Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Knox
Resting my arms on the pommel, I leaned forward as Briar tended to a rose growing out of the chair on Old Mac’s front porch.
While I wasn’t one of the kids who’d gathered around that rocking chair to listen to the shifter’s tales, I’d watched them sit in a circle around a man who appeared no older than my father but was rumored to be over two thousand years old.
He’d regale the children with tales of battles, dragons, mysterious creatures, and sometimes love.
One day, I slipped into the shadows beside his house and listened while he told a story about a gorgon he’d battled in No Man’s Land.
He slapped his knee as his booming voice carried on the breeze; though it was a story about battling to the death, he told it with a grin… most likely because he survived.
I’d contemplated joining the children so I could hear more, but I knew what would happen if I tried. The stories would stop, and they’d all stare at me before retreating like the children in the palace did… just as the stable boys did.
I was the unfavored child, the misfit, the one who was too soft, even softer than his sisters, and too much like his mother. I was the outcast, but I was also the alpha’s son.
Instead of joining them, I waited until the end of the story before sneaking away to the woods. And then I met Briar and never contemplated going to listen to a story again.
Despite not really having known Old Mac, it filled me with sorrow to see him like this. He must have been sitting in his rocker, waiting for the children to arrive, or perhaps they’d already left for the day when the curse occurred. Otherwise, there would be more roses all around him.
When Briar finished, she ran a rose petal gently between her fingers before returning to me. The rat emerged from under a bush near the porch; his cheeks were much less full now that he’d buried some of his stash.
Briar slipped the potion into her pocket as the rat ran up to her shoulder. Once settled there, he removed a piece of red fruit from his mouth and nibbled on it.
The shadows under her eyes had faded a little, and the fresh air had restored color to her cheeks. Her eyes glowed with fresh vitality. Bringing her out here really had made a big difference.
“Do you know who this house belongs to?” Briar asked as I leapt down.
I grasped her waist and set her on the saddle before swinging up to sit behind her again. That sensation of emptiness faded when my arms encircled her; I gathered the reins as she settled perfectly against me.
“Old Mac. He was said to be over two thousand years old.”
“How interesting. Is he the eldest shifter?”
“No, there were a few older than him, but he was the most well-known.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because every morning a group of children would gather on his porch, and he’d regale them with his stories. Almost every child in the kingdom grew up knowing his tales.”
“I’m sure he had the most fascinating stories.”
“I only heard one of them.”
She didn’t speak for long enough that I stopped expecting a follow-up question as Magnazius plodded down the road. When we turned down a side street and headed toward the lake, she spoke again.
“How come?” she asked.
“I wasn’t welcome.”
She twisted her head to look at me. “He wouldn’t let you sit and listen to his tales?”
“Not him, the children wouldn’t have liked it if I joined them.”
“Oh,” she said sadly. “I understand that. The children didn’t like me much either. I was Marina’s daughter, but more than that, she never hid her disappointment and hatred of me. Everyone feared incurring her wrath if they showed me any kindness.”
“While my father never would have abused anyone for being kind to me, everyone knew I was the disappointing offspring. Many shifters didn’t want to be associated with that.”
Anger sparked in her eyes. “That’s awful.”
I shrugged.
“You’re not a disappointment,” she stated.
“You’re not disappointed that I’m not the same man I used to be?”
“I never expected you to be the same man after everything you endured.”
“But you never expected this either.”
“No,” she reluctantly admitted. “But you’re still not a disappointment, and you certainly weren’t one then either.”
I didn’t know how to take that, so I remained silent as she turned around in the saddle.
“Did any of your siblings go to listen to his tales?” she asked.
“No. They had no interest in such things; it’s one of the reasons my father favored them. They preferred to be training, hunting, and preparing for battle.”
“But you always enjoyed a story and getting lost.”
“I did.”
She leaned her head against my chest as the rat stared at me while continuing to nibble on his fruit.
“You know what I’ve wondered?” she asked.
“What?” I murmured as I resisted the impulse to bury my face in her hair and lose myself in its crisp, eucalyptus scent.
“Why didn’t one of the other kingdoms try to take over Wildwood after the curse? You weren’t here to defend it; it would have been easy pickings.”
“Why would they invade a kingdom frozen in time and encased in gray skies? The sprites would have gone into hiding instead of helping them, so everything here would have died, and nothing new would have grown. Not to mention the shadow dragon. I’m sure it kept many at bay before we returned.”
“No one knows of its existence.”
“That’s because it doesn’t leave any survivors. I’m sure some of the other kingdoms sent out scouting missions to see what happened here and how the lack of shifters could benefit them. And I’m just as sure none of them returned.
“The strigoi still attempt to claim some of Wildwood as their own. They would love to live under permanently gray skies, but if they were ever to launch a full attack against us, the other kingdoms would punish them for it.”
“Maybe not the casters,” she murmured.
“Maybe not the night casters, but I have a feeling Cozameal would gladly go against Marina. They don’t like each other very much.”
“My mother doesn’t like anybody other than my sister and a few chosen favorites. Those chosen ones often change as she’s pretty fickle and loves to torture others.”
“That she does,” I murmured.
I expected the reminder of Briar’s mother to unleash a surge of rage, but it didn’t. With Briar in my arms, the fury remained at bay as she soothed the beast and chased away the pain.
“If she tried something against us again, the other kingdoms would go against her… except for maybe the strigoi. No kingdom wants its only alliance to be the strigoi,” I said.
“They are rather… gross. I hate to say that about another kingdom, but they give me the creeps.”
“They give everyone the creeps.”
“I’ve heard they have a kind of blood magic; I don’t know what it is or how it works, do you?”
“They possess hemomancy. If they gain control of you, they can manipulate your blood. It’s said they can explode a heart in the chest of an eternal, if given enough time.”
Her mouth parted as she gazed at me in horror. “How does someone stop them from doing that?”
“Don’t look in their eyes for too long, and don’t let them bite you. Either of those things can allow them to seize control over you. Once they have it, you’re theirs.”
She gaped at me. “I’m never looking at one of them again.”
“You can look for short periods of time without concern.”
“That’s okay; I’m not missing much by keeping my eyes to myself with them anyway.”
I chuckled as we came to the edge of the lake. The thickening gray clouds shimmered in its reflective surface as the breeze created ripples across the water.
On the other side of the lake, gravestones peppered the landscape and the tops of the trees swayed in the wind.
When a strand of Briar’s hair tickled my nose, I grasped it to push it down, but somehow it remained clasped in my hand instead.
She didn’t notice when I ran the silken strands through my fingers.
When I was younger, the feeling of her head on my chest with her hair spilling across me had always been one of complete bliss. Now, it was a mixture of need and sorrow that created a deep ache in my chest.
Reluctantly, I released her hair to gather the reins. “We should head back.”
“Can we go to the cemetery first? There might be some roses there I could help with.”
I glanced at the darkening clouds but still didn’t scent rain, and there were some rosebushes over there. However… “Is this about that Archibald boy?”
“Maybe a little. I’d like to find his parents, but if there are roses there, they might need help.”
I still had no intention of digging up a child’s grave, but it couldn’t hurt to check on the roses over there. I wasn’t above admitting I also wanted to spend more time with her away from the castle and in her natural environment… out with the wildlife, where she belonged.
Kicking Magnazius in the side, I steered him around the lake and guided him to the headstones sloping down a hill toward the woods.
When Briar’s breath sucked in, I knew she understood how improbable it would be for her to find Archibald’s parents amid the countless graves laid out across the rolling hills leading down to the woods.