Broken Prince (The Broken Ones) (15 page)

The grip around her waist tightened.

"I told you that you wouldn’t understand," she
muttered. Hearing movement behind her, she turned her head and saw the other Were
creeping forward. Gritting her teeth, she glared at them for a moment.

Rhee-En,
Garen whispered.

Is it?
She
heard Prince reply.

Who is Rhee-En?
She looked up at the man holding her. Was he someone important?

Neither Garen or Prince answered her.

Her boys all stood before her now and tension
tightened every muscle in her body.

"You are the ones found in the cave during the
storm."

She couldn’t help muttering a number of choice curses.
Stopping mid-curse, she frowned. "Were you one of them? That attacked us?"

"No. This is not my land. We were on a chase."

"Where’s your land?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"It’s a hazard of knowing me." Her boys all
snorted and she glared over at them.

"My pack holds the next lands to the south."

"Great," she muttered. They were heading that
way. Now they’d be forced to stay out of the forests. Certainly he’d have his
wolves watching them.

"A sickly Elf, a Fey who is not wild, and a
shiftless Were," the man, Rhee-En, mused.

"And us humans," she grumbled. She paused,
her brows drawing together in confusion. What did shiftless Were mean?

He stepped them forward. "Do please feel free to
explain."

Prince rode his horse forward a few steps and pulled
off his silly, floppy hat.

The Were holding her sucked in a sharp breath. Did he
recognize Prince?

He bowed his head slightly.

Apparently so.

"My…companions are assisting me home. We mean no
disrespect being in your lands."

"Understood. Your journey has not been kind."

Prince frowned at the barb. "No. It has not. Time
has become important. If you would return Aro, we will be on our way."

Rhee-En and Prince stared at each other as her heart
beat furiously in her chest. Finally Rhee-En loosened his hold as he turned his
attention to her. "Do you wish to go?"

She shook her head slightly, not understanding the
absurd question. "Of course I do. I have to get Prince home."

He chuckled. "Prince? Is that what you call him?"

She grimaced, but nodded. Though she knew Prince’s
name, she wasn’t about to admit it.

His brows drew together again. "You are the one
the dragon saved."

She said nothing. He stared down at her. Her eyes
narrowed slightly and she tilted her chin up, meeting his squarely. "He
finds me interesting."

"You are human."

I’m an interesting human.

His eyes widened.

A satisfied smile curved her lips as she leaned
forward.
My family include Were, Fey, human, and Elf. I love them all. I
wish no harm to your forest or your people. Let me return to mine.

He nodded, still in shock, and released her.

She took a step back and gave him a brief nod of
thanks. Before he could come to his senses and change his mind she bolted
toward her boys.

Kei reached her first and she flung herself into his
arms, holding him tightly.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

She pulled away and turned to face Rhee-En. Garen
moved beside her, pushing himself against her and under her arm.

"My lands begin not far from here. You may travel
and camp within the borderland woods if you wish." He gave another nod to
Prince. "I wish you a safe journey." His gaze returned to her. "Keep
an eye on your little one."

While she grumbled in protest, he turned and
disappeared into the trees.

"I imagine that’s not the last we’ve seen of him."

"No," Prince agreed. "Likely it is not."

She looked over at him and he smiled a soft, sad
smile. Suddenly she grinned and gave him a sharp nod. His smile grew and
reached his eyes.

They’d work everything out. She’d lost sight of what
meant most to her when he’d broken her heart. Though she was still in love with
Prince, she couldn’t forget how much she loved him as a friend. Refusing to
lose his friendship too would keep her going and help her make the right
decisions, putting things in the past.

Chapter 18:

As Things Were

They continued swiftly on their way, keeping directly
on the forest boundary. Everyone remained tense for some time, watching the
foggy forest for Were and the fields for humans.

They stopped very briefly to eat at noon and headed
out again quickly. Garen spotted humans now and then in the fields, forcing
them to slip into the trees. The Were said nothing, but they didn’t want to
press their welcome.

Though Garen and Kei scouted and hunted, she stayed
with the horses, not wanting to risk being the human caught in the forbidden
woods.

She traded a few strained looks and smiles with Prince
as the day continued before he finally sighed.

"Come here, child."

Inwardly she winced at once again being called a
child, but she wanted so desperately to fix everything between them she forced
herself not to snap at him.

When she approached his horse he stopped it and held
out his hand. "Ride with me."

Her stomach churned but she nodded and allowed him to
pull her up in front of him. His arms circled her to hold the reins and she
leaned back against his chest, carefully making sure her thoughts remained well
guarded.

They rode in silence, following Bo on his horse. Eventually
she relaxed, the stiffness easing out of her muscles. A tired sigh escaped her and
she closed her eyes, wishing she knew what to say.

"You do not have to say anything."

She couldn’t help but laugh. Of course Prince would be
watching for any stray thoughts she might have. He wanted to repair what they
had too, didn’t he?

Of course, I do.

"I wish you could forget it all," she
whispered.

He smiled faintly. "We rarely forget…such things.
Living so long, we treasure our memories."

"Humans forget things easily enough. Most things,"
she amended.

"Being remembered by others is very important to
my people. Do humans not feel the same?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I guess we
are. It’s why a lot of us have children. Why royalty and nobles build monuments
and I guess why a lot of people do the things they do."

"Our pasts make us who we are. We learn from them
and–"

"I don’t want a lecture on what happened," she
said sharply. "I’d rather we didn’t mention it again."

"Aro, I do not understand–"

She didn’t wait to hear what he didn’t understand. "It
is embarrassing," she snapped quietly. "And it hurts. Leave it be.
Please."

"Very well." They rode silently again until
he shifted, put both reins in one hand, and wrapped his arm around her waist in
a gentle hug. "I do not want you to be unhappy."

The quiet tenderness in his voice made her lips
tremble. She fought back the torrent of emotions threatening her and pressed
her arm over his.

There are humans in the fields ahead,
Garen said.

Prince directed the horse to follow Bo quickly into
the trees.

The distraction saved her from answering Prince’s
comment, which suited her just fine considering she didn’t know what to say.

* * *

Their progress slowed as humans kept them to the woods
and the terrain increasingly grew more rocky and steep.

From within the shadows of the trees Aro watched the
fields of crops change to rocky pastureland. Old stumps littered the
borderlands where the humans had cleared what had once been forest. She
actually gasped in surprise when a miniature forest suddenly appeared. The
trees were young yet, not much taller than her.

"I believe we have reached the lands of Westport,"
Prince commented. "The city has always done well, and is one of the more
civilized few."

"Because of their Prince?"

"Partly. The southern cities have more land. If
you remember the map I drew some time ago, the shoreline sticks out in the
north, where Franua is, and then curves sharply inward. A bit north of here it
slowly begins to curve west again. The forest border is a straight line north
to south, which makes a difference in the amount of land the humans hold."

"Do they fight over it down here, too?"

"The fight over land is mostly in the mid to
northern cities. They barely have enough land to provide food for the citizens.
In the south, there are three cities fitting into the extended land area;
Cliffdown, Westport, and Newhaven. They are all old, rich and well-defended. If
they fight, it is rarely over land."

"One of them has an army massed," she
reminded him.

"Yes, that would be New Haven, which is
disturbing."

"Damon said it had moved north a bit. We should
be able to get past them and get you home."

"We will see."

As they moved south the planted trees grew smaller
until they came to an area of recently cut forest. From the woods, Aro watched
humans working the churned earth. Some collected smaller pieces of wood, while
others marked young trees that hadn’t been damaged during the cut.

"Once the area is fully cleared they will
replant. This is why the southern cities fair better. They plan for the future."

The afternoon continued and Aro remained riding with
Prince while he taught her about how the southern cities managed the forests
and their lands. It was something she hadn’t learned much of in her tutoring. She
found he made a good teacher and was surprised to find she actually missed
learning.

"What is that?" A strange sound had begun
echoing through the woods. It was familiar, yet she couldn’t place it.

"The ravine must be not too far ahead. There is a
quarry on the human side. You hear them cutting stone."

She had never seen a quarry. Or a ravine for that
matter. The sounds grew louder and louder; the hammering of metal on stone by
many hands.

Finally Bo stopped ahead of them and Prince pulled up
beside him. Both Garen and Kei awaited them.

Aro leaned forward, her eyes widening in shock. The
ground ended before them, dropping sharply. The ravine was wide. A dozen horses
could ride abreast down it. She could see the stone on the other side, rising
nearly straight up. Though layers of stone were visible and it likely wouldn’t
be too hard to climb, she had no idea how they would get the horses across.

"What do we do now?"

"You will make camp for the night."

They turned as one to see Rhee-En emerge from the
trees.

Aro couldn’t help but smile. She just loved the sound
of his voice.

"There is a way across on the human side. However
you would not make it without detection. There is another way down east of
here, but the way up is even further east. You would not make it across before
nightfall."

Aro glanced up at the sun. "We could camp down
below. I don’t want to waste time."

Rhee-En chuckled. "You do not want to be caught
down there at night. The ravine is an old river bed. The river was diverted by
an avalanche in the mountains more than a century ago. But it does still lead
to the mountains and the Vor tend to use it as a way out."

"They have been quiet for decades," Prince
said.

Rhee-En raised his eyebrows. "How long have you
been gone?"

Prince stiffened behind her at the Were’s
condescending tone. She had no idea what they were talking about.

"They have been growing in strength the last five
years. More and more are coming down into the forests." He jerked his head
northward. "It was one of them we were chasing into Alar-En’s lands."
He gestured eastward. "There is a camp this way. Come, you can rest well
tonight. We will keep watch."

They followed him, not having much of a choice in the
matter.

"Are we in your land now?"

The Were looked over his shoulder at her and smiled.
His tilted his head to the ravine. "The other side."

They arrived at an area by the ravine sheltered by
rocks and a makeshift contraption of cut tree trunks and mud providing shelter
from the elements. It wasn’t large enough for the horses, but the skies had
cleared up so rain wasn’t a worry for the night.

"I will leave you to set up camp and return this
evening." He looked to Prince. "There are things we should speak of,
if you will permit."

Prince nodded. "Of course."

"My people will be patrolling. Do not be alarmed
if you see them. If there is danger, we will let you know."

Aro slipped down off the horse and watched in
amazement as Rhee-En walked away, only to suddenly shift into a wolf and bound
into the trees.

Her eyes turned to Garen. He stared after the
retreating Were for a long moment before giving himself a shake.

I’m going hunting.

He loped off in the other direction.

"He’s never…" She fought for the word. "Shifted."

"No," Prince agreed. "He has not."

They exchanged looks.

"Do you know why?"

Prince shook his head. "I am not familiar with
how Were magic works."

"The question is whether we should make an issue
of it or not," Bo said.

Kei came up and took the reins of Prince’s horse as
the Elf slipped off. "Does it matter?"

Aro grinned suddenly. "It never does. We’re
family."