Nightbane (Lightlark, #2)(54)

The Moonling spoke up. “Cal, mostly.” Despite looking like he could snap the table in half with his bare hands, there was something gentle about his demeanor. He had the kindest face she had ever seen.

“And Zed.” The Skyling glared at her. He was studying her far too intently. Far too suspiciously.

Calder beamed. “Pleased to finally meet you.” Isla took the hand he offered, her fingers laughably small next to his, and smiled weakly.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand. I thought—”

“All Moonlings were like Cleo?”

She shrugged a shoulder.

He laughed, and it was a pleasant sound. “I can’t blame you, after everything that happened, but . . . some opposed her. We are few, but some of us stayed.”

“Like Soren.”

There was a collective groan at the sound of his name.

“Cleo never trusted me in the slightest, of course. I moved to Sun Isle just before she cut the bridge.”

Isla looked at the group and almost frowned. Enya was Sunling. She understood how she and Oro had become friends. But from what she had seen, realms didn’t often fraternize together. How—

“Wondering what we all have in common?” Enya asked casually.

She nodded.

“Him.” Enya motioned to Oro.

Isla turned to him as he made his way to the front of the table. “You know that I was sent to train for years on each isle.” He nodded at Calder. “He was the first in his class—in most subjects, anyway.” He looked at Zed. “And he was the worst.”

Zed grinned as if relishing the fact.

“He would have been the best, if the lessons were on anything he was remotely interested in,” Enya muttered.

“What—what are you interested in?” she asked Zed, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Thieving, for one,” he said.

Isla frowned. “Who do you steal from?”

Zed nodded at Oro. “Him, mostly.”

Oro sighed. “Zed likes to prove the supposed inadequacy of my guards every few years. He started breaking into the castle when he was a child. My father would have banished him from the island if he hadn’t been my friend.”

“No,” Zed drawled. “He would have banished me, if he had actually been able to capture me.”

Enya rolled her eyes. “He’s the fastest Skyling in recent record, and rest assured, he will find an excuse to mention it at least three times during this conversation.”

Isla raised an eyebrow at Oro. “Even with five hundred years of extra practice, you still can’t beat him?”

Zed’s eyes sparkled. “Perhaps he could. Let’s check, Oro, shall we?”

Cal leaned back in his chair, making the wood groan. “You’ll learn this, but they are annoyingly competitive.”

Enya shook her head. “They are both annoying period, but Cal here has always preferred playing peacemaker to beating them both, even when they have definitely deserved it.”

Zed raised an eyebrow. “To beat me, Enya, he would have to—”

“Catch you, we get it,” she said, muttering something else under her breath. She shot a look at Isla. “See? I don’t exaggerate.”

By the time Zed turned back to face her, any amusement in his face had withered away. “So. You’re Nightshade.”

The air seemed sucked out of the room. Isla turned to Oro, who was staring at Zed like he was an enemy and not seemingly one of his oldest friends. “Zed,” he said darkly, the word a warning.

“He didn’t tell me,” Zed continued, ignoring Oro. “A forest turned to ash on Sky Isle. The place next to it looked like a damned palace garden. It wasn’t hard to put together.”

“Zed—” Oro said.

“I am Nightshade,” she said.

The room went silent.

Zed leaned back in his chair and stared at her. For a moment, he almost looked impressed. “I wasn’t expecting you to admit it.”

Isla sat straighter. “It is what I am. I can’t control it more than you can control your dark-blue hair, or he can control the fact that he was born in a realm ruled by a witch.” She motioned to Calder.

Enya nodded. “It’s true,” she said, looking at Zed as if to scold him. “All of us were born different, in one way or another. It’s what brought us together.”

Calder shook his head. He tried to smile at Isla. “Ignore him. He’s just moody that Oro hasn’t been joining our weekly games. The teams aren’t even.”

“Games?” Isla wondered.

Calder’s grin grew. He opened his mouth, excited, but Oro stopped him.

“Enough interrogating Isla and talk of games,” Oro said, setting his hands on the table. He looked pointedly at his friends. “We are at war, or have you all forgotten why I asked you to meet?”

That sobered the room.

Enya’s expression became focused again. “Oro and I have the Sunling forces set up. Most are rusty, but our numbers are strong, and they are training as we speak.”

“Do they need weapons?” Zed asked.

“No,” Enya said. “All can wield. It’s better they’re not weighed down by swords or armor.”

“Same for the flight force,” Zed said. He glanced at Oro. “Is Azul coming?”