Broken Prince (The Broken Ones) (8 page)

The Dragos looked away from Garen and turned his
attention to her. He wasn't impressed.

Clenching her jaw she fought back her fear and
prepared to fight.

He laughed. "What is this? Do you think you can
stop me? I could kill you all with a thought."

"If you wanted to kill us you've had plenty of
chances," she said levelly. A strange calm came over her. This was
important, standing up to him.

He raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised.

"You will
not
hurt my family," she
continued. "No more of this. I will fight you if need be and I will fight
until I die."

"Aro, stop."

She ignored Prince, keeping her eyes locked with
Damon's. Placing her hands on her daggers she spoke firmly, "Do you understand?
I will fight for them, and I will die for them."

Damon tilted his head to the side, no expression on
his face. She couldn't tell how angry she'd made him. She raised her chin,
staring back at him defiantly even though her heart pounded frantically in her
chest. She meant every word, and knew he could see that.

"Aro!"

Clenching her teeth she glanced over at Prince, then
to Bo. Both had drawn their swords. She looked to Kei, whose eyes glowed
orange, almost red. Carefully channeling her thoughts she put as much command
and power behind them as possible.
All of you stay out of this!

Tightening her grip on her daggers she looked back at
Damon. "Do you wish to fight? Now?" His silence increased her anger. "If
not, I need to start cooking our dinner."

She wasn't overly surprised when he burst into
laughter. "Very well. I shall leave you to your cooking then, little
queen. Today is not a day we will fight."

Nodding her agreement, she took a step backward. She
didn't relax, not yet. She wouldn't until he was gone.

"If you keep moving, and stay near the forest
boundary you should be able to avoid the Were." He turned slightly,
looking at Bo. "They do not allow humans in their woods. They will kill
you if they find you here." He turned and began walking away. "There
is a human army massed north of the entrance to Rivenward. Do take that into
consideration when you make further plans."

She didn't thank him for the information as he
disappeared into the trees. Removing her hands from her weapons she did let out
a deep relieved breath.

The others rushed up to her, gathering around and
talking all at once, reprimanding her.

"Enough!" She glared at each of them in
turn, Bo and Kei and Prince. "I am not a child. Stop treating me like one.
I’ve had enough of it!"

"Aro..." Bo began.

She shook her head vehemently. "Why can't you
understand you're my family? You're all I have. I know you'd do anything for
me, some of you have..." the words choked her and stole away her anger. "Some
of you have died for me. I am not weak. I am not a child. Stop treating me like
I am."

They stood in shocked silence at her tirade. She
turned and quickly headed back to the camp to cook dinner, escaping while she
could.

Chapter 7:

The Story of
the Queens

Due to Damon’s unexpected and unwanted arrival, dinner
was delayed. At least the meat hadn't been set to cook before he came, likely
it would have been charred and ruined.

While she prepared the meal she mulled over what Damon
had said at the end. The human army could be a problem, but wasn’t an immediate
threat. The Were, however, most certainly could be. The forest was their
territory and humans knew well to enter it meant death.

"Garen," she said suddenly. "How likely
is it the Were will find us?"

He took a moment before answering.
It is possible.
Few other than patrols travel this close to the border. I think one of us would
sense their approach. Contrary to what the Dragos said, many will give a
warning first. You being with me, and a Fey and Elf, would cause them to
hesitate as well. Only humans are banned.

"If they come, just cross the border as quickly
as you can," Prince said quietly.

Looking over at Bo, she nodded when he did. "We’ll
stay close then? Not go too far in?"

"You and Bo won’t, no."

She didn’t like that, but certainly didn’t have any
reason to fight it.

Eventually they all sat down to eat and rest. She
worried everyone remained so quiet. Perhaps she'd said something wrong, but she'd
meant every word. They were her family. They did mean everything to her.

She looked over at Garen, worried Damon had hurt him.
He'd gone to do a quick scout of the area while dinner cooked and just
returned.
Did he hurt you?

Garen raised his head off his paws.
I'm fine now.

She frowned.
I know what it's like. He's been in my
head before. He's hurt me, torn down my defenses.

A growl rumbled from the wolf.

There isn't anything we can do. We can't fight him.
We've tried. He's a Dragos, the most powerful of creatures there is.

He would be wise not to return.

She smiled a little.
We're never so lucky. We just
have to be careful. He gets angry easily.

He seems most interested in you.

She nodded, and then told Garen of their previous
meetings. How Damon thought she and Kei were someone special.

What are these prophecies?

She answered out loud, as the others had started to
look at her curiously. "Mine is: find the broken arrow carved of stone,
stolen from across the sea. It will heal the Fey and they will rise again."

That doesn't make much sense,
Garen said.

"I know." She shook her head in frustration.

Kei shared his,
"Your
son will make the Queen and he will remain by her side bound to her by
three."

Your son?

"His grandmother was the Fey Seer."

"There are more, a whole book of them. But he's
never told us more than that. He just keeps calling me a queen. Of the Fey,"
she added, just to be clear.

"I think he's just insane," Bo surprisingly
cut in with a half-smile.

She snorted her agreement. She looked back at Garen. "Across
the sea, we have countries ruled by kings and queens, and nobles under them.
How do the Were work?"

The forests from the Elven lands of Rivenward north to
Franua are split into pack territories. Each pack is led by its Alpha pair. We
have a king who governs us all. His queen died long ago, before my time. He has
never taken another.

Good information to know, considering they currently
traveled through the Were's forests. She glanced over at Prince, who was actually
awake and paying attention. "The Elves have kings and queens right?"

He nodded. "Yes, my parents."

Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Why did
she often forget he was truly a prince sometimes? Flustered she scrambled for
something else to say. "Well I hope the Fey queen doesn't hear about Damon’s
rambling."

The Fey don't have a queen. Not anymore.

She stared at Garen in shock and then turned to Kei in
surprise. How had she never heard this?

"Her death caused most of us to go wild,"
Kei said, looking away from her. The pain on his face broke her heart.

"I don't understand," she admitted. "How?"

Kei simply shook his head. She turned to Garen,
however it was Prince who answered.

"The Fey have always been ruled by a queen. No
king. If she took a mate, he became merely her consort. The Fey queen was very
powerful, powerful enough to keep the fury of her people in check."

"If she was so powerful then how did she die?"

"Garen?" Prince looked to the Were.

You may tell it, if you wish.

"Tell what?" She looked back and forth
between the two.

"The story of the Queens."

"Very well," Prince frowned for a moment. "First
I should point out it was known the Fey queen controlled her people.
Precautions were in place to protect her, and also she always had a named Heir,
who could take her place immediately should something happen.

"Centuries ago all our people got along well. The
Queens would on occasion meet in secret. No one knows what they discussed. At
their last meeting, the Fey queen also took her new heir, presumably to
introduce her to the other queens. No one knows what happened at their meeting.
Only that they all were killed."

"Wait. All of them? All the queens?"

Prince nodded solemnly. "Yes. The Fey queen and
her heir, the Were queen, and the Elven queen, my grandmother."

She blinked in shock. "That's...horrible."

Prince looked down at his hands. "Yes. It
heralded a horrible time. None knew where the meeting took place. It is still
not known. There was no way to discover what happened or trace who could have
committed the act."

"How did everyone find out then?"

"The Fey knew immediately," Prince answered.
"Their fury overtook most of them. Only the strongest remained sane. Thousands
died in the rampage which followed. Their city was nearly destroyed and later
abandoned. They blamed the Elves and Were. We too knew of our queens death by
magical means, we blamed the Fey and Were."

And the Were, being telepathic, knew of our queen’s
death as well.

"Many died before all sides understood all the
queens had been killed."

"Wither me," she muttered, picturing the
destruction and death which must have occurred.

"My grandfather died in the fighting,"
Prince revealed, his voice quiet. "Thus my parents inherited the throne."

They all sat in silence for a moment. She simply
didn't know what to say.

"That’s why it wouldn't be a bad thing," Kei
finally said, his voice quiet and tentative.

"What wouldn’t?" She turned to look at him
in surprise.

His cheeks flushed in the firelight. "If we had a
queen, we'd be whole again."

"Oh." She didn't know what to say to that.
Did he truly want her to be his queen? How insane was that? Maybe they'd all
lost their minds. She'd begun to wonder about hers. Another thought came to her
and she reached out to take Kei’s hand. "But it doesn’t have to be me. You
know I’ll do whatever I can to help the Fey heal. I think…what Damon’s been
saying, what the prophecies are saying, is that it will happen soon though. I’m
here, we’re all here. Things are in motion now."

Kei pulled her forward and held her tightly. "You’re
right," he mumbled, tears choking his words. He buried his face into her
neck, hiding it from the others.

She held him and stroked his hair. "Soon, Kei."

He nodded against her.
Even if you aren’t my queen,
I will still stay with you. I meant it when I promised you forever.

Her breath caught and she smiled slightly, tears
forming in her own eyes.
Or I’ll stay with you. We’ll figure it out when the
time comes.

Her heart sang with joy. She might lose Prince, but she
would always have Kei. Though her love for him was different, she did love him,
and knowing he would always be by her side made everything suddenly better. She
would never be alone again.

Chapter 8:

More Human than
Human

"You healed fast," Kei noted as she jogged
next to him through the trees.

Frowning, she glanced over at him. "I'd only
twisted it."

His answer was a faint, worried smile she didn't
understand. She let it go and focused instead on keeping an eye out for dinner.

She'd spent two days on and off the horse. By the
third, her ankle had healed enough she could not only walk, but dart about and
even run for a while. That had suited her just fine. Now Bo could have her
horse and they could travel faster.

Prince seemed the same. He hadn't gotten any better,
but he hadn't gotten any worse either. She could deal with that. It was one
less thing to worry about anyway. She had too many things on her mind. Would they
get him home before he faded away? Which route would be fastest? What would
they do about the human army? When she wasn't worrying about all of that she
struggled with her feelings for him. Kei's talk of it being a good thing she
might be the Fey queen didn't help her nerves either. Her mind had turned into
a chaotic mess.

Running felt good. Running with Kei felt right. She
glanced over at him, smiling to see he looked so free and happy. The sun and
shadows played across his face and spikey hair as he ran amidst the trees. For
a moment she thought how perfect it would be if they could just run forever and
have no worries at all.

We still need to talk.

She raised her eyebrows and looked over at Kei. He
rarely used mind speech if he could talk instead. She slowed and then stopped.
They were alone. She assumed he meant he wanted to talk now.

She hadn’t forgotten how Kei had said they needed to
talk after she had killed the soldier attacking Prince. Kei didn’t like to
speak a lot, so she’d let him bring it up when he was ready.

He stood in front of her, squinting up into the trees
and looking decidedly uncomfortable.

Her stomach tightened in worry over what he wanted to
talk to her about. "What is it?"

His gaze moved to the ground, some of his light brown
hair falling over his face. Biting his lip he shook his head slightly.

"Kei? You’re scaring me." She took a step
toward him.

"Don’t take my fury anymore."

She blinked at him in surprise and waited silently for
him to say more. He didn’t. "Why?"

A pained looked crossed his face and he glanced up at
her, his beautiful golden eyes glowing faintly. "When you attacked the
soldier…you were so…furious." A frustrated growl rumbled from his chest. "I’m
afraid. Of what it’s doing to you."

She shook her head in confusion. "But I didn’t–"
She stopped. The night before she had taken some of his fury into her. She’d
forgotten about that. "It wasn’t very much," she continued. "I
don’t mind–"

Kei growled again and grasped at his hair, turning
from her to pace angrily. "You don’t understand! You get so angry
sometimes. It’s not like you."

"But–"

"You’re not Fey!"

His sudden outburst left her at a loss for words. She
just shook her head, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

He rushed toward her, stopping to grab her shoulders
roughly and lock his eyes with hers. "You’re not Fey," he repeated
more quietly. "Yet you are healing faster. You run faster and fight
quicker. For some reason you can speak to Were and build walls in your mind.
Even Fey don’t do that. You can take my fury. You somehow made us all a Were
pack. Do you understand? You are human. You aren’t meant to have our power. I
don’t know what I’ve done to you. What my power has changed in you…I don’t…"
His choked words stopped and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against
hers.

His fearful, frantic tone sent a chill down her spine.
Put into words and all together, the little changes weren’t so little anymore. Garen’s
question suddenly echoed in her mind; Are you human?

Kei’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly
against him. "Please, Aro."

Resting her head against his, she held him just as
tightly. "I’m fine. I am."

"Promise me."

She hesitated for a moment. "I promise I won’t
unless you need me to."

His growl shuddered through his entire body.

She pulled back to look at him. "I won’t risk
losing you again. If you can’t break free, then I’ll do it again."

"I can control it now," he insisted.

"I won’t promise never to do it again. I won’t."

His eyes flashed to orange. "I can’t lose you
either," he whispered.

The words tore at her heart. She understood. Knowing
he felt the same way for her as she did for him meant more than she could say. "We’ll
be careful. Everything will be fine." She smiled slightly. "At least
I can keep up with you now, and I’m not nearly as breakable."

"This isn’t a game."

"No," she agreed. "But what’s done is
done and I don’t regret any of it."

Her words clearly startled him and he stared frozen at
her for a long moment before the light in his eyes suddenly dimmed and a
brilliant smile lit his face instead. He held her tightly again, nearly
crushing her. "My Aro."

She squeezed him back as hard as she could. "My
Fey."

* * *

Aro? Kei? Garen?
Bo's voice called faintly.

Yes? What's wrong?

Nothing. Time to stop and rest. Meet at the rocks by
the river.

She glanced up through the trees, surprised to see the
sun high in the sky. After their emotional talk she and Kei had continued with
their scouting.
On our way!

She heard Garen and Kei also confirm and with a small
smile to the Fey they turned and headed back to the river they'd passed
earlier. It had been one of the largest they'd come across yet. She wondered if
it had fish in it.

When they returned they found Garen resting in the sun
by the tethered horses.

"Where's everyone else?"

Bo is using the bushes. Prince is by the river. He
seems tired today.

She nodded and frowned, turning to look toward the rushing
water. She couldn't see Prince, but perhaps the many trees lining its shore hid
him.

She and Kei rummaged through the packs, finding some
cooked corn on the cob left over from the night before and some summer berries
collected that morning to serve as a meal.

Bo rejoined them. "We've eaten, but take your
time." He glanced toward the river.

She fought to finish eating despite her sudden lack of
appetite. Was Prince fading again?

"We could try fishing," Kei said into the
silence. He and Bo, and even Garen, began discussing where to look for fish,
and what other food they might find near the river.

Choking down the last of the berries she licked her
fingers clean. "I'm going to see how Prince is doing."

"Have a rest, too," Bo told her. "You
don't want to injure that ankle again." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "We’ve
made good time."

She nodded and headed for the river. She didn't see
Prince so went to the water’s edge and carefully washed her hands and face. If she
had berries smeared on her chin he'd be certain to admonish her for it. The
thought brought forth a smile.

A noise downstream startled her and she jerked up,
head snapping toward the sound.

Prince was not resting by the bank as she’d supposed,
but knelt at the river’s edge, cleaning up in the crisp waters. Frowning, she
walked over to his side and stopped.

He glanced up at her, but then went back to scrubbing
his bare arms. He’d tossed his shirt next to him beside his floppy hat. He
didn’t wear it now, alone as they were in the woods, but he kept it near just
in case.

Her eyes, however, were drawn to the scars on his
back. Though fully healed, they stood out sharply on his fair skin. Covering
from shoulder almost to his waist, more also streaked down the outsides of both
arms to his elbows. Most looked new and pink, some were darker grooves in his
skin, others lighter ridges.

When the slave ship had crashed into rocks and sunk
they’d had to swim to shore. The rocks in the waters had not been kind. Her
eyes skipped to the scars she had on the back of her hands, they were much like
his. The only reason she had so few was because he’d held her in his arms,
keeping her safe from the rocks and from drowning altogether. Other than her
hands, her only other scar was a deep one high on her forehead when she’d been
struck by a piece of debris.

She reached out a hand, wanting to trace the marks
down his back, but then stopped and pulled it back. "Do they bother you?"

He looked up, water dripping from his hair into eyes.
Brushing it away he frowned, and then noticed her staring. "No. It was a
necessary sacrifice at the time."

She blinked, opened her mouth and then closed it
again, unsure what to say to that.

He’d gone back to scrubbing dirt off his hands. "Since
the slavers took my amulet, I knew I had to conserve what power I had left.
Healing my broken arm was more important, so I allowed the scars."

"I see," she said quietly. Her mind turned that
information over and about, trying to make sense of it. "Wait, you can
heal like the Fey?" Kei healed quickly, very quickly, and with no
scarring.

He glanced up at her again, his brows drawn down in
confusion. "Of course. As do the Were." When he noted her confusion
he continued, "It takes power to do so."

She dropped to her knees and grabbed his shoulder, roughly
turning him to face her. Her lips hardened into a thin angry line when, as she’d
suspected, the wounds he’d taken fighting to escape the besieged city were
gone.

They were quite simply not there. Her eyes lifted to
meet his. "Why did you do that?"

His brows rose. "Heal my wounds?"

She nodded and sat back, crossing her arms.

"I had the power to do so."

"I don’t know how much we gave you!" She
shook her head, trying to keep her sudden fury contained. "Are you trying
to kill yourself? We have no idea how this Were power works, how much you’ll have
or for how long. How could you waste it like this?"

"Waste it?" He brushed water off his arms
and stood angrily. "They pained me, and were draining. I did not want to
risk infection and having to deal with sickness."

"But the scars–"

"They were few and small. It did not take a lot
of power to be rid of them."

She scrambled to her feet. "And you are a prince."

"That has nothing to do with it."

She raised her chin. "What will your people say,
seeing you scarred like this?"

"Very few will ever see them," he said
calmly. He shook his head slightly. "What is making you so angry?"

His words were like a slap. Kei’s worry about her
growing anger, about her changing, came back to her. "You don’t seem to
want to make it home," she finally whispered. "Are you intentionally
sabotaging our efforts?"

Laughter sprang out of him, startling her so much she
took a step back.

"Oh, Arowyn. You do have the strangest ideas."

"I don’t understand you sometimes," she muttered.

"You are not an Elf," he said in amusement.

She had no idea what he found so funny. His reminder she
was merely a human twisted her gut. Her cheeks warmed slightly and she looked
away. "The boys have gone upstream to fish, should you want to join them."
Before he could answer, she turned and walked quickly away.