Leaf smiled as he let her in the room. Then he reached down for a kiss, but she stepped back, out of his grasp. “What is it?” he asked, concerned.
Helen looked up at him, knowing tears had filled her eyes, but she had to stay strong. “I’m going to be taking the priestess vows at the end of the week.”
Leaf smiled. “That’s wonderful! Just what you’ve wanted.”
Helen nodded. “I thought it was,” she said, her voice heavy.
“Helen—”
“I believe in those vows.”
“As you should,” Leaf said, leaning against his desk. “What’s this about? Something is bothering you—it’s obvious.”
Helen looked him dead on. “I believe in all the priestess vows. To honor, to obey…to love only the divine.”
Leaf looked away from her.
“Vows of poverty, obedience…chastity.” Her voice cracked a little as her emotions started to show. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Leaf shook his head and looked back at her. “You have to choose. I understand.”
Tears poured out of her eyes. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”
He pushed off the desk and cupped her face. “And you should have it. Don’t worry about me. I knew this was a losing battle the second we started.”
Helen put her hands on top of his. “You were right. We never should have started this.”
He gave her a sad smile. “I hate to be right sometimes.”
“Just one last—”
He cut her off with a kiss, one filled with every emotion they felt. It was an epic kiss, Helen thought once they pulled back. Leaf dropped his hands and gave her a short bow. “Princess.”
“Good-bye,” she said, heading for the door. Once outside she leaned against the wall as her heart broke into a million little pieces. Later, as she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, she wondered whether she had made the wrong choice. She was pretty sure she hadn’t, but it still felt like she would hurt forever. She finally understood why Syney hadn’t moved out of bed for weeks. Unfortunately she didn’t have that luxury, and the next morning, she went to the council meeting and sat through the whole thing, even smiling at everyone as her mother announced her vow ceremony only days away. She dared a look at Leaf, but he wasn’t looking anywhere near her. This was going to be much harder than she’d thought.
Cass was in trouble. She looked down at the ropes that bound her hands and felt tears stream out of her eyes. She should have seen this coming. It was even partially her fault. She should have told Hunter about the Shifter. Then the camp would have been on high alert, and she wouldn’t have been allowed out with Ivy, and she wouldn’t have been picking more berries while Ivy was stalking something nearby, and the Shifter wouldn’t have snuck up on her, knocking her unconscious before she could scream. And now she had no idea where she was, only that she was bound and gagged and propped against a tree. She was alone, but it didn’t matter. She was so tightly bound that the only movement she could make would send her to the ground. But she tried anyway, and as she’d thought, her movement sent her shoulder to the hard ground. Now she was bound, gagged, and in pain. She laid her head on the grass and quietly sobbed.
After a while she heard rustling around her. She struggled to move toward the sound so she could at least see what was going to attack her, but she couldn’t move very far.
“Good, you’re awake,” Weston said, coming into view. “You’re much heavier than you look.”
Cass screamed around her gag, but all that came out were muffled cries.
“And feisty today.” He squatted next to her and smirked. “We’re almost over the border. This can go one of two ways, OK? I can continue to carry you, which might start to hurt after a while, especially over the stony cliffs. Or I can cut your leg ropes and let you walk with me. But be aware that if you try to run, I’ll kill you.”
Cass stared at him. She believed Weston’s threat but still wanted to walk on her own so that she might have an opportunity to escape. All she had to do was get away from him and head back into Magic User land. All the guards would be looking for her by now, and she had complete faith in their tracking abilities. She motioned to her feet, and Weston gave a curt nod. He pulled a long, thin knife from his boot and sliced the ropes in one tug. He pulled her to her feet and shoved her forward.
They walked for a while before the terrain began to change. The lush green earth started to become dried out and brown. Eventually there wasn’t any grass at all, only dried cracked dirt that looked more like clay than the real ground. All signs of life, including trees and plants, had disappeared.
Cass tried to talk through her gag. but it was all just mumbles. She rolled her eyes and stopped walking, looking pointedly at her captor.
“What?” he asked.
She tried to lift her hands, but they were tied to her waist, so it was no use trying to gesture to her mouth; instead she yelled.
Weston rolled his eyes and pulled the gag from her mouth. “What?”
“Thank you.” She sighed. “Where are we?”
“Shifter land.” He pulled her arm to make her start walking again.
“Shifter territory is supposed to have the most vegetation out of any of the territories. Large forests and things. This place is just desert.”
“How do you like your handiwork?”
“I didn’t do anything, so could you stop blaming me for things?”
Weston stopped and stared at her, his red eyes burning with anger. “My home is dying because one of you decided that the only race in the Realm worth a damn was their own. Magic caused this, and you do magic, so I can blame anything I want on you, Princess.”
Cass looked away, at the dying land. It broke her heart to see it this way. Nothing could survive in conditions like these. She wasn’t sure she was buying Weston’s evil magic spiel, but he could kill her with one bite if he wanted, so arguing didn’t seem to be the best option. “Where are we going?” she asked, glancing back at him.
He took some jagged breaths, his anger visibly lowering. “To the city.”
They started to walk again. “How far is it?”
“Another day. It’s underground.”
“Really?” Cass almost smiled. “That’s kinda cool.”
“Not to wild animals, it isn’t.”
“Right. I guess not.” She glanced at him. He really was handsome, with a chiseled face and even features. His pale skin was almost beautiful against his pitch-black hair. His body filled out his dark black jeans and tee shirt nicely. She shook her head. She couldn’t start thinking about her captor and possible future killer as being handsome. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked.
“Try to barter.”
“For what?”
“These lands are cursed. One of you has to know how to remove it.”
Cass stopped and grimaced.
Weston turned and grabbed her arm. “What did I tell you about running?”
“I wasn’t going to run. It’s just…How long has the land been like this?”
“Since the Great War started.”
Cass sighed. “Then it can’t be reversed.”
Weston stepped closer to her. “What do you mean?”
“Curses become permanent after a while.”
“How long?”
“Less than a year.”
He looked away from her and cursed.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could help.”
Weston looked back at her and shoved her back into a walk. “You’ll help—don’t worry. Whatever they give us for you will be worth it.”
Cass continued on, surveying the land as they walked. The land seemed to get even worse; there was nothing alive. As the sun started to go down, Weston stopped her and shoved her to the ground. They were in a dip in the land with raised edges all around them. “What is this?” Cass asked.
“Used to be a pond,” he said, picking up a tumbleweed and some rocks. He struck the stones together. They sparked
but produced nothing of substance.
“Do we need a fire?” Cass asked.
“If we don’t want to freeze to death,” Weston said without looking at her.
“But aren’t you a snake?”
He looked at her with a bored expression. “My blood changes temperature when I change. So right now I’m warm blooded like you. I don’t want my prisoner dying, do I?”
Cass nodded. “Untie me then.”
“No.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re never going to start a fire like that.”
Weston looked at her silently.
“I swear I won’t try anything.”
He hesitated but finally cut her hands free.
Cass held her hands over the tumbleweed, and seconds later they had a fire. A while later, her stomach growled loudly. She looked at Weston, who was staring into the flames. “Do you have any food?”
He shook his head. “How did you do that?”
“The fire? I conjured it. Nothing to eat, really?”
“Food is scarce around here. You can live without food for another day.”
She frowned. “How do you live here?”
He didn’t say anything at first, but then he looked away and rubbed something from his eyes. “Not very well.”
Cass looked at the fire. She wasn’t so much scared as sad. Something wasn’t right in this land, and her own people didn’t seem to care about it; they possibly even had caused it. She couldn’t imagine living like this, on dead earth, forced to live underground, against her very nature. She sighed. “I want to help you.”
Weston looked back at her. “What?”
“If I can, I want to help. I know a little magic but not much. But if I can do something, I will.”
“Are you sure you’re a Magic User?” he asked with a small laugh.
“I am. And a Crystallianna—you were right.” She held out her hand. “Seated Princess Cassandrianna of House Crystallianna. But call me Cass.”
He took her hand. “Wes.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” She moved to lie on the ground. “Are you going to stay up?”
“Yes.”
“Well, good night then.”
“Good night, Princess.”
Cass sighed again. This was worse than sleeping in her damn tent at camp, but she needed to sleep. She really did want to help, but anytime she did magic, she pulled out some of her strength. She wanted to be able to help when the time came. As she tried to fall asleep, she felt Weston’s stare on her. It actually felt nice. “Hey, Wes?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for not killing me.”
He laughed, a genuine laugh. “There’s always tomorrow.”
Cass smiled. For the first time since she’d left the Village, she was excited to face the next day.
Sighing, Syney sat on a bench next to Reed. “Your people are getting on my nerves,” she told him.
“My people?” he asked, shaking his head. “They just don’t know what you want to know.”
Syney knew he was right, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t complain. She and Helen had set out into several towns, but none of the Lycins they’d spoken to knew anything about the Great War. Syney didn’t believe they were lying either, not with how genuinely excited they all were to have her and Helen in their homes. They all just knew the same things. The war started and never ended. The Daemons and Shifters were bad. Even old guards who had fought in the two bloody battles didn’t know much—just that his or her orders had been to leave no one alive. It was frustrating. Syney sighed again and surveyed the small market that lined the streets a little ways down. It was interesting out here. Magic Users and Lycins all lived together with little distinction among them. Their houses were the same; their stands were the same; their clothes were the same. She almost envied the way they lived out here, although it was very dirty—a little too much dirt and dust for her taste.
Helen thanked one of the old Royal Guards as she left a small house then walked over to them with a shake of her head. “Nothing. I’m beginning to see why you’re so interested.”
Syney stood up. “It’s an annoying dead end, though.” She started down the dirt road, with Helen falling into step next to her and Reed behind. She gazed at the stands in the market and smiled at all the awestruck faces looking back at her. Finally she came to a large wooden board with pieces of parchment tacked to it.
“What’s this?” she asked Reed.
“The town’s announcement board.”
“That’s interesting,” Helen said, putting her hand on one of the papers. “Missing girl. I know her. She was my handmaiden for a week while my regular was sick.”
Syney looked at it then at the one above it and the one to the side. She counted five total. All missing girls. “That doesn’t seem too good.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Helen said, pulling all the announcements down. “I’m going to give these to Leaf. It’s dangerous to have this many missing girls in the Village.”
“Don’t you have crime here?” Syney asked.
“Of course, but this seems wrong somehow.”
Syney nodded. “Let Leaf look into it.”
They continued down the road.
“Do you want to talk to anyone else?” Reed asked Syney.
She shook her head. “I’m so done with dead ends. Maybe next week. Is that OK, Helen?” She looked at her when she didn’t get a response. “Helen?”
Helen looked up from the postings in her hands. “What?”
“I said we should call it a day and try again next week.”
“All right. Sounds good.”
Syney shook her head. When Helen got distracted, it was nearly impossible to get her back to the topic at hand. Syney looked ahead; the road had become denser with people, although most dodged out of their way, recognizing them. They were almost out of the market when Syney walked straight into a woman. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
The redhead looked at her. “Don’t worry.”
Syney’s smile fell. “Rose.”
The older woman’s smile also fell as they stared at each other.
“How are you?” Syney asked quietly.
“Fine. Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Syney cringed at the title. Helen cleared her throat, causing Syney to look at her. “Sorry, um…Rose, this is Helen. And Reed, my Protector. Guys, this is Rose…Hunter’s mother.”
Helen’s face lit up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You have a marvelously kind son.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
“You’re very welcome.” Helen smiled as another older woman, Raven, walked up to join Rose.
“Two royals out and about. It must be our lucky day,” Raven said with a kind laugh.
Syney couldn’t help return it. “Raven, it’s good to see you.” She looked at Helen. “This is Leaf’s mother, Raven. Raven, Princess Helen and Reed.”
Syney watched as Helen’s face ran through a few emotions, stopping on sadness. “It’s an honor to meet you,” Helen said, taking Raven’s hand in hers.
Watching the two as they spoke about Leaf, Syney couldn’t help smile. She looked back at Rose only to find a frown on the older woman’s face. It didn’t take Syney long to realize she was staring at the necklace she had on. Syney instinctively put her hand on it. The day after Leaf had given it to her, Syney had tried it on, just to see what it would look like, and she hadn’t taken if off since. She had even lied about it to Adam when he had asked; she’d said it had been her mother’s. Not that that was so far off, but still.
“Do you have a moment to talk?” Syney asked Rose quietly.
Rose looked into her eyes and hesitated before nodding.
The two walked a few feet away to the mouth of a small alley.
After a moment of silence, Rose finally stared right at Syney and asked, “Is there something you needed?”
Syney took a deep breath. She wasn’t a fan of Rose’s tone and almost dropped the entire conversation
, but she needed to be stronger than that. “I was wondering…if you’ve heard from Hunter at all.”
Rose stared at her. “Before he left, he came by.” She slowly smiled. “With Fern of course. I haven’t heard from him since, but I’m sure they’re both very busy. I’m expecting Fern home first, if you know what I mean.”
Syney struggled to keep her breathing even. “No, I’m not sure actually.”
Rose smiled even bigger. “The last thing we talked about was their having a family. They’re probably hard at work at that. Once Fern gets pregnant, she’ll come right home to have that little one.”
Syney nodded and forced as much of a smile as she could get out. “That’ll be a good day for you. Anyway, it was nice seeing you.” Syney turned away quickly. She wasn’t about to let Rose see her cry. She shot Helen a look before heading away from her, farther down the road. She stopped at a weapons stand and stared at the display, not really seeing any of it. She knew Rose wasn’t a mean person, which meant that whole conversation had come from somewhere else, probably anger. She couldn’t blame her. If Syney had a son who’d gone away to war, she’d try to blame anyone she could to get her own emotions out. But that didn’t mean Rose’s words didn’t hurt.
“Hey, everything OK?” Helen asked, coming up alongside Syney.
She nodded. “I’m OK. Just shouldn’t have talked to her.” She gave a sad smile. “She hates me.”
“Oh, I’m sure she doesn’t.”
Syney nodded. “I made her son leave the safe Village and go out onto the front lines. What mother wouldn’t hate me? But hey, you and Raven seemed to get along.”
Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 Page 9