36. Chapter Thirty Six Rhowyn
Chapter Thirty Six: Rhowyn
Stirring from sleep where I was wrapped up in Nox's long limbs, I heard hushed yelling. Obviously, this was the reason for my awakening. My curiosity now peaked, I attempted to extricate myself from Lennox. His arms wrapped around me tighter when I tried to lift one, pulling me deeper into his embrace. I smiled. “Don't get up. Just stay right here, and I promise that I'll make it worth your while.” His words touched me, but I couldn't resist the urge to find out what was going on.
“As tempting as that offer is, the others are very clearly trying to keep something from me,” I whispered back, kissing his cheek, his eyes still closed.
“Maybe it's for a good reason,” he replied, still not releasing his hold on me.
Rolling my eyes at him, I swatted his arm. “Good try, but you know me. Something's going on, and I can't just go back to sleep.”
He sighed heavily, lifting his arm and allowing me to slip out of the bed. Throwing on the clothes from earlier that had been discarded around the room in our haste, I looked back at him. “You can join me,” I offered.
“I'm good. I'd rather not face the wrath of whoever it is that's causing all this ruckus,” Lennox said. “I'll just keep the bed warm for when you get back.”
I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Thanks, my love,” I told him before rushing from the room to follow the sound of raised voices down the hall.
Walking hurriedly down the hallway, further than I had ventured before, I heard arguing, although I couldn't quite make out the voices. A loud thud had me quickening my pace and throwing open the door that I thought the noise had come from.
I halted at the sight in front of me. My grandfather had his hands up, trying to placate my father, whose hands were still bound but was standing up as if getting ready to charge at my men.
“Calm down, son. We should talk about this.”
“What's there to talk about?” my father growled out, barely contained menace oozing from him.
Arryn helped pick up Callum from the floor. “Listen here, old man, we didn't kidnap you!” Callum growled, dusting himself off before glaring at my father.
“Oh, is there another name for such things these days?” Welp, it seems my sarcasm was inherited honestly.
“We rescued you from the Queen's dungeons,” Arryn tried to explain, his hands held out placatingly.
“Usually, a rescue doesn't involve more imprisonment,” my father snarked back, holding up his bound hands as evidence to his point.
“That was necessary,” Callum grunted. “For good reason, it seems. We couldn't be sure how you'd react when you woke. Who's to say the Queen didn't scramble your brains while you were her prisoner.”
That seemed to sink in and ease some of my father’s ire. “They're right, son. I didn't like it, but I agreed with them.”
My father looked at Jude with awe then, as if realizing he was there for the first time. “It's really you?” he whispered as if fearing the truth.
“It's really me,” Jude assured him, putting a tentative hand on his forearm.
My father jerked back from him. “No, this is just another trick.” He tilted his head to the ceiling. “I won't fall for your tricks, you stupid bitch! You should know this by now!”
It was this that made me realize the abuse he had suffered hadn't just been physical. That bitch had toyed with his head and his mind, enough to make him doubt reality.
Turning to my men again, my father lashed out, “I don't know what kind of trick this is, or who you are. I don't care. Just leave me be.” His magic slammed out of him, hitting Callum in the chest again and slamming him back.
“Damn it! You fool!” Callum growled from his spot crumpled on the floor. I gasped and rushed to him, concerned that he was injured. Despite his obvious irritation, it warmed my heart that he was holding back his temper and not retaliating. I had a feeling it was for my sake.
“Fuck! Rhowyn, what are you doing here?” Arryn rushed over to me.
I waved him off. “I heard the commotion,” I explained before turning to Callum. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a bruised ego.” He stood again, holding a hand out to pull me back to standing.
“You!” my father whispered in shock.
Turning, I met his gaze for the first time as his daughter. Shrugging, I replied, “Me.” I didn't know what else to say. Despite having fretted about this earlier, I was still no closer to knowing what to do or how to break the ice.
“You rescued me,” he said softly, puzzled by my actions.
“Yup,” I said, popping the “p”, and putting my hands in my pockets to hide my nerves. For the most part, everyone else present simply remained quiet. It seemed that my presence was enough to calm my father.
“Why?” His voice cracked at this question, one I didn't know how to answer.
“I don't know. I think Avalonia wanted me to get you out of there. Besides, I like to think that we made a connection in the cell,” I joked half-heartedly.
“If you call me begging you to stop that wretched singing a connection, I hate to see what your other relationships are like,” he snarked. I smiled, a nervous laugh escaping me. He studied me as if I had lost my mind. Maybe I had. Maybe I was in a coma somewhere, and this was what my crazy brain had come up with to keep me busy.
“Why do you look so familiar?” he asked me. While I could answer that obviously it was because we had been somewhat cell mates, we both knew that wasn't what he was asking.
Glancing to Jude for help, I stuttered out, “Umm... well... you see...”
My grandfather took mercy on me, stepping in to help me out. “Jonathan, this is Rhowyn. Your daughter.”
My father's head snapped from my face to Jude's. “That's not possible. I sent her and her mother to Earth with orders not to return until I came for them.”
Clearing my throat, I tried again. “About that.” I stumbled over my words under the weight of his scrutiny. “I was on Earth, that is until this whole Chosen thing happened, and these guys dragged me back here...” While I spoke, I could see him making the connections, my nerves on fire as I waited for his judgment. Never before had someone's opinion of me mattered so much. I hated it.
He stepped forward, trying to approach me while raising his bound hands in awe. Before he could take a second step, Arryn and Callum stepped forward to protect me. My father glanced at them briefly in understanding before returning his gaze to mine. “It's hard to see through the glamor....” He tilted his head as if trying to see below it to what no one else had been able to see. “Why do you still have it in place if you're here?”
I laughed nervously again. “Well, you see, about that. It seems that no one has been able to break it, not even me.”
He furrowed his brow. “I did choose a spell that would ensure it would hold indefinitely, but it should have broken by now, especially after being exposed to the magic of Avalon.”
“So, you don't know how to remove it?” I asked him, my heart soaring and breaking at the same time.
“No.” He shook his head, turning around to ponder the problem. Not looking at me, he continued. “I wove the spell to hold until your return to Avalon, but I'm wondering if maybe it's because you've returned while still under Titania's rule. The whole reason we needed it was to hide you from her. Perhaps the spell is still hiding you because if she knew you were my daughter, she'd use that against us both.”
“That makes sense,” Arryn said, obviously his mind was running along the same lines as my father.
“Okay, so in order to remove the glamor, I need to become the new Queen? Not a problem, we've already got a plan for that,” I told him with false bravado.
He stopped and looked at me again. “What do you mean, become the new Queen?”
Jude stepped in again. “Rhowyn was brought here because she was selected to compete in the trials. She was selected by Avalonia to become the next Queen.”
“So why is she here?” he said, looking at the humble surroundings. “Shouldn't she be at Cashel Rí?”
“I guess we have more in common than we thought,” I joked, trying hard not to think about the fact that my father hadn't embraced me. He wasn't denying the fact that I was his daughter anymore, but he still hadn't hugged me. Not like Jude had. “I'm also considered a traitor who's trying to steal the crown.”
“But if you won the trials...” he tried to reason.
“She did, but it wasn't the traditional way. Technically, the trials were not fully completed by anyone,” Arryn chimed in.
“Doesn't stop the bitch from trying to crown her lackey, Genevieve,” Callum grumped.
“What do you mean? She's trying to crown someone else? There shouldn't be any doubt as to who won. Besides, the magic of Avalon won't let the wrong Queen take the crown,” he stated with a slight question, turning to my grandfather for confirmation.
“A lot has happened while you were imprisoned. Titania has been trying to find a way to extend her rule by putting a patsy on the throne, either to rule behind her or to undermine her.”
“Right, which is why we have plans to complete a ceremony under her nose and crown me as the rightful ruler,” I explained proudly, forcing brevity even though his unspoken rejection was hurting me deeply.
“What can I do to help?” my father asked us, looking from me to Callum and then Arryn. “I should still have some followers out there. I'll need to get in contact with them as soon as I can to let them know what the plans are.”
“About that,” I chimed in again. “You do still have followers, but most of them think you're dead. You know, because you haven't been seen in over two decades.”
“Makes sense,” my father said, brow furrowing as he thought through this new development.
“Good news is that apparently Arryn here kind of took up your mantle.” I gestured to the man in question. “Okay, well maybe not in your name, but he was a spy and has a rebellion of his own that he's been growing for years.” I knew I was rambling out of nervousness, but I couldn’t help myself.
“I suspect, Sir, that many of the fae who follow me once followed you.”
“You must be one of Rhowyn's Consorts?” He looked at Arryn, then Callum. “And this brute must also be yours, I take it?”
“Yes, the brute is my consort, too,” I said, smiling teasingly at Callum, who narrowed his eyes at me.
He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “When we get the chance, I'll show you just how much of a brute I can be.”
My father sighed loudly. “I heard that.”
I blushed from my face all the way down to my toes. So, this was what it was going to be like with family around. Joy.