Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) (8 page)

Opening her eyes, she blinked at the
shock of the real world again.

This time Kei did touch her cheek. His
fingers swiped the blood away, and he smiled. "Well done."

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"We should practice this. And giving
you power. That startled you."

She shook her head. "I don't want
to…get like that. Not out here."

Making an annoyed face, he looked away,
thinking. "I'll just give you a little, and you can let it go." He
shook his head. "But if you can learn to hold some, that would be
better."

"Can I do that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

They started walking, both trying to
think of ideas. "Maybe I can just let the fury go and keep the power. That
would work."

"You can do that?"

"You can't?"

He laughed at her counter, but shook his
head. "It is one within us."

"I'll try that."

"If it goes well, then try to hold
some fury, too. It also is power."

"And has its uses?" She
remembered him saying how it increased his senses. It had done that for her too
in the past.

After noon, Bo let them know they now
owned a house. She told him they'd be there the next day and made plans to
contact him when they were closer so he could meet them at the city gates.

For the rest of the day, when Neena
wasn't close, she practiced. Though she didn't make a lot of progress, she did
get better at letting the fury go and was able to hold a little power without
it driving her crazy.

Another good sleep left her refreshed,
and she had no trouble keeping up with Kei the next morning. Neena ran with
them now and then, sometimes asking more questions, other times just making
conversation. Aro didn't comment on the change in her attitude, but inwardly
grumbled she lost time to work with Kei.

By late morning, she began to hear the
familiar sounds of stonecutters echoing in the distance. "Do you hear
that?"

Kei gave her a wry grin. "I have
for a while."

She punched his shoulder and ran ahead.
With a laugh, he followed after her.

Not long after they found Neena waiting
for them. "We are close now. Listen carefully." She proceeded to tell
them, twice, the route to take down the approaching escarpment.

When they finally reached the tree line they
stopped and said quick goodbyes. Aro thanked Neena, but the Were only shrugged
before shifting and darting into the woods.

"Friendly woman," she
muttered.

"We aren't Were," Kei said, as
if that explained everything. Perhaps, in a way, it did.

Aro stepped forward and peered past the
trees. The land dropped below them, falling into the familiar rolling fields
from left to right. In the distance, she could make out the sea, and a bit to
the right, the sprawling city of Westport.

"It's big," Kei commented.

"Not as big as Kingsport."

"True."

They started down, moving slowly among
the falling slabs of gray rock and the occasional trees and brush. To the right
was the ravine where humans quarried the stone, blocked from their sight by fallen
rock, trees, and scrub. The going wasn't too hard, though contained many forks.

As they finally neared the bottom, Aro
stopped and pointed at Kei.

"What?"

"Hat!"

With a scowl, he dug the black piece of knit
wool from his pack and put it on, hiding his slightly pointed ears.
"Good?"

She grinned. "Perfect. Let's
go."

It didn't take long for Kei to grimace
and scratch at his head. "It itches."

"You'll get used to it,
again."

"I know," he grumbled.
"Why couldn't Prince have given me a glamor as well? That would have been
helpful."

She raised her eyebrows in mock
surprise. "And you'd have accepted it?" At his scowl, she laughed.
"Didn't think so."

Finally, they reached the piles of
discarded rock at the bottom and stopped to peer around it. The bed of the old
ravine rested on the other side. Now, it became the road for the workers.
People, horses, and carts moved in both directions. It wasn't hard for them to
slip onto the road unnoticed.

They walked quietly for a while until
Kei took her hand. She hadn't noticed how tense she'd become until Kei pulled
her closer.

I'm here.

His words brought a smile to her face.
I
know.

They reached where the real road crossed,
and there they turned right, heading toward the city's southern gate. The
number of people on the road increased.

Despite Kei's words, so did her anxiety.

He pulled her off to the side of the
road and turned her to face him. Her fingers trembled in his hand and she
pulled away. "I'm fine."

"You're not."

Closing her eyes, she took a slow
breath. Too many men. Scruffy and dirty from a long day's work, they reminded
her of other men, the ones who had cornered her and beat her and almost…

"Aro," Kei said softly.

"I'm fine," she whispered
hoarsely. She wanted to be. She tried to be. It hadn't been so bad the last
city they'd been in, but then, she'd had Prince, Bo, and Cain with her, too. She
didn't now, and that brought a different kind of pain.

Kei took her face in his hands.
"Look at me."

She did and struggled to stay strong.

"We will always protect you."

"I know."

He shushed her. "But you don't need
it." He smiled slightly. "You tell us this often enough. You can take
care of yourself now. You're strong. You've faced wild Fey and Were. You stood
against a Dragos. What you would call monsters, you've shown no fear of. You
don't need to fear humans."

His words left her speechless. Not only
that he'd spoken so much, but that he was right.

Humans might be monsters, at least some
of them, but she'd grown strong enough not to fear them any longer. She leaned
in to Kei. "You always know what to say."

He grinned. "Sometimes."
Pulling her back into the flow of people, he still didn't let go of her hand.

Even after everything he'd said, she
didn't mind. Soon they'd reach their destination and be reunited with what
remained of their family.

Bo, we'll be at the gates soon!

With the slow flow of traffic, it took
longer than she thought to finally reach the city gates. The size of the walls
threw off her estimate as well. So far, it had the highest, most impressive fortifications
she'd seen in the east. She breathed a sigh of relief. Their height and
sturdiness meant an attack would be defended more easily. When they passed through,
she took note of the massive gates and gave a little nod of satisfaction.

Bo told them he and Garen would meet
them a little way inside the gates.

Kei leaned in close. "There they
are."

A grin split her face as she spotted Bo,
and still holding Kei's hand, they hurried to him at the side of the main road.
When they reached him, she flung her arms around Bo. "I missed you!"

He held her tight for a moment.
"Missed you too, pup. No troubles?"

"Not at all." Pulling away
from him, she bent down to hug the large scruffy dog at his side. "Missed
you, too!"

And I, as well.

"Come on, time to see our new
home!"

It was impossible not to grin at Bo's
enthusiasm, or laugh at his constant chatter about how he hoped they liked the
house he and Garen had chosen.

The city was much like all the others
they'd traveled through, though the streets were laid with stone.

They walked north for quite a ways, and she
worried they wouldn't reach their house before dark. Finally, Bo guided them
down a quieter side street to the right.

"The southeast quarter is mostly
warehouses and houses, but not a great part of the city. We're mostly past that
now. This area has a few homes, but more businesses, like blacksmiths, tailors,
and such."

They walked for a while, passing a few
side streets before coming to another wider road where Bo gestured for them to
turn north again. She noted the high east wall just beyond the buildings to
their right.

"The house is right on the wall and
not far from the east gate either. There is another main road heading west from
it. Where it meets the main road you came in on is the lower city market."

"The lower city?"

"The land rises a bit to the north.
The nobles and the prince have that area beyond another wall."

"Where the rich live, then."

"Pretty much, yes. I've not been up
there. I didn't bother looking for houses in that area."

"Good," she said with a grin.

They passed business and the odd walled-off
strip along the street, which Bo told her were other residences. She liked the
idea the houses weren't in plain view of any passerby. Just past another such
wall, Bo turned them down a narrow side street toward the east wall.

"And here we are," he said,
gesturing to a gate set within the wall that continued east, meeting up with
the much higher city wall.

Bouncing on her toes, she waited
impatiently as he opened the gate and led them inside.

Chapter 8

A New Home

With so much to see, she didn't know
where to look first. A beautiful two-story stone house sat at the end of a
stone path before her.

"It is a good sized lot, the
biggest we could find." He pointed to the building up against the wall to
the side street. "There's a small stable and paddock over there. There is
a side door, but I wanted you to come in the front first," Bo said,
dragging her along.

She grinned back at Kei, who smiled back
as he looked in every direction, taking it all in quietly.

Bo raced up steps and across the porch to
get to the door. Amused at his enthusiasm, she followed and paused in the
entryway.

"So this is a sitting room, I
guess." Bo gestured to the open area to the right and then moved further
down the hall. "This is the living room."

She eyed the large staircase at the end
of the hall, but Bo moved past her, pointing to the arch they'd walked by.

"That's the dining room. We can get
to it through here, too. Nice big kitchen, pantry there."

She spun around, trying to take it all
in.

"That door goes out to the yard.
Come see this!" She followed him passed the large cooking stove. He opened
another door with a flourish. "A bath, the stove helps heat the
water."

"I love it!"

He grinned and stepped out again.
"That door goes to a basement. More storage, cold room, and a pump. Ready
to head upstairs?"

She nodded, still overwhelmed, and
followed him. Upstairs she found three small bedrooms on one side, and two
larger rooms on the other side of the hall. Bouncing again, Bo pushed her
through the door into the largest room, his face splitting into a huge grin.
"This room is yours!"

The room was huge, but what caught her
attention was the giant bed. "Oh, Bo. Is that as comfortable as it
looks?"

"Of course. Money well spent. It
just arrived this morning. Do you like it?"

She dashed to the bed and flung herself
on it. "Perfect, everything is perfect!"

"Kei and I will have rooms across
the hall."

That made her pause. She'd be sleeping
all alone? Sitting up, she forced a smile and didn't say anything. She'd deal
with that later.

"You two must be hungry. Next door
there's an inn and tavern, and they've some pretty good food."

"Sounds good to me." Climbing
off the bed she paused, noticing a small table with a mirror. Averting her eyes
quickly, she held in a wince at what she did see. "I think we should wash
up first though."

He chatted away as he led them all back
downstairs and then gave directions on what levers to pull to get water, either
heated or not.

The bathroom had both a tub, which she
intended to use later, as well as a washbasin. She and Kei cleaned up as best
they could as Bo continued to talk non-stop. His excitement made her smile, and
a happy feeling warmed her heart. Taking the winter to rest was the best idea.

"All set, take us to the
food!"

Leaving through the gate, she saw the
other side of their small side street was also walled. However, as they walked
back to the street, the wall slowly sloped down until it ended altogether.

"It's called the West Wind and is
one of the nicer ones in the area. This far from port you get very few sailors.
Mostly field workers, a few travelers, and the locals. Sometimes they have
entertainment. We ate here last night, and the food was good."

The Inn stood on a long lot, with the
tavern on the right and the building with the rooms off to the left. It stood
two stories high, and she assumed the family who ran it lived above the tavern.

"Privies are in the back, if you
need them."

Both the inn and tavern were made of
stone, which didn't surprise her given the local quarry. She'd noticed on their
way through the city that everything seemed to be built of stone.

A few high windows didn't do much to
light the large main room of the tavern. It took a moment for her eyes to
adjust. Booths occupied the left wall and tables filled the remainder of the
area, with a bar along the back. A young woman came out from a door next to the
bar with a laden tray of food.

Bo took a booth near the back. Garen
slipped under the table, and then she and Kei sat across from Bo, facing the
door.

She looked around the room, noting a few
tables of men eating or having ale. Bo's attention had gone elsewhere, and it
took her a moment to realize his thoughts and gaze were on the young woman.

Aro watched her work the tables,
wondering what had gotten into Bo. The woman was in her early twenties, quite
curvy but not fat. Her auburn hair was falling out of a braid twisted into a
knot at the base of her neck. She had a pretty face and a ready smile. When she
laughed out loud, Aro looked to Bo and watched him sigh quietly, a silly look
on his face.

She snorted and then covered her mouth.

Kei glanced over at her.
What is it?

I think Bo's fallen in love.

He looked to Bo, to the woman, and then
grinned.
Good for him.

She finally came over, the now empty
tray held at her side. Her gaze went to Bo and she smiled. "Back
again?"

Bo grinned and nodded once, unable to
take his eyes off her.

She looked to Aro, eyebrows raised.

"We just moved in next door."
Her gazed returned to Bo, and he continued quickly, gesturing toward their new
house. "I suppose you'll be seeing a lot of us now."

With a wry smile, she nodded.
"Wonderful! Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Elaina." She turned
slightly, flipping her hand toward the bar. "My father, Brynn. My brothers’
wives, Venna and Cally, are in the kitchen tonight."

"Bo," he introduced himself.
"My," he hesitated a brief moment, "brother and sister, Kei and
Arowyn."

Her eyebrows went up again as she
pointedly looked around their table.

"Different mothers," Aro
muttered.

Bo blinked and forced a smile.

Elaina shrugged. "What can I get
you?" She listed off a short menu of what was available, and they placed
their orders for food and drink.

Bo sighed as she walked away, and Aro
stifled another laugh. It seemed he'd once again fallen for a barmaid.

∞ ∞ ∞

The weeks passed quickly as the weather
slowly turned colder, though winter had not yet taken hold. The leaves finished
changing and began to fall.

Aro enjoyed her new large bed and took
frequent baths. Together, they spent the first weeks wandering the market and
the shops, buying furniture and clothing and other such odds and ends. Finally she
had good soaps, and even a few creams and a wonderful new brush. They browsed
weapons and armor and upgraded theirs to new ones of much better quality. Not having
to worry about money felt strange. Still, she caught herself not wanting to
spend it.

Thoughts of Prince remained frequent,
but the more time that passed the less his absence hurt. No word came, and as
days continued to pass, she wondered if he would even try to contact her.

Rhee-En contacted her only once, making
sure they'd safely made it to the city and to let her know the Were king had
arrived. Though he suggested she return to the west once more, she refused. The
thought of going on a ship again scared her more than an angry Were. Besides, she'd
promised Kei to help heal the Fey.

They continued to practice with the
fury, in the safe confines of their new home. She still could not take it
without touching him, but she slowly learned to keep control with more and more
of it inside of her. Minor healing was also practiced, and she worked on
keeping more power within her.

Bo talked them into going to the West
Wind at least once almost every day. It amused Aro to watch him stare at Elaina
with wistful eyes and little smiles. Occasionally he would strike up
conversation with her, but it was always painfully awkward and short-lived. The
loss of his boisterous and confident self around the woman fascinated her.

They arrived later than usual, having
wandered farther within the city that day. She hadn't forgotten her main reason
for choosing Westport. She and the boys began asking around for news on
Kingsport and her brothers. So far, they'd heard nothing.

Bo glanced around the large crowd,
frowning when he found their usual booth occupied. They took a table instead
and settled in to wait to be served.

"We'll have more luck at the dock taverns,
I imagine," he said.

Slumping in her chair, she nodded.
"That's where the sailors would be. But I thought we might have heard
something already. People love to gossip."

"Kingsport is so far from here, we
may not hear anything at all."

"I know," she muttered. It
still irritated her Kei and Garen had gone to check out the dock area without
her. They'd headed there that afternoon, and she hadn't heard much from them
since. Their continued overprotectiveness grated on her nerves.

Her thoughts returned to her brothers.
It had been just over a year now since she'd seen them last. For all she knew,
they hadn't survived the attack on Kingsport. Not knowing if they had been
killed or also taken as slaves left too much to her imagination.

"Aro." Bo kicked her boot
under the table.

Glancing up, she saw Elaina standing
beside their table. Her cheeks warmed in embarrassment and she quickly placed
her order.

She wasn't really hungry. Weeks of food had
taken away the constant cravings. They'd all put on weight. If she wasn't
careful, she'd have to worry about losing her speed and getting fat. No wonder
Kei had been bugging her to start training again. The way he always pushed her
reminded her of her brothers again.

"Thinking about your
brothers?"

She nodded and then tried to change the
subject. If she got to thinking about them it would take forever to stop, and she
didn't want to get stuck in a dark place again. "You should try talking to
her more."

Bo looked away with a scowl and shook
his head.

"But–"

"No, pup," he said firmly.

We can all see you like her,
she persisted.
She
seems really nice and I don't think she's married.

He grimaced.
What would she want with
someone like me?

Aro laughed out loud.
Any woman would
be happy with you. You're amazing and loyal and faithful. You're strong and
kind and funny.

I'm old and scarred and worn out.

Idiot.
She smiled to
soften the comment.
You are not. You also have a house, and money isn't a
problem either. You could support a family easily.

We're leaving in the spring.

She shrugged.
You can come back. She's
young, and you are, too. You're not even thirty yet, right?

Twenty-eight,
he admitted.

See, still young.
She leaned
forward.
We won't be chasing Fey forever. You can think about the future.
She leaned back again.
It wouldn't hurt to just talk to her.

He didn't answer, and they sat in
silence for a little while before he asked,
Have you thought about your
future?

The question caught her off guard. She
shook her head.
I've no idea.
She grinned over at him.
But then I'm
not even seventeen yet. I've still got a few years to figure things out and see
where life takes me.

He laughed loudly and smiled.
Good
enough.

Elaina returned with her tray laden with
their food and drinks. Bo purposely avoided looking at her or Elaina.

"Elaina," she paused, trying
to think of something to say. The increasing volume in the tavern made it hard
to come up with anything. Which of course gave her something. "What is
everyone so excited about?"

"You haven't heard? Captain Roan
has returned!"

Aro shook her head, indicating she had
no idea what the woman was talking about.

"I can't believe you've never heard
of him. He's a famous pirate, and some say an assassin. He has a base here.
Sometimes he stays a few weeks, sometimes he winters here. When he's here
though, things change. He takes over the lower city. There's more work and more
order. It's a good thing," she added with a decisive nod.

Bo joined the conversation. "Not
someone to worry about, then?"

Elaine shrugged. "He's strict and
gets his own way. He's certainly someone you don't want to cross. He
is
a pirate." She tilted her head and raised her brows, indicating obviously
he wasn't all good. "There's fighting sometimes, when some try to push him
out or take over. But that's usually down by the docks or the warehouses, not
around here."