Chapter 11 Thwarted #2
The boy nodded and repeated the message, including the critical quote about Kgosi, and then I sent them on their way.
But the moment they were gone, feet slapping on the stones as they sprinted through the stable building, I was reminded of my burden for my mate, and everything that had happened. Everything that would soon happen.
Akhane was curled like a cottage-sized cat in the straw at the center of the stable, her wings draped over her sides like blankets to keep the heat of her body in. Head down and nose touching her tail, she appeared to be asleep.
Rubbing my forehead, I stepped into the stable, reaching for Kgosi with apologies, but asking him to question Akhane for me. I needed to find Bren immediately. Before the boys brought back a message from the king.
Except, I was only halfway through the sending when Akhane lifted her head and one wing to reveal Bren, tucked safely into the crook of her bonded dragon’s leg.
My heart ached at the sight of my mate. Curled up against her dragon’s side, eyes red, and hair nearly as bedraggled as the moment I’d first seen her, I was reminded of those moments when she’d seemed like nothing more than a broken child.
Oh, how wrong I had been. As I stepped forward, Bren raised her bloodshot eyes, and the air displaced by Akhane’s wing made strands of hair flutter around her cheeks and stick to the tears there.
“Bren,” I breathed and rushed towards her.
But to my shock, Akhane hissed and slapped her wing down over Bren, opening her mouth and snaking her head, warning me.
When I slid to a halt, smoke drifted from her nostrils and her eyes remained narrowed.
I put my hands up. “Akhane, please. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m only rushing to comfort my mate.”
But she didn’t lift her head or her wing to offer me entry. ‘She protects her bonded One,’ Kgosi said tiredly in my head. ‘There is darkness in you, Donavyn, and she senses it. Your mate cannot bear more darkness right now.’
I frowned. ‘I would never… I’m not dark. Bren is my mate. I’d never harm her or—’
“Be easy, Akhane. He’s safe.” Bren’s voice was slightly muffled by her dragon’s wing, but Akhane lifted the wing and turned to look at her as Bren pushed slowly to her feet, one hand on Akhane’s leg for leverage.
“Bren,” I breathed.
But she didn’t look at me. What was going on?
“Bren,” I said slightly louder. My heart sank when she flinched. “What’s wrong?” I murmured. “Talk to me.”
Bren’s shoulders crawled towards her ears, but she still didn’t answer me. I stared in horror as she patted Akhane’s leg, then stepped out from the circle of her dragon’s limbs, but her eyes darted left and right, scanning the stable as if for a threat.
I didn’t move. This had to be about that fucker Ruin. If she was reliving those moments of violation, I didn’t want to upset her further. It was the only thing I could think of that would cause her to pull away.
I needed her to know that I’d protect her. That we’d find these assholes—and now I had a reason to do so without even mentioning her name. A reason the king would accept without question. This was a terrible event, but it opened doors, and replaced the need for our trip to Fyrehold—
“You knew,” she whispered.
Bren had come to a halt a few feet away, still in her flying leathers, arms folded under her breasts. Her cheeks were pink and shining with tears, dirt smeared where she’d wiped them away. But, with eyes red and puffy, she stared an accusation at me.
I frowned. “What are you—”
“You knew. You knew it was Ruin. You… you knew why I asked about him,” she murmured, her lips trembling and eyes swimming with hurt and anger.
It took only a moment to mentally scramble back to my thoughtlessness back in the woods.
Just a couple short weeks earlier, Bren had shared awful memories with me through the dragons.
Things that had almost destroyed her. But in relaying those memories, she also thought she’d obscured the identities of the men who’d raped her.
Yet, today, I’d warned her about the dragon’s rider.
That he was Ruin’s best friend. And not Ruin.
Shit.
For a split second I considered trying to cover—to soothe her. But I shook off the dark urge. Lying would only break her trust again, and anger her further. So, I nodded.
Her chin jutted forward and her eyes filled again, but I plowed on.
“Bren, I understand why you didn’t want me to know—but it’s good that I do. I know who to protect you from. And this gives us—”
“You lied,” she breathed. “You let me think I’d hidden them from you. But you knew. The moment you saw that dragon, you knew who he belonged to, and you knew I’d been hurt by that man.”
My chest ached. My ribs didn’t want to move. “Yes,” I said softly.
“Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why would you hide it from me that you knew who they were? Did you send them? Or—”
“No!” I inhaled sharply, raised my chin, and locked eyes with her so she’d see how deeply I meant every word.
“I knew you didn’t want me to know—but you showed me inadvertently.
And I didn’t tell you because… because those men deserve to die for what they did to you.
You’re my mate, Bren. And they were under my command when they acted so abhorrently.
So, I resolved to avenge you. I will make certain they never hurt you again, or anyone else for that matter. ”
“But—”
‘This is what you’ve hidden from me?’ Kgosi’s voice quivered with grief and disapproval.
I swallowed and answered them both. “I have no desire to tangle you in this. I will handle it. They’re my men, and they were grossly wrong—”
“You lied to me,” Bren whispered.
‘You’ve hidden this in your heart, and it eats at you,’ Kgosi intoned. And before I could respond to either of them, he continued. ‘But the Creator has saved you from yourself—the men are dead already.’
I instinctively turned to look over my shoulder, though I couldn’t see him through the stable walls.
‘What?!’
‘The squad are disbanded—dead, or fled. Either, they were uncovered by our enemies, or all the dragons learned the horrendous truths of their riders’ conduct.
Because the man was wounded before he fled to Ciar.
In the pain and fear, his mind was unguarded.
Ciar saw offenses even worse than those against Bren, but my kin will not share them.
Still, I am certain he was right to execute, though I barely believe I must say those words. ’
I was stunned. I couldn’t fathom what must have gone on between the dragons and their riders. ‘They’re gone? All of them?’
Even Ruin?
‘If they aren’t dead already, their dragons will find them and ensure that they are. No dragon of honor would allow their rider to live on, remorseless of those atrocities.’
‘Can you reach them? Tell them to bring the men back here. Let me execute them so we don’t lose the dragons. I’ll show those fuckers how it feels to be physically overwhelmed and used and—’
‘You must release your heart from the pursuit for revenge, Donavyn. These men are gone. Their true colors revealed. They have been stripped of their honor and taken down by those they claimed to respect. I believe none of them will return.’
I couldn’t take it in.
“What’s going on?” Bren asked bitterly. “What’s Kgosi saying?”
“They’re gone,” I breathed, returning my focus to her, sending a wash of love and pleading through the bond.
“Forgive me, Bren, for hiding it from you. I knew… I knew who Talon was. I knew it was Ruin the moment that name was spoken. I knew where he was. And with whom. I vowed I’d make him pay. I vowed I’d make them all pay.”
Her brow furrowed, her expression a strange mix of anger and worry.
“But now… Kgosi’s saying this dragon learned the truth about his rider because something happened on their mission. Either their stealth was uncovered or—” I cut off and sent the detail silently, unwilling to speak it.
‘They were Shadowfang, Bren. The most trusted. They were supposed to be the most worthy. But they weren’t. They proved that. Whatever happened, Ciar’s rider was desperately hurt by it. In his pain, his dragon learned that they’d betrayed all of us—but you most of all. And I… I want them to pay.’
Her face crumpled. “I thought when you saw the dragon you were so tense because of his sickness. In my shock, I slipped when I mentioned Ruin. I didn’t even realize I’d done it until Akhane and I got back here and I realized you weren’t telling me about the dragon because you knew—”
“I love you, Bren. That’s all. I just love you and I want you safe. I want all of us safe.”
Her eyes snapped back to mine. I resisted the urge to say more, just shoveled love and care and need to her in the bond, silently pleading with her to forgive me, to see that everything I’d done was out of love for her.
A desire to see her safe and well, and never having to think about those fuckers ever again.
Her eyes welled, the tears spilling over her lashes as she stared. I stumbled forward a step, desperate to comfort her, but she tensed, and it almost killed me.
“Bren, please.”
“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?” she asked in a broken voice.
“Nothing.”
I stood there, arms open, eyes pleading, heart on the line as she stared at me. But finally, she broke and rushed towards me, throwing herself in my chest.
I groaned with relief and caught her up, held her to me so tightly it must have been difficult for her to breathe, but I couldn’t loosen my grip. She was here. She was safe. She was mine. And she was trembling.
Holding her to me, tucking her head under my chin, I carried her closer to Akhane, meeting the dragon’s eyes to plead for her mercy. Akhane blew a tiny puff of smoke from her nostrils, but then she crooned and relaxed, lifting her wing to invite me under it.
I curled myself around Bren, and nestled us into the corner of Akhane’s elbow, leaning against the dragon’s warm side and grateful for the shadow of her wing, not only to keep the shaking Bren warm, but to hide us from any eyes.
And once we were settled there, without any other eyes on us, Bren finally took a breath—but it came rushing out on a choked sob.
I held her, whispering to her, combing her hair with my fingers, reminding her that those men were gone, and I was there. She was safe.
She clung to me like a child, hissing swears between her sobs, cursing the men who’d hurt her, cursing this broken world, and vowing never to cry over them again. Then cursing herself for crying this time.
I didn’t shush her. Didn’t argue with her, though I was certain this wasn’t the last time she’d cry over those pricks. I just held my sobbing mate, pleading with God to help her heal, and thanking Him for removing them, even if it wasn’t at my hands.
I wrestled against the hollow feeling of loss—because vengeance had been stolen from me. But at least she was still here. And I could help. Somehow, I vowed, I’d find a way to help her.
But I was so consumed by her pain and anger, I had almost forgotten that my duties for this night weren’t complete.
Some time later, when the sound of quick footsteps echoed, pattering on the stones up the aisle, my heart sank. Bren had stopped crying, but we’d been holding each other.
With a muttered curse, I explained who was coming hurriedly as I slipped her to the straw and crawled out from under Akhane’s wing mere seconds before the two boys appeared in the doorway, wide-eyed, sweaty, and panting even harder than before.
“Sir! The king says he gathers the Conclave, and you’re to come immediately.”
My heart dropped to my toes as Kgosi’s voice graveled in my head.
‘There is no further need, Donavyn. You should have spoken to me about this dark plan. The Creator has provided. The men are gone—or will be. Whatever has happened, their dragons will not let this stand. There is no need for you to go. There is no one to hunt. They’re gone.
Do you hear me, Donavyn? Let it go. They’re gone. ’