Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (14 page)

Bo chuckled. "Been stuck with quite the company."

"Actually, I wouldn't have made it to shore
without him," she said honestly. "I got a fever, and he took care of
me, too. So," She shrugged. "He's really not so bad." She could
have said more, a lot more. But she was supposed to be a boy, and boys didn't
gush about how wonderful other men were.

Bo and Cain both looked over at Prince. A smile broke
across Bo's face suddenly. "Good enough. We all need to stick together.
This isn't the time or place for such nonsense. Cain?"

The other man nodded. "True."

She jerked her head in the direction of the cave. "Come
on, there's water and a fire. And if you're good I'll take off those chains."

They suddenly noticed she didn't have any, and as they
made their way carefully back she explained. She quickly gave them the very
short tour of where they'd been staying. The first thing done was to remove
their chains, and then both men went to the waterfall pool to wash and drink.
Since she didn't want to accidentally see anything she shouldn't, she suggested
to Prince they go back out to search for more dinner.

Chapter 11

A Not so Good Night

When she and Prince came back from searching for food
she found the boys tending the fire and saw they had also brought in more wood.
Prince asked her to go collect more of some large leaves he used for cooking,
so she scrambled off before it got dark. She didn't have to go too far, many of
the kind he liked grew just past the waterfall along the ledge walls.

When she returned she didn't miss how everyone grew
quiet. She grimaced at them. What had they been talking about? There were a few
huddled whispers between the three, followed by some sort of agreement as she
reached the fire and tossed the pile of leaves to the side.

She frowned at them all. Should she even bother to
ask? It wouldn't do much good. She'd gotten the same treatment from her
brothers and other adults, too. She knew they all considered her a child, so
quite possibly it wasn't anything she actually wanted to hear.

She helped Prince prepare the food while they all made
small talk about the various items they'd been able to scavenge.

She turned to Bo when the food was almost ready. "So
what's the word?"

He accepted a leaf full of food from Prince and she
saw the two exchange quick glances. "How about we wait until we're
finished eating?" He grinned at her. She thought it looked a little
forced, but she didn't know him well, and it was hard to tell with the long
scar on his face. "Then there won't be any interruptions to the story. We
can both tell our tales. I'm interested in hearing what you two have been up
to."

She agreed and dug into her food with enthusiasm. Bo
and Cain laughed at her exuberance while Prince frowned. She ignored them all.
It wasn't her fault it seemed she never could get enough to eat. Though she
hadn't been starving in the city, food had begun to grow scarce as the enemy
army had drawn closer and roads had slowly been cut off. The time on the slave
ship with almost no food had been hard though. She knew she had lost weight,
and her still growing body seemed to always want more food than they could
find.

When they had all finished, they cleaned up and Prince
left to take their remains away. She settled by the fire, holding back sudden
shivers. The sun had gone down, and the nights had become so much colder. She
wondered how far north they were, and if the winters here would be cold and
snowy like they had been at home.

Prince returned and took a spot next to her.

"Well, let's hear yours first," Bo said,
before she could say anything about them telling their tale.

She didn't know if she should do the talking or
Prince, and looked to him for guidance. The little frown of his that annoyed
her so much appeared for a moment until he gave her a brief nod. She didn't
know what he meant by that though and bit her lip in frustration.

Bo sensed her unease and prodded her along. "What
happened when you went over, Aro? I didn't see you."

She grimaced. "I sank." She glanced over at
Prince "He pulled me up and kept me from going under again."

To her surprise Prince then took over the story, relating
events in his refined quiet voice. She only interjected once, telling the
others about Prince protecting her from the rocks. For some reason she really
wanted them to like Prince. Seeing how he had been doing so much for her seemed
to be helping with that.

He didn't seem too impressed with her efforts however,
shooting an angry glance at her interruption before continuing with their story
up to the present.

"So you haven't seen anyone else?" Cain
looked at them both, clearly hopeful.

She shook her head and looked to Prince, who shook his
as well. "Have you?"

"We've seen a few footprints on the beaches, and
heard things moving in the woods. Could have been people or animals." He
shrugged. "But I'm getting ahead of myself." He told of both he and
Cain reaching the beach located two coves south of theirs. Much like they had,
the two had dealt with searching for water and food, finding shelter and
regaining their strength. "Once we began feeling a bit more alive we
decided to see if we could find anyone else and started checking out the other
beaches. I guess we were lucky we chose to come north."

"So you haven't seen any of the others?" She
tried to keep the desperate hope from her voice. It hadn't failed her notice
how they'd avoided her question previously. "Kei or Kendric or Avery? You
don't know what happened to them?"

Bo and Cain both looked over at Prince, and the
expressions on their faces told her that yes, they did know something. They
just didn't want to tell her.

Despite the sinking feeling in her gut she wanted to
know. She needed to know. "Tell me," she begged, looking from one to
the other.

Bo sighed and ran a hand over his face. "We found
Kendric. He didn't make it."

She stared at him as his words sunk in. "He's...dead?"
Suddenly dazed, she looked off to the side. Kendric was dead. She couldn't
believe it. Didn't want to believe it. He had been so alive. He had been
someone she actually knew. She lowered her head as it truly hit her he was
gone. She wouldn't ever see him again. He wouldn't ever tease her again. He
wouldn't...

"Aro? I'm sorry. I know he was your friend. I'll
miss him, too."

Bo's words, though kind, did not help. The urge to
suddenly break down into hysterical tears flooded through her. She scrambled to
her feet, struggling to hold in the tears. "I...I just need..." She
didn't know what she needed, so didn't bother to finish as she quickly slipped
down off the ledge to the next and headed toward the waterfall.

She heard Prince say something behind her, but just walked
faster, moving as quickly as she could by the faint light of the fire. The
stars and moon helped after a short distance as she neared the waterfall. By
the time she reached it tears had started streaming down her cheeks and she
struggled to keep from sobbing.

She moved around the pool edge, trying to keep out of
sight of the others and sat down quickly. Wrapping her arms around herself, she
cried, trying to do so as quietly as possible.

It wasn't long before someone sat down beside her. She
tried to hold in a shuddering breath but it didn't really work.

"I am so sorry, Aro," Prince said quietly.

"Me, too," she mumbled. She wiped her nose
on her sleeve and kept her head down, trying to hide. She rubbed at her face,
trying to wipe away the tears and keep them gone.

"You are allowed to grieve."

She choked on a laugh. "I'm supposed to be a boy,
remember?"

He sighed. "Boys, and men, feel sadness as well."

She peeked over at him. "You're not crying."

The frown returned. "I did not know him."

She sniffled. "I didn't either really" she
admitted. "He was more my brother's friend. But," She sighed and
wiped away more tears. "He was someone I knew from home. Someone alive. He
reminded me of my brothers, he had known them. And now..." She let out a
shaky breath. "Now it's like everything is gone. There's nothing left."

She leaned forward and put her face in her hands. "I
don't know where I am, or what I'm doing, where I'm going. I have nothing. I
don't know what to do. I'm so scared."

His hand rested softly on her back. "We will
figure something out," he said gently.

"Gah." She snorted and shook her head and
then the rotten tears came again and she cursed around them.

He began to slowly rub her back. "Things will
work out. I will admit it may take some time for things to be normal for you
again. But I will stay with you and help you as much as I can."

She nodded slightly and took shallow breaths, trying
to calm down. She almost laughed at his words. She knew he only wanted her to
feel better, and he had been careful not to make any promises. But he was
trying. That was something. She sat up a little and looked over at him. "I
don't want to be any trouble."

He chuckled and shook his head. "You are fifteen,
I'm quite certain you will be a great deal of trouble."

She scowled and swatted him.

He grinned back and gestured to the pool. "Wash
up a little, and come back to the fire with me. We need to get some sleep."

She fidgeted a little when the others watched her come
back. They didn't say anything, for that she was truly grateful. She also had
her horribly cut hair to hide behind, and Prince, too. He settled her down,
told her to go to sleep, and stayed close to her as she did.

She drifted quickly into that foggy almost asleep
state. A strong grip on her shoulder startled her awake immediately and she
awoke in a near panic. She looked around quickly and saw Cain beside her. Prince
and Bo were gone.

Cain raised a finger to his lips and nodded toward the
woods.

She bit her lip and sat up silently, straining to hear
anything. What was going on? Whatever had happened, it likely wasn't good.

She kept glancing ahead and then back at Cain, but he
didn't look like he heard anything either.

The noises came suddenly, and were barely
distinguishable before they disappeared again. She looked over at Cain, wide
eyed and afraid to speak. Her heart beat madly in her chest. She wished again
she still had her knives. Or any kind of weapon. Even a big stick would have
been nice.

After long sickening moments she heard footsteps and
quiet talking. She jumped up as a figure hopped up onto the ledge.

"Avery!" She ran to his side and stopped
herself from hugging him just in time, changing it into more manly shoulder and
back slaps.

"Hey, Aro. Cain." The young man moved over
to grasp the other's arm.

He turned quickly though, looking behind him. "Listen,"
he said, quietly. "There are two others with me. I don't know about them.
Be careful."

She frowned but nodded, effectively also shaking more
of her hair over her face.

Before he could say any more the others returned. Bo
and Prince came immediately to join them, but the two strangers hung back,
looking around.

One gave a low whistle. "Nice place."

She looked them over as Avery introduced them all.
They were certainly rough looking, but she could say the same for her other
companions right now as well. Still, she would do as Avery suggested, and be
careful. She didn't know them after all.

"This is Allen and Garic," Avery said
quietly. "They washed up on the same beach as I did."

Bo raised his eyebrows. "Where?"

"North." Avery grimaced. "I'm not sure
how far. We saw a ship in the distance, so took to the woods."

She tugged on his sleeve and leaned forward. "No
Kei?"

His face turned sad and he shook his head. "You
neither?"

"No." She looked away, trying to hold in
more tears. Boys didn't cry.

He sighed. "He said he'd be here."

She choked a little and covered her mouth with her
hand.

"What happened to your chains?"

She blinked, noticing they still had theirs, though
Avery's had at least been broken by Kei. She dug in her pocket for her nails as
Bo explained how she had removed them for everyone.

She did Avery first, and glanced at Bo and then at
Prince. Both nodded and she went nervously to the new men, keeping her head
down and working as quickly as possible. She could feel their eyes on her and
for some reason their attention made her feel uncomfortable. When she finally
finished she let out a sigh of relief and moved away from them as quickly as
she could.

The others all sat around the fire talking and she sat
in an empty spot between Prince and Avery. Bo and Cain sat beyond them. The
strangers remained together but apart from them. She wasn't sure if she should
find their behavior odd or not.