Kindred Souls Complete Series: Books 1-4

Chapter Eight

Bathed and fed, thefour of us snuggled together on the couch. I ignored the tightness in my chest, calling me to the prince. Nope. Was not going to happen.

Sitting up, I adjusted myself until I could glare at all of them. “All right. I need answers.”

“What do you want to know?” Sky asked.

“Everything. But first, or mainly, I want to know what we’ve landed in. Apparently, it’s more than just treason and kindred bonds.”

Whist sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s something big we haven’t told you.”

Anger and uneasiness stiffened my body. Saber stroked and soothed me until I curled back up against him. “What is it?”

“There was another reason we were trying to talk you into going to Havisam.” Whist grimaced.

“So it wasn’t all about starting over?” Betrayal left a nasty taste in my mouth.

Saber shook his head. “It was. We wanted to start over with you. But there was a reason we chose Havisam to do that.”

“Why?” I scowled, confused.

“We have connections there through the prince and princess,” Whist said.

“I don’t understand. Please, end the cryptic shit and just lay it all out for me.”

A smirk trembled on Sky’s lips. “All right, doll. All right.”

Whist sat forward, demanding my complete attention. “The prince and princess have been plotting to overthrow the king for years now. They’ve been working together to bring the council over to their side. The prince and I have made several trips to Havisam to meet with representatives and leaders there. They’re planning to try to find allies in the dragon lands soon.”

What? Hope and disbelief and other emotions I couldn’t place swirled in my stomach, battling for dominance. Bewilderment won. “How does meeting with other country leaders help?”

“It’s a political uprising, not a violent revolutionary one. The princess needs allies in other countries if she wants to force her father into stepping down,” Whist said.

“And you three have been helping them? You really have been committing treason.” I sank back against the cushions with a blown out breath.

Whist’s chin lowered in a grim nod. “We have.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before now?” They should have told me.

Sky took my hand in both of his. “Because it didn’t matter. Once we met you, everything changed. And you already struggled so much with guilt, thinking we were sacrificing so much for you, we didn’t want to make you feel worse.”

“You should have told me. It could have changed things.”

Saber ran his fingers along my arm. “Perhaps. And you’re right, we should have told you. And we would have. But we haven’t exactly had a whole lot of time to discuss everything there was to discuss. We planned to explain it all once we were in Havisam and send word to the prince and princess to let them know what was going on and try to help them from there.”

“If you had told me all of that from the beginning, I would have been a lot more willing to stay with you three and leave Faligrey.”

“We didn’t want you to choose to stay with us for any other reason than you wanted us.” Rare vulnerability crossed Whist’s face and I melted.

With a sigh, I snuggled back into Saber’s chest. “Fine. I get it. I’m still irritated I didn’t know, but I get it. So, what does that mean for us now?”

Whist’s shoulders relaxed. “Not sure. A lot of it depends on the king. And on you.”

“On me?” The question squeaked from my mouth.

“On what you do about your fourth kindred,” Sky said.

“I’m not bonding with him.” Especially not now that I know the king might not be in power much longer.

Whist shook his head. “And you don’t have to. Though, I do suggest pretending to be amenable to the idea or we’ll all be thrown into the dungeons.”

“And he’s on our side, love. You should at least get to know him. I think you’ll like him.” Saber smiled at me.

“How can I help?”

“Princess Indigo will let us know what she wants from us. But for now, we need to do whatever the king says. I’m sorry, doll, but we have to play along if we want to get through this alive. He won’t want to kill you since you’re his son’s kindred, but if you publicly refuse the bond, he’ll either force it or he’ll kill us all and that will lead to war because Aster will lose his mind. We’re in a mess, doll. A big one. And I’m really sorry you’re in it.” Sky snuggled closer to Saber and me.

“It’s not your fault he’s my kindred. And really, it probably saved our lives.” I hated admitting it out loud. “I just don’t understand why the king hates me so much.”

“Your songs have more power than you realize. We told you word of your music spread across the country. It’s caused some unrest according to Aster. Even more since we left. He and Indigo can explain more and better. I have a feeling Indigo will have a lot of plans for you.” Whist didn’t look happy at the thought.

A small thread of excitement shivered through me. I had been happy at the idea of starting over with my assassins, maybe finally having some peace and a stable life, but a large part of me preferred the excitement and intrigue and danger. It was probably why my kindreds were assassins and a treasonous prince.

Whist’s gray eyes met mine, and I swore he read everything I felt as I stared back at him. And he understood because a large part of him was glad to be back, embroiled in the chaos and peril. He craved it like I did. Warmth swept over me at being so in sync with someone.

We had never been at so much risk, but the two of us were the slightest bit thrilled. After glancing at the other two, I had a feeling they were experiencing similar emotions. None of us had really wanted a nice house in a village and regular, boring jobs. We’d just wanted each other more.

I’d never felt like I had made any difference no matter how hard I raged against the system. But now? Now, I had a real chance to help bring about change.

I just hoped it was change for the better and not something worse.