CHAPTER IX #5
“We’re on it,” I hear my friend reply as Keane turns back in, letting his eyes fall on me again.
“Brother…” his voice is hard. “Give us a moment.”
“No,” I sigh, averting his gaze as I walk to the table. Carsen’s broad body walking through the woods is commanding my thoughts now, and it’s important that they both know.
“There’s something else,” I turn to the brothers, “something that we stumbled into last night that hasn’t taken precedent, but it can now...”
I feel Keane’s heated gaze on my body, feel it surrounding me with the overall presence of the man that he is right now, the King.
Even in this moment, surrounded only by his brother and me, he commands the space with such finality.
I can’t help the strong tug that draws me toward him, wanting to catch the gaze of the man that he will have to remain for the rest of the day.
I want it, am attracted to it beyond immeasurable belief, but I’m also still feeling heavy from everything that transpired last night.
I sigh again, staring back at that gaze, and am reminded of the summoning that gripped him so steadily that he never looked back at me once.
“Tell us, Alexis,” Desmond says quietly as both men move around the table.
My eyes drop to the wooden etching of the road leading from Kaven’s residence to the village, retelling our encounter.
“When we left the dinner last night, Holis, Mana and I decided to take the road to the village. It was a hasty decision and one without much thought, but we made it about halfway to the bend before the brothers heard someone on the road ahead. They shuffled me quickly into the woods. We were covered, but we could still see and hear who it was that walked…”
I grimace, leaning on the table as my hair falls windswept out of my braid.
“Lord Kaven’s man, Carsen. He was speaking to someone about me. Asked them if I was who they were warned about, as if he had heard of me before my travel to Etter. He also knew in that moment that I was without Canon and only with the brothers, and that the two of you were distracted…”
Both Keane and Desmond shift on their feet, their stances heavy.
“Whoever he spoke to,” I lift my eyes to them, “we all got the impression that he was ordered to find me. To take me and Stormfall away from the brothers though not to harm them.”
Fuck me, I was so over everyone wanting to take me. To use me.
“Who was he speaking to?” Keane’s voice goes cold.
“I thought it was someone from above,” I reply to the King with a frown. “He kept looking up at the woods when he spoke. But both Holis and Mana confirmed that they didn’t hear anyone— that there was no second voice with him.”
The brothers look at each other in confusion, their body language telling me that they’re just as perplexed as I am.
“You’re sure there was no one else in the woods with him?” Desmond turns his dark gaze on me.
“You’ll have to ask Holis and Mana,” I shake my head, “they have the ears. But if there was someone above, then they would have seen our walk to the village, not to mention the three of us darting off the road in haste. Wouldn’t they have told Carsen?”
“That would seem likely,” Desmond’s eyes go hard as he looks at Keane. “I’ll talk to the brothers when they get back.”
“That still doesn’t discount that someone from the dinner alerted Carsen of Alexis’ departure,” Keane replies coolly.
“One of two people,” Desmond nods in agreement. “Either Kaven himself or his wife.”
“Or your brother,” I reply softly.
“This shouldn’t have happened, Alexis,” Keane’s voice is heavy as he turns his gaze back on mine.
His face is covered in his own anguish, his features so taught and reserved that the look he gives me tells me everything I need to know. Keane’s battling with his own torment, knowing that he should have been at my side and watching over me.
“This is on Troy,” I tell him quietly, “on his summoning. I’m still in disbelief that he actually dared to attempt it. I agree with you both that his actions cannot remain unpunished, and I would like to be there whenever he is dealt with.”
I have a few choice words for the Prince of Woodlands, and perhaps a few choice fists.
Later.
Save that for another day.
I sigh and look down at the wooden carving of Kaven’s residence, a small smile forming on my lips as I try to lighten the mood.
“You’ll be happy to know that I calmed down a small uprising last night…”
Both brothers raise a brow in question.
“Alanna wanted to storm the dinner,” I laugh. “She wanted to pull you two out by force and hoard you in the room until Golem was through with you.”
“Of course she did,” Desmond rolls his eyes as Keane watches me silently.
“But I took a page from your book,” I look at the King hard, letting his intense brown eyes wash over me, “and understood in that moment that doing nothing was the best thing to do. It was my decision to let Troy’s summoning be, to let everything from the dinner last night run its course.
The guilt does not rest solely on you, Your Grace.
I gambled on both of your strengths, and Golem’s… ”
I turn to smile at my magical friend and watch him nod at me with a small grin.
“And it paid off.”
Holis and Mana returned with raw meat for Stormfall, bagging three squirrels from the woods that they then skinned, cleaned and cut.
The Bird of Ash stood on my lap as he ate while I sat quietly in a chair fashioned by Keane, watching the two brothers move around the table in discussion for the night’s plans.
Occasionally they would receive news and updates from different people that would prompt them to re-work their strategy, with Keane manipulating the table and adding different units to the wood as the information was given.
Alanna estimated that there were a solid one hundred and fifty fighting men up top, with more than half of them taking up bows and arrows while the others had swords fastened at their sides.
Another hundred or so were all women and children, though they kept to their homes and shops in the woods, moving around unbothered.
She also informed the brothers that Troy and the delegation from Aireal had departed Kaven’s residence in the late morning, the horses seen moving north on the Road of Silver.
Alexander was on his way back with this old Maude character that everyone seemed to know of, her death obviously feigned as she was so clearly alive. I was curious as to the old woman and what her role was here in Etter and looked forward to meeting her.
Desmond was about to leave camp soon as Commander Linden was close to arriving at the outskirts of the forest. I still had no idea how large that group was or why Keane had an army waiting in Auclair, but the men were here now, ready to do the King’s bidding.
I stand from the large chair in silence, eyeing Stormfall as he flies off my lap. He perches himself at the top and gives me a strong look of appreciation, the Bird of Ash bowing his head into his wings as he resumes his sleep for the rest of the day.
The chair itself is a magnificent wood construction, large in its entirety with a full back that reaches higher than my head when I sit.
It’s also another of Keane’s builds, the man flicking his hand so casually as he summoned it from the earth after noticing my earlier yawn.
His power continued to amaze me, and I find myself smiling at the large creation before I turn to the far end of the table, listening to the brothers’ conversation.
Exploitation, not aggression.
That was Keane’s plan.
He wanted to tear down the illusion. Wanted the men that rode up from Knowledge to see what was being hidden and what has been going on for far too long.
He needed as many eyes as possible to witness the village, to take that word back to the court and begin the small rally from its people that were so ignorant to the ways of Woodlands.
He also wanted tonight to act as a message to the rest of the cities within this broken court. Any towns and villages found not providing the dignity of life that any being of this Old World deserved would be met with the same exposure and replacement that was to take place at Etter.
Change was finally coming to Woodlands.
“I have to bring Linden and the men in,” Desmond looks down at his oak wood, reading a new message. “We will be back before the sun sets.”
Keane nods without looking up, his arms folded across his chest as he stares down at the residence of Etter.
“If Alanna is done above, send her here. We’ll need to brief her before the night begins.”
The Master Informer writes in his oak and turns to depart, stopping at my side as he glances quietly at Keane.
“Go easy on him, Alexis,” he whispers.
I frown at the Master Informer and watch him walk away, Golem following quietly behind him.
“You lied when you told me you slept last night, Alexis,” Keane’s voice is cool from across the table.
My breath stills as I turn my gaze slowly to the King. His brown eyes fixate on me, taking in all my features and assessing my body as his gaze darts from my cheeks to my lips.
“I did,” I nod, finding no reason to hide the lie anymore. It’s been a long morning, a long day, and I’m sure I look exhausted from my lack of sleep last night.
I sit back in the chair and try to relax in its hold. Keane walks towards me, his movements strong and deliberate before he stops in front of my legs, standing tall.
“Look at me, Alexis,” he commands, leaning forward as his hands grip the arms at my side.
I take a deep breath and tilt my head back, letting it rest against the wood as I slowly find Keane’s eyes. His brown gaze holds mine relentlessly, the emotion behind it so intense and strong that I can’t look away. The look he gives me is enough to set my body on fire.
Keane’s presence is consuming, has always been consuming, and I find my breath catching in my chest as he inches closer. His arms flex on the chair, his brown eyes claiming every inch of my being, the full of him reminding me of who I’m staring at right now.