Luminous

29 - The Contract

I am going to give you a choice.

Words that compelled her to become his that night, led her to risk her life betraying Gillian. Meya clenched her trembling hands into fists. His pale lips moved,

"First: You remain Lady Arinel, and help me solve the mystery of those dragon riders. I will safeguard you with Hadrian's full might. You will not be punished. You will be rewarded for your service. You can even stay on and serve Lady Arinel if you like."

"Second: You go free. I will reward you enough for you to start a new life elsewhere. I will not persecute you."

Silence fell as they locked eyes. Coris clasped his hands at his back,

"Think carefully. Once you've decided, there's no going back."

Meya stared. He offered her the chance to stay, not as the scullery maid she should be, but as Lady Arinel—to help him? She? A peasant? How in the three lands could she be any help to him? What joke was he pulling?

Meya peered into his eyes. They betrayed no glimpse of mockery or deception. His lips were pursed to a line, his expression set in stone.

Meya reined in shivers as she backed away, eyes wide and fearful.

"Why are you offering me this? Why d'you want me here? What d'you see in me?" She rambled shrilly, "I'm just a stupid, useless peasant girl. I can't even read or write. I can't help you with nothing. Why in the three lands would you need me?"

He gained ground with every step she lost. Her foot bumped the leg of his wardrobe and she stumbled. She flung out her arms for balance. Coris stopped, but his serene presence still overwhelmed her. She felt small and cornered.

"Don't you want to know more about dragons, Lattis, The Axel? Don't you want to know why you were born a Greeneye? Don't you want to experience being a noblewoman, see if you have what it takes?"

"I'm just a peasant girl. I tried being Lady Crosset and it didnae work. You foiled me from the start!"

"I'm giving you the chance to try again, aren't I? You scolded me for letting my death decide my life. Now you're letting your birth decide yours."

His words knocked the breath out of her. Coris was right. She'd failed countless times in her life. Yet, she hadn't let any beating-up stop her from trying. Years she practiced in secret in the woods as the rain pummeled her and the winds batted her to perfect her mother's Song.

Still, the townspeople never allowed her to replace Mum as the Song of May Day. Her whole life, she struggled to win Dad's approval. She toiled in the fields, gambled, foraged—anything to be useful, but she could never become the daughter he wanted. Nobody had given her a chance.

Coris was willing to. And she must admit, she wasn't ready to let it all go so soon.

Not like this. Not just yet.

But could she really do it? Lattis. The Axel. Dragons. Riders. Hadrians. Latakia. Nostra. Everglen. They were all too grand for her.

Was she being too confident, too greedy, too reckless? Was she being a coward? A weak, indecisive peasant girl?

If she let this go, what else? If not now, when? Ready or not, she must give her all and succeed or die trying. There was no someday, nothing else to lose. Hadn't she decided?

"I want you for your loyalty, your bravery, your ambition, and your wit. You can be more than a servant, given the chance." Coris closed in, his eyes gleaming silver in the firelight,