by A. M. Hardin
"Your father used to call them episodes. Forrest would have them all the time. Your brother has killed many good men during these episodes. He nearly killed Xander during one of his episodes when the king informed him that he would be protecting you instead. Your father anticipated his reaction and made sure to have a healer in the room beforehand."
"Oh God." Cherish gasps, covering her mouth with her hand, eyes wide with horror. "He seemed normal, for the most part anyway, before he came after me in my room."
"And he is, for the most part, normal. It's when he loses his shit that things always go south. Your brother will be the fall of this kingdom if you don't fight for it, Cherish. He will end up killing everyone, either by bringing an even worse war on our heads, or by his own hand for whatever offense he can find. You are our hope. Your cousins could rule, yes. But none of them would be as good for the crown as you would."
She drops her hands to her lap and twists her fingers. "I don't understand."
"You were raised as a human, Cherish. There are things that you'll be able to bring to this world that wasn't otherwise here. Your humanity is what will save our kingdom. Yes, many elves will not like having you on the throne, but they will get over it eventually. If I were a guessing man, I'd bet that it'll be at most a year, maybe two, before you have our kingdom falling at your feet because of the kind of ruler you'll be."
"You have a mighty high opinion of me, don't you?" Sshe asks quietly.
"You're strong and you're capable. You're also levelheaded when you need to be. That will work to your advantage. We'll continue teaching you the politics of our world and with our teachings and how you were raised I believe that you'll be one hell of a queen, Cherish. It's just a matter of getting past your brother."
She opens her mouth to say something but she doesn’t get the chance before shouting and running feet can be heard through the house and outside. She looks at the door. “What’s going on?”
I swiftly jump out of bed to my feet and open her door. Xander is standing on the other side, hand poised to grab the handle.
“Well, that works,” he mumbles. “Kade just got back about two hours ago.”
I study Xander’s face and stiffen at the sadness in his eyes. “What happened?”
“Everyone who went with him is dead. He’s hurt, but he’s alive. When he got here he told Maggie that there’s someone here leaking shit to Forrest. The whole village knew about what he was doing. Maggie’s called a meeting with everyone and the shouts are people fighting, the running is probably people trying to see what the hell is going on.”
I step back to letfor Xander to walk in and he raises a brow at me, his mouth quirking into a smirk when he finally takes in my wrinkled clothes and the blanket pulled back on one side of the bed. Closing the door, I lean back against it and cross my arms.
“Someone want to explain why we aren’t going out there?” Cherish asks, her tone telling us that we better answer or there’ll be hell to pay.
Xander sighs, nodding his head. “Yeah, the reason we aren’t going right at this moment is because I wanted to warn you that people will accuse me of being the leak.”
“Because you used to be friends with Forrest,” she says matter-of-factly.
“Yeah,” Xander replies, sounding pained.
“Why the warning?”
Xander clears his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable. I bite back a smile, trying not to laugh. “Uh, because if you were blindsided with it, you probably would have tried attacking whoever accused me.”
Cherish glares at both of us, her annoyance at us more than clear in her expression. I lose the battle and a small chuckle escapes. Cherish rolls her eyes and stretches her arms above her head. “Whatever. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have attacked them.” She lowers her voice and mutters, “Might have yelled at them a bit, but not exactly attacked them.”’
This time both Xander and I laugh outright. “It’s alright Princess we know all about your tendency to hit first, ask questions later,” Xander says playfully.
Cherish picks the pillow up from behind her and chucks it at Xander’s face. He catches it with a laugh. “Get out, both of you. I need to get dressed.”
I open the door and we move to stand outside, shutting it behind us to wait.
“What else aren’t you telling me?” I ask Xander.
Xander looks at me and meets my eyes. “The ones who attacked Kade’s group, they left him alive for a reason. They shoved a note into his pocket when he passed out from his injuries before he managed to heal enough to come back.”
“What did the note say?”
“Forrest is offering a reward to whoever hands Cherish over to him. Unfortunately, Kade and Maggie weren’t the ones who found the note. It’s a huge reward, Andrei. This shit isn’t good. Especially since I know that the girl who found the note doesn’t like the idea of Cherish being here to begin with. She hasn’t hidden it.”
I rub a hand over my face. “Damn it. Make sure you keep Cherish in your sights at all times. I’ll try to stick to her, but it doesn’t always work that way. How is Kade?”
“He’s healed now, it took awhile for the healer to get to him. I don’t know why.”
“So he’ll be there too?”
“By your grandmother’s side since he’s the only survivor,” he confirms.
Cherish’s bedroom door opens before we can say anything else and she walks out in a pair of blue skinny jeans with tears throughout the denim and a tank top. “Let’s get this shit over with,” she grumbles as she pulls her hair into a messy bun on top of her head.
Chapter 4
Cherish
Andrei walks by my side as Xander leads us to the middle of the village where there’s a large opening of space for parties and other fun things. At least that’s what they told me it was for before they started struggling because of the war between the kingdoms.
We reach the crowd and Andrei grabs my hand so I don’t get lost in it while Xander makes a path for us to get to the front. The moment we get to the front of the mob of elves my eyes immediately go to Kade, who’s standing beside Maggie, checking for any injuries. I breathe easier knowing that he’s been healed, but I was internally freaking the fuck out until I finally saw him with my own eyes.
Kade meets my eyes and his face softens just a little before going back to stoic as he looks out among the chattering crowd.
"Alright!" Maggie shouts, getting everyone's attention and forcing conversations to stop. "Now that we have mostly everyone here I have an announcement."
I look up and meet Xander's worried eyes before turning my attention back to Maggie.
"A couple days ago we had sent out a team of soldiers to find others that are willing to join our cause in taking the throne from King Forrest and placing the last princess on the throne." She gestures to Kade with her arm. "Kade and his team were ambushed yesterday afternoon by King Forrest's men. They left only Kade alive. We have reason to believe that there is a traitor in our midst and until that traitor is caught, we are on complete lock down."
Maggie gazes out into the crowd, her poker face gone as she lets her anger show plainly on her face. "When I find who is responsible for betraying us-- and I will-- they will wish they had left when they had the chance. They will beg for death. This betrayal is an act of treason against our princess and treason will not be tolerated in any way. You are dismissed."
Maggie meets my gaze and nods at me, her way of telling me to stay behind. I wait where I am until a majority of the elves have left to go back to their homes. Walking up to Maggie and Kade, I wrap Kade in my arms, not caring how it looks to anyone else.
"I'm glad you're okay," I mutter into his neck. Kade squeezes me against him and inhales deeply before letting his breath out slowly.
"I'm glad to be back," he mutters, kissing the top of my head. "Just wish it was under better circumstances."
"Me too." I pull back, but stay in Kade's arms, taking comfort in the feeling of
him being here with me and not dead. I meet Maggie's eyes. "What does being on complete lock down entail?"
"No leaving the village. Every entrance will be monitored. A spell will be placed around the village to keep out any animals to stop any kind of communication to the outside that way. There will also be a spell to alert if anyone attempts to magically or otherwise attempt to communicate to outsiders, that will alert any guards on duty. Lock down isn't necessarily an awful thing, it's just us keeping away from the outside world for now while we discover who did this."
Maggie sighs heavily. "I believe Xander already told you about the note?" I nod. "I want you to keep an eye on your surroundings. Keep close to your men and myself as much as you possibly can."
"Got it."
"We'll find who did this, Cherish. I promise you that. It might take time, but we will find them."
I give Maggie a small smile. "I know. You'll do everything in your power to find the person responsible, Maggie. I have absolute faith in that."
Maggie grins. "And never forget that. I'll do anything for you, my dear."
My fingers squeeze Kade's shirt as I melt under the warmth of those words. Maggie's become a kind of surrogate grandmother for me since we came here. She's taken me under her wing and I couldn't be more blessed to have her in my life.
Maggie cuts her eyes to Xander and her smile fades a little around the edges. "I don't need to warn you that you'll be everyone's favorite suspect, do I?"
Xander chuckles humorlessly. "No, Maggie. You don't."
"Good. I know you'd never do anything to endanger Cherish, so I will be your advocate if anyone tries to come to me with their suspicions."
"It's much appreciated," he murmurs softly before looking to Kade then back to Maggie. "Was there anything else you needed to tell us?"
Maggie's right-hand man, Camus, steps forward, gaining our attention. "Yes. We have an update on what Forrest is doing with the kingdom." He looks at me, his expression apologetic. "I'm sorry to tell you this, your highness, but he's separating the men from the women and children, forcing them to fight in this war whether they want to or not. For those that resist, he takes the women and children and has them locked up. He refuses to release them until the men have fought for him."
I feel a deep pang in my chest. He's using innocent people, people that want nothing to do with any of this shit, to get to me. Kids, even. The men alone would have been bad enough, but involving the women and children is just cruel.
I rub my hand over my heart, trying to soothe the ache. "We have to do something," I hiss. "That isn't right."
Andrei rubs a hand over his face. "Cherish, there isn't really anything we can do right now."
My mouth drops open. "There has to be something we can do. Maybe we can get the women and children out at least!" I turn to Kade. "You know the tunnels better than anyone, there has to be some that lead to the dungeons. They can't be kept that way for long. They'll die."
The guys all exchange looks but otherwise remain silent.
"She has a point," Kade says quietly, finally breaking the tense silence and making everyone in our little circle curse. "Those people will die if they stay there. The children will be the first ones to perish, simply because their bodies can't handle that kind of treatment. We have so few children as it is, it'd be wrong to not help them."
Maggie looks between the three of us for what feels like five minutes before finally sighing. "If you guys really think you can pull it off, then fine. But," she stops me when I open my mouth to thank her, "it will only be you four. I would have the princess stay here, but she's safer with you three with her after news of that note floats around."
I frown as something occurs to me. "Wait, you said we're all on lock down. How are we going to do that if we're stuck here?"
"I can open a door for you to go through at the entrance to the village and it will only allow you four to exit," Camus says.
I give Maggie and Camus a big smile. "Thank you."
"Take tonight to plan and plot how you're going to do this, but you'll have to leave in the morning if you want to make it to the castle by nightfall tomorrow with enough time to get everyone out," Maggie orders.
"Yes ma'am," Kade, Xander, and Andrei says.
Maggie dismisses us and Kade, keeping his arm wrapped around my shoulder, leads me and the others back to Maggie's house and into my room. We spend several hours going over our plans to free my people.
My people.
I don't know when I started calling the people in this kingdom my people, but it feels right. It feels like that's how it's supposed to be. These are my people and I will do everything I can to make sure that as many of them as possible survive this bullshit with Forrest.
* * *
I burst into the throne room of the castle and scowl when I see Forrest sitting on the throne with a nasty smirk on his face.
Again, the knowledge that this isn't a dream enters my mind and fills me with anger.
"What?" I snap.
"Did you get my present?" He asks, voice filled with laughter.
I narrow my eyes at him, deciding to play dumb instead of falling into his stupid ass trap. "What do you mean?"
"I had some men attack your beloved guard's team and killed all but him. They also left a little note for the rebels as well," he adds, his smile growing sinister. "Tell me, little sister, has anyone tried to take you to me yet?"
I can't help it, and I don't know why, but I laugh. "No, no one has tried to take me to see you. Since you seem to be in such a chatty fucking mood, why don't you tell me what the hell you're planning."
He chuckles quietly and tilts his head to the side, watching me. "You know, I don't think I will. I think I'll let you figure it out for yourself, little sister."
"You're rather smug and unrepentant for someone who killed nearly his entire family," I point out, feeling sick to my stomach over the fact that I'm actually related to this jackass.
He laughs outright. "And soon, I'll be adding another body to the list of family member's I've killed, little sister. You'll only have your freedom for so long before someone gets you and brings you to me."
"You're delusional," I tell him dryly. "Even if you kill me, I have no doubt that there will be others who will stop you."
He leans forward, setting his elbows on his knees, letting his hands dangle freely between his legs. "They're more than welcome to try, but they will have the same fate as everyone else in our family."
Chapter 5
Cherish
By the time nightfall came we were maybe an hour's walk from the castle. That meant that we would have plenty of time to get the people out of Forrest’s dungeons.
Ten minutes from the castle walls, with us concealed in the forest surrounding the wall, Kade leads us to a large tree and places his hand on the trunk. My brow furrows as we stand there and I peek around us, making sure I stay alert for any sounds that don’t belong in the forest.
“Alright, let’s go,” Kade murmurs, drawing my attention to him and the tree. The trunk is hollowed out now and I watch as Kade enters and starts walking down steps that I can’t see.
Uh, what? I frown when I see how dark it is and just how little space. They didn’t tell me there wasn’t any freaking space in this entrance.
Andrei and Xander wait for me to step through and I make my way down, following the quiet echo of Kade’s feet on the steps.
“There isn’t another way in?” I mutter quietly.
“There’s a bigger exit that we’ll be using, but you can only leave through that one. You can’t enter the castle through that one, it’s spelled to keep out intruders. You can leave it without alerting anyone, but entering through there is impossible, unless you want to be caught,” Kade explains quietly.
“Ah. How far down does this go?”
“It goes underneath the castle and dungeon, so it goes quite a long way down. When it stops going down it’ll just be a tunnel to walk through and it’ll let us
into a series of tunnels. We’ll be following the one that goes to the dungeons. We will come out at the far end of the dungeon between all of the cells and the farthest away from the entrance.”
“We’ll have to check every cell,” Andrei says from behind me. “One of us will get the keys and start releasing the prisoners while the others explain what’s happening.”
“What about those that don't want to come with us? Or the prisoners that don't like Cherish and the fact that she's here? What will we do then?” Xander asks.
Andrei sighs heavily from behind me. “We'll get to that when we get to that. If they want to stay then there is nothing we can do.”
“Alright, guys. No more talking we're getting close,” Kade warns us.
We fall silent after that, following Kade’s lead. It doesn't take long for us to reach the series of tunnels that Kade was talking about earlier.
I'm suddenly really glad that Kade is with us because my ass would have been getting lost in there. I stick close to Kade as we wander down the tunnel that leads to the dungeon.
Once we get to the steps to the entrance of the dungeon, Cade stops and looks at us. “Alright,” Kade says quietly, “I'm going to go in first. Make sure that there are no guards. I'll call you in once I know it's clear.”
We each nod in response and watch as Kade enters the dungeon shutting the passage with a quiet click behind him. I bring my thumb to my mouth and chew on the tip as we wait. A minute later, Kade opens the passage and gestures for us to go in.
I step in and the first thing that I see and hear is children huddled against their mom’s crying and filthy. I swallow hard, tamping down my anger at the sight of the scared children and the mom’s trying to calm them down.
I walk into the limited light in front of one of the cell doors and crouch down to be eye level with the group of children without an adult in the cell with them. It made me wonder why there aren’t any adults but that wasn’t my main priority.