Recovery

by Layla Heart

  Litha steps out of the room, smiling. “There are couches here, and I found a blanket.” She steps back and we help Finn into the room.

  The living room is big, massive. When I look around, I count seven good-sized couches, and a lot of tables with chairs. But what impresses me most are the shelves and shelves and shelves that line the walls, all filled to the brim with books and nothing else. A quick scan of the room tells me that they’re all about magic, history, herbs, and other things. No fiction or anything else to relax, this is all stuff people who’re involved with the army would need... “Wow.” The word slips out of me as I stare.

  “Thanks.” Bane’s mum lets out a short laugh behind us. “My family has a long history of being involved with the werewolf army and we’ve always been close to the royals. So, we’ve collected quite a lot of things over time. Use it to your advantage. I’m sure you’ll find a couple of books in here that you can’t find anywhere else anymore.” She opens the curtains and shows a great view of the garden beyond. I realise that the sun is higher in the sky here than it was at the academy. So, we’ve also moved into the ‘past’ a little. Good to know.

  I help Finn on the couch and then I stretch, before going back to the hallway. We’ve got more things to move here. No matter how nice the house looks, we kind of need to get everything in here quickly. We need to settle in so we can start figuring out what we’re going to do next...

  I’m sitting in the kitchen, chopping some vegetables from the garden as Rune is frying meat at the stove. Finn and Bane are in the living room while Litha and Phoenix are in the garden, ‘exploring’, whatever that means with those two... They may have just found a place to make out that’s out of our view, I wouldn’t put it past them, or really blame them...

  “Your mum seemed well.” Rune’s voice is low, and he’s not looking my way, but his tone is obvious enough, he’s got something on his mind.

  “Yeah. I guess that things have been calmer at the borders since we came to the campus for the new year. She didn’t look that well when I left.” I put down my knife, not sure what he’ll ask next, but I know this isn’t some ‘light conversation’.

  “I know. She looked... pained, when I saw her this summer.” He’s still with his back to me, and it’s becoming obvious he’s doing it on purpose.

  “The attacks at the border kept her up a lot in those months. She was really worried about what was going on and we lost a lot of family members in the altercations.” I stand up, going over to him and lean on the counter, trying to catch his eyes. “What’s going on?”

  He shakes his head. “Nothing. Never mind. It’s nothing.” He flashes me a smile and then gives me a quick kiss. I feel his emotions, but nothing seems off about them, just curiosity and worry, which... Not weird, perse. But I can’t shake the feeling that something else is on his mind.

  “What were you thinking about?” I push myself up on the counter, so I can look at him easier. “What is it?”

  He lets out a deep sigh, turning the stove down and then he steps closer, his eyes dark. “Your mum comes from a big family. Your aunt has multiple kids. They’ve both got a lot of partners, some of who have kids with others too.” He looks out over the garden, frowning. “But you’re her only child. And you’re your biological father’s only kid too. I was just...” He shakes his head, sighing. “Like I said... It’s nothing, really. Just something that popped up in my mind.”

  I frown, reaching out and turning him to me. “I’m not the only one of us who’s an only child. It’s not that weird. You’re an only child, so are Bane and Finn. Why is it weird for me?”

  “Because succubi queens, or incubi kings, don’t simply have one child. It’s... It’s not normal. The royal family is closely connected to the army, lots of royal members perform important duties in your army too. Like you said, you’ve lost a lot of family members this summer. But your mum hasn’t had any children since you were born, and didn’t have any before you. If you’re killed... Your line, her line, would end.” He takes my hand, and I don’t know how to interpret the emotions he’s feeling.

  “The same goes for you. I mean, the thing about the end of a line and stuff like that.” I reach up, putting my fingers to his face, trying to read him, but it’s all muddy. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. Seeing your parents together today...” He shakes his head. “I had a feeling that I just can’t shake. And it’s been getting worse every time I’ve seen them since.”

  “Which is?”

  “What if she only wants him? What if your bio father is the only one your mum really wants?”

  I blink, surprised by his words. “That would be... unheard of. That’s not how... That’s not how we work.”

  “Then, why?” He looks at me, his gaze intense. “My parents would love to have another kid, but since we’ve been forced from our homeland, it’s a miracle if people have more than one kid. It’s why Aideen and her brother are so special. I don’t know about any of the others, but for none of us being an only child is strange, just for you.”

  Thinking about it, he’s right, in some ways, but I don’t have an answer for him, at least not one that I like... If he’s right, then I don’t know what to think about my parents, about what they taught me... But if there’s another reason why I don’t have any siblings... That could be even worse...

  “I’m sorry.” He squeezes my hand lightly. “I shouldn’t have said anything. This is none of my business, it just... It kept going through my head.”

  And now it will keep going through my head, like that’s much better... I’m about to say something, but the door to the kitchen opens loudly.

  “Kit! Rune!” Litha bounces into the kitchen, carrying a huge bunch of flowers in her arms. “Look at what we found. These are so pretty! Look!” She puts them on the table and I wince. The flowers are really pretty, they’re in a rainbow of colours, but her happy and bouncy demeanour is a direct result of the effect the plants can have on people... And to have them this close to our food, we’re going to have to rinse all the veggies again, just to get the pollen off them...

  “I’ve got even more.” Phoenix also bounces in, super happy and excited, and Rune is at her side in a flash, taking the flowers from her before she can do the same as Litha.

  “I’ll take these.” He holds his breath as he quickly takes them outside again.

  “That’s mean.” Litha pouts, but her eyes are still sparkling wildly. “Look! Pretty!” She lifts one of them up and comes my way, holding it out.

  I take her arm, trying to keep her from pushing the thing in my face. “Yes, they’re really pretty, and they have to go back outside.”

  “Why?” She pulls a face. “I just want things to be pretty here.”

  “Because these have a very interesting effect on your behaviour... They’re usually used in drugs.” I slide down from the counter, keeping the flower away from me. “Like you are now. That’s the effect of the flowers.” I can feel it in her emotions, the hyper-happiness, the buzz going through her.

  “It’s not.” She pulls her arm back, looking at Phoenix. “Right?”

  Phoenix shrugs, though she also giggles. “It would be funny if we’d found something like that... How silly that would be.”

  Rune appears behind her again, looking unimpressed at the two girls before he looks up to me. “I suspect we may have to wait with dinner for a little bit.”

  I nod, feeling the pollen of the flowers already affecting me, tickling like a giggle inside. Of course, this would happen to us... Because nothing ever goes according to plan when the six of us are involved.

  5

  My cheeks burn in shame. I can’t believe that I found such dangerous flowers... I’ve only ever seen them in their dried form, not when they’re fresh like this. Of course, I know what they do, my mum uses them in rituals from time to time, but I’d never expected to find them in the garden here... They were... Well, not really in the garden, they were just outside the fen
ce, but I’d never expected to run into them in the wild...

  Groaning, I drop my head on my arms. “Fucking hell, I’m so stupid. I should have noticed it...”

  “Have you taken advanced herbology?” Finn glances my way, looking way too smug.

  “No. Just the basic course. Against my mum’s advise...” Mum wanted me to continue my studies of them, but I had other ideas.

  “Guess why?” He dares to wink at me and I let out a growl as I look away from him. He’s mean, even if he’s right.

  Bane comes into the living room, putting a glass of water in front of me. “I wouldn’t have known either. I’ve never been here around this time of year. And I get why...” He shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “Guess what? Half the plants in the garden, and right outside in the woods too, they’re all dangerous as hell. I just went out there with Rune and Kit. Apart from the patch of queen’s bane, which we used on Rune before, there are hallucinogens, poisons, things which will kill you in three seconds flat and all sorts of other things you don’t even want to get close to. They didn’t just collect a dangerous collection of books, but you could kill, or make giggly, a whole town, with all the stuff they have out there. They could have warned us...”

  “Maybe they expected you to know about it?” Finn looks at him. “Now I’m bummed I can’t actually go check it out myself.” He winces as he moves.

  I don’t want to go out there anymore. I don’t want any of this. It’s been too much. Tears spring in my eyes. Today has been too much. Too much pressure, too much shit. And the last two weeks? I cover my face with my hands, a sob nearly taking my breath anyway, sadness flooding me.

  “She’s coming down.” Finn’s voice is soft. “The after-effects of this stuff are no fun. The high is good, but the low... very low. It’s not as obvious when dried and mixed in with other things, but fresh like this... It’s potent.”

  Bane comes closer and then his arms wrap around me. “I know I’m not Litha, but watching a girl cry without trying to do something about it doesn’t sit well with me.”

  I nod, his touch warm, grounding. I know rationally that this sadness is just from the plants, but that doesn’t really mean that my emotions know that. I keep sobbing, bawling, and strangely, it feels good. It feels like the stress is finally leaving my body, no matter how silly it happened...

  After my silly move with the plants, the rest of the evening is much simpler and a lot less stressful. Rune and Kit made an amazing dinner, and we ate it in the living room. Finn on the couch, being fed by Litha, Rune and Kit sitting on the floor, close together, Bane was sitting on one of the other couches, half-reading a book he found about plants and trying to learn as much as he could about some of the plants from the garden, and I was the only one sitting at the table. It felt... calm. For the first time in a long time, it felt calm. Like the quiet before the storm.

  Like the quiet before a really big storm.

  Kit and Rune helped Finn to one of the rooms upstairs, since the stabbing and everything else exhausted him, and the two haven’t returned downstairs again, probably having their own fun upstairs. Not long after, Litha also went to bed, almost crawling out of the room, that’s how exhausted she was, but she was adamant that she sleep upstairs with Finn and not here on the couch.

  That leaves just Bane and me downstairs. He puts his book away and comes over to the table, where I’m reading a book about offensive magic spells and rituals that I never even considered could exist. A whole book made up of spells and rituals that could enhance offensive powers or even give them to people who only have other types of powers. Like... This is a book made for warfare, and I’m definitely aware of the implications of what I’m reading.

  “What do you think this means?” Bane slides a picture over to me. It looks very old. “I found it in the book I was reading, someone used it as a bookmark.” I take another look at it. It’s my parents, Litha’s parents and Bane’s parents. They’re around our age and it’s taken at the back of this house. They all look so happy. Which isn’t strange as they still had the rest of their lives ahead of them.

  “We know that they were friends.” I shrug, closing the book I was reading, the graphs making my head spin.

  “I know that. I don’t mean that part. I mean...” He sighs and I glance up at him. He looks troubled. “They were here. It looks to be the end of summer in that picture. They were all here, learning, studying, and having fun. They were our age, no idea of what would happen a couple of years down the line.”

  “They were young, yes. Why?”

  He sighs again, shaking his head. “I don’t know. It feels... destined? Our parents were without troubles at that time. They had plans for their future. Plans that didn’t involve losing their family, giving up everything for their children’s safety. We grew up in the shadows of this prophecy, but that was never their life. That was never part of their life until much later. It feels so... It feels like an inverted mirror, a negative from a photograph.”

  I just stare at him, not sure what’s going on in his head.

  He finally looks up at me again. “What if by the time we reach the age that they were when we were born and their lives turned into this big prophecy mess, we finally fulfil it and actually get to do whatever we want? Don’t you think that that’s...” He shrugs.

  “You hope that it’s over by then?” I blink.

  “I hope that we’ll have a future in a couple of years. I hope that we’ll still be alive, all of us.” He nods, and then his eyes harden, steadying. “I want to make that happen. I want to make sure that by the time we reach their age, we’ll have the rest of our lives ahead of us. No longer burdened by the prophecy, but being able to create our own destiny.”

  “Just as long as that includes running your own county.” I smirk, liking this enthusiasm that’s suddenly rising in him. “Because the way the prophecy is telling it, you can create your own future, as long as it includes being kings to a really big country.”

  He shrugs, smirking back. “With you all there, we can split the duties. I think it’s a great idea, we can all become part-time rulers and part-time something else, something we actually want to be.”

  “What would that be?” I look at him, curious about his answer, but he just stills, his eyes opening a little wider, his mouth opening and closing.

  “I don’t know.” He seems genuinely surprised by it. “I guess my own words are prophetic. We’ve always just focused on the prophecy and not much more, because I have no idea who I’d be, who I’d want to become, if I could choose my own destiny, my own path in life.”

  I laugh, pushing at his shoulder. “You’ve got your work cut out for you then. Not only do you have to learn a shitload of new things, like how we’re going to take down the fae king, but you’ll also have to figure out what you’d like to be, apart from being a king.”

  He laughs too, nodding. “What about you? What would you do?”

  I think for a moment, smiling. “I’d do what my family hasn’t been able to do for generations, support our witch queen. Our high coven has been waiting for the return of a witch queen for generations, our job has always been to support her. And I’ll finally be the one to continue that tradition. I’ll take our rightful place at her court, and maybe be head of her health department.”

  “Sounds like you have a plan.” He leans back. “Sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

  I shake my head, grinning. “Not really. Just rambling right now.” I take a deep breath. “It’s not about what we’ll do after everything settles down, it’s about how we’re going to make sure that we all survive the coming weeks, the coming months and the coming years. Because the way things are going right now...”

  He nods, looking a little more serious. “The way things are going right now, I’d be lucky to get to my next birthday, and that’s in a month and a half.” He pushes himself up. “And with that unhappy thought, I’m off to bed. Don’t stay up too late, your queen needs you there tom
orrow.” He smiles, nodding to me before he leaves the room.

  On my own, finally, I stare out the windows, out to the garden and the woods, covered in the darkness of the night. Bane’s right, it’s going to be one hell of a ride if we want to get to the same age as our parents were when they had us. And we’re all going to have to put in a lot of work to make that happen.

  I stand up, energy flaring through me. Just because it seems impossible doesn’t mean that it will be impossible, not when we’ve got Litha with us.

  Bring it on. We’ll be ready.

  6

  The sounds of birds and the fluttering of leaves from the trees surround me as I wake up, a light breeze bringing the scent of late-summer flowers into the room. For a moment, I’m confused by it all, it’s so unfamiliar, but then the events from yesterday slowly come back to me. The early morning with Kit and Rune, then dressing up to meet important people, and then the attack at the meeting. Finn getting stabbed!

  That jerks me awake, which makes Finn groan. Finn, who I was apparently sleeping on. Oops...

  He turns to me, reaching up and touching my shoulder, softly smiling as he opens his eyes. “Good morning.”

  “Morning.” I lean closer and give him a quick kiss on his lips. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I got stabbed.” He groans, pulling his shirt up. The skin around the bandage is a little blackened, but definitely not as bad as it was for Bane or Rune. “That could have been deadly, if it wasn’t for all of you.”

  I flinch. “Don’t say that. You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do.” He tugs on my arm a little and I look at him. “I do know that. But I don’t say it to give you pain, it’s to thank you. You were amazing yesterday.”

  I shake my head, my eyes going watery. “You were. The way you intercepted the assassin... It would have worked. It would have worked...” If the assassin hadn’t actually been focused on killing Finn, not the werewolf king she pretended to target, knowing full well that Finn would try to protect him.