New Roots (Fate's Intent Book 8) (6 page)

Chapter 14

Darius

Jaylyn jumped down in with us right behind her. Troy was sitting up against a back wall with his legs straight out in front of him and his head hung down with his hair covering all sights of his face.

She got right close to him and tilted his head back, moving the hair over the top of his head like he always kept it. He was so pale and look really thin just after days.

“I know you’re alive.” Jaylyn whispered.

“Jaylyn?” Adele didn’t seem hopeful.

“He’s alive!” She snatched. “He’s just really sick. That happens when you don’t eat.”

“No. It’s blood poisoning.” The bandit among us said.

“How the fuck do you know?” I asked defensively.

“I’ve seen it before.” He knelt down on the other side of Troy. “Look.” He opened the front of Troy’s shirt where it was cut and his Great Seni Fighter symbol was slashed up and severely infected from not being treated.

“Oh, no.” Jaylyn’s eye watered.

“Jackal.”

“What?” I asked, annoyed. I didn’t know why he was still here. He couldn’t care.

“It’s his mark cut into his skin.”

I looked at Adele and couldn’t make sense of anything.

“He’s a guy.” Jaylyn said.

“And still alive. I’m going to find him.”

He finally left the room and Jaylyn kept her attention on Troy.

“You can fix it.” Adele said.

“I can heal the wounds but resetting the ink would be your department.”

“Not until we get home. I’d need more ink to be able to fix it.”

Jaylyn sighed. “He’s not going to like it.”

“It’s okay, Jaylyn. Fixing that now isn’t a priority.”

“Fine. I’ll do what I can but we have to get home quickly. It’s not even going to look close to what it used to. Where’s Zayden? He’d agree.”

Adele and I looked at each other, knowing we shouldn’t go into detail right now.

“He sort of has this thing about being underground at the moment.” I said. “Just get started.”

Jaylyn looked to Troy and put her hand on his forehead to get a sense of what he needed healed. I hoped it wasn’t much. While she was there, her eyes started to glow and we waited.

A few moments passed and she paused from it all, lowering her hand and taking a deep breath. “Okay. I’m going to need your help with his next part.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I have to heal his chest wound. That means all of the infection will be pushed out of his veins and it will hurt him.”

“But he’s unconscious.” Adele said.

“He won’t be for long. You have to hold him down.” Adele went to her side and I went to the other side of Troy. “Be ready.”

We both nodded and she put her hand on the bloody wound over his heart and her eyes started to glow again.

Troy’s body tensed at first and Adele and I reached for it, holding down a leg and an arm. My grip was tight and Jaylyn put all of her focus on Troy. He was beginning to become conscious again and that’s when the pain most likely hit hardest. He was so tense he was almost screaming. Jaylyn probably didn’t like to see him like that but she did well and kept her hold. We all knew it would be over soon and he’d be better.

He was tensing so much that he actually managed to get free of Adele’s grasp and he punched the closest thing to  him; Jaylyn.

She was knocked out of concentration and flew back with a mouth full of blood.

“Jaylyn!” Adele immediately went to her.

The lions got defensive with threatening growls towards Troy but I got in the way and tried calming Troy down. “Troy! It’s all right! It’s us!”

He took a breath and started to calm down when he saw me. “It’s about time.”

“Yeah. That’s the plus side. The down side is, those things want to kill you because you just knocked out your wife.”

Troy gasped and looked over to see Adele with Jaylyn. She was hunched over waiting for herself to heal while she had blood all over her hands and lips.

“Jaylyn!” He went right over to her but the lions got in the way.

“It’s all right.” Jaylyn said. “Let him through.”

They moved and Troy leaned into her. “I’m so sorry!”

“I’m fine, really. I can’t feel it anymore.”

“You shouldn’t be forgiving me.”

“Yes, I can. It doesn’t hurt. I can just taste it.”

I laughed as I went over and stood behind them. “Red is not your color.”

“I know. It clashes with my eyes.”

“I think we should go.” Adele said.

Jaylyn was about to agree but glanced down at Troy’s chest with a gasp. I could probably guess what she was seeing or what she wasn’t seeing and Troy noticed. “What?”

He was about to look down but Jaylyn quickly grabbed his chin and raised it. “No! Don’t look. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. We should go.”

Troy wasn’t going to fall for that and held her wrist so he could look. His eyes got wide and he could have been on the brink of actually crying but kept it back for his own personal reasons. “What?!”

“It’s all right.” Jaylyn said.

“What the fuck is that?! Don’t look at it!”

There was hardly any ink left under his skin. It just looked like splotches in no particular design.

He closed his shirt and Jaylyn made him look at her. “It can be fixed. Adele can do it just as soon as we get home and get more ink.”

“That better be quickly!”

“Come on.” Adele said, getting them both up. “Now we have to find our way out.”

“Here.” Jaylyn said, taking of Troy’s sword from her waist and handing it to him. “You forgot something.”

“Thanks. You shouldn’t have come.”

“I had to. You could have died.”

“This was my fault. I did not want to see you pay for my mistake.”

I knew Zayden was disappointed that he went against him to check on Jaylyn that was the cause of all of this. Even though we have him now, it wasn’t over. I knew there was going to be some kind of consequence for it.

We walked back out to the room full of dead and Troy saw it all a little shockingly. “Oh, shit.”

“We had nothing to do with this.” I said. “We got here after it happen.”

Troy looked over at Jaylyn and she smiled innocently. “Things we’ll do for someone.”

“You did all of this?”

“They did but I wanted them to.”

“Come on, Jaylyn.” Adele said. “We have to get you back home where you should have stayed in the first place. Look at you. You haven’t slept in days.”

“I was a little preoccupied.”

“Let’s get you home.” Troy said, putting his hand on her lower back and guiding her through the door. “You need the rest and I need to get my dignity back.”

Jaylyn let out a low laugh. “It’s not really that bad.”

She went to reach for his shirt so she could see it again but Troy held it shut. “Don’t look at it! It’s so disgraceful. Now I knew what he meant.”

“What who meant?” I asked.

“It happened about a day ago or at least it felt like a day. I was mostly out of it anyway from not having anything to eat or drink but I heard Jackal tell me that he was going to dethrone me and make me completely forgotten to the world. I didn’t get to feel much of what he was doing until I blacked-out and the next thing I remember Darius was calming me down after I just—never mind.”

“It’s okay.” Jaylyn smiled. “I didn’t feel it that long. Honestly.”

“Still. I’m never going to forgive myself for hitting you.”

We finally stepped out into the light and Troy got his first real sight of it in days. He had to close his eyes and cover them with his hand.

“Oh, my—Zayden is that you?” Jaylyn asked.

“You all right?” Zayden asked.

“It’s the light.” Troy said. “I’m not used to it.” He clearly wasn’t because he didn’t even see Zayden yet.

“Well, good because you should keep them closed for the trip so you rest. Get on my back.”

“What?” He tried focusing better and was a bit startled when he saw Zayden in front of him as a wolf. “Zayden?!”

“How do you think we found you so quickly?” Ryon asked.

“You’re here too?”

“Enough talking. Let’s get back. Ladies, hop on.” Ryon turned so Adele and Jaylyn could get on his back.

“I guess I’m taking your horse, Jaylyn.” I said.

“That’s okay. I’m glad you found him.”

“Me too. Zayden has a really bony spine.”

She laughed but it was true and we were ready to go, except for maybe one thing. The lions sat near Jaylyn quietly like they were invisible and didn’t take notice to the wolves.

“Jaylyn, put them away and we’re off.” Adele said.

“Oh, Adele! No!”

“Jaylyn, you can’t go back into the city with them. How would that be explained?”

Jaylyn sighed and looked down at them. “I guess she’s right. How do you ah—go?”

“I think you just tell them. That’s what Trever did.” Zayden said.

Jaylyn sighed again. “Okay. You can go. Thanks.”

They bowed to her and began to dissolve back into the tiny flakes of gold from whence they came then filled back into the vial around her neck.

“I’m going to miss them.”

“I know.” Adele smiled. “Now, get on Ryon. We’re going back and you can sleep on me.”

“Okay.”

“One second actually.” I said.

Zayden sighed. “What are you doing?”

I smiled as I showed them the small bundle of cloth in my hand. “Borrowed this from Ruby. I’m going to make sure no one gets out.”

I turned towards the entrance of the hills and Troy turned his head with me. “It’s actually pretty smart. We wouldn’t want Jackal loose on the world. I’m shocked you thought of it.”

I was glad he was well enough that he still had his sense of humor but it still didn’t make me happy. “Hey! I can contribute more than just my good looks.”

Adele’s eyes rolled. “Just do it so we can go.”

I lit the string coming out of the bundle then threw it into the entrance and ran in the other direction. It exploded and rumbled the ground. Dirt flew all around us and the air was filled with a dusty haze.

“Well, that ought to do it.” I said through coughing and clearing the air around me. “She’s going to be sad she missed that.”

Jaylyn laughed. “Then we’ll tell her about it.”

“Not the same.”

“Are you ready?” Zayden asked.

I nodded and got on Jaylyn’s horse. “Yeah.”

“Do any of you have any food?” Troy asked. “If you want me to make it home, I’ll need some.”

“There’s some in my pack, Darius.” Jaylyn said.

I turned and opened the saddle bag on the horse and pulled out some bread. “Here, Troy.”

I tossed it to him and he caught it. “Thanks.” He wasted no time to start eating to get something in his stomach.

“Go ahead and get some rest after that.” Zayden said. “It will take a few days to get home and you two clearly haven’t slept.”

“I didn’t want to.” Troy said. “I knew you’d come.”

Chapter 15

Troy

If I slept at all on the way back; it wasn’t pleasant. I had to make sure I didn’t fall off Zayden while he ran but he did go nonstop just so we’d make it home.

“Before we go inside, how do I change back?” Zayden asked while we were in the stables to settle in Jaylyn’s horse.

“You really want to walk in there naked?” Ryon asked. It made us laugh.

“No. I have clothes in here that were packed from the start of our other trip.”

“Okay.” Ryon practically jumped out of the wolf and was human again with his clothes on. “Then find a safe place if you’d like and concentrate.”

“How’d you do that?” Zayden asked, a little annoyed.

“I’m dead, Zayden. I don’t have your limitations. Now, concentrate.”

Zayden walked with a sigh to an empty stall and pushed his way in. “Now what?”

“This is like doing the opposite. You’re human soul, your subconscious, has to tame the wolf. Show it who is boss and make it submit.”

“I really don’t like fighting with myself.”

“Either that or you could stay a wolf forever and your intimate life with your wife would cease to exist.”

“Easy, Ryon.” Adele said.

“Just telling him the facts. He would most likely kill you since right now he even puts Darius to shame.”

“Zayden, change back!” Darius said quickly.

If I had the energy to burst out laughing I would have but Zayden just found it annoying. “Okay. Just be quiet.”

We stood by while Zayden tried to become human again. I didn’t know what he was thinking about but it took several minutes until we could see him again.

“This feels weird.” He said. “Why do my legs hurt?”

Ryon laughed. “First time as a wolf and you ran for most of it. It was bound to happen.”

“Love, can you get my bag from that stall?”

“Yeah.” She walked to the stall with his horse in it and brought him the bag he requested. “Does it feel weird to stand like that?”

“A little but I feel shorter now.”

“Can we hurry this along?” Darius asked. “Ruby would probably like to know we’re back.”

“Relax. I’m getting dressed.”

“Looks like you’ve got everything under control.” Ryon said. “I should get back to Trever.”

Jaylyn gasped. “Don’t tell him about any of this!”

“I’m sure it’s too late for that. You saw Kole, didn’t you?”

“How did you know I saw Kole?”

“Good guess with the whole lion thing. I knew you wouldn’t have done it on your own without reassurance that you could.”

“Fine then just tell him that everyone is okay and we’re fine.”

“I will. Call if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” Zayden said, walking out of the stall. “And we will.”

Ryon nodded and disappeared.

“Let’s get inside and get a rest. I know we could all use it.”

We followed after Zayden and headed inside the palace. Rift was all over him the moment he walked in. I hadn’t even realized that he left him behind until now but he was sure glad he was back. Jaylyn was naturally welcomed back with open arms but I did not get the welcome I had hoped for.

“You may get the rest you need, everyone.” Izin said with a stern voice. “I need to speak to Troy in private.”

Everyone looked around at each other and Jaylyn looked a little worried.

“It’s all right.” I assured her. “Go upstairs. I’ll be up as soon as I can.” She nodded back and kissed me quickly before she started to turn away with the others. I watched her for a moment then turned, setting my eyes on Izin.

He led me into the conference room and closed the door. It was silent at first as I followed him to the long table and Izin walked around it to sit in his chair while I sat directly across from him in what was usually Zayden’s chair.

“I’m sure you understand that this isn’t going to be easy for me. I’ve always seen you as my son.”

“I understand, father. Everything that happened was entirely my fault.”

“Oh, I’m aware that it was your fault. You went against your leader’s instruction which distracted you from your duty. You could have put every single one of those men in jeopardy because you just couldn’t stay away and that includes members of the royal family. On top of that, you pushed your brother into that savagery wolf form in what seemed to be much sooner than he wanted so he could find you.”

I lowered my head, ashamed of it. “I’m sorry, father.”

“Yes, well, being sorry isn’t good enough this time, Troy. You must learn from your mistakes and until you do, I’m removing your title as a Great Seni Fighter.”

“Father!”

“It’s what must be done!”

If I were Zayden I would have argued it more but it wasn’t my place to and I lowered my head again. “Yes—your majesty.”

“I hear that your mark has been corrupted. Let me see it.” I slowly opened the front of my ripped shirt as I lifted my head and shown Izin what he wanted to see but I couldn’t look at it. “Very good. It makes part of this not so complicated but there is still work to be done. I will get someone to come by later and assist you after you have gotten cleaned up and have rested.”

“That won’t be necessary, your majesty. I will do it myself.”

We locked eyes for several seconds, me being firm in my chair and my request and Izin agreed with a nod. “Very well. You must know that I didn’t want it to come to this but I cannot overlook what you’ve done and pass it off like nothing was ever wrong. You’ve put us back a year by not being able to complete the visits to the southern colonies before the birth of your heir when I assured you that you would be so it has been canceled.”

“I understand, your majesty. I’m fully to blame.”

“This is still your home, Troy. You will still be allowed to stay here unless that is not what you wish. I’ll give you time to think about it.”

“No. In thinking of what’s best for Jaylyn and her needs right now, I think it would be best to stay.”

“A very wise choice indeed. You are free to go. Take a nice long shower and think about what needs to be done to change these circumstances. Perhaps we can come to some kind of agreement.”

“Yes, your majesty.” I stood up and bowed my head. I paused there before leaving and then unhooked my sword from my waist, gently setting it on the table where I sat.

“Well done, my son. I could not have wanted to ask for that either.”

“Your majesty.” I bowed my head again and walked out of the conference room. I took the long slow walk of shame back upstairs and started down the hall towards my room.

Zayden came out of his at the corner and jogged to reach me before I went inside. “Hey, Troy. I’ve got Adele ready for you so you can get your dignity back.”

I didn’t know how to tell him but I tried. “Thanks but I’m not going to get it back.”

“Why? It’s all you talked about.”

“The King has stripped me of that title. I am no longer a Great Seni Fighter.”

“What?!” I understood his displeasure for it but it was pointless to express.

“It’s all right.”

“No, it isn’t. I’ll talk to him.”

“Zayden, don’t.” I took his arm to stop him from going any farther down the hall. “This was my fault. He was right in his choice.”

“Well, what will you do? Does this mean you’re leaving now?”

“No. He said this was still my home and is allowing me to stay here. I want to so Jaylyn has everything she needs till the baby’s born but after that, I don’t know.”

“You’ll come back with us. That’s still your home too. We can fix this.”

“No. You don’t have to do anything. I have to fix this. I just haven’t figured out how. I also need to shower because it’s been—a long time. Can I—”

“You never have to ask. Of course you can.”

“Okay. I’m just going to check on Jaylyn for a minute then I’ll be in.”

“I’ll make sure it’s ready for you.”

I walked inside my room and closed the door without saying anything more to Zayden and saw Jaylyn lying in our bed asleep. I smiled for the first time in a while and just started backing towards the door. I didn’t want to disturb her. She needed the rest.

“Sleep, my beautiful Princess.” I went out the door and walked towards Zayden’s room. It opened and Adele was standing with a sad face. I knew why but didn’t think it was necessary to talk about. “Please don’t.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“It’s ready for you.” Zayden said.

“Thanks.”

I walked passed him and went inside the bathhouse. I stood in front of the sink and saw myself in the mirror for the first time. I really did look horrible. I haven’t shaved in days and was still covered in dirt. I was with the bandits so long, I was beginning to look like one and had to turn from it.

I stripped out of my filthy clothes and got right into the hot running shower. The dirt started to flow towards the drain and I just stood there, letting it happen. So many things were going through my mind and I didn’t know how I would fix what I’ve done. It was harder when I couldn’t prove myself without a battle and since there was no war, it was unlikely that would happen.

I looked down at my chest as I rinsed the soap off and looked at the spots of ink still left under my skin. It caused me to sigh heavily and shut the water off. I grabbed a towel as I got out and just put it around my waist, not bothering to dry off.

I went right over to the sinks and tried not thinking about it while I prepared my face to be shaved but my eyes couldn’t help but flicker down in the mirror every few seconds to see the mark of my honor almost faded away. It made concentrating on something else hard but I had to get it done.

Once I was finished shaving and started to look more like myself, my eyes once again were set down on my chest. I knew what I had to do now. The King wanted the mark completely removed and I would have to cut up the remaining slivers of ink so it would vanish when it heals.

I walked out into Zayden’s room and Adele was eating off her breakfast tray that was sitting on the bed with Zayden and Rift both next to her.

“Hey.” They said casually.

“Hey. Can I borrow this?”

I picked up a dagger from Zayden’s stuff and he gave me a funny look, probably wondering why but didn’t ask. “Ah, I guess.”

“Thanks.”

I walked back into the bathhouse with it and was ready to finish my time here.

“What are you doing?”

Zayden walked in behind me with Adele just as I used the dagger to cut myself deep over the remaining ink and wiped the blood that began to roll down my chest. “The King was going to have someone remove the rest of this but I told him I’d do it myself.”

“You mean your father.” Adele said.

“I’ll call him what I want. He didn’t seem to mind.”

“Well, let me help you. I can make it easier.”

“No!” My voice jumped her a little bit and I saw the look on her face through the mirror. “I’m sorry. I have to do it my way. It’s self-punishment.”

“Oh, okay. So—I guess that means you’re not going to let Jaylyn heal you either, huh?”

“Right.”

“She’s not going to like that.”

“She doesn’t have to. She doesn’t even know yet. She was asleep when I went in to see her.”

“Hey, where the fuck is Troy?” Darius called from a distance.

“In here.” Zayden said.

“Hey. Are you going to make a habit of leaving this behind?”

I glanced up in the mirror and saw my sword in his hand. “What are you trying to do, get me into even more trouble? Get that thing away from me.”

“What are you talking about?” Zayden looked at him and shook his head. “Is someone going to tell me?”

Adele looked over at me and knew I didn’t want to hear talk of it while I continued to cut into myself and she took Darius’s arm, leading him out into the room. It didn’t help; I could still hear. “He’s not one of you anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

“Father took away his title.” Zayden said.

“What?!”

“Shh!”

“Try not to make a big deal out of it.” Adele said.

“But it is a big deal. We can’t be great without Troy!”

I smiled.

“He may get it back sometime.” Zayden said. “He just has to figure out how. Now, take that sword back. He’s not allowed to have it.”

He must have left because it got quiet and Adele came back in just as I was ready to wrap it. “How long do you think you’ll be able to hide that from Jaylyn?”

“Probably all of two seconds. She’ll be able to tell.”

“Maybe you should get some sleep with her now.” Zayden said.