Page 47 of #Resort Love
“Thank you for your patience.” Ezra’s voice rang out, grabbing everyone’s attention, including the villagers. “Tie off your horses and start searching the area. The villagers have been told to help in any way possible and, as always, remember to be respectful. You know my rules on how to treat those in the outer villages.”
The soldiers bowed before tying their horses to a nearby fence and splitting off into groups to search the village. Ezrakept an eye on them for a long moment before focusing on me. “You’ll come with me while I search further in the village.”
I nodded, taking a step toward him when Arianna grabbed my arm tightly, pulling me to her. “Actually, she will be coming with me,” she said coolly. “Apparently,” she paused, looking me up and down, “we have someissuesto resolve.” She gave me a tight smile, then looked at Ezra, blinking innocently.
Ezra grimaced. “Fine, but I will be joining you. I refuse to leave her alone with you after the last time.”
Arianna shrugged and walked to the nearest building, her hips swaying as she went. Exhaling, Ezra followed her. I groaned, tilting my head back to look at the cloudless blue sky. This was going to be fun.
Forty minutes passedwhile we searched homes and alleyways without anyone finding a trace of rebels being in the area. Ezra leaned against a nearby tree, impatiently tapping against the hilt of the sword that hung at his waist.
“I think it’s safe to say that there’s nothing suspicious here,” he growled to no one in particular, but I had a feeling he meant for Arianna to hear. His eyes narrowed on her while she shuffled through empty pots that lay broken in front of a building that had been boarded up.
“I know we are supposed to be looking for rebels, butwhatexactly are we supposed to be looking for?” I whispered to Ezra. The search had felt aimless with Arianna rummaging through a few of the homes in our section of the town. Each home seemed to be chosen randomly. At some, she just opened the door, only to turn back around and choose an entirelydifferent house. Ezra just eyed the villagers that passed us, never speaking to them.
Arianna scoffed, overhearing my question, leveling me with an icy glare until movement caught our attention. A younger faerie with dark ebony skin and eyes that looked like bright gold was eyeing us, pulling two children along behind him. Arianna’s glare flickered with delight, her lips curling into a sharp smile that sent chills down my arms.
Arianna yelled at the man to stop as she marched to him. He froze, the muscles in his arms flexing, his wide eyes glancing around looking—hoping—for someone to help. But when she drew near, he snapped out of his panic, pushing the children behind him. They looked like twins, with the same golden-brown hair and honey-colored eyes as Silas. They held onto his legs, trembling under Arianna’s cold gaze.
“This is exactly the type of thing we are looking for,” Arianna said to me, circling the man, eyeing him hungrily. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” she said to him with an unsettling interest.
The man straightened his back, steeling himself. “I came here a few months ago with my siblings from the mountains. Our parents died and we couldn’t stay, so we moved here,” he said, his voice slightly trembling.
“And these are your siblings?” Arianna said, studying the children.
The man hesitated, his gaze flicking to Ezra and me. “No, my siblings are at home. These are Silas’s grandchildren.”
“Right. And what made you come here, of all places? Certainly, there are other villages closer to the mountains than this one, yes?”
The man hesitated, like he didn’t know how to answer without further condemning himself and before I knew it, Isaid, “I know I’m new here so correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s not a law that says he must go to one of those villages, right? He is free to move wherever?”
The man’s gaze cut to me, gratitude flickering in his eyes.
“No, there isn’t a law,” Arianna hissed. “But these rebel scum like to travel between villages to convince people to join their cause.”
“Right,” I interrupted, keeping my face as calm as I could. “But we haven’t found any rebels, and he is here because his parents died. Shouldn’t we give him some slack?”
Whirling, Arianna marched toward me, the fierce expression in her eyes had Ezra carefully monitoring me with a hand on the hilt of his sword. I steeled myself, holding my breath even as she loomed over me with fire in her eyes. “You don’t get to dictate that, girl,” she said, her voice was low, edged.
I didn’t give up my ground, meeting her glare with one of my own. “He isn’t here to harm anyone or start some rebellion. He is trying to take care of his family.”
“You are nothing but a child who knows nothing of this world. You do not know howtheyoperate—how they think.”
A beat of silence followed, and Arianna turned her back on me, marching over to the man, but her words echoed in my mind. I recognized that rhetoric, that hate, that line between us and them. “You’re wrong. What you’re doing is wrong. He hasn’t done anything to warrant this type of treatment.” It started off with a whisper, my voice barely audible, but it grew louder and stronger with every word.
Arianna turned to me, snarling. She took a step, just one, before shadows whirled around her and then she was in front of me. So close that I could feel her breath on my face. A powerful hand gripped my shoulder, pulling me back as Ezra stepped between us, his eyes narrowed on Arianna.
“You need to calm down,” Ezra demanded, his voice tight. “Sybil is right, the boy was just getting the children out of the way so the soldiers could search the area, like we told them to do. You cannot fault him for listening to our orders.”
“Look at that boy and tell me he doesn’t look suspicious, Ezra,” Arianna insisted, the veins around her eyes starting to glow crimson. “He doesn’t belong to this village.”
“He told you why he’s here,” I argued, unable to keep quiet at her words and lack of empathy. I knew she was a part of the aristocracy, but her lack of understanding and her blatant disregard of the people outside her circle made my blood boil. My gaze cut to the man and the children, who stood frozen, watching us with careful calculation. “Go, take the children and get somewhere safe.”
Giving me a quick thanks, he turned, pushing them toward the villagers that had started gathering around us. Silent agitation rippled through the crowd, the tension stretched so much it was on the brink of snapping.
Arianna growled and started toward the family. I followed, not really knowing how I was going to stop her but that I needed to before she could reach them. Ezra grabbed my arm to keep me from going further, but I jerked my arm out of his hand to run in front of Arianna, blocking her from the villagers.
“Let them go, Arianna,” I warned, my voice trembling slightly. “They haven’t done anything wrong. You said earlier that it's not a crime for them to come here. He is allowed to be here.”
