Prologue
The rain had been falling since supper.
I could hear it tapping against the windows while I sat on the rug in front of the fire, trying very hard not to fall asleep.
Elara was curled beside me beneath the big wool blanket.
She was four, which meant she was small enough to fit against my side but old enough to be annoying.
She kept poking me.
I pushed her hand away.
She poked me again.
I sighed.
“Stop.”
She poked me a third time.
“Elara.”
She giggled.
I turned to glare at her, but she was already hiding beneath the blanket.
“Grandfather,” I complained.
From his chair beside the fire, Grandfather looked over the top of his book.
“What is it?”
“She’s bothering me.”
“I’m not,” came Elara’s muffled voice.
“You are.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Grandfather smiled.
“Perhaps you should both listen to the story.”
I looked at the book in his hands.
“But you already finished it.”
“I know.”
“So we’re done.”
“Are we?”
I groaned.
Grandfather had that look.
The one that meant he was about to tell us something he thought was interesting.
Elara popped her head out from beneath the blanket.
“Tell us another one.”
I frowned.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because his stories are always about old people dying.”
Grandfather laughed.
“Not all of them.”
“Most.”
“Then perhaps tonight I’ll tell you something different.”
Elara sat up.
“What?”
Grandfather closed his book.
“The story of the Shadow King.”
I stopped smiling.
I knew that story.
Everyone knew that story.
It wasn’t really a story, anyway.
It was something mothers whispered when children refused to listen.
Eat your supper.
Come inside.
Stop wandering.
Go to bed.
Or else the Shadow King will come.
He would take naughty children away to the Shadowlands.
At least, that’s what Mama always said.
I never believed her.
Elara did.
I could tell by the way her little fingers suddenly grabbed mine.
I looked down at them.
“You’re scared.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
I smiled.
“You are.”
Grandfather cleared his throat.
“Should I continue?”
Elara nodded quickly.
I leaned back against the sofa.
“Long ago,” Grandfather began, “before the villages were as they are now, there was a kingdom beyond the mountains.”
“The Shadowlands?” Elara asked.
Grandfather nodded.
“The Shadowlands.”
I had heard this part before.
I knew what came next.
“And there,” he said, lowering his voice, “lived the Shadow King.”
Elara moved closer to me.
Grandfather’s voice became quieter.
“They said he ruled over the darkness. They said shadows followed him wherever he walked. They said he could appear in the dead of night without making a sound.”
Elara’s eyes grew wider.
“What did he look like?”
“Some said he was a man.”
I glanced at Grandfather.
“Some?”
“Others said he was something else.”
Elara swallowed.
“Like a monster?”
“Perhaps.”
I rolled my eyes.
Grandfather noticed.
“Don’t look so doubtful, Mara.”
“Because it’s not true.”
“And how do you know?”
“Because it’s a story.”
Grandfather’s expression changed for just a moment.
Then he smiled.
“Perhaps.”
I didn’t like when he said that.
“Did he really take children?” Elara asked.
Grandfather looked at her.
“That’s what the story says.”
“What children?”
“The ones who didn’t listen.”
Elara’s face fell.
I knew immediately what she was thinking.
She looked at me.
“Could he take me?”
“No.”
The answer came out before Grandfather could say anything.
Elara blinked.
“How do you know?”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
“Because I’m your sister.”
She frowned.
“That doesn’t mean he can’t take me.”
“It does.”
“How?”
I crossed my arms.
“Because I won’t let him.”
Grandfather chuckled.
Elara stared at me.
“You could stop him?”
“Of course.”
“You?”
“Yes, me.”
“But you’re eight.”
I gasped.
“Eight is old.”
She shook her head.
“No, it isn’t.”
“It is.”
“Grandfather is old.”
Grandfather laughed.
I frowned at him.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Nobody’s.”
Elara climbed into my lap.
“What if the Shadow King is bigger than you?”
“I’ll climb something.”
“What if he’s stronger?”
“I’ll be faster.”
“What if he’s faster?”
“I’ll trick him.”
“What if he’s scary?”
I paused.
That one was harder.
But I wasn’t going to let her know that.
“Then I’ll be scarier.”
Elara giggled.
I smiled.
See?
Problem solved.
She rested her chin on my shoulder.
“But what if he really comes?”
I looked toward the window.
Rain streaked the glass.
The room suddenly felt quieter.
For the first time, I wondered what it would be like if the Shadow King actually existed.
I imagined something standing outside.
Something tall.
Something made of shadows.
Something waiting.
I shivered.
Then I shook the thought away.
It was only a story.
“He won’t come,” I told her.
“But what if he does?”
“He won’t.”
“What if he takes me?”
“He won’t.”
“What if he tries?”
I looked at my little sister.
She was waiting for my answer.
So I gave her the only one that mattered.
“I’ll stop him.”
Her eyes searched mine.
“Promise?”
I nodded.
“Promise.”
She held out her little finger.
I stared at it.
“What?”
“You have to do it properly.”
I smiled.
“You’re silly.”
“Promise properly.”
I hooked my little finger around hers.
“Okay.”
“Say it.”
I thought about it.
Then I squeezed her finger.
“I promise I’ll always protect you.”
Elara’s expression softened.
“Always?”
“Always.”
“Even when we’re old?”
“Even then.”
“Even if you’re far away?”
I frowned.
“I won’t be far away.”
“But what if you are?”
I didn’t like that question.
I shook my head.
“I’ll find you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She smiled.
Then she tucked herself against me again.
I pulled the blanket around her shoulders.
Grandfather was watching us.
I looked at him.
He wasn’t smiling anymore.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“Nothing.”
I frowned.
Adults were strange.
Elara’s breathing slowly became softer.
A few minutes later, she was asleep.
I stayed still because I didn’t want to wake her.
Her hand was still wrapped around my finger.
I looked down at it.
So tiny.
I couldn’t imagine anyone hurting her.
Not the Shadow King.
Not a monster.
Not anyone.
I would protect her.
That was what big sisters did.
I was eight years old.
I knew how to climb trees, how to sneak biscuits from the kitchen, and how to beat Elara at every game we played.
I rested my cheek against Elara’s hair.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered.
Outside, thunder rolled across the mountains.
I held her a little tighter.
“I always will.”
