Arbiter (The Arbiter Chronicles Book 1) by Elisa A. Bonnin Page A

of the Arbiter. If Rae had to describe it, she would say that the topics seemed random, small talk almost. The High Lord asked her how she was enjoying her stay and how Ania was behaving. She spoke of stories from Ania’s childhood, and stories of the previous Arbiters she knew. Rae said nothing for most of the conversation, answering questions when she was asked and occasionally pausing to comment on something. When the walk was over, the High Lord led her back to the glade, where Cathel and Ania waited.
    The same thing happened the next day. Cathel roused her in the morning for their sword work, and the two of them began sparring for the first time, Cathel using another wooden sword that he created. She misjudged a block, causing Cathel’s sword to strike her fingers, and their training was cut short as he examined the extent of the damage. She got a lesson on medicinal plants and herbs then, and discovered that Cathel’s Edictal Series could be used to command water to freeze into ice. Once it was clear that nothing had been broken, Cathel sternly corrected her grip and the two of them began practicing again.
    The High Lord came for her again that night, leading her back to the river. Again, the conversation stayed stubbornly away from the subject of Kaeltharin, instead turning into a discussion about whether a High Lord’s servants could place charges on their master in a dispute. Unsurprisingly, the High Lord argued from the Lord’s perspective, while Rae’s thoughts took on a more democratic turn. If the High Lord seemed displeased by her answers, she didn’t show it, instead sitting beside Rae and watching as her own servants played in the water. They didn’t appear during the day, only coming out when the moon hung in the sky.
    “Why are all the Arbiters human?” asked Rae as they resumed their conversation, looking over at the High Lord.
    “Because none of the Ivali can be truly impartial, where Courts and Lords and loyalties are concerned,” said the High Lord, turning towards Rae. “And none of us would have ruled in favor of the subjects, like you have done. Sometimes, it takes an outsider’s perspective to end a conflict, but only if the outsider truly understands what caused the conflict in the first place.”
    Their conversation ended that night without a single mention of the Shard of the Star or of the Reaper’s geis.
    On the third day, she mastered the spell to start a fire. Cathel sat beside her on one of the banks that led into the pool of water, watching her as she held the flames cautiously in her hand, transferring them from hand to hand as if still unable to believe that they wouldn’t burn her.
    “I meant what I said,” he said. “You’re a fast learner.”
    “It took me longer than the last one,” said Rae, looking up at him. She closed her hands, extinguishing the flames.
    “It normally does,” said Cathel, resting one arm across his knee. “Months longer.”
    “It feels like months,” muttered Rae bitterly under her breath, watching as Ania amused herself across the pond with the faint outline of a dryad she had managed to rouse from its tree. “Three nights without any mention of the Shard…”
    “Don’t think about it like that,” said Cathel. “…You have to stay for as long as you need to. Don’t rush the High Lord.”
    She said nothing. Deep down, she knew that Cathel was right. There was no better way for her to spend her time than spending it here, learning…well, learning something from the High Lord, she assumed. But the slow pace of their lessons was grating on her. By tomorrow, she would have been in the Twilight Realm a week. She couldn’t help but remember that she only had fifty-one left, and there was no telling how long traveling to the Shard would take.
    But wandering around lost in the Edgelands would probably eat up more time in the end than waiting to see what the High Lord wanted.
    She sighed in frustration, laying back in the grass and