Broken Prince (The Broken Ones)

BROKEN PRINCE

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2013 by Jen Wylie

Cover Design © 2013 by Sean Hayden

Cover Photo
© 2013 by Arman Zhenikeyev

All rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book
review.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the
author's imagination and or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published by Untold Press LLC

114 NE Estia Lane

Port St Lucie, FL 34983

www.untoldpress.com

PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedication

To Sean; without your constant ‘whip whip!’ this book
would still probably be a work in progress. You are always by my side in
everything I do and I can never say how much that means to me.

And

To Claire and Amber; thank you so much for all you
have done to spread the word about this series. You girls rock! I don’t know
what I’d do without you!

Chapter 1:

Bad Memories

Arowyn looked down, absently rubbing the mass of white
scars across the back of her hands. They stood out sharply against her sun-tanned
skin. A grimace formed on her lips at the memories they invoked.

No matter how much she wanted to forget the past year,
everything remained too clear in her mind. Being sixteen didn't change
anything. Age didn't make her wiser or better able to cope with everything that
had happened. She wished it would. Her mind overflowed with anger and fear and loss.

When their city across the sea had fallen, she’d been
taken as a slave. During the fight, she'd been knocked unconscious and later
awoke in a slave ship, alone. What happened to her brothers remained a painful
mystery. It didn’t hurt as much to think of them now, even though the
likelihood of ever seeing them again was small. Most likely they’d died in the
fighting or been taken as slaves as well.

She'd made a new family, the soldiers on the slave
ship had taken her in, and they’d quickly come to mean as much to her as her
own flesh and blood.

Unfortunately, almost immediately, she’d starting
losing them. Kendric hadn't survived the dangerous swim to shore past the
treacherous rocks and the currents around them. She wouldn't have either if it
hadn't been for Prince. Those rocks were what scarred her hands so badly.
Prince had taken worse damage trying to protect her from them. Avery’s death in
the spring from sickness continued to hurt, the wound of his loss still raw and
painful. Of the six soldiers she’d befriended, she’d lost two already.

She was so tired of death.

Tearing her gaze away from her scars, she opened her
pack to find what had been poking her in the back all morning. Shifting things
around, she finally found the culprit; the worn wooden comb she rarely used.
Her fingers brushed something soft and she paused a moment before curling her
fingers into it. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

A shadow loomed over her and she looked up quickly.

“Having trouble?” Cain crouched down beside her.

Lowering her eyes she shook her head, but pulled the
sleeve of a black wool sweater partially out of the pack to show him. Avery’s
sweater. “I miss him,” she said quietly.

He ran a hand gently over the top of her head, his
smile sad. “We all do.”

She pushed the sleeve back in and closed up the pack.
“We going soon?” Her words came out sharper than she intended.

Cain stood, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Shortly. We’ll give him a little more time.”

She turned and they both looked over to Prince. He sat
on the edge of the road, looking wilted and pale.

“I’ll take his pack this time.”

She nodded and turned to stare off into the fields
along the dirt road as he walked over to talk to Prince.

As the days and weeks passed, Prince continued to grow
weaker, becoming tired easily. She’d watched his face lose its remaining color,
the circles under his now sunken eyes darkening. Forcing him to eat proved a
challenge, even though she managed somewhat. Watching him fade before her eyes
broke her heart.

They did what they could for him, carrying most of his
gear, stopping to rest often and traveling more slowly. It didn't seem to help.
Slowly he was fading away.

She wished they could afford a horse. The highly
valued animals had become more common the further south they traveled, but
continued to remain well beyond their means. Her frantic worry for Prince had
her to the point she had seriously started to consider stealing one.

She looked away, her eyes finding Kei as he spoke to
Bo. Kei wasn't human, but one of the wild Fey. Unlike the rest of his people, he
could control his fury, mostly. For some reason she could help, could take the
wild madness from him and calm him. Over the last few months he’d started to be
able to control it by himself. Now, at eighteen years old, he still looked much
the same. A little taller maybe.

Her gaze travelled over his lean and wiry frame. His
golden skin complimented his golden eyes. Such windows they were, glowing with
his emotions. His anger turned them from yellow to orange to red. Thankfully
they weren’t glowing now.

Seeing her watching him, he grinned and ran a hand
through the light brown hair spiking around his head. It poked past his
slightly pointed ears. The sight of them always made her smile.

Kei had become her best friend, her first friend. On
the ship simple fey magic bound then together. Hands pressed together, a few
simple words, and Kei’s power made them friends forever. She looked away, that
memory bringing forth another, when they had done the second binding, making
them family. She'd been dying then. The sickness that had claimed Avery only
days before had almost taken
her as well. Kei's magic had saved her.

He always saved her.

Leaving the city that spring to continue their journey
to take Prince home had been a relief. Discovering he was in fact an Elf hidden
by a glamor had been a bit shocking, yet they’d gotten over it. Learning he was
dying proved more difficult to deal with. She didn’t want to lose him, couldn’t
bear the thought of it.

Bo walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Ready
to go, pup?"

Nodding, she stood, far from rested but vowing not to
complain. Her mind still lost in the past, she quietly joined her boys and
continued down the road.

The only road
running
through these eastern lands, it connected all of the small cities, each ruled
by a prince. Back home, kings and queens ruled countries. Why princes ruled
cities on this continent, she had no idea. But these lands only became
inhabited by humans in the last few centuries, colonized by pirates and
slavers. They did what they wanted, even if it was to name themselves the
prince of a city.

Bo and Cain walked side by side. They’d grown close,
two opposites who somehow found a perfect friendship. Though both tall, Bo’s
wide shoulders and barrel chest dwarfed Cain’s medium build. A few steps behind
them, she could barely hear Cain’s quiet voice. Bo’s loud laugh startled birds
in the field next to the road.

Turning to glance behind her, she watched Prince
bravely try to keep up. Though tall, his slim frame seemed weak compared to the
others. It wasn’t, or hadn’t been. Few saw past
the
beauty of his face anyway. Even dying he took her breath away. Had he not been
an arrogant, temperamental and impatient prince, he would likely have been a
favorite to them all. As it was, quite often the other men barely tolerated
him.

The winding road brought them steadily closer to yet
another large city. It was situated well back from the sea, the rocky cliff-lined
shore preventing any type of port. Stone walls sat upon a wide, low hill,
surrounded by a patchwork of fields. Far to the east she could see the forest
line. Certainly this had been the closest they had come to it since the
previous fall.

She regarded the distant trees warily. Humans held the
coastline, but Were and Fey ruled the easterly forests.

Drawing closer to the city gates, Kei and Prince
adjusted their hats, ensuring their ears remained well hidden. Prince's ears were
pointed, too, but much more so than Kei's. She smothered another grin at Prince’s
floppy hat. It still made her laugh every time she saw it. When the Dragos, Damon,
destroyed the rune holding the glamour making him appear human, he'd been
forced to adapt and hide.

He had no magic left. At least he could somewhat pass
for human by hiding his pointed ears. He still moved more gracefully. However,
his weakening condition had started to compensate for that. Keeping his face
lowered hid his beautiful face, all planes and angles, sweeping brows over
sparkling blue eyes. His black hair hung long and fine down his shoulders.

"Rot." She looked away. Too often, thoughts
of him occupied her mind.

Trying to keep them away didn’t seem to work, even
though she had nothing to offer him. She wasn't beautiful, though Avery had
once told her she was. She’d grown some curves, but was too hard and thin from
little food and too much walking and weapons practice. Her hair hung to her shoulders,
but went wild unless braided. Scars marred her face too, one high on her
forehead from when she'd gotten struck by debris in the sea, and she didn't
know how many from the slaver attack.

Luckily she'd not seen a mirror in almost a year.
Though they travelled through many cities on their journey south, they couldn’t
afford to rent rooms. Any coin they had went to food. Strangely, she didn’t
really mind, even though she’d grown up rather privileged. Her family hadn’t
been nobles, but they’d done well enough.

Her thoughts turned to memories of her lost home and
family as she trudged along the dusty road.

Kei stepped up to her side, playfully bumping his
shoulder against hers. "No dark thoughts."

"I wasn’t–"

"You were." He looked up at the sky, smiling
when he saw a few clouds. "Tell me what you see today."

Finding shapes in the clouds proved an easy and
amusing distraction. Before long, Kei had her laughing and smiling again.

Entering the city just past noon they immediately headed
for the market. They had nearly no coin left and had decided to sell some of
their extra daggers taken from slavers Kei had killed. Hopefully they would get
a decent price and would be able to afford food for their further travels.

The market teemed with people and she struggled not to
lose sight of everyone. She noticed Prince being jostled more than once and
moved closer to him. She wasn't certain how much pain, if any, his weakening
condition left him in. Though his arrogance had dimmed somewhat compared to
when she’d first met him, it certainly hadn't gone away. He always insisted he was
fine and never whined or complained.

She worked her way over to him and slid her arm around
his.

He glared down at her. "I am fine."

"I know," she said, looking up at him
innocently. She thought of Damon then, just for a moment. He had attacked her
in a city once, ripping memories from her mind.

Prince sighed and shifted his arm, slipping her hand
down into his. "It is unlikely he will be here."

She nodded and ducked her head, more to hide the smile
which came to her lips than anything else. Elves could read thoughts and mind-speak.
Though he kept out of her mind unless invited, he still skimmed her surface
thoughts often enough when they touched.

She wasn't truly worried about the Dragos being here.
However if Prince thought she was, he would allow her to remain by his side
where she could keep an eye on him.

Squeezing his hand a little, she looked back up at
him. "Do you mind? Just in case?"

"Troublesome child. Do as you wish."

She offered him a small smile. "Thank you."

They stood off to the side watching Bo and Cain
continue to move from stall to stall looking for someone to purchase their
daggers. She adjusted her pack with one hand, wishing it were safe enough for
her to remove it. Though she'd grown used to the weight, the day had turned hot
and the crowds didn’t help the stifling heat.

"We could fill the water skins," she
suggested to Prince, looking up at him.

He nodded, his eyes continuing to scan the crowd for
possible danger.

Spotting Kei, she waved him over. "We're going to
get water. Can you get the skins from Bo and Cain and meet us at the well?"
She pointed toward one they’d recently passed.

Kei nodded and slipped into the crowd, disappearing
quickly.

Keeping a hold of Prince, they made their way back to
the well and stood in line. Kei joined them a short time later, extra skins
over his shoulder.

He moved close to them. "People are skittish,"
he said, keeping his voice very low. "We should go soon."

She looked up at Prince. She hadn't noticed anything
out of the ordinary.

Prince stared off into the crowd, a frown on his face.

He continued to watch while the line slowly moved them
to the well. When they eventually had their turn they worked quickly. Finding
Bo and Cain after a short search, they moved to a quiet spot near a wall to
divide up the supplies the men had been able to purchase with the sale of a few
daggers.

Considering there were five of them, it wasn't much,
but it would hopefully get them to the next city where they might find better
luck.

They wove their way through the crowded market,
carefully keeping track of each other. The mid-afternoon sun beat down and the
strange tension within the city had, if anything, gotten worse.

Eventually leaving the market behind, they headed for
the south gate, drawing tighter together. The crowds had barely thinned, which was
unusual to say the least.

Aro moved closer to Kei, continually glancing over at
him while they walked. He didn't notice, his gaze flickering from one thing to
another, on constant watch.