by Alexia Purdy
Ugh, there I went again. Not like he wasn’t something to look at. I’d just been deprived of any decent sparring between me and a guy since I’d come of age. It was like my family didn’t want me to fall in love with any potential male suitor. The why of it all eluded me. I was a nobody royal, not even royal now, but still, there hadn’t even been a whisper about me getting betrothed to anyone. Was I supposed to remain celibate forever? Hell, no.
My poor attempt to evade his scrutiny wasn’t missed by Ephrem. His suspicious eyes had lingered momentarily before he broke our connection to place the tray on the bedside table.
“I made breakfast. I make my own every morning, just added extra for your plate.”
“Wow, I—you didn’t have to do that. Really.” Strike that. I was starving.
“Nourishment is not a favor, it’s a necessity. Please… eat. You’ll need your strength.”
I lifted an eyebrow, questioning his statement.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Training. You need to start your training today if you’re to survive the streets of Temple without pack protection. You can’t stay holed up in the apartment all the time. You’ll need to walk the city now and then, especially if you need things. I can’t always watch you, either. You’ll have to learn to fend for yourself.”
“Whoa… whoa now, soldier. I’ve been trained. Believe me. You saw for yourself! That was one thing I did get a say in at the palace. A secondary royal with no chance of reigning over a pack or even getting married, for that matter, usually gets to do whatever the hell they want to do to keep busy. I chose to train in the art of fighting, if you must know. I’m pretty sure you can’t take me down as quickly as you think you can.” I shoved a strip of bacon into my mouth and chewed aggressively. He was underestimating me. Just like everyone else did. Good grief.
He scoffed and shook his head, looking like he didn’t believe me. I didn’t blame him. Most royals don’t voluntarily choose to be trained in the arts of self-defense and martial arts. Yes, all royals were trained in the ArcKnight stronghold, but maybe he didn’t know this. I wondered if the MarkTiers trained their royals at all. Maybe not. Maybe they depended on the assistance of bodyguards more than my pack did. Maybe he’d joined the guard so he could get a little adventure.
My pack? No… my former pack.
I sighed. Screw it all. I wasn’t going to put myself in any more danger if I could help it, but I could defend myself. I had always been more of a tomboy when I was younger, and my parents had been more than happy to keep me busy by sending me off to be trained. I was one less person to mind when they had the affairs of the kingdom to keep them occupied. I knew this more than anyone else did and had taken the opportunity to learn something I desperately wanted to learn.
“All right, I believe you. And I did get an excellent show of it last night. Even so, we need to test your abilities and expand your training. You don’t think they actually took training a royal seriously, did you? Your trainers didn’t do you any favors.”
It was my turn to frown at this, knowing he’d just insulted my formal training. What a jerk, but that was fine. I was game. I could take him down if I wanted to. I didn’t need a test or anything crazy like that. He didn’t know what he had coming, and I would relish giving him a few bruises.
“Fine,” I mumbled. “Can I get more bacon?”
He nodded and turned to leave the room. “There’s more on the stove. You are free to use anything in the apartment as yours, m’lady.”
“I told you to stop calling me that!” I called after him, but he’d already left the room, leaving me talking to the air.
I hated that, but I stuffed down my anger when I eyed the tray of food he’d handed me. No one can stay angry around food when an empty growling and protesting stomach was involved. I hated to admit it, but the eggs, sausage, toast and bacon he’d piled high on the plate looked absolutely delicious. How could I say no to such a feast? Oh, heck no!
Jumping off the bed, I felt a thump against my sternum. I looked down and saw the talisman Ephrem had been wearing last night. How the hell was it around my neck now? I peered down at it, running my fingers over the warm metal and rotating it in my hand.
The runes were unfamiliar, like a language I’d never seen before, yet they felt like I’d seen them before. The metal felt alive and warm, like it produced its own heat. I swore I could feel it humming just under my skin. The stone was the color of the moon and shimmered under the sunlight from the window.
Was it an Ardent Talisman?
I shook my head and let it drop back to my chest. I’d have to ask Ephrem about it later. There’s no way he had one. It was only for those of royal blood, right? I sighed. Too many things swirled in my head to add one more. First, breakfast was calling with a fury.
I stuffed the deliciously greasy food down my throat in five minutes flat, only scowling when it was all gone. I hadn’t realized how famished I’d become. Getting banished was hungry work.
It wasn’t all that bad having a hot warrior who could cook looking after me now. Maybe banishment wouldn’t be so dreadful after all.
Chapter Seven
Ephrem
“Fuck!”
Lily pushed off the ground, pissed all to hell. It was the fifteenth, maybe more, or so time that I’d dropped her to the ground. Can’t say it wasn’t painful for me either. She wasn’t made for this kind of punishment, and I hated doing it. My friend Jason and I were dedicated to beating her ass to the ground in as many creative ways we could think of just to prove how pathetic her so-called training in the ArcKnight stronghold had been.
Hey, she hadn’t believed us. The look on her face now proved she was rethinking everything I’d told her and calculating just how hard this was going to be to level up.
I hoped she’d overestimated. She was getting her ass handed to her.
“Are you going to give up now? We just got started on the good stuff.” Jason smirked as he bounced on his feet, waiting for Lily to attack. Her face was flushed scarlet, and her long dark hair clung to the sweat drenching her face and neck. Flustered wasn’t the word to describe her in this state. If I hadn’t already spoken to her some, I’d say she was down for implosion any second.
“Come on, Lily. What are you waiting for?” I called out. She needed the push. There was nothing else she required. She had the skills. They just needed refining, and we were the best of the MarkTier pack who could train her.
Jason was now first scout of the Outlands Legion. That’s what the soldiers who guarded the Neutral Lands called themselves. We were an organized bunch. A well-oiled machine. The army was made up of only MarkTier soldiers because the ArcKnight pack had their own group of legionnaires scouring the edges of the Outlands near their borders. Here, we intermingled now and then, but it didn’t happen often. Only if necessary. If Jason knew Lily was an ArcKnight, he’d have an epic fit. He may have followed me out here in banishment and was my best friend, but he was still a spoiled rotten MarkTier nobleman soldier if I’d ever seen one.
Regardless, he was the only person in the world I trusted enough to help me train Lily and keep his damn mouth shut if he happened to figure out who she was. There was a list a mile long of people who’d want her dead if they knew who and what she really was, but I wouldn’t allow it. She’d been my betrothed, and I respected her even though we were no longer promised to each other. We had been once, and that was all I needed.
She curled her fingers into her palms, turning her knuckles stark white as she screwed up her face in a furious rage. “You’re going to pay for that last bit.”
Jason waved her over, tossing her a wink as he continued to bounce back and forth on his feet. “Give me what you got, babe.”
I never said he wasn’t a chauvinist pig, but it was darn good for angering Lily enough to push her into warrior mode. Rage was more useful than the giving up that had passed across her face when she’d discovered just how poor her training had been.
She lunged toward him, flinging her body into the air near the ground. She grabbed onto Jason’s ankles and yanked with all her might. This movement threw him to the floor next to her, catching him off guard enough so that she could let go and turn, grabbing his arm and folding it behind his back as he faced the ground. She sat on his back to keep him from escaping.
Jason jerked and bucked as best he could with his one good arm, but she squeezed him with her thighs and pulled his arm even harder. It wasn’t looking good for him.
“Relent!” she demanded, giving his arm another pull for good measure.
“Stop! Okay, okay! I give!” Jason’s purple face and the veins popping out his temples told me he’d had enough.
I clapped, shaking my head and chuckling. Where Jason had skill on Lily, she had speed and was petite enough to evade his grip. It was surprising, but I couldn’t have been more thrilled to see her prevail in combat.
“Well done! I need to see you fight like that more often.” I grinned at Lily as she breathed hard, matching my smile with her own. Her teeth gleamed white and perfectly straight. Jason, whose frown deepened the lines in his sun-aged face, couldn’t be more upset as he rubbed his arm. “You got beat by a girl, ol’ buddy,” I said.
He growled, the low resonating hum of his wolf boiling underneath the surface while his eyes flashed yellow.
“Whoa now, we don’t want any crazy happening, now do we?” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he immediately calmed. He wasn’t my second lieutenant for nothing. He knew exactly what he had to do when he had to do it. Jason jumped to his feet and huffed as he walked away to cool off.
I turned toward Lily as I heard the door to the locker room slam.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
She grabbed a towel from the rack on the side wall and rubbed her neck with it. Her hair stuck to her face and flared out in a slight halo.
“Better now. I thought he was going to pound me into the ground.” She wiped her face and rubbed her shoulder. “I think my shoulder is going to have some marks on it tomorrow. Let’s not forget how much my entire body is going to hurt tomorrow.”
I waved her over. “Let’s put some ice on your shoulder. You did great. Keep at this, and you’ll be a legionnaire in no time.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are they all like him? Damn. Some friend you got there.”
“Jason is a bit rough around the edges, but he’s a loyal and courageous friend. He’s always had my back.”
She nodded as her eyes darted to the ground, a tiny frown pressing on her lips.
“I’ve never had friends like that. I thought I did, but….” She shrugged. “Oh well, right? Can’t trust anyone.” She quietly walked toward the ladies’ locker room without another word.
“Wait. Why? What do you mean?”
I jogged up to her as she came to a stop, still looking upset.
“Look, it’s nothing.”
“Lily.” I reached out and touched her shoulder. She winced, so I pulled my hand away. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right.” She sighed and met my eyes. “You know why I’m banished, right?”
I nodded, but I still want to hear her version of the story. “Just what the news has said about it, which isn’t much. The royals usually make that kind of news go away fast.”
She rubbed her hand over her hair, pressing her tousled strands back and looking more frustrated. I could tell she wanted to say more.
“Well, it’s because… I lost my Ardent talisman. It was like yours.” She picked up the pendant still hanging around her neck. “But with just one rune on the back of it and more of a topaz-colored gem.”
This piqued my interest, but I didn’t want her to notice.
“Do you know where you lost it?” I asked quietly.
“I—I actually didn’t lose it.” She bounced from foot to foot, fidgeting with the edges of her shirt as she stuttered. “It was stolen from me.”
“You know who took it, don’t you?” I already knew the answer to that. She was a horrible liar. Her guilt was displayed across her face like a billboard sign.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“So why didn’t you get it back? You might be reinstated if you find it.”
Her shoulders drooped as she shook her head. “My best friend, Elise, took it. I couldn’t have her hunted and killed. I had to tell the council it was stolen and I didn’t know who had it.”
“But she did steal it. Why would you defend a so-called friend like that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I couldn’t let her be hunted like that. I’ve seen what they do to traitors. I couldn’t let her be thrown to the wolves. I couldn’t watch someone I loved die because I was stupid.”
“But you’d rather be banished and die in the Outlands? Does that sound right to you?” I walked away toward the locker room, fuming. She’d let her friend steal the Ardent amulet? My talisman? What kind of person lets anyone get away with that? My life was in danger because of her carelessness.
I stopped, realizing she didn’t know it’d been my amulet she’d lost. “You know wolves usually don’t survive without their amulets. The ones that have them, I mean. They just get too weak to protect themselves.”
“Yes.” her voice came out in a whisper, cracking as though she was holding back tears.
If I looked at her now, I’d beg her to forgive my harsh voice. I usually relented for no one. That was, until now. I risked a peek at her, and my heart turned to mush. “We’ll find her.”
Blinking away the salty sweat mixed with tears surely stinging her eyes, she gave me a nod. “I know.” Peering up at me, her eyes sparkled. “You’ll help me, won’t you?”
Even if I wanted to say no, there was no way I could turn her down now. Not with her looking at me like that.
Well, darn.
“Yeah. Of course. I’ll help you.”
Lily studied me for a moment before giving me a smile that could suck my soul in and never let it go. There was no denying she had a subtle power to entrance anyone who spoke to her. I was pretty sure she was used to getting her way. Even then, I was also certain that she was more vulnerable than she’d ever admit.
I was a sucker for vulnerable.
Chapter Eight
Rafaela
“You can’t hide things from me. We’re partners, remember?” I kept my voice low, knowing the walls had ears, even in our bedroom.
Gil let out a long sigh as he yanked off his boots. The silence that followed infuriated me even more. Our ceremony had been quick and nothing special. Usually, marriage ceremonies were a large extravagant thing, and we’d be having a real celebration as soon as I set it up, but on the eve of burying the leader of our pack, the ceremony had been abridged.
Husband and wife. I didn’t feel like an equal whatsoever. In fact, after the humiliating announcement yesterday and subsequent funeral, I hadn’t had time to corner Gil about not telling me his father had passed. This was unacceptable, and I’d be damned if I was going to let it go.
“My husband must tell me everything from this moment on. You get that, Gil? We’re no longer kids, we are rulers. Both of us.”
“I get it.” Gil sat up, staring off toward the wall, his back to me. “I apologize for not telling you. Had I known you’d lose your head over it, I would’ve rushed to tell you my father had died. I figured you’d hear it just as fast as anyone else.”
“You can’t expect me to find out when everyone else does. That’s not how it works. You tell me these kind of things first. Not second, not third, or with the masses. First. Always.”
I hated sounding like my mother, who was now Queen Mother, assuming the position since Gil’s own mother was not up to the task. She wasn’t all there anymore, and I knew my mother was having her own ordeals now. Her position was one of grace, keeping things running smoothly in the castle. Mainly helping me out.
The only person not he
re to help me out was Lilliana. She’d be my righthand girl if she hadn’t got herself banished for losing her Ardent talisman and getting another artifact stolen along with it. The foolish girl could die if her source of power fell into the wrong hands. It was all I could stand to think of her right now while I was still so mad at my new husband.
“Gil?”
“Okay! I told you. I won’t do it again. You’ll be the first to know everything, always!” Gil’s voice echoed in the room, and I cringed to think someone could be listening to our fight.
“Keep your voice down,” I hissed. I threw my hands up into the air. It was no use to argue now. It was over, and the past was unfixable. I knew that more than anyone else.
“I’m sorry, Rafaela. Really… I am.” Gil was facing me now, and I sank down into the bed, defeated even though I’d won.
“Okay.”
Slowly peeling our clothes off, we readied for bed. I slipped on a camisole and let the cool, silky fabric calm me. I was exhausted from the last few days; tired beyond belief. My fight had been extinguished, and I didn’t want to spend my wedding night angry.
“Tomorrow, nothing will ever be the same,” I said more to myself than Gil.
Gil turned toward me and shifted in bed, pulling me into his arms.
“Hey, it’ll be okay. You’ll see. No one else is as capable of running the pack like us. You know that, right? I’m here for you and you for me. We’ll keep it going just fine.”
“I know. It’s just… Lily’s gone, and things have gotten crazy here. We have enemies within the pack and outside it too. There’s so much to lose. I need her. She’s my sister.”
“It’ll be fine. I got your back. Lily’s a tough girl. If anyone can make it in the Outlands, she can. You know that.”
“Can’t we pardon her?” I sat up, pleading with my eyes.
Gil pressed his lips together, frowning slightly.