Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (48 page)

“Then why not do it at another time, in another place? You were literally destined to be head guard. You shouldn’t have to give that up because you were defending me,” Syney said.

Leaf nodded. “And until recently I was fine living that life. What I did today had as much to do with me as it did with you, Syney.”

“I still don’t like it,” she said, crossing her arms.

Leaf laughed, and both Syney and Adam looked at him with shocked expressions. “Sometimes getting out of this place is the best thing to do.”

“So I can leave too?” Syney asked with an innocent look.

“Um, no,” Leaf said.

She gave him a pout.

“I need a favor from you,” Leaf told Adam. “I’m not sure who they’re going to appoint as the new head guard. If they reassign Reed, I need you to go find Ivy. She’s a former guard I had reassigned in the palace. She’s currently watching over Helen but knows to switch to Syney if need be.”

“OK. Do you think they’ll reassign Reed?” Adam asked, worry in his voice.

“Depends on who they call up. As we all know, there are some guards who don’t agree with Syney’s leadership.”

Adam nodded. “When do you leave the palace?”

“Right now. I have an hour to pack.”

Syney bit her lip and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Leaf. “I’m going to miss you.”

He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll only be a short distance away.”

She pulled back. “With your mom?”

He nodded. “For now. And you can come out anytime you want.”

Syney turned to Adam. “Got that? Open invitation.”

“Got it. And I’ll personally take you out there anytime.”

“Good luck,” Syney told Leaf. She stared at him for a moment before she and Adam said their good-byes and got out of his hair. Out in the hallway, Syney grabbed Adam’s hand and leaned into him. “Why does it feel like we keep losing people?”

He sighed and put his arm around her. “You’ll always have me.”

She smiled as he kissed her cheek. No matter how dark things had been getting, at least she still had Adam. She missed Noelle, though, and even Gabe. Just the day before, she almost had gone to see the two but stopped herself. It was Adam who didn’t want anything to do with Gabe, and she wasn’t going to do anything that would make him mad. If he hadn’t been with her every second over the past few days, she probably would have broken down into little pieces, but she knew that something had to come to a resolution soon. Or at least she hoped it would. She was done losing people.

Leaf sat on the small bed he had slept in as a child. It was far too short for him now, but it was all he had, and he loved it. He had only been back for a few hours but he was already more comfortable. It was the most amazing feeling he’d ever had as he unpacked his things in his true home. No more palace. No more royals. No more blasted council meetings. The last one was the one he was most grateful for. It had been getting harder and harder to repress his automatic eye rolls at all the inane questions and motions. He did regret leaving Syney there alone, although he knew she wasn’t really alone. Adam had entrusted Leaf with information that would kill him; that alone caused a swift change in his opinion of the young man—if he was really even young. Leaf laughed at the thought of Adam being old enough to be his grandfather. Syney was in good hands with him and Reed, but he kept getting an uneasy feeling that things were going to be coming to a head at the palace. The attacks on Syney and Adam were much more personal than what had been done in the past. He looked down at his left arm, where the gold tattoo signifying his head-guard status had been. It was gone now. That was the last thing they had done before he’d left the palace. He had wondered if the removal, through a ceremony, would hurt, but he’d felt nothing as the tattoo slowly disappeared. He did feel different afterward, though—lighter, if that were possible.

The door of the room opened, and Lake walked in to the room, his smile almost literally spreading from ear to ear. “There’s my little brother.” Leaf jumped up, and the two embraced. Lake pulled back and looked him over. “Now tell me what happened.”

“It’s nothing. I started a fight,” Leaf said, stepping back toward the bed again.

Lake gave him a look. “OK. Now tell me the real reason.”

He sighed and sat down. “That place is broken, cracked from the inside out. They don’t want change. You should see the way some of them treat Syney,” Leaf said, his jaw clenching.

Lake frowned and leaned against he wall. “It’s hard to imagine anyone not liking Syney. The girls in town are still talking about her being here last year.”

“She’s amazing, and she’ll do many good things…if they let her, which at this point looks doubtful.”

“Maybe it’s better you’re out of there. Sounding pretty jaded,” Lake said with a laugh.

Leaf shrugged. “You would be too if you were there.” He paused. “Think you can use an extra hand with some of the animals?”

“Of course. Better get used to farming hours, brother. Need to be out there just before first light.”

“I can handle it,” Leaf said, as a knock sounded at the door.

Raven open pushed the door and walked into the room, followed by Helen. “I found this poor thing walking down the street trying to find our house,” Raven said, smiling over at her younger son.

Grinning, Leaf jumped up. “Hello, Helen.”

Helen smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

“I hope you’ll join us for dinner,” Raven told Helen with a large smile.

The younger woman nodded. “Of course, if you’ll have me.”

“If we’ll have you, posh!” Raven laughed. “Now come along, Lake. Help with dinner.”

“Ma, you have Vine.”

“And I need you, you daft boy.” Raven shook her head and pulled her oldest son out of the room.

Helen laughed as they left. “I love your family.”

This was what Leaf was going to miss. Having Helen only a floor away. Being able to see her whenever he wanted. This was the only thing he was going to miss.

Leaf walked over to her and cupped her face with his hands. “I love you.”

She laughed. “I love you too. And I think I love you even more out here. Although you are a little far away.”

He nodded. “I agree. But we’ll just have to make our visits worth it.” Then he kissed her.

“Whoa. I think being out here is pretty good for you,” Helen said, trying to catch her breath.

Leaf laughed.

“And might I say how relaxed you are,” she added. “I really like this new you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her again. “How are things at the palace?”

“Ugh. Same.”

“Have they…”He looked away and took a deep breath.

“They did. The council pulled a name from the fire.”

“Who?” Leaf asked looking back at her.

“Ridge. Is that a good thing?”

He nodded. “He’s a very good guard. But he’s out with the troops near the border.”

“They sent out a messenger to recall him to the palace almost the second they pulled his name out of the fire. For now the Lycin council is in charge.”

“That’s a good decision. How’s Syney?”

Helen laughed. “Angry. But I think she’s calming down.”

“Good.” He smiled at her. “Can you stay the night?”

A light blush crossed Helen’s cheeks. “Would that be OK? I don’t want to start any scandals.”

“Out here there are no scandals,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again. He wanted to hold on to her forever. No matter what happened, she would always hold his heart. He glanced down at his naked arm again and found himself imagining it adorned with another type of tattoo. But then he saw her arm, which wasn’t empty. It might be an uphill battle for them, but now that Leaf was out of the palace, he was truly looking forward to his future.

Hunter pushed his emotions down as he looked at Ridge. The paper in front of him almost ripped to shreds as his hands formed into fists. “You’re to go to the Village immediately,” he said, trying to keep his voice even.

Ridge nodded solemnly. “Does it say what happened?”

Hunter took a deep breath and shook his head. “The messenger left before I read it. It just says you’ve been chosen as new head guard. You should pack and leave as soon as you can.”

“I don’t really need anything. Maybe a small bag. I can tie it to my leg and go as a wolf.”

He nodded. “Smart. You’ll get there sooner.”

Ridge started to leave the command tent but stopped and looked back at Hunter. “Thank you. You’ve been a good commander. And I’m sorry. I know you and Commander Leaf were close.”

“Safe journey.” He couldn’t say much else. As Ridge left the tent, his anger and sorrow jumped up into his throat. This was why he needed that damn connection to Syney. There weren’t many things that could happen to a head guard that would cause a new selection, death being the number-one thing. The thought of his good friend dying was too much to process, but the alternative was that Leaf had done something that had disgraced his position somehow. That meant it probably had something to do with Syney or Helen. That didn’t
sit well with him either. He crumpled up the note and tossed it across the tent toward the door just as Fern came through the opening. Hunter looked away from her, still trying to even out his breath. He needed to find out what happened.

“Are you OK?” Fern asked.

Hunter nodded and turned halfway to her. “You talk to Ridge?”

“Briefly. He said he was named head guard,” she said.

“Uh-huh.”

She took a deep breath and dropped her hands from her hips. “He’s a good choice.”

“He is.”

“You’re worried about Commander Leaf.”

He sighed. “I am. Makes me mad that they didn’t give us an explanation. We’re still a part of that community.”

Fern nodded.

Hunter didn’t want to ask the next question of her, since it had become a sensitive subject between the two, but he was at such a standstill with the topic that it was the only thing he had. “Did…um…I saw you got a letter from Rose.”

Fern looked away. “She didn’t mention anything happening at the palace. But she does live in a wall town. You know how slow news travels out there.”

He grimaced and sighed.

“We could send our own messenger. He or she would be back in a couple days.”

Ever since they’d fought a few weeks ago, Fern had become a little softer toward him, but this was the first time she was really acting the part of his mate. He wasn’t sure whether he preferred this side of her or the other. “No, I can’t spare a guard. Not when we have a troop moving over the border next week.”

“One won’t matter. And that way your mind will be at ease.”

Hunter shook his head. “Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter right now. It’s just a distraction.” He walked to the table at the center of the tent and sat down on it. “But thank you.”

Fern looked at the ground for a moment and shifted her weight. This was the most nervous he’d ever seen her. Finally, after a breath, she looked back up at him. “You’re worried about Queen Syney.” She continued after he looked away. “It makes sense to assume something happened to her. She’d be one of the only things Commander Leaf would sacrifice his role for.”

“I’m not entirely comfortable talking about this,” Hunter said.

Fern nodded and wrung her hands. “I understand. But talking about it is a good thing.”

“Where did you get that from?”

She took a deep breath. “Rose. It’s what we’ve been talking about in our letters.”

“You’ve been talking about me and Syney?” he asked, his discomfort rising.

After a moment she nodded. “She understands what I’m going through.”

“How exactly?”

“Your father was in love with someone else while they were joined.”

Hunter couldn’t believe his ears. First Fern was hot and cold, and now she was railing off lies about his parents—although she had been talking, through letters, to his mother the whole time they’d been out here. And Rose was very secretive, especially when it came to his father. She had covered the basics with Hunter, but that was it. Almost all his questions had been brushed aside. This was something he’d just gotten used to as he grew up. He always thought she was ashamed of what he had done, losing his royal charge while on duty, the reason they were banished to the wall towns. But what if that wasn’t the whole story? Regardless it was a bitter pill to swallow. “You’re lying,” he said flatly.