29. Chapter Twenty Nine Callum
Chapter Twenty Nine: Callum
Brannoc dropped us off in the living area of his home, falling to his knees from exhaustion. Baer and I stumbled from the rough landing. Usually, he was smoother with his transitions.
Baer whooped, “That was a close call!” That was the biggest understatement of my life. A sigh escaped me as I ran a hand over my face, trying to slow my racing heart. Opening my eyes slowly, I noted that Brannoc was still on his knees from where he'd stumbled after dumping us on arrival, head bowed in defeat. A tremor of unease ran through me, and I turned instinctively to find Rhowyn. My pulse jumped to a frantic pace, alarm coursing through my blood at a frenetic rate, as I looked for her. “Brannoc, where is she?” My voice came out as a low growl, hardly daring to voice my fears into reality.
“I'm sorry. I tried...” His voice cut out, breaking under the grief that weighed on his shoulders.
“Where's Rhowyn?” Baer demanded, also having realized at my question that our Chosen wasn’t with us. We’d left her behind.
Stomping over to Brannoc, I grabbed him by his shirt, hauling him to his feet easily. Too easily. He wasn’t fighting against me at all, his body nearly limp in my hold as I snarled into his face, “Go back and get her.”
“I can't,” His words whispered out, his eyes closing from my view, as if by blocking himself from reality, he could forget that he’d made such a grave error.
“Find a way. I don't care how you do it, but you have to go get her. We can't leave her there,” I growled out, my wolf pushing to the surface at my inability to do anything to help her, the panic rushing through me and leaving me helpless. The last time I'd felt this way was when the Queen killed my parents, leaving me as the sole heir and leader of the Autumn Court. I had sworn then that I'd never feel this way again.
Somehow, Rhowyn had wormed her way under my skin, leaving me feeling inept at my inability to protect her. A dark thought flashed across my mind, despondency and demoralization close on its heels. I couldn't protect my family, my people, and now, the woman I was coming to love needed us, and I still couldn't do a damn thing.
I shook Brannoc, desperate for him to change this and wishing that he could make these feelings stop. “Get her.”
His own anger flared in response, pushing aside the grief in his gaze momentarily. Shoving against my chest hard enough to dislodge my grip, he snapped, “Don't you think I'd go if I could? There's nothing left! I've used too much of my energy these last few days, and now I'm drained.”
Letting him go, I ran my hands through my hair, turning away from him as he deflated again. Logically, I knew he was right, but if I accepted that, then I'd also have to accept that there was nothing we could do. That Rhowyn was now at the mercy of the Queen.
“We've got to do something!” Baer demanded, his panic rising as what Brannoc had told us finally sank in. The truth that I had already begun to accept.
“And what exactly do you expect us to do?” I snapped at him, my helplessness swallowing me whole, the pain scratching against me and demanding I do something. Anything. Even if that meant taking my anger, the emotion that was rising to replace the hole left in me by Rhowyn's absence, out on anyone else.
Baer's eyes darted around. “Arryn's not here. Maybe he can protect her. Keep her safe long enough for...”
“For what!?” I roared at him. “There's nothing we can do. Not right now. We can't just walk through the castle doors demanding she be returned to us!” I snarled my words at him, devastation raging through me.
“I don't know!” he snapped back at me, coming to stand in front of me. “We can't just do nothing!” His hands raked through his hair, pulling it as he tried to figure out a way to get our girl back.
“There's nothing we can do,” I answered softly, my anger leaving me suddenly, replaced by hopelessness again.
“You're just going to give up? Just like that?” Baer yelled at me, turning to Brannoc who hadn't said another word. His depression crushed him until he was again on his knees on the floor, lost in his own thoughts. “Both of you?” Baer scoffed, “She deserves better than you two. Giving up on her just like that.”
“And what exactly do you expect us to do? Our only option is Brannoc, but he's tapped out.” I gestured a hand between us, growing angry again at his accusations. “We would be stopped before we even got anywhere near her.”
“Not if Loki changed what we looked like.” Baer turned to the man in question, hope shining in his eyes. The Puca had been silent during this exchange, easily forgotten while we ranted and raved against the inevitable.
He held his hands out as if calming a wild animal. “Sorry, man, my own magic is pretty depleted. And no offense, but I don't think it'd work. They'd know to expect something like this again. They'd be looking for us to try something to break her out,” he reasoned with Baer, his words gentle as if trying not to spook him. Loki glanced at me, his apology written in his gaze.
“Okay.” Baer ran his hands through his hair, starting to pace. “So, what's left?” None of us answered, clearly leaving him to think out loud without interruption. He'd eventually realize what the rest of us had already. Our only hope of defeating the Queen was now imprisoned and back under the bitch's control.
“What if we...” Baer's words cut off as a thump sounded behind me, his eyes widening in shock.
Whipping around to see what had made the noise, I froze as my brain tried to make sense of what I was seeing. It shouldn't have been possible, but there she was, lying on the carpet on the other side of the room. Two other shapes were next to her, Arryn and the other man from the prison.
Baer rushed over to her crumpled form, turning her over and checking to see if she was okay. His hands skimmed over her, looking for injuries, shaking and fighting tears. Relief and guilt warred on his face as he was finally given a task to do. Something to distract his frantic mind.
“What the hell happened?” I snapped at Arryn, barely daring to believe that they were actually here.
“I'm not sure exactly,” Arryn started, Baer glancing at him before returning to his assessment of Rhowyn. “The guards had us trapped, and then the next thing I know, she's turned us to shadows, dragging us along as she brought us here.”
Brannoc's head snapped up at that information. “What do you mean she turned you to shadows?” He rose from his crumpled position, shock and confusion on his face as he stood rigidly waiting for Arryn’s answer.
“Just what I said. She did what you do, Brannoc. I don't know how she did it, but it was exactly the same.”
“That shouldn't be possible,” Brannoc whispered, now starting his own pacing. He stopped suddenly, his eyes meeting Arryn's. “No.” The word was barely a whisper of sound and yet full of knowing.
I opened my mouth to demand the two fill me in, but a groan from behind Arryn had us turning to the unknown man that Rhowyn had insisted on saving.
“What do we do with him?” I asked, deferring to Arryn.
“We can't take any chances since we have no clue who he is or why she was determined to save him. I say we tie him up and lock him in a room until we're ready to deal with him.” Moving to do just that, I found a stretch of rope, kneeling down to wrap the man's hands and feet. Having bound him, I glanced at Baer. “How is she?”
“She seems fine. Obviously, she's passed out, most likely from the magic exertion,” Baer said. “I'd feel better if Arryn checked her with his magic, but I can't see anything physically wrong with her.”
Master Jude knelt next to her. First looking at me and then Baer, he asked, “May I?” The old man had looked his age before, but after his short stint in the dungeons, he looked frail. Despite everything, he’d always had an air of confidence and assuredness that demonstrated his strength. Now, he looked shaken and weary.
Arryn and Brannoc were whispering across the room, both wearing a look of shock as they glanced at Rhowyn. I ignored them. They'd fill us in when they were ready. Baer backed away from Rhowyn's prone body, allowing Master Jude room to assess her. His weathered and worn hands found her tiny ones, holding them tightly. He closed his eyes as I felt his magic rise.
Baer and I watched him closely, our fear that something else was wrong with her holding us captive. After thinking we'd lost her, it was hard to believe that she was here in front of us now. That this wasn't some delusion my brain had conjured up after fracturing under the realization that she was at the mercy of the Queen.
Her grandfather leaned back on his heels, a small smile on his face and his relief evident. Still, I needed to hear him say it. “How is she?” I asked him.
“She's fine. Like Baer thought, she's exhausted her magic. She'll need to rest and recover, but her connection to you four allowed her to pull from you, ensuring she was able to make it here without burning out.”
I let out a deep exhale, finally able to breathe again for the first time after finding out she hadn't been with us. Leaning my head back, my eyes closed as I relaxed. Somehow, we'd all made it back in one piece. We'd struck a blow to the Queen, although I wasn't sure it was worth the risk. We'd come so close to losing her, losing the only hope that Avalon had. More than that, I'd almost lost the only person who'd reached beneath my hardened exterior in too many years to count.
Just the thought of losing her sent me into a panic. When I'd lost my parents, I thought I had been ruined then, broken except for the role I had to play. Until Rhowyn. Now, I realized that if I lost her, it would break me in a way that I had never thought possible. In just this short while, she'd become everything to me. I couldn't risk her like this again. She was too precious. Not just to me but to all of us. All of Avalon.
Master Jude moved slowly toward the mystery man who was laid on his side, facing away from us. His movements, slow and shaky, belied his age and just how much his imprisonment had affected him. It seemed we'd all need a while to recover after this. While we recuperated, we could plan our next move in our fight against the Queen.
Gnarled hands rolled the man to his back. A gasp escaped the old man as he looked at the face of Rhowyn's rescue. Trembling hands moved the matted and knotted hair from the face, revealing the scars that cut across the man's visage. Clearly his imprisonment hadn't been kind to him.
“Oh, child,” Master Jude whispered, glancing back at the woman in question who was still passed out. “How'd you know?”
“What?” Baer asked, his concern peeking through his tone. I stepped closer as well, preparing to end the threat if needed.
Master Jude chuckled, his soft sounds growing until he was clutching his side, his laughter ringing out through the now silent room. We all watched him as if he'd lost his mind, Arryn and Brannoc joined us as Lennox's shoulder brushed mine. I glanced at him, glad that he was alright as well, only now realizing he hadn’t taken part in our earlier argument, fear and despair freezing him while we ranted and raved. Loki stayed back, clearly uncomfortable with the old man's crazy laughter.
Finally, his laughter slowed as he wiped tears from his eyes. Arryn approached him slowly, cautiously. “What's so funny?” he questioned Master Jude gently.
A soft laugh escaped him again as he looked at Arryn, beaming in a way I hadn't seen in a very long time. “Gentlemen, this man that Rhowyn insisted on rescuing is none other than Jonathan Whitethorne. My son.”