forest from there, anyway.

The man lowered his arm abruptly when something fell into the water close to his side of the shore. He looked up into the branches overarching the water, his mouth forming an O of surprise. Leelo wondered if a pinecone had dropped. But then she saw him peering into the water and realized a bird must have fallen from its nest.

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth, but the young man had already found a muddy branch on the shore and was attempting to rescue the creature, just as she had done with the swan.

He removed his coat and wrapped one hand in it before fishing the tiny chick from the water with the stick. He brought it to his face, probably examining it for signs of life, and looked up at her.

She knew it wasn’t possible from this distance, but she felt for one trembling moment that their eyes were meeting.

Unconsciously, she had taken a step forward, until her boots were dangerously close to the water. He shouted something and she stopped. He shook his head. The bird wouldn’t have survived the fall, let alone the water, and she certainly couldn’t help from here. The young man walked a little way into the woods and knelt in the dirt. It took her a moment to realize he was burying the hatchling.

“There you are!”

Leelo startled at the sound of Sage’s voice directly behind her.

“What are you doing?” her cousin asked, coming to stand next to her and squinting into the distance. Her brow was beaded with sweat from dancing. Leelo could feel the heat radiating from her body. “Is that an outsider?”

Leelo blushed again, this time in shame. “Yes.”

“What is he doing?” Sage started to turn. “We should tell our mothers.”

“No,” Leelo blurted, grabbing her cousin’s arm. “Don’t.”

Sage’s expression warped from curiosity to suspicion. “Why not?”

Leelo found herself scrambling for an excuse before she could even ask herself why. “What’s the point of disturbing the festivities? He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“He shouldn’t be watching us, Lo.”

Her initial, bitter thought was, No, that’s what we do. “He wasn’t,” she said instead. “Not really.”

Sage still looked suspicious, her hazel eyes sharp beneath her crown. “He could have seen the ritual. He could tell someone. This is what Watchers are for, Leelo. We should sing the hunting song and get rid of him before he tells anyone what he’s seen.”