Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (22 page)

His grimace faded quickly and he glanced down
shamefully as he nodded. He looked back up at her. "Am I part of those
nightmares?"

She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand, faking a
very faint smile. "No," she lied. The hand at her waist tightened
slightly and she held in a sigh. Did Prince know she was lying? Probably.
Sometimes she thought he knew more about her than she did. He thankfully didn't
say anything and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Kei! You're back!"

Aro sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she
yawned. She saw everyone, surprisingly Prince also, standing together by the
fire. She guessed they talked about Kei coming back. Since she knew the story
she stumbled a few steps into the trees to relieve herself.

She wasn't gone long, however by the time she returned
the men had already begun arguing about something. She grimaced as she walked
up to them. Starting the day off fighting wasn't her idea of fun.

"It's not appropriate," Bo said angrily.

Her brows drew together as she joined them. "What's
not?"

They all looked at her as if surprised to find her
standing there.

"Never mind," Bo snapped, pursing his lips
together over further words.

"Our sleeping arrangements." Prince answered
at the same time.

She blinked in confusion, trying to get her sleepy
mind to understand what was going on. A flush crept over her cheeks as she
suddenly understood. The others must have woken up before they all did. She bit
her lip and looked at Prince. He didn't look angry, just annoyed. Her blush
didn't go away, if anything it got worse as her mind put together the picture
of what the others must have seen. A young girl curled up between two older
men. Yes, such a thing would certainly not be considered appropriate. "I'm
sorry," she murmured, looking at the ground as she clenched her fists.

"It's not your fault." Cain said gently.

She nodded, somehow managing to keep tears of embarrassment
away. Anger rose up within her, but she managed to squash it down and not yell
at anyone.

"We should get moving," Bo said suddenly,
changing the topic.

Relieved, she agreed with the others. As she helped to
pack up their small camp she couldn't ignore the hollowness in the pit of her
stomach. Yes, she was hungry, but certainly it was caused by the knowledge she
wouldn't have her dreams protected by Kei and Prince again.

When they stopped to rest later that day she sat and
watched all the men, trying to decide how to broach the subject of them all
taking Prince home. She munched on mushrooms someone had found, watching the
others share and slowly eat the little food they had been able to forage during
their morning travels.

"I was thinking," she said suddenly, and
forced herself to continue as everyone looked over at her. "If we didn't
have anything else planned, we could take Prince home."

She looked down at her hands as silence answered her
proposal. "Or not."

"No," Bo said. "It's a valid idea."

She looked up in relief. Kei and Prince were staring
at each other. As usual the look wasn't a nice. She couldn't understand why the
two didn't seem to be able to get along at all. At least the others were better
with Prince now, which was why she'd been confident in broaching the subject.

"How far is your city?" Bo asked Prince.

Prince turned his attention to Bo and frowned. Aro was
unsure if the frown came from the topic or the question. "Far."

Bo raised his eyebrows. "That's all the answer
we're going to get? Are you going to continue keeping your secrets then,
Prince
?"
He stressed the last word, effectively pointing out none of them actually knew
Prince's real name.

"I think we've had enough secrets between us all,"
Cain added quietly.

Prince's jaw tightened as he regarded them. "I
told you, the cities fight amongst themselves. Knowing who I am and where I am
from would not be a good idea."

"You don't trust us." Cain commented.

Prince actually chuckled as he shook his head. "It
is more that I don't trust one of my enemies not to try to torture the
information out of you." He glanced over at her. "And accidents do
happen. A slip of the tongue, or someone overhearing something they should not.
I cannot risk it."

"It's not easy, being a prince," she said
quietly.

"No," Prince agreed. "Not in these
lands." He stared at her and she tried to force a smile. He sighed and
looked back at the men. "Should you agree, you would of course be
compensated. Rewarded. I would ensure you each received enough to be able to
start a new life here, should you wish to."

She raised her eyebrows. She hadn't expected him to
make such a generous offer. Or any offer at all actually. The men seemed
surprised as well, and began exchanging looks that involved some shrugs and
small smiles.

"Very well," Bo finally answered after the
men all came to a silent agreement. "We'll get you home." He paused a
moment. "On the condition you tell us as much as you can about these
lands, the people, customs, laws, and dangers. Anything we might need to know."

Prince nodded. "That is acceptable." The men
started talking to each other all at once. He looked over at her. "Happy?"

She smiled and nodded. Yes, she was, and relieved as
well. She didn't even want to think of having to part ways with Prince. She wasn't
an idiot, she knew they would eventually. However, he had become part of her
family and she didn't want to think of losing him anytime soon. She rather
liked the idea that he lived far away.

He smiled faintly. "I suggest you see to your Fey
before he falls into a fury again."

She turned quickly to see Kei, white as a sheet and
eyes faintly glowing. Not good. She scrambled to her feet.

He grabbed her arm and immediately started dragging
her into the trees for some privacy. "We need to talk."

She bit her lip as he pulled her along. She hadn't considered
how Kei would react to the idea of them helping Prince. She should have known
he wouldn't be happy.

He turned on her when he finally stopped, "Are
you insane?"

She scowled. "No."

"What were you thinking?" He shook his head
in disbelief as she cringed. "You don't know who he is!"

"Kei..." she began, wanting to try to
explain.

"No!" He growled and began to pace in front
of her. He stopped suddenly and turned to her, his face pained. "Is this a
test? Are you testing my loyalty?"

"Huh?" She had no idea what he was talking
about.

He grimaced and closed his eyes tightly, running his
fingers angrily through his spikey hair. A growl rumbled out of him.

"Kei?" She began to get worried over his
obvious distress. She understood his anger, just not the degree of it.

He took a deep breath and lowered his hands, searching
her face. She had no idea what he had been searching for but the anger seemed
to suddenly fade away. The light in his eyes died.

His face broke into a sudden unexpected grin. "Never
mind."

She gaped at him, totally confused. "I think
you're the one who's insane," she muttered.

Kei laughed and wrapped his arms around her, lifting
her up.

She gasped in pain as his arms tightened around her
bruised ribs.

He set her down quickly. "What's wrong? Did I
hurt you?"

She sucked in a deep breath and faked a smile. "I'm
fine. I'm just still a little sore from..." her voice trailed off and she
looked away.

"Show me," he demanded.

She grimaced and lifted her shirt a little, showing
the lovely mass of yellow and green and purple.

"No," he whispered, his voice cracking in
pain. His fingers reached out, gently brushing her skin and making her shiver.
He drew them back quickly. "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine." She glanced up and saw his
stricken face, his eyes lightly glowing again. "Really. It's much better
now."

His hand moved toward her again and stopped. "You
need to eat more. I can see your ribs."

She jerked her shirt back down, suddenly both angry
and embarrassed. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She wouldn't let
the anger take over again, not with Kei. "We're all hungry," she
said, managing to keep her voice level.

"Aro! Kei!"

She turned her head toward where they had left the
others. "Time to head out again."

Kei nodded and followed her back in brooding silence.

Chapter 18

Could You Repeat
That

Before the sun set, they came across a freshwater
spring and decided to camp by its side for the night. After the gathering of
wood and eating the little food they'd found, she moved off to the side, alone.
She practiced with her knives, throwing them over and over again into a nearby
tree.

Kei had climbed an old giant tree earlier in the
afternoon and reported he could see the end of the forest. They would leave its
shelter within a day or two at the most.

The others had mostly settled down around the fire for
the night, but she kept throwing. The fear of sleep made her restless and
angry. It wasn't a question on whether or not she would have nightmares, she
did every night. What worried her was tonight there would be no Kei or Prince
next to her to keep them from overwhelming her. The fear wouldn't go away.

She walked to the tree and jerked a blade from it.

"Aro, time to get to some sleep."

She jumped and turned, startled to see Bo so close to
her. She looked down and then turned and pulled her other knife free. "Sure,"
she said quietly, tucking the knives into the crude makeshift sheaths she'd
made for them.

She followed him reluctantly back to the fire, sitting
down when he stopped and turned to look at her. "Good night," he
said.

"Night," she replied, forcing herself to lie
down. She closed her eyes over the others quiet comments as well.

* * *

She woke kicking and screaming, pushing at the hands
that held her down. Terror held her trapped in its grasp so tightly it took her
a while to realize she was awake, that she had just been dreaming. Angrily she
slapped away the hands trying to calm her, or perhaps they had been trying to
wake her up. She sat up, putting her face in her hands as she gasped for
breath. She didn't even bother trying to control the shaking when it started.

Bo leaned forward. "What's wrong?"

Avery spoke at the same time, "Did you have a
nightmare?"

She lowered her hands and glared up at them. It surprised
her to see everyone kneeling around her, worried looks on their faces. It
brought forth her anger again. She scrambled to her feet and stumbled to the
pool, ignoring their further questions. They didn't understand at all. Of
course something was wrong. Of course it had been a nightmare.

Dropping to her knees, she quickly splashed freezing
cold water on her face. She ran wet fingers back through her tangled hair. She
continued to shake as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and stared at
the reflection of the moon on the water. Memories of pain stung her. "It
wasn't real," she whispered to herself.

She heard someone walk up behind her and when they
rested a hand on her shoulder she shuddered at their touch. "Don't touch
me."

Avery removed his hand. "Are you going to be able
to sleep now?"

She bowed her head and cursed the tears that
threatened to fall. She didn't want them to start. They had a tendency to never
want to stop. "Leave me alone," she snapped.

Someone said something far behind her. Avery answered,
"I don't know."

She turned and glared up at him. "Just go away!"

He sat down beside her instead. She tensed as he put
an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. Clenching her teeth,
she fought the fear that tried to wrap itself around her. Avery wouldn't hurt
her, not ever. He was her friend, her brother. She struggled to push the fear
away, to hold in the simmering anger that didn't make any sense.

He started gently stroking her hair. "There,"
he said. "It's not so hard." He looked down at her. "You don't
have to push me, I mean us, away you know."

He was right. She knew it, but the knowledge didn't
make it any easier to do. She sighed and forced herself to relax. "Gah! I
hate this!"

"It'll get better," he said gently.

She hoped so.

* * *

She fell asleep with his arm around her. She awoke
alone, hoping it had all been a strange dream, but it hadn't. She sat up,
shaking her head.