Burning Bridges (11 page)

If I hadn
’
t been anticipating the hysterical woman to show again, I would have missed the frown that played on my mother
’
s face before it disappeared into a full blown smile that reached her eyes. A man with long, dark hair and scruffy clothing moved from behind Father
’
s back. He removed his hat and bowed his head to my mother and me, a small smile on his face. His dirt-packed boots and hardened features told stories of late nights in the field and hours in the shops. The fact that Father referred to a Hunter as a
‘
guest
’
surprised me.

“
Conroy,
”
Mother whispered. Familiarity laced her tone.
“
How nice to see you again after all these years. I believe you
’
ve met my daughter?
”

Conroy looked up at me through his dark tresses and smiled a smile so familiar
,
yet so distant it hurt to think about it. His deep, blue eyes went on for miles, a depth so sacred it seemed ancient. I curtsied for him and he winked.

He winked?

“
I believe so. How
’
ve you been, Princess?
”
he asked
slowly
.

My smile faltered, but one look at Mother told me that if I slipped again, it
’
d be one long trip down.
“
I
’
ve been doing great, but if you will excuse me, I think I will go attend to some things in town.
”

I turned to leave, but Father stopped me dead in my tracks.

“
She
’
ll be a wife soon enough, Conroy,
”
he said.
“
We
’
re very proud of the woman she
’
s becoming.
”

“
Indeed,
”
Mother chimed in, tightness in her voice.
“
She marks the beginning of a new, prosperous era. She was born to be Queen.
”

With my back still to them, I made my way out of the room, holding in the tears that dared to spill. No one would listen to me! What did I have to do, what did I have to say to make my vo
ice heard? Only Caesar
was scolded for his foolishness, and yet, Mother still forgave him for it all. If rebellion was the only way to get their attention, then they were in for a rude awakening.

N I N E

Ayden

T
he Princess stormed out of the house with the rage of a Tigress. I
’
d expected to see the Queen, actually
—
on one of
her
usual rants about something gone astray. She shrugged off the guard who dared talk to h
er and pushed him away as she wa
ndered down the
lawn.
I hid in the bushes of the bleeding h
eart garden, unabashedly watching her.

“
Why?
”
she shouted, kicking over a watering can on her way to the sitting bench beside the huge oak.

I watched in amazement, completely and utterly captivated. Her blue eyes
stared out at
the sun in the sky and I could see her lips moving hesitantly as if she were whispering a prayer. I wanted to know what she was saying, but
talking
to her would risk the King
’
s wrath and the upbringing of last night. It seemed neither of us wanted to discuss why I was in the room or why she let me leave with the money.

“
Echo,
”
someone called from the distance, and she yelled,
“
Go a
way!
”

To hear those words from a Royal
’
s mouth was startling. There was something about this girl, her defiance really got to me. The way she went out of her way to do everything
possibly
wrong
and uncivilized
intrigued
me. Her rebellion...yes, that
’
s what had me so mesmerized.

A tall, blonde
woman I
k
new as the King
’
s oldest daughter, Shadow Abbeny, wandered around the corner of the
palace
to where Echo sat. Though she knew she was there, Echo still refused to acknowledge her.

“
Want to go into town again? Ezil
y has something new to show you,
”
S
hadow said, her hazel irises that
were
the
norm for Warriors watching Echo
’
s face as she gazed into the sky.

After a moment, Echo finally said,
“
Why me, Shadow? Why am I the only one unhappy?
”

Her sister sighed
, but d
idn
’
t make any intentions of
mov
ing. She whispered
her answer
too low for me to understand
, and
as if my feet had a mind of their own,
I move
d in closer
.

“
It
’
s all in your mind, sweetheart. You can be happy if you allow yourself to be.
”
S
hadow pushed a strand of the Princess
’
hair
behind her ear, and I felt my f
ingers twitch
with the urge to do the same. T
o run my hands through
her
hair and feel the
silk on my
skin.

The thought
angered me. Had I really become this infatuated with her? I cursed myself for getting distracted
and went back to work in the garde
n, cursing the heavens even more as I
plowed. Though I was further away, I
could still hear the Princess
’
voice.

“
I feel...I feel like I
’
m lost in this world where I don
’
t belong, like I
’
m living for everyone but myself.
”
I look
ed
up from the corner of my eye to see that Echo was
pacing the lawn, her hands playing with the thread of her go
wn. That was a habit of hers, I
’
d noticed
last night
.

“
Echo, have a seat,
”
h
er sister coaxed
, but
she waved her off and continued
to pace
.

“
I feel like I don
’
t...fit in here.
”
Echo looked down at her sister and frowned
.
“
I have so many questions, and I don
’
t have answers. I don
’
t want to be some lucky catch f
or the Prince. I want to travel
and leave Thediby
,
dammit! It
’
s like—
”
When she turned around,
she
suddenly caught
my eye. I
t wasn
’
t fear I saw or disgust, or anything I
’
d expect from a Royal. It was relief.
“
It
’
s like I
’
m lost,
”
she said.
Her eyes
watche
d
me.
“
I just have to find my way home again. You know?
”

She
glanced
down at her sister
for assurance, but Shadow looked
anything but pleased.
“
Are you mad? Speaking so loudly and out of terms could get you in trouble. What
’
s gotten into you?
”
Shadow st
ood
to her feet and t
ook Echo
’
s
hand in hers.

Anger played on her
face just before she
was
consumed by sadness. I didn
’
t know if her sister could tell, but that look spoke legions for me, it was a look I was sure I
’
d taken on many times before. It was the look of desperation.

“
Nothing,
”
Ec
ho whispered. She pushed Shadow
’
s hands away and brushed the loose hair
s
from her eyes as the wind picked up.
“
I
’
m just tired, perhaps. You know me, the pipe dreamer, right?
”

There were tears in her eyes. Her sister sighed and
began leading
her
in the direction of the palace
.
“
You need a goodnight
’
s sle
ep. Only a few days and you won
’
t have that
privacy much longer.
”

Echo followed behind her, though I saw reluctance in every step she took. She turned to watch the sun again, but at the last moment, she turned to watch me. It wasn
’
t just desperation, I thought to myself, it was a
plea
for
help.

“
That
’
s not a smart idea,
”
a voice whispered behind me.

I spun on my heels and met her face to face. Of all the people I
’
d wanted to see today, Feven was sadly
in the bottom three.
After two
days and no word from her, she
’
d become dead to me.

“
You
’
re alive
,
I see,
”
I sneered
, throwing down the shovel for the wheelbarrow.

“
And you
’
re a garden boy
still
,
I see,
”
she mimicked
. I watch
ed
her
closely
and
,
from
the corner of my eye
, there was
no mistaking her new tattoos, the loss of weight, and the
ghostly shade her complexion had
taken on. Feven looked sick.
“
That
’
s a dangerous game you
’
re playing, by the way. Been there
,
done that.
”
She moved from behind the bush she stood in and walked towards me with a duffle bag in tow.

Dropping the wheelbarrow
down, I wiped the sweat from my
forehead with the back of my hand.
She
’
d chosen the wrong time to act like a fool, if my temper was anything to go by.
“
What are you talking about?
”

She waved a finger in my face.
“
Naughty, naughty Ayden. I saw the way you were looking at the Princess. She
’
s something, ain
’
t she?
”

Choking down a smart remark
, I pushed her hand away and tried my best to imagine a hawk sweeping her off the ground and taking her somewhere far from me.

“
Anyway, I have a favor to ask you.
”
W
hen I didn
’
t answer, she continued.
“
Good, I
’
ll do all the talking. I need somewhere t
o stay for a few nights, just ti
ll Mimi gets her own place.
”

I slam
med
the package of soil down on the asphalt
and pressed my fingers into my already throbbing forehead.
“
No,
”
I said, turning to face her.
“
Hell
no
.
”

“
And why not! It
’
s
just
—
”

“
Where
’
ve you been for the past two
weeks, Feve? Adamo says you
’
ve been with a guy named Silas?
”

“
Relax
,
Father,
”
she scoffed
.
“
And Adamo needs to mind his
own business. I
’
ve been…around.
”

I sighed and strained
to breath
e
in the heat. Feven was only nineteen. Her mo
ther was a friend of the family,
and after she died and my family was deemed untrustworthy, I swore to protect her. She had no one, and even though I didn
’
t quite know what that was like, I didn
’
t want her to go a day thinking she had to face the world alone. If anything, I wanted to be her friend. But she was running off so much that I was be
ginning to feel like a father, a
position
that made me feel uncomfortable, stressed, and overwhelmed.

“
Okay,
”
I sighed.
“
One
night
.
One night and that
’
s it. You make a mess, you clean it up.
”
I approached her until I was
standing
shy of her nose.
“
Above all else, stay out of trouble and don
’
t go in
to
the house.
”

Feven held her hand out
.
“
You
’
ve got yourself a deal.
”

I watched her hand for a moment
before shaking it
, trying to ignore the gut-wrenching feeling that I was swearing my soul to the devil
’
s advocate.

When
Feven and I had finished with the garden and we were excused for the day, we crowded into my small
cabin
barely sizable for two. We
’
d made it past my father, but it wasn
’
t like he was sober enough to notice any
thing but the beer bottle in his hand
.