How was it my father always managed to be around in overwhelming situations? And why was he the more comforting of my two parents?
I wanted to lie and say everything was fine. Gods knew I did. But I found myself unable to hold it together any longer. The panicked words fell from my mouth, “I can’t find Prince Brion anywhere.” The pain was acute. I’d never felt such fear. Only a dire circumstance would keep my soulmate from me. Thinking of Brion in danger was like a knife through my heart. He needed me, and I was failing him.
Arthur heard my concern and took it seriously. “The last time you saw him was when he left the tent?”
I nodded. I’d already told him how Brion left to search for his brother.
“I will look with you.” Arthur stepped up to my side and motioned me to continue walking. “Let’s go to the border and see if anyone there has seen him.”
“Thank you.” I exhaled, unable to express the depth of my gratitude. I couldn’t shake the feeling that every second I spent away from Brion, he suffered horribly. I needed to find him as soon as possible.
“You’re welcome.” His smile was full of kindness and understanding. “Trust me, I’ve been where you are, worrying about your mother. I wouldn’t wish that fear on anyone in the world, not even my greatest enemy.”
I held back on pointing out his greatest enemy was probably King Aquin, and he had been the cause of that very fear in the elven ruler when he and the king’s daughter ran away together.
“Are you and my mother… bonded?” I wasn’t sure that was the right word, but I couldn’t think of another way to ask the question.
Arthur’s smile dimmed slightly. “Not in the way our people can usually bond,” he admitted. “I suspect our different races made a true bond impossible, but what we feel for each other is close. At least, it feels that way to us. I cannot imagine spending my days with anyone but your mother.”
Yes, not even your children received that honor.
I cleared my throat. “I guess I’m lucky I’m a half-blood, then.” I aimed for humor, but the joke fell flat. I was too worried about Brion.
We passed a campfire that smelled like roasting meat. One glance confirmed the men were cooking a small woodland animal. It wasn’t much, but any protein would be savored by the band of rebels.
“You know,” Arthur began, “Of the three of you, I didn’t expect you to be the most reserved.”
I pursed my lips. I considered his observation. “I wouldn’t say I’m reserved.” That made me sound distant and unfriendly.
“No?” Arthur raised a brow. “You haven’t asked me or your mother a single question about ourselves, and you’ve been here for days. Your brother and sister must have asked us dozens of questions by this point.”
“Well, I was asleep for three of those days,” I countered dryly.
Arthur laughed. “Fair point, Amelissa. I’ll give you that. It would be difficult to ask questions when you’re unconscious.”
I hated to admit it, but his laughter had a calming effect. Some of my worries lifted, but not all of them. Gods knew, I wouldn’t be free of all my worry until Brion stood in front of me, unharmed.
“What questions should I have asked?”
Arthur touched my shoulder and guided me around a particularly nasty pile of mud. At least, I hoped it was mud. I held my breath to avoid smelling it just in case.
“I believe both of your siblings asked us about why we left you in Caldiri all those years ago.” His tone was carefully void emotion.
“I already know the answer to that,” I said.
Again, Arthur raised a brow.
I explained, “The two of you needed to remain inconspicuous. You moved us to the most obscure region in Draekon, but even there people noticed there was something unusual about you and Lassandra. You couldn’t risk staying there and drawing more attention to us. So, in the interest of protecting your children, you made the decision to leave us, thinking we’d be safe without you.” What I didn’t say was that the decision had been selfish and misguided. As shown by our current predicament, my siblings and I were not able to escape danger even with the absence of our parents. All their abandonment did was force us to grow up without a stable family. We had to face our horrors on our own.
“Hm.” Arthur stared straight ahead for a long moment. “I suppose that is fairly accurate.”
I tore my attention from him and resumed searching the spaces between the tents, looking for any sign of my draekon.
“Then how about what caused us to leave you at that particular time?” He trailed after me, not letting the conversation die.
“I imagine it had something to do with what you perceived to be the best for us.” Perceived, being the key word.
“It was an elven spy, in fact,” he informed me. “I’d been hunting deep in the forest when I came across him.”
I stopped walking. “What happened?”
Remorse flickered across his eyes. “I had to kill him, of course.” It was obvious Arthur wasn’t the kind of male who enjoyed killing. That was welcome news.
“I went back to Caldiri and warned your mother before I fled. I didn’t know if the spy had been alone. Someone else could have seen me. I wasn’t followed, but had I stayed, I could’ve led them right to all of you.”
An elven spy meant only one thing: King Aquin had come close to finding his missing daughter. Arthur was draekon. They weren’t looking for him. They’d been in enemy territory looking for someone else.
So much for Lorie’s story about the draekon army closing in on our father. Then again, who’s to say both dangers couldn’t have happened? I was sure my parents had their fair share of close calls of being discovered.
“How long were you gone before Lassandra joined you?” I asked the question I’d had for a few weeks now.
Arthur’s eyes filled with sadness. “A year. When other elven spies were spotted in the forest, she knew she couldn’t stay any longer.”
So I would’ve been… what? Four when he left?
“I have essentially no memories of you,” I admitted. “And barely any of her.”
“That’s not surprising,” he tried to sound unaffected, but there was a hint of sorrow in his words. “Lorie has no memories at all, and Lin’s are spotty at best.”
He looked up to the tree-covered sky. I followed his gaze. Through the branches, I could see clouds blocking out most of the sun’s rays. “She hadn’t always been like this, you know?”
I knew he spoke of my mother. I didn’t pretend otherwise. “Oh?”
Arthur sighed. “When I first met your mother, I’d never seen a creature so beautiful, both inside and out. Her hair glowed like a beacon for a lost ship out of see. I’m sure you’ve been to King Aquin’s great hall. You know how the natural light illuminates the place like nothing could in Draek.”
He didn’t continue. He was waiting for my response. I swallowed and said, “Yes, the palace is stunning.”
He smiled. It was wistful, and full of happy memories. “Well, your mother put the sun to shame that day. There wasn’t a soul in that room who could stop staring at her. Everyone, not just us draekon.”
He shifted his feet and shook his head, amused by some memory. “Lassandra’s cleverness quickly revealed herself. She was only supposed to be a silent observer to our envoy’s peace negotiations, but Lassandra wasn’t one to sit by. Not unless forced to do so.”
He successfully piqued my interest. “What did she do?”
His smile grew. “She demanded a royal ambassador visit Avelin and partake in the negotiations. She rightfully deduced that any agreements made between us at that time would easily be dismissed without a royal representative’s signature.”
I blinked. That didn’t sound particularly clever. It sounded like common sense. I said as much.
Arthur nodded. “You’re right. It does seem like common sense. Except, I think both parties were so eager for a truce in the fight between our people, that none of us st
opped to consider it could be a ruse from King Roderick.”
“And was it?” I asked. “A ruse, I mean?”
“We will never know.” He shrugged. “The king sent us, his finest fighting men, and one ambassador to represent him in the negotiations. All correspondence from him indicated he wanted the truce, but there was always some aspect of the treaty he opposed.
“First, it was the number of elven ambassadors he would have to house in Draek. He didn’t want so many that they could take up arms against him, but King Aquin wanted enough to ensure the terms of the treaty would be met. Second, the king opposed the taxes King Aquin collected at his trade ports. He wanted trade to be free between the lands. There’s a lot of crops the elves can grow that our land is not equipped to,” Arthur explained.
I frowned. “Those all seem like reasonable objections.” Could it be that King Roderick had truly tried to make peace with his enemies all those years ago, only to have his plans thwarted when my parents ran off together?”
“They were reasonable,” Arthur agreed. “For a certain period of time. But negotiation after negotiation, month after month, it was Lassandra who first suspected the draekon king was delaying the treaty. That same night, I got the order from my commander back on Draekon, confirming her suspicions.”
I connected the dots. “You were ordered to attack?”
“Not just attack,” his expression hardened. “My men and I were instructed to kill Princess Lassandra and King Aquin. Roderick wanted us to end the elven royal bloodline and seize power in the following chaos.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My father had been ordered to kill my mother?
Obviously, he didn’t do it. But gods… what an order to receive regarding the person you love. If they were in love at that point…
“Were you two already together?” My face reddened, but I wanted to know the full story.
His expression softened. Just the thought of my mother made him look lovesick. Was that how I looked when thinking about Brion? What about him? Did he look that way when I was on his mind?
The thought made me remember why I was out searching the camp in the first place. I needed to keep looking. I didn’t walk away, but my head swiveled all around us, resuming my search as I waited for my father’s response.
“Your mother and I became intimate after about a month of knowing each other.”
Um… could he have worded that a little differently?
I avoided making eye contact, continuing my examination of our surroundings. There was no large, imposing draekon prince to be seen.
“I fell in love with your mother after only speaking to her one time,” he revealed. Another smile graced his lips. “It took her longer to succumb to my charms.” The story was sweet, I could admit that. But they still broke taboo when they got together, and Lin, Lorie and I suffered as a result of their illicit relationship.
As if reading my mind, Arthur brought the discussion back to where it first began. “Your mother was the light of Avelin court. Your grandfather kept her secluded out of fear for her safety. It dimmed her spirit, but it didn’t eclipse her brightness.” He paused, and his eyes shadowed with regret. “It wasn’t until she had to leave the three of you that some of her brightness faded away.”
I didn’t want to feel pity. I wanted to be angry. Angry and disappointed. But I couldn’t deny his words drew out my compassion.
But that didn’t explain why Lassandra continued to behave as if we meant nothing to her. “She keeps her distance,” I told him. “Even now, with all her children around her, she is cold and aloof. She doesn’t act like she’s our mother.”
“I suppose that is because she doesn’t think she deserves to act like your mother.”
That hit me right in the gut. Again, I couldn’t stop my compassion from growing. The emotion made my eyes water. I quickly blinked away the tears. It was not the time to break down. I still needed to find Brion.
“Are we close to the edge of camp?”
Arthur watched me for a moment, then dipped his chin. “Yes.” He pointed to my right. “That way.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, turned on my heels, and walked in the direction he pointed. We reached the edge of the rebel camp. Tree trunks were streaked with burn marks from elven bolts. Leaves were burned from draekon fire. Numerous arrows littered the ground. Thankfully, there were no fallen bodies. At least, not that I could see. A scattered group of rebels walked over the battlefield, retrieving arrows and any other weapon they could find.
I stepped around trees and bushes, looking every direction. Still, there was no sign of Brion.
“Something’s happened,” my voice shook as I muttered the words. “Something’s happened to Brion.” The trepidation in my heart had been growing, and now it threatened to suffocate me.
“Amelissa.” Strong, steadying hands latched onto my upper arms. Arthur lowered himself so his face was right in front of mine. “Breathe, Amelissa. In and out. Calm yourself.” He demonstrated breathing. I struggled, but I managed to imitate him enough to subdue the worst of my panic attack.
When I was finally calm enough, I again choked out, “Something’s happened to Brion.”
Arthur’s expression shifted from caring to authoritative and in control. “Okay. Yes. I agree something’s not right. Let’s go back to camp and round up a search party. We can cover more ground that way.”
I didn’t want to go back to camp. It felt like I was wasting time just standing there and talking. But Arthur was right. I didn’t know the area well enough to search on my own.
I nodded frantically. It was like I lost all control of my neck muscles. A buzzing sound filled my ears. It sounded like a swarm of bees.
Arthur stiffened. His fingers dug into my arms as his head whipped to the side. He tilted his head, listening.
I frowned. “Dad?” Did he hear the buzzing too?
Terror filled his eyes. His head snapped back, and he barreled into me the next instant, knocking us to the ground. Then, the trees exploded.
40
Wood splitting and tree limbs falling were the first sounds I heard in my ringing ears, but the noises seemed far away. I felt heat around me. I cracked my eyelids and saw the forest was burning, and I was lying in the middle of it. I groaned and tried to sit up, but Arthur was sprawled on top of me. My eyes shot open when I saw the burning tree trunk pressed against his lower back. I struggled to breathe. When I did, foul smoke threatened to choke me.
Gods!
I wiggled my body, trying to free myself from his weight. I needed to help him, but I couldn’t do that from my current position.
Smoke continued to burn my throat. Tears blurred my vision. If this was Draekon fire, it wouldn’t be able to burn me or the unconscious draekon, but the smoke could kill us. we needed to get out of there.
I continued to shimmy back until I was free of his weight. Immediately, I got on all fours and crawled over to the burning log. Arthur’s clothes were burnt, but the flesh underneath looked untouched. Draekon fire, then.
I assessed the log’s position, then walked around to grab the end that was slightly up in the air. With my shirt covering my mouth, I took a deep breath, wrapped my hands around the log, and lifted.
Gods, it’s heavy.
Sweat beaded on my brow. I didn’t know if it was from the heat or physical exertion. I shuffled to the side, heaving the log with me inch by inch. My arms began to tremble. I felt them about to give up, but I couldn’t drop the log without risking more injury to my father.
You’re half-draekon, I reminded myself. Act like it.
I let out a shout and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to call forth my draekon strength. I was tired and suffocating, but it was my only chance of getting out of the forest alive. For I wouldn’t leave Arthur. I couldn’t. It would haunt me the rest of my days if I survived and he didn’t.
Suddenly, the log’s weight felt like nothing more than a piece of firewood. I opened my eyes
and coughed out an incredulous laugh. I’d done it. I used draekon strength. I made quick work of removing the rest of the log, tossing it into a flaming bush, far away from us.
I knelt beside Arthur and ran my hands over him. He was breathing. Barely. A nasty knot swelled from the back of his head. I placed my palm over it and used my healing power to reduce its size. Almost immediately, his eyes flicked open.
Arthur took one look at me and our burning surroundings before he pushed himself up, grabbed my hand, and ran. I stumbled after him, gasping for air. Arthur drew me close and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, helping me navigate the burning maze of trees.
A crack was our only warning before another branch crashed down in the path in front of us. Two seconds later, and it would’ve hit us.
A loud roar sounded from above.
Draekon.
“We’re….” Cough. “… being attacked.” Another cough.
But how? First King Aquin, and now draekon. Didn’t the draekon army know Brion was a prisoner. They wouldn’t risk his life by attacking the camp with him there. Unless…
Oh my gods.
Brion wasn’t in the camp. Neither was Finn. And the draekon army knew it. The draekon weren’t attacking us in some ill-advised rescue mission. They were exterminating us.
Arthur continued to guide me back to camp. Loud horns blared and rebels shouted one another. No one paid us any attention as we hobbled through. They were too busy mounting their defensive attack. Some of the tents burned, but most were untouched. I didn’t know how that was possible until I saw a team of elves running through the camp. They’d stop at a burning tent, raise their hands, and fire would die out.
Elemental magic.
I looked closer and saw some of the elves physically pulled the fire into their bodies: fire wielders. The other elves used wind to smother the flames: air manipulators. If only we were near a body of water, I could use my water manipulation to douse the flames. On the team of elves went, battling the fire spewed from draekon mouths as they fired from above.
Freed Page 27