Chapter 27 #2
Her amber eyes, wider, bigger than Kaden’s, glare at me. “Don’t insult either of us with your pity. Kaden is a capable warrior without me there to watch his back and I’m not a simpering maiden wishing for her big brother to come home.”
Startled, the sword dips in my grasp. “Sorry, I just thought you were worried.”
“I am worried.” She seethes, testing the sword. “But not over Kaden.”
Throwing her vest to the side with a jerk, it takes me a moment, mind lagging. I lick my parched lips as the pieces fit. “Me. You’re worried about me.”
“You don’t know the danger here,” she mutters, face pale. “You think my father sending Kaden away was coincidence? No. He’s clever. He sent him away because he’s planning something big.”
She points me to a place on the mat, my legs sluggish. Fear and adrenaline pool into my legs, the urge to run strong as my knees wobble. Zelos is planning something and Kaden isn’t here to buffer it. What does that mean for me?
“Does Kaden suspect anything?”
She snorts. “He’s suspicious of everything. That’s why he can’t see it. He’s too worried about doing everything right, he’s not looking for the wrong. No, stand there.” She points again. “Sword up. You need to learn the basics faster.”
She doesn’t wait for me to adjust, swinging her blade down with the might of a Goddess, ready to chop my head from my body. I barely block before she’s swinging again.
I dart away and she growls in frustration. “No. Running away will only work for so long. You need to stay and fight.”
“Why are you so worried?” I pant, brushing the fallen strands from my eyes. “Aren’t you and Reid here?”
“We can’t be everywhere.” She swings again, her Fae strength hammering into my weakened mortal arms. The swords clash, the metallic ring echoing around the expansive room.
“No, but with proper planning—”
“He will come for you!” she shouts, shoving her sword against mine.
I lose my balance, feet slipping as I fall back on my ass.
“He will find you when you’re most vulnerable and attack.
You won’t know it’s happening. He will hide you away, tell you it’s a training lesson, and all the while guards will come in and—” She cuts off abruptly, her body freezing like a statue.
The silence is sudden, the only noises our heavy panting. Slowly, I stand, body humming with energy. Not from the battle, but my magic rising, as if to help.
It’s the first time in so long I’ve felt the buzz that I almost smile.
“Is that what Zelos did to you?” I ask, gently, hand falling to her shoulder. “He tricked you.”
She jumps, eyes wide, fear etched along their corners. I’ve never seen Fee afraid of anything.
“It was his test of obedience.” She sneers, knuckles taunt as she holds the hilt of her sword. “He was always testing what I could do then. He wanted me to take the throne, thinking Kaden would never gain control. He should have known better.” She shakes her head.
“But that night, after I put Reid to bed, he summoned me to a spare room. He instructed me that if I lasted five days, I would have earned his love.”
She breathes through her nose as if to stop from vomiting. “I expected battles. I expected debates on policy and battle formations. Things we practiced. But it was much worse than that. And it didn’t stop.
“I was only lucky it lasted three days before Kaden and Zeke found me.” Her jaw clenches, knuckles white as she avoids my eyes. “They had been gone, sent to the outskirts of our territory where we received word of a Human raid was capturing our people.
“There was no raid.”
Realization dawns on me as my heart breaks for the woman. The trust Kaden has for Zeke, the way he watches the siblings—and me—it’s not just loyalty. It’s a bond forged through trauma, and a promise to always be there.
Kaden knows what could happen in these halls. What has happened. That’s why he never stops watching the corners, always plans and expects the worst.
And for Fee? Three days of being passed around between guards would have been a sentence worse than death for the strong woman. She had to endure it because death would not come. A lesser woman would have broken.
Fee isn’t a lesser woman. She didn’t break. And now she’s trying to save me from the same fate.
“What happened to the guards?”
Fee clears her throat, looking to the far wall.
“My brother slaughtered them all. Together, he and Zeke hunted the halls for every single one of them who had my scent on them. When Kaden confronted Zelos, he said it was a way to prove as a woman I could take any kind of abuse.” She laughs but it’s humorless.
“Then he said I failed because I didn’t make it the full five days. ”
My fingers turn bright red, my rage heightening my connection. Faintly, in the distance, a drumbeat alerts me to a strong heart. It’s just one, but my body wants to sag in relief.
It’s coming back. My magic is returning to me.
All because of my wrath to hurt those who would hurt Fee—my friend.
“That’s why I’m training you, Max.” Our gazes meet, and I see the pain behind her warrior mask. “It’s the same ploy. The same distraction. Zelos will try to hurt you and I refuse to let you suffer what I did.”
I don’t doubt for one moment that Fee would defend me. In the short time of knowing each other, I would gladly fight for her.
“Let’s go again.”