Chapter 31
As the crowd dispersed, Rook stood with a confused facial expression as Baz, Jai, Enara, and Soren stared.
“But they look nothing alike,” Baz stated.
“He can’t be,” Soren denied.
“The staff worked on me, though,” Baz said, looking at his now flat fingertips whose prints had been singed off by the blood magic.
“Will anyone explain to me what’s going on?” Rook interjected.
“Yeah, I’m going to let them take the reins on this,” Jai answered, gesturing to the other three.
Enara, who had been silent up until that point, finally gathered the strength to speak the truth that her mind refused to believe. “It would seem that you and I are related.”
Rook laughed coldly, taking her words as a sort of cruel joke. He had accepted a long time ago that he had no true family. The thought was ludicrous.
“But how?” Soren asked, still in shock at the news. She could not comprehend that the two most important people in her life, apart from Baz, of course, could possibly be related. Though, she had to admit that the thought warmed her. “It would have been before you were born. He’s older than you.”
Rook realized now they were not trying to play a trick on him and immediately rounded on Enara, questions coming out one after another as fast as arrows from an archer’s bow. “Where did your family originate? Who is your mother? What was her maiden name? Did anyone in your family have hair like mine?”
“Slow down!” Enara snapped. “I know as much as you do, so take it down a peg, will you?”
“I’m sorry,” he replied sincerely. “I grew up amongst animals. My father took me from my mother. I did not think of the possibility that I had other family members.”
“What about you?” Enara asked, returning fire as she pinned him with questions of her own. “Where were you born? Who was your mother?”
“I never knew her name,” Rook replied. “Adriel found me as an infant, in the woods, on the twenty-ninth day of the autumn tide.”
At this, Soren placed a hand on his forearm, garnering his gaze. “You never told me that it was your birthday a few days ago.”
“It hardly seemed important with everything going on,” he replied quietly.
“You are important to me,” Soren said, looking into his glacier eyes.
The ice in them melted slightly before Enara’s comment broke through their moment.
She stared off into the distance as she said, “My brother was born that day.”
“Enara,” Baz said, pulling her close to him, “I thought you mentioned that your brother passed after childbirth.”
“That’s the story my father told my mother,” she said, her voice sounding far away. “My mother lost a lot of blood. She was not conscious at the time.”
“So, you have no proof that your brother actually died?”
“I don’t know,” Enara said, wringing her hands together. “I mean, there was a gravestone, and Mother said people in town attended the funeral.”
“Wouldn’t the city watch have to investigate?” Baz asked.
“Not if it was medical. They only investigate if there is just cause or reasonable suspicion.”
“Did your parents have any other siblings? Could he be a distant cousin or something?” Jai asked, trying to help.
Enara shook her head. “Mother lost her sister when they were children, a freak accident with a runaway carriage, and my grandfather only ever wanted a son, so my father was an only child.”
“Where did she live when this happened?” Rook asked.
“They lost him shortly after they moved to Vreburn. My father had received an offer for a position on the council, but they used to live in Southern Estelar.”
Rook sucked a breath in through his teeth, and Soren could feel him go rigid beside her.
“That is where my father found me,” he said, his voice a low whisper.
“So, that means …” Baz started.
“You’re my brother,” Enara said, putting the pieces together.
“And you’re my sister.” The words fell from Rook’s lips like droplets from a cloud. Then the pressure in his chest became so heavy that it finally burst into an emotional storm of rage and sadness.
“All this time!” he yelled to no one in particular. “All this time, I had a family and did not even know. All this time …” His voice trailed off as his throat constricted with tears. He turned from the group to blink them away, allowing the anger for his father and his lies to twist the protective thorns back around his breaking heart, piecing it together like a dying botanical sculpture.
“Hey,” Soren said, trying to push back the brittle wood and spikes. “Do not let him have this power over you.” Then she locked eyes with Enara. “Or you.”
Enara’s fists were clenched, and Baz was hovering beside her, giving her some space to vent her anger. “Even in death, he still finds ways to hurt me,” she said, grinding her teeth together.
“Try to look at it in a positive light,” Jai said calmly.
“What is positive about this?” Rook snapped at him, his eyes like icicles—sharp and deadly.
“I think what he means to say is that you two have more in common than you realize. I know all of this is … a lot. But maybe you can find some comfort in the fact that you both have been given a second chance at having a family. Your fathers did not cherish what they had with you, but we do. We”—Soren gestured to the group of them—“are your guys’ family.”
Enara huffed and rolled her eyes, and Rook frowned.
“Look,” Soren went on, “I don’t expect you two to be best friends—siblings bicker all the time—but I think we can all agree we are bound together by whatever the Maker planned for us. We can waste our time fighting amongst ourselves and spending energy on past hurts, or we can choose to move forward. All of us … together.”
Rook and Enara eyed each other skeptically, and Soren held her breath.
“I mean, I don’t completely hate you,” Enara said.
“Yeah, fine, you’re all right, I guess,” Rook replied.
“Group hug?” Baz suggested.
“Not a fucking chance in hell,” Enara scoffed.
“Absolutely not,” Rook said, grimacing at the thought.
“Well, kids,” Jai concluded, “now that we have that sorted, how about we get us some dinner?”
* * *
They wereone week out from battle, and the last few days had been awkward, to say the least. Rook and Enara had agreed to spend some time together to put aside their differences. They went into their conversations hesitantly but ended up sharing a mutual understanding of each other. They both knew what it was like to grow up feeling unloved and uncared for, and they both knew the sting of weapons and fists.
It was heartbreaking to Soren that their largest connection was the fact that they both had suffered extreme abuse from those who should have taken care of them, but she was happy that they were finally starting to get along.
She watched as Rook and Enara took a lap around the training grounds and couldn’t help but let herself feel a little twinge of hope. If they got out of this, maybe they could eventually call themselves friends.
She scarfed down the rest of her jarred peaches before returning to her hand-to-hand combat session with Baztien. Her skills had improved, and she was feeling a little more confident about takedowns. Her joints were sore and aching at the end of each day, but she attributed it to the muscle she was building.
Her and Baz readied themselves for another bout just as Jai walked up, halting them.
“You two, come with me, and gather the rest of the group leaders,” he said in his no-nonsense voice. “We have news.”
“No problem,” Baz replied, straightening.
“We will be right behind you,” Soren confirmed.
The two split off in opposite directions, each taking a brisk jog to their half of the grounds.
A few minutes later, the leaders gathered in the war tent and took seats at the large table. Jai sat at the far end, flanked by Erick and King Elias. Their expressions were grave, and worry buried itself deep in the pit of Soren’s stomach. She knew that whatever news they had to share would not be good.
Jai cleared his throat to silence the last of the chatter before speaking. “We have received intelligence early this morning from a resistance within the Xian-Dao dynasty. Bao-Ren’s forces are on the move and will be upon us in two days’ time.”
The silence was deafening, and it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room as the last words escaped his mouth.
“I understand this will come as a shock to all of you, but we have no time for weakness. We must relay this message to our ranks and ensure they are ready to fight. We should also assume Adriel’s forces will be joining them. We need to be ready for anything.”
Soren’s voice broke through the silence, “When should we let everyone know?”
“As soon as possible,” Jai replied. “We just lost a few days of what could be left of the rest of our lives. They deserve to decide how they will spend their final moments before battle.”
There were muttered agreements throughout the small space, and then Jai dismissed them to gather everyone in the training grounds. He then ran to the mess tent in search of Adaryn, who could tell by the look on his face as he burst into the tent that something was terribly wrong.
“What is it?” she asked, her doe eyes as wide as the dinner plates she was scrubbing.
“Two days,” he choked out. His resolve was slipping, and tears welled in his eyes. “I have to tell them all we have two days until they are upon us.”
Adaryn didn’t ask questions. She just dried her hands and held him tightly until he replaced his anguish with the stoic mask of a king.
“Two years or two days, we will make the time worth while,” she said softly, running her fingers through the dark waves of his hair.
“I have to go,” he said, nuzzling the skin at her neck.
“I know,” she replied.
He took one last moment to drink her in. She smelled of grass and honeysuckle, and it comforted him. She felt like home. A home that he prayed to the Maker that they would eventually return to.
He pressed his lips to hers then walked out of the tent.
He allowed himself a breath as he approached the platform, the king and Erick by his side. He was unsure how he had ended up the leader of this war, maybe because he had the majority of the troops, but the responsibility of it all weighed heavily on his heart.
The crowd hushed, and he could see the false hope in their eyes. He wished he had good news for them. He wished he could send them all home to their families to rebuild in peace, but now was not the time for peace. War was upon them, and their days were numbered.
The words that came next broke his heart, but he had to say them; they had to know what was to come.
“We have been preparing these last few weeks to fight our enemies. I have watched over all of you as you learned new skills and accepted each other with open arms. I am happy to call you all brothers and sisters.” He paused to gather himself.
“As your section leaders have been made aware, we received correspondence from a resistance deep within Xian-Dao. You may not know this, but our melee weapons trainer, Baztien Greymark, his parents were part of this resistance. Now, many years later, they still come to our aid. They have informed us that Bao-Ren’s forces are on their way here this very moment. We were expecting the troops from Anistera to regroup at the end of the week, but our enemies will now be upon us the day after next.”
He waited for the uproar. He waited for shouts of discontent, for screams and cries of upset soldiers, complaints that their final days were to be taken from them. Instead, he was met with silent resolve. This was what they had been training for, and their response told him everything he needed to know. They were ready, and they would not go down without a fight.
He gave Duke Erick and King Elias a quick glance before moving on. “For those of you who wish to touch up on certain aspects of your training, speak to the section leaders, and they will accommodate you. Otherwise, I suggest you all take the next day and a half to rest and write to your loved ones. Eat and drink to your heart’s content and cherish those around you. Think not of the bloodshed to come but of love, and life, and family. May the Maker be with you all.”
The entire army cheered as he finished his speech. Their energy was palpable, and he couldn’t help but smile. His heart knew he might never see many of their faces again, but he took the moment to enjoy the comradery.
As he followed Erick toward the war tent, King Elias placed a large hand on his back and boomed, “Come on, lad; you look like you could use a drink.”
“You know what,” Jai replied. “I think you’re right.”