3. Chapter Three Arryn
Chapter Three: Arryn
The familiar sensation of Brannoc's magic surrounded me as he transported us just outside Cashel Rí’s walls. His magic was strong, but carrying so many of us was too much, and he stumbled as soon as we landed. Throwing an arm around him to catch him, I supported his weight as the others adjusted to the shock. Not many fae could claim experience with a Raven's method of transporting since it was considered deeply personal among them. It was only my history with Brannoc that allowed me any knowledge of the sensation at all.
“What the fuck was that?” Callum growled, his hands clenched into fists as he seethed.
“Rhowyn!” Baer cried out and tried to run back onto the grounds through one of the gates, but Callum's arm kept him from getting far.
“We can't go back in there,” I stated firmly. “We'll only endanger Rhowyn more.”
“Why didn't you grab Rhowyn, too?” Lennox accused Brannoc.
He lifted his head with a concentrated effort, his exhaustion taking hold. “I barely carried you four along with me. Besides, it's what she asked of me.”
“Seriously?” Baer asked. “And you listened to her? It's not her job to protect us. That's our job. What is she going to do now? She needs our help.” He thrust a hand through his hair, tugging on it in his desperation.
“What's done is done. We need to get moving, or it will all have been for nothing,” I told them, knowing we needed to put distance between us and the Queen's Guard. They’d be following shortly, searching for us within a matter of minutes.
“Could you be any colder? I thought you cared. Now you're just ready to abandon Rhowyn after she saved your ass?” Baer accused, sweeping me up in a wave of guilt. I knew he’d grown close to Rhowyn, had a connection that none of us shared, but just because I didn’t show it like he did, didn’t mean that I wasn’t just as devastated. However, now was not the time to dwell on that. I needed to focus on what we could do from here. Someone had to be the voice of reason, to keep us all safe so Rhowyn’s sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.
I opened my mouth to tell them that we needed to move quickly, but Lennox snapped out, “What did my mother mean by you being a traitor?”
“Now's not the time. My men will be coming for us soon, and we need to put distance between us and them,” I barked, knowing they weren't necessarily going to like the truth when I finally told them.
“Rhowyn's going to be fine. The Queen can't execute a Chosen. She'll be allowed to finish the trials, which means we need to get somewhere safe so we can work out how to get her out of there,” Brannoc said softly, stopping any protests that the others tried to raise.
“That doesn't mean she can't get hurt or tortured. We need to go get her. Now,” Baer argued, his pain at having left Rhowyn bleeding into his eyes.
“They're right. There's nothing we can do now. We need to regroup, or we'll only make the situation worse,” Callum pointed out, finally joining the debate. His words seemed to be the final nail in their arguments, Baer and Lennox deflating as they faced the reality of the situation. We needed a plan. Running off half-cocked would only make matters worse.
“Fine, but as soon as we can, we are going after her. I won't leave her there at the mercy of that bitch. There's no telling what she'll do,” Baer capitulated, stomping off without a response.
“Baer,” I called out, causing him to stop. “We need to go this way.” He rolled his eyes but turned to follow me.
“Callum, help Brannoc so I can make sure the way is clear for us.” I passed Brannoc off to him and strode down the rough and muddy road that snaked through the lower income part of the village that supported the castle. The Queen’s wealth didn’t extend outside of her walls, and none of the nobles deigned to make any improvements outside of their own compounds, leaving the villagers to fight over the scraps of gold and silver they could obtain by any means necessary.
Other fae and some humans passed by us, simply going about their days and ignoring us completely, more focused on their tasks as we walked as fast as we dared. Any faster and we’d draw attention to ourselves. Thankfully, our clothes, which were normally finer than anyone in this area could ever dream of owning, were covered in dust and dirt from our travels since we hadn’t had the chance to change after our return from the second trial.
Spotting the building I was looking for, a ramshackle tavern that had seen better days, I skirted us around to the back, opening the door. “In here.”
All of us shuffled into the small stock room of the tavern. “Oi! Who's back there?” a deep male voice shouted, followed a moment later by a large man who gave Callum a run for his money in size. This man sported a long, scraggly beard and a pot belly, his clothes soiled and stained from grease and ale.
“Gerard, it's me, Arryn. We need a place to stay for a bit.”
“Arryn? Well, why didn't you say something.” He pulled me into a crushing bear hug, patting my back roughly. “It's good to see you boy, it's been too long,” he said when he finally pulled back to eye me.
“It has. You still got that hidden cellar?”
“You know I do. 'Twas your idea after all, but it was too convenient to get rid of. Never know when you need to squirrel yourself away.” Gerard led the way for us into another room, moving a huge barrel of ale by himself to reveal a trap door.
Lennox and Baer looked at me with furrowed brows. I knew that I'd have a lot to explain, but thankfully, they were waiting until we were alone before demanding answers to the many questions I could see in their eyes.
Gerard lifted the door to reveal a wooden staircase down into a dirt room that was much larger than I had expected. I knew I’d suggested the idea, but it appeared that he had taken the idea and expanded on it.
Lighting a lantern, he pointed to the wooden shelves and cots that were present. “Got supplies and a place to sleep, although it wasn't meant to shelter five grown men, so ya might find yerself sleeping on the dirt. But it's safe. I'm the only one that knows about this place. Not even Ingrid, and she's been with me fer years.”
Nodding, I clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Gerard. I promise we won't be here long. We just needed a place to regroup.”
“No worries. Yer welcome to stay as long as ya need. I'll leave ya to it now. I'll bring something down fer ya to eat when we're not too busy.”
“Thanks again, Gerard.”
“Anything for you, my boy. Just glad I could finally help.”
Callum set Brannoc down on a cot to rest while Baer gawked at the shelves full of supplies. Food, weapons, and clothing. Anything one might need for a quick get-away. I was nothing if not well prepared, and this had been one of my smarter ideas. It was also not the only place in Avalon that I’d put aside through my vast network of contacts.
“I'm sure you all have questions,” I started.
“You think?” Lennox snarked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. His conceited prince mask fell back into place, but not before I caught the look of betrayal on his face.
“Look. It's a long story,” I said.
“Seems we've got nothing but time now,” Lennox muttered, gesturing around the room with his arms held wide. Baer and Callum took a seat on the second cot, Callum's weight causing the frame to bow slightly with a groan.
I pushed my hands through my hair, trying to clear my mind, which was rushing with thoughts of what I should be doing instead of having story hour. I knew it was necessary to let them in on this part of my life, but a part of me was concerned about their reaction. While I suspected they’d be on my side, I couldn't be sure.
“Brannoc and I grew up together.”
Lennox interrupted me, snapping, “No shit. Tell us something we don't know. For instance, why exactly you're now considered a traitor?”
Holding out a hand to placate him, I said, “I'm getting to that. You need to know my history first.” Lennox dipped his head in acknowledgment and as an indication for me to continue. “We grew up in a small village on the outskirts of Summer Territory. My parents were farmers, barely growing enough to support our family after my father’s commission was up in the Army. He’d spent his retirement pension to purchase the plot of land to support our family and to pass down to me. Brannoc was also raised in the village, but his story is his own. All that matters is that we were close friends while growing up.
“Things were great until about forty years ago when we started to notice that the lands were dying. First, it was just a farm or two that were closer to the borders, then it was every farm in our village. It wasn't long until we were all starving. Our crops had failed and left us with little to nothing.
“The village elected my father to approach the Queen for assistance because of his previous ties. He was to plead for her help in restoring the land and making it through the coming months. I watched him mount up on our last horse, a sorry excuse for a thing, barely able to manage the plowing that we needed, but we had sold off everything else already just to keep us fed.”
“Why do I get the feeling that we're not going to like the next part of the story?” Lennox asked, a queasy look taking over his face.
I didn't need to say it. We all knew where I was going with this, but I felt the need to tell my full story. “Needless to say, he never returned. Apparently, the Queen didn't appreciate his brazenness, accusing him of slandering the Crown.”
“Fuck. Sorry, man,” Baer said on an exhale. It was easy to forget that when it came to the Queen’s sadistic tendencies, he’d had very little experience, squirreled away safe and sound in his parents’ retirement home. He’d led a plush existence until now, unlike the rest of us, who were jaded by the Queen’s actions.
I shrugged. “It is what it is. I've come to terms with it. We lost everything. The whole village had to migrate to a closer area. Along that journey, I stumbled across a couple of farmers who also felt the same as I did about the Queen's failures. What started out as simple grousing over a couple of ales in the tavern quickly turned into secret meetings. Those meetings grew until I found myself as the head of an underground rebellion.
“I quickly realized that I could no longer stand idly by. I needed to do something, and Brannoc and I, along with a couple of higher-ranking rebellion members, formed the plan that saw me joining the Royal Guard.
“It didn't take long for me to rise through the ranks. My father had once been a Commander and had ensured that I’d been raised with the knowledge I needed. His hope was that one day I would serve the Crown. He would have never guessed just how I planned on doing that.
“My loyalty always has been and will always be to Avalon and the rightful heir. I've begun to suspect from my time as a soldier that the Queen has been twisting the magic, upsetting the balance, and causing the land to die. I believe that she’s responsible for so much death, and I will ensure that she is held accountable for her crimes against Avalon.”
“You do realize that this idea is absurd?” Callum asked. Not bothering to wait for my response, he continued, “You’re not the first to think that you can do what others have failed at. My parents thought the same thing, and they were a lot more powerful than you are. They failed, and as a result, my entire court paid for their crimes.”
Unable to argue with him, I said, “I get what you're saying. I do. But what kind of man would I be if I did nothing? If I just sat by and let her do as she pleased at the expense of our world?”
“Are you saying I'm not a man?” he growled out in little more than a whisper.
“No. I'm saying that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if there was something I could have done and I didn't. Your situation was different. You had no choice. You were watched constantly by the Queen, monitored for any hint of rebellion. But me? I'm the forgotten son of an old warrior. Who would ever suspect me?”
“And yet, here we are. Somehow, she discovered your ruse,” Lennox said matter-of-factly, bringing us back to the topic at hand.
“I've been wracking my brain to figure out who betrayed me, but I can't come up with anything. There were only a few people who knew of my role as Captain of the Royal Guard and as a leader of the rebellion. I trust those people with my life.”
“But do you trust them with Rhowyn's? Because that's where we're at. Your duplicity has put her in an even more precarious situation. She's now at the mercy of the Queen while we sit here telling stories,” Baer snapped at me for the first time.
Of all the guys, he would have been the last one I suspected to be so angry with me. Sure, Callum was a given, what with his history, and Lennox always carried so much guilt, but it was his mother that I sought to dethrone at the very least. Those two made perfect sense, but Baer's anger left me puzzled. I prided myself on my ability to know my men, but this side was something I’d never seen from him before. I couldn't tell if it was just the fact that Rhowyn was in trouble, or if it had to do with something deeper.
“To be honest, I do. Just like I trust Gerard to keep us hidden while we come up with a plan to get Rhowyn back. She's our best bet at displacing the Queen and healing Avalon.”
“Is that all she is to you?” Baer questioned, stalking forward until he stood chest to chest with me, his anger evident in the trembling of his slender frame. “A means to an end? The answer to all your problems?”
Finally getting pissed that he would doubt my devotion to Rhowyn, I pushed in closer. “Rhowyn means everything to me. While I do believe she's the answer I was seeking, she's come to mean so much more to me. Everything about her calls to me. I'm in love with her, but I can also admit that she would make the perfect Queen for Avalon. I can't see why there's a problem with me doing both. But if I ever had to choose, I'd choose her every time,” I admitted to him, rocking my own world with that realization.
For as long as I could remember, decades spent in a single-minded pursuit of rescuing Avalon from the clutches of the Queen, I had only wanted one thing. I knew I’d developed feelings for Rhowyn, but to realize the depth of them now left me speechless. I loved her, and my only goal at present was to get her back so I could tell her.
Baer watched the realization cross my face, studying me for my honesty. I didn't blame him for his suspicions since I was little more than a spy, sent to retrieve information to assist the rebellion. But honor was important to me, and I had never outright lied to my fellow Consorts or Rhowyn.
“Any other secrets you're keeping?” Baer asked, crossing his arms and leaning back to watch my reaction.
“That's everything. No more secrets from me,” I told him frankly.
Nodding, he accepted my unspoken apology. I couldn't say the same for Lennox because he asked, “Why didn't you tell us?”
Sighing, I told him the truth. “At first, I didn't know if I could trust any of you. The lives of the others involved in the rebellion were counting on me to keep their secrets.
“Then, there was never really a good time, between the start of the trials and one problem after another arising. I truly thought I had time. That none of it would matter if Rhowyn could win the trials and become the next Queen. We could ensure a peaceful transition of power, my past a non-issue.”
Lennox hmphed at me, obviously not buying the peaceful part. “Yeah, realistically I knew that the Queen would find one way or another to hold on to power, but I hoped for something different for once. That hope didn't stop me from preparing locations like this across the village and throughout Avalon. An underground network of supporters with hidey holes that we can use to ensure our safety.”
“Can't say that it wasn't smart. Obviously, it's come in handy. But where does that leave us now?” Lennox asked me.
I shrugged. “Honestly? I don't have a plan. The best I can come up with is to let Brannoc rest. He can scout the castle and give us an idea of what the environment is like. Without more information, I can't come up with a plan that won't endanger Rhowyn further.”
“Then we wait,” Callum said, ending the entire discussion.