Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (8 page)

Chapter 5

The Fey

She woke with a start.

Someone was touching her, a feather light caress
trailing down her arm. She tensed, sucking in a breath to scream. A hand
clamped over her mouth.

Warm breath suddenly tickled her ear. "It's Kei.
Hush."

Eyes wide, seeing nothing but pitch black, she nodded
frantically

Kei's hand moved from her arm. Frozen in stunned
silence, the pounding of the rain echoed through the hold around her. The sound
thrummed so loudly she couldn't even hear her own ragged breaths.

"Sorry."

"You scared me." The overpowering smell of
wet straw overcame her and she gagged. It registered suddenly, her clothes were
wet. She grimaced and sat up, the straw squishing under her.

She heard him sigh. He sat somewhere in front of her,
but she couldn't see anything.

"You were having a nightmare, I think," he
said quietly.

She blinked and cursed under her breath. "Did I
wake everyone?" She concentrated, trying to hear if the others were up.

"No. You weren't screaming. Just thrashing
around." He laughed softly. "You kicked me in the head."

A blush crept up her cheeks, thankfully the darkness
hid it. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I wasn't sleeping much. It's getting
wet in here."

She snorted. "I noticed."

"Well. Go back to sleep."

She could hear him moving. What he was doing? "I
think I'll just stay up," she said, more to herself than to him.

"Do you…would you mind if I sat with you?"

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. Why would he want
to? But then again, she didn't know him. He wasn't much older than she was.
Maybe he just wanted some company in the darkness. "Sure," she said
finally, "If you want."

She could feel his presence suddenly closer to her,
even if she still couldn't see him. He touched her arm, pulling slightly. "Come
over to the hull, it's a little higher and not so wet."

She let him guide her and only bumped into him a few
times. He settled next to her, back against the damp wood, staring forward in
the darkness.

"I hate the dark," she murmured.

"I don't mind it so much. Usually." She
could imagine him grinning, and wondered again what he looked like. "I'm
glad to get a chance to talk to you," he said quickly, as if forcing out
the words before he decided against saying them.

"Oh?"

"Mmmhmm. Since Kendric announced who you were."

"Why?"

He paused again for moment, before continuing in a
rush, "I knew your father. He was a very…kind man."

"Oh," she said quietly. She furrowed her
brow, she hadn't gotten the impression he was that old. "How did you know
him?"

He became silent again for a while. "Can I tell
you a story?"

"Will it answer my question?"

He chuckled. It was a very pleasant sound. "Yes."

"Go ahead then."

"First though. I've a question for you." Before
she could speak, he began talking again. "In the city, did you happen to
hear the gossip about the Fey who joined the army?"

She blinked. Where had the sudden change in topic come
from? "Of course. About two years ago. That's all anyone talked about for
long time. What's that have to do with anything?"

"I want you to look at me," he said gently.

She turned her head in his direction. "I can't
see–" Shock paralyzed her voice, and fear, too. Two golden eyes stared
back at her. They weren't really glowing, but more lit with an inner light. "Gah..."

The eyes went out.

She stared into the darkness, her own eyes wide. Her
breath froze in her chest while she tried to comprehend what had just happened…trying
to calm her suddenly frantic heart. When she could speak her voice went up an
octave, or three, too high. "Do you like to scare me?"

"I didn't mean to." His voice sounded so
very quiet and tinged with such sadness, she reached out a hand to him. Well
two hands, since they were attached by a foot of chain. She found his, limp in
his lap.

"You could have warned me." She laughed
suddenly, putting her hands back in her lap. "I nearly pissed myself."

He let out a deep sigh.

"So," she continued when he didn't speak
again. "I'm guessing you were showing me you are the Fey everyone was
talking about."

He made a sound of agreement. "Are you frightened
of me?" His words came out so quietly she barely heard him.

She took a moment to think about it. "No,"
she said finally. What did she know of the Fey? Nothing but children's stories
really, and how much truth was in them? "Should I be?"

He laughed bitterly. "Not really," he
admitted. His words came out in a rush again, "Though, I am much stronger
than you. If I wasn't careful I could hurt you by accident without even meaning
to. But I've been practicing a lot, being around people."

"That's good to know," she said wanly. "So
is it true you can move really fast?"

"Yes."

"Huh." Her eyes narrowed. "So how did
you get caught by slavers?"

"I got hit over the head," he admitted wryly.

She chuckled. "Me, too."

"That's right," he said. "You were
unconscious a long time." She started as she felt his hand by her face.
She froze as it moved around her hair and paused as it found the matted dried
blood.

"Who cut your hair?" His voice rose in mock
horror.

She choked on the memories of her and squeezed her
lips together tightly to gain control. "My brothers," she finally
managed to answer.

"Huh," he replied. "Have you seen it?
That's about all I've seen of you, and truly, it's very bad. I could fix it for
you, if you like. When we get out of here."

She blinked rapidly, trying to follow him. He talked
so fast, so earnestly. Did people never listen to him? "No. I haven't seen
it. If we do get out of here you can shave it off for all I care."

"Why have you been hiding?" His voice grew
very quiet again. "We never see your face."

She didn't answer and they sat in silence for a few
moments. "I thought you were going to tell me a story," she said
finally. "You said you knew my father?"

"So I am. The story of my life. Are you ready?"

She nodded before realizing he couldn't see her. "Yes.
But! You need to slow down, you talk way too fast."

"I do?" His voice sounded so innocent it
made her smile.

"You do," she said firmly.

"I didn't mean to." He sounded like he
actually meant it. "I don't…talk a lot. I'm not very good with people."

"I think you're doing just fine," she told
him.

He grew silent again for a moment and then took a deep
breath. "So. My story. It's really very short because I don't remember much
of my past. I remember my parents. I remember we traveled all the time. We
never stayed anywhere for long. I do remember taking a boat across the sea, but
I was only a few years old."

"So you really are the first Fey to come west to
our lands?"

"As far as I know, yes. Now don't interrupt."

"Sorry."

"So. I was ten when my parents were…when they
died. The years after weren't easy for me. Alone so young. I had learned much
of the Fey lore from my parents already, but there was so much else I hadn't
learned. Humans were not kind to me." He paused and took a shaky breath. "After
a while I gave up and ran wild in the forest. I stayed away from people. I
was…very savage. Then your father found me."

"He found you," she exclaimed in a whisper.

"Near Demet's Pass. He and some of his men were
out on a scouting patrol. I think. It was a surprise to me, to see people. It
became a bit of a standoff, they had me cornered. Some of the men knew what I
was from stories, I guess. They were arguing whether to run away or to fill me
full of arrows then and there."

A gasp escaped her before she could stop it. "Why?"

"I guess you've not heard all the stories about
us Fey," he answered, his voice subdued.

"Oh," she said quietly. She had in fact,
heard a number of stories about the Fey. Everyone grew up on stories of them
and Elves and other creatures of the east. The stories told of how they could
fight. The wild slaughter they could cause. "You mean, they are true? Once
you get into a fury you can't be stopped?"

"Yes."

"I see," she mumbled.

A small bitter laugh left him. "Yes, so. Your
father stepped forward then. I don't remember what he did, or what he said. I
just remember being so shocked that someone was being kind to me. He calmed me
down. And then he took me back to Demet's Fort with him."

"When was this?" How had she never heard
this story?

"A few weeks before he died. I don't remember a
lot of those two weeks, either. Except for him being so kind and always there
with me. I was so out of control, I know I must have hurt him, I can't see how
I couldn't have. But he never said a word. He had such great patience."

"He's the father to all of us, of course he did,"
she muttered, but her thoughts began to wander, remembering…

"I suppose," Kei continued. "I remember
him saying I reminded him of his children. I was your age I think, around
fifteen.

"It was…a great pain to me…when they told me he
had died. And then of course the pass was almost taken. They even let me out to
fight. If the fifth hadn't come when they did, the pass would have fallen. The
end of the story goes they absorbed me into the regiment with the rest of the
survivors. I stayed up there, fighting, until it did fall and we were forced
back to the city."

She stared at him, or at least at the darkness where
he sat. She struggled to figure out what he meant when he said they'd even let
him out to fight.
Had he been locked up? What had this boy been through?
"That is quite the story," she said finally, trying to keep her voice
even.

He didn't answer.

Too many questions flew through her mind. She sat
silently, trying to make some sense of them. Most of all, she was shocked at
the overwhelming feeling of hope rushing through her. She never thought she'd
find it in this horrible cell, yet here it was beside her.
Could it be...was
he the one?
Maybe, if she was right everything wouldn't be so bad.

"You're quiet," he said. "I've upset
you, talking of your father."

"No," she lied. She took a little breath and
concentrated on the sound of the rain for a moment, trying to empty her head. "I'm
just…remembering…things," she said lamely.

Finally she got her thoughts into some sort of order. "I
think…" she said finally. "You are the one he wrote to me about. In
the last letter I got from him." She paused, but he didn't speak, so she continued.
"I didn't get the letter until after word had come he'd been killed, but
he mentioned a boy he had found. I think he meant you." She turned her
head toward him, the hope inside of her wavering, wishing to be true. "He
didn't find anyone else while wandering out there did he?"

He let out a small laugh. "Not that I know of,
no."

"Hmm. So it must have been you." She nodded
to herself and a crazy grin split her face. She tried to keep calm, but it was
hard. So hard. "I've wondered about you. I'd asked about a young boy back
then. Father hadn't written how old you were, just that you were around my age.
No one knew anything though, so I'd assumed you'd been killed when the fort was
nearly taken, or had run off somewhere."

"I'm guessing he didn't mention I was a Fey,"
he said, amusement coloring his voice.

"No."

He didn't reply to that, and they sat quietly again.
She wondered if she should say more or if she should just hold her knowledge of
what he suddenly meant to her tight within her and hope it would be enough to
make everything alright.

He shifted slightly. "I wanted to ask…that
is…could I…" he floundered and stopped, a rough sound of irritation
escaping.

She prodded gently, "What?"

He let out an exasperated sigh and she heard the
chains clank as he moved. "Your father meant a lot to me, even if I didn't
know him long. He saved my life. So…if you don't mind, I would very much like
to take care of you now. Protect you for him. I know you don't have anyone, so
I'd like to be there for you like he was for me."

She stared into the darkness, shocked at his words.
Unwanted tears came quickly then, even though she tried to stop them. Her
chains made too much noise as she brushed tears from her eyes.

"I will do it whatever you say. Even if you don't
want me to," he said firmly. "But if you don't mind, it'd make it a
lot easier."

He had become so very serious a strangled laugh
escaped her. She struggled against the sobs that clawed at her chest.
To
have someone, to not be alone in this horrible cell…