by Jen Wylie
"How did everyone find out then?"
"The Fey knew immediately," Prince answered. "Their fury overtook most of them. Only the strongest remained sane. Thousands died in the rampage which followed. Their city was nearly destroyed and later abandoned. They blamed the Elves and Were. We too knew of our queens death by magical means, we blamed the Fey and Were."
And the Were, being telepathic, knew of our queen’s death as well.
"Many died before all sides understood all the queens had been killed."
"Wither me," she muttered, picturing the destruction and death which must have occurred.
"My grandfather died in the fighting," Prince revealed, his voice quiet. "Thus my parents inherited the throne."
They all sat in silence for a moment. She simply didn't know what to say.
"That’s why it wouldn't be a bad thing," Kei finally said, his voice quiet and tentative.
"What wouldn’t?" She turned to look at him in surprise.
His cheeks flushed in the firelight. "If we had a queen, we'd be whole again."
"Oh." She didn't know what to say to that. Did he truly want her to be his queen? How insane was that? Maybe they'd all lost their minds. She'd begun to wonder about hers. Another thought came to her and she reached out to take Kei’s hand. "But it doesn’t have to be me. You know I’ll do whatever I can to help the Fey heal. I think…what Damon’s been saying, what the prophecies are saying, is that it will happen soon though. I’m here, we’re all here. Things are in motion now."
Kei pulled her forward and held her tightly. "You’re right," he mumbled, tears choking his words. He buried his face into her neck, hiding it from the others.
She held him and stroked his hair. "Soon, Kei."
He nodded against her. Even if you aren’t my queen, I will still stay with you. I meant it when I promised you forever.
Her breath caught and she smiled slightly, tears forming in her own eyes. Or I’ll stay with you. We’ll figure it out when the time comes.
Her heart sang with joy. She might lose Prince, but she would always have Kei. Though her love for him was different, she did love him, and knowing he would always be by her side made everything suddenly better. She would never be alone again.
Chapter 8:
More Human than Human
"You healed fast," Kei noted as she jogged next to him through the trees.
Frowning, she glanced over at him. "I'd only twisted it."
His answer was a faint, worried smile she didn't understand. She let it go and focused instead on keeping an eye out for dinner.
She'd spent two days on and off the horse. By the third, her ankle had healed enough she could not only walk, but dart about and even run for a while. That had suited her just fine. Now Bo could have her horse and they could travel faster.
Prince seemed the same. He hadn't gotten any better, but he hadn't gotten any worse either. She could deal with that. It was one less thing to worry about anyway. She had too many things on her mind. Would they get him home before he faded away? Which route would be fastest? What would they do about the human army? When she wasn't worrying about all of that she struggled with her feelings for him. Kei's talk of it being a good thing she might be the Fey queen didn't help her nerves either. Her mind had turned into a chaotic mess.
Running felt good. Running with Kei felt right. She glanced over at him, smiling to see he looked so free and happy. The sun and shadows played across his face and spikey hair as he ran amidst the trees. For a moment she thought how perfect it would be if they could just run forever and have no worries at all.
We still need to talk.
She raised her eyebrows and looked over at Kei. He rarely used mind speech if he could talk instead. She slowed and then stopped. They were alone. She assumed he meant he wanted to talk now.
She hadn’t forgotten how Kei had said they needed to talk after she had killed the soldier attacking Prince. Kei didn’t like to speak a lot, so she’d let him bring it up when he was ready.
He stood in front of her, squinting up into the trees and looking decidedly uncomfortable.
Her stomach tightened in worry over what he wanted to talk to her about. "What is it?"
His gaze moved to the ground, some of his light brown hair falling over his face. Biting his lip he shook his head slightly.
"Kei? You’re scaring me." She took a step toward him.
"Don’t take my fury anymore."
She blinked at him in surprise and waited silently for him to say more. He didn’t. "Why?"
A pained looked crossed his face and he glanced up at her, his beautiful golden eyes glowing faintly. "When you attacked the soldier…you were so…furious." A frustrated growl rumbled from his chest. "I’m afraid. Of what it’s doing to you."
She shook her head in confusion. "But I didn’t–" She stopped. The night before she had taken some of his fury into her. She’d forgotten about that. "It wasn’t very much," she continued. "I don’t mind–"
Kei growled again and grasped at his hair, turning from her to pace angrily. "You don’t understand! You get so angry sometimes. It’s not like you."
"But–"
"You’re not Fey!"
His sudden outburst left her at a loss for words. She just shook her head, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
He rushed toward her, stopping to grab her shoulders roughly and lock his eyes with hers. "You’re not Fey," he repeated more quietly. "Yet you are healing faster. You run faster and fight quicker. For some reason you can speak to Were and build walls in your mind. Even Fey don’t do that. You can take my fury. You somehow made us all a Were pack. Do you understand? You are human. You aren’t meant to have our power. I don’t know what I’ve done to you. What my power has changed in you…I don’t…" His choked words stopped and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.
His fearful, frantic tone sent a chill down her spine. Put into words and all together, the little changes weren’t so little anymore. Garen’s question suddenly echoed in her mind; Are you human?
Kei’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly against him. "Please, Aro."
Resting her head against his, she held him just as tightly. "I’m fine. I am."
"Promise me."
She hesitated for a moment. "I promise I won’t unless you need me to."
His growl shuddered through his entire body.
She pulled back to look at him. "I won’t risk losing you again. If you can’t break free, then I’ll do it again."
"I can control it now," he insisted.
"I won’t promise never to do it again. I won’t."
His eyes flashed to orange. "I can’t lose you either," he whispered.
The words tore at her heart. She understood. Knowing he felt the same way for her as she did for him meant more than she could say. "We’ll be careful. Everything will be fine." She smiled slightly. "At least I can keep up with you now, and I’m not nearly as breakable."
"This isn’t a game."
"No," she agreed. "But what’s done is done and I don’t regret any of it."
Her words clearly startled him and he stared frozen at her for a long moment before the light in his eyes suddenly dimmed and a brilliant smile lit his face instead. He held her tightly again, nearly crushing her. "My Aro."
She squeezed him back as hard as she could. "My Fey."
* * *
Aro? Kei? Garen? Bo's voice called faintly.
Yes? What's wrong?
Nothing. Time to stop and rest. Meet at the rocks by the river.
She glanced up through the trees, surprised to see the sun high in the sky. After their emotional talk she and Kei had continued with their scouting. On our way!
She heard Garen and Kei also confirm and with a small smile to the Fey they turned and headed back to the river they'd passed earlier. It had been one of the largest they'd come across yet. She wondered if it had fish in it.
When they returned they fo
und Garen resting in the sun by the tethered horses.
"Where's everyone else?"
Bo is using the bushes. Prince is by the river. He seems tired today.
She nodded and frowned, turning to look toward the rushing water. She couldn't see Prince, but perhaps the many trees lining its shore hid him.
She and Kei rummaged through the packs, finding some cooked corn on the cob left over from the night before and some summer berries collected that morning to serve as a meal.
Bo rejoined them. "We've eaten, but take your time." He glanced toward the river.
She fought to finish eating despite her sudden lack of appetite. Was Prince fading again?
"We could try fishing," Kei said into the silence. He and Bo, and even Garen, began discussing where to look for fish, and what other food they might find near the river.
Choking down the last of the berries she licked her fingers clean. "I'm going to see how Prince is doing."
"Have a rest, too," Bo told her. "You don't want to injure that ankle again." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "We’ve made good time."
She nodded and headed for the river. She didn't see Prince so went to the water’s edge and carefully washed her hands and face. If she had berries smeared on her chin he'd be certain to admonish her for it. The thought brought forth a smile.
A noise downstream startled her and she jerked up, head snapping toward the sound.
Prince was not resting by the bank as she’d supposed, but knelt at the river’s edge, cleaning up in the crisp waters. Frowning, she walked over to his side and stopped.
He glanced up at her, but then went back to scrubbing his bare arms. He’d tossed his shirt next to him beside his floppy hat. He didn’t wear it now, alone as they were in the woods, but he kept it near just in case.
Her eyes, however, were drawn to the scars on his back. Though fully healed, they stood out sharply on his fair skin. Covering from shoulder almost to his waist, more also streaked down the outsides of both arms to his elbows. Most looked new and pink, some were darker grooves in his skin, others lighter ridges.
When the slave ship had crashed into rocks and sunk they’d had to swim to shore. The rocks in the waters had not been kind. Her eyes skipped to the scars she had on the back of her hands, they were much like his. The only reason she had so few was because he’d held her in his arms, keeping her safe from the rocks and from drowning altogether. Other than her hands, her only other scar was a deep one high on her forehead when she’d been struck by a piece of debris.
She reached out a hand, wanting to trace the marks down his back, but then stopped and pulled it back. "Do they bother you?"
He looked up, water dripping from his hair into eyes. Brushing it away he frowned, and then noticed her staring. "No. It was a necessary sacrifice at the time."
She blinked, opened her mouth and then closed it again, unsure what to say to that.
He’d gone back to scrubbing dirt off his hands. "Since the slavers took my amulet, I knew I had to conserve what power I had left. Healing my broken arm was more important, so I allowed the scars."
"I see," she said quietly. Her mind turned that information over and about, trying to make sense of it. "Wait, you can heal like the Fey?" Kei healed quickly, very quickly, and with no scarring.
He glanced up at her again, his brows drawn down in confusion. "Of course. As do the Were." When he noted her confusion he continued, "It takes power to do so."
She dropped to her knees and grabbed his shoulder, roughly turning him to face her. Her lips hardened into a thin angry line when, as she’d suspected, the wounds he’d taken fighting to escape the besieged city were gone.
They were quite simply not there. Her eyes lifted to meet his. "Why did you do that?"
His brows rose. "Heal my wounds?"
She nodded and sat back, crossing her arms.
"I had the power to do so."
"I don’t know how much we gave you!" She shook her head, trying to keep her sudden fury contained. "Are you trying to kill yourself? We have no idea how this Were power works, how much you’ll have or for how long. How could you waste it like this?"
"Waste it?" He brushed water off his arms and stood angrily. "They pained me, and were draining. I did not want to risk infection and having to deal with sickness."
"But the scars–"
"They were few and small. It did not take a lot of power to be rid of them."
She scrambled to her feet. "And you are a prince."
"That has nothing to do with it."
She raised her chin. "What will your people say, seeing you scarred like this?"
"Very few will ever see them," he said calmly. He shook his head slightly. "What is making you so angry?"
His words were like a slap. Kei’s worry about her growing anger, about her changing, came back to her. "You don’t seem to want to make it home," she finally whispered. "Are you intentionally sabotaging our efforts?"
Laughter sprang out of him, startling her so much she took a step back.
"Oh, Arowyn. You do have the strangest ideas."
"I don’t understand you sometimes," she muttered.
"You are not an Elf," he said in amusement.
She had no idea what he found so funny. His reminder she was merely a human twisted her gut. Her cheeks warmed slightly and she looked away. "The boys have gone upstream to fish, should you want to join them." Before he could answer, she turned and walked quickly away.
Chapter 9:
Stormy Weather
Walking around the general area calmed her down. She took her frustrations and confusion out by stomping and muttering to herself. It wasn’t at all a mature reaction, which made her even more frustrated. Being stuck between a child and an adult made her want to scream. She didn’t, if only because she didn’t want to attract any attention to them.
They traveled in woods ruled by Fey and Were. Humans were forbidden on pain of death. Despite Garen and Kei’s comments, she was still human, and so was Bo. Meeting the inhabitants of the forest was the last thing they wanted to do. Garen had been clear on that, and so had Prince. They’d kept as close to the forest border as they could.
She found a few edible plants and collected them to add to their supplies. Keeping close to the forest’s edge helped with their supplies at least. Kei or Garen often made runs to the edge to see what crops they were passing. If it hadn’t been harvested already, they grabbed as much as they could.
Bo called her back, later than she’d have thought if they were going to set out, but there was still a lot of light left in the day for foraging if they were going to stay and make camp.
"What’s the word?"
"We’re heading out again." The way Bo wouldn’t meet her eyes worried her.
"What’s wrong?"
"Storm coming," Kei said quietly, jerking his head in the direction of the sea. Before she could open her mouth again he added, "Bad one."
She nodded once and put what she’d collected into the packs. "Is there shelter nearby then?"
Garen sat next to her. It has been a very long time since I was this far south and I am not very familiar with the land. I do remember it gets rockier very quickly. There will be outcrops, cliffs, ravines. Perhaps we can find a cave.
She supposed that would have to do. It wasn’t like they’d come across a small house. "But what if we can’t find something? Wouldn’t it be better to use the time to make a shelter now?"
"The storm comes quickly," Prince answered, pulling himself up onto the horse. "We are moving further into the forest."
"What!" She turned sharply to look at Bo. "You know that’s not safe for us, right? We’re lucky Garen is the only Were we’ve met."
Bo grimaced and scratched at the long scar on his cheek. "I know, pup. But Garen and Prince say the further we head toward the mountains, the more likely we’ll find decent shelter."
"Come, Aro. We need to get moving."
She glared over at Prince. "Just fo
r the record, I don’t like this one bit."
"Understood," he said sharply, clearly beginning to lose patience with her. "You can ride with me or run, but we need to go now."
Pressing her lips tightly together to keep from saying something she shouldn’t, she turned on her heel and took off toward the west.
This way. Garen quickly bounded ahead of her, and a moment later Kei ran by her side.
What’s wrong?
She didn’t glance over at Kei, they were running quite quickly through the trees and she didn’t want to trip. The trees were large here, and though much of the area was in shadow and free of thick undergrowth, some places weren’t and fallen branches were always something to be careful of.
It took her a while to decide what exactly she wanted to say. Kei didn’t push. At least he had some patience. I’m worried about going deeper. What if the Were find us?
They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them.
His thought made her smile for a moment. But there might be fighting. Someone could get hurt.
Don’t worry. They will be taking shelter from the storm. The rain will wash our scent away. As soon as the storm passes we’ll head out.
Leaping over a branch, she held in a grimace. But–
You should be worrying about the storm.
Getting wet won’t kill us. We’ve been through storms before.
Not like this one.
That put a stop to her rambling thoughts. Apparently they weren’t about to get a summer shower. Kei was right, she should be thinking about the storm; what could go wrong and how to avoid stupid mistakes.
Weather could kill just as easily as a man could.
* * *
After running west for a time, Garen led them south-west. She was happy with the change. They were sort of still on course.
Prince and Bo pushed the horses as quickly as they could. Once the ground began to turn rocky, their pace noticeably slowed. Quickly enough the terrain turned even rockier.
Spread out, Garen said. Search for caves, overhangs… anything that can provide shelter.