The arrow that shot through his heart when he talked about her changed course and hit me right in the middle of my chest. We were both being cut open in front of each other, right here in the Hallowstags.
“I don’t believe you’re cursed.”
“She used to say that, too. The only one, actually. This scar.” He ran his finger down each of the three lines over his eye. “My father burned them into me when I was twelve, so everyone who laid eyes upon me would know to keep their distance. That I was cursed.” He looked off into the woods. I waited for him to continue. I didn’t dare breathe too loudly or move, afraid any shift would cause him to snap out of this rare exposed look into his soul.
I couldn’t believe his father did that to him. Tor’s father.Hisfather hurt him like that.
“It’s happened a few times in our family history. Most of the family have cores of wolves or gems. Dual cores are rare. I know you saw the records and saw I had two cores. I figured you would have said something by now but you haven’t, and you treated me like you had before you knew.”
His emotions were unreadable to me.
“Werewolves are not treated too kindly in Crysia. Or any Fae kingdom. With my magic and Nyx’s help, I was able to control it and not be plagued by the moon. Since magic is gone, I have no choice in turning or not, and the full moon is near. I’ll be gone until the gibbous moon.”
I nodded, unsure what would happen in those days. Would he turn into some great beast and eat anyone who crossed his path?
“I’ll spend my days in a cave chained to the walls until it’s over. Najen will be continuing your training while I’m there.” His moment of vulnerability was ending, but we’d cross some line and I wasn’t going back. I’d seen another side to him . . . a better side. It was time I let him see a mirror part of himself in me.
Chapter Thirty-One
“I had been on my own for a while when Tor found me. The community I’d grown up in was destroyed by Dramens. I don’t know if you know about them or not, but they are the elite in the human realm now. Awful people who either want to kill you, eat you, sell you, or breed you.” I poured out things I’d never spoken aloud, not even to Tor. Tor would think he failed me if I’d told him this story, and that would devastate him.
Rune would not see me as weak. He had suffered by the hands of his family, and people feared him for being alive. I’d seen the sneers around him when people didn’t think he was watching. I know he saw it, too. He saw everything.
“They raped the woman who raised me and forced me to watch. They beat me in places that could not be seen, since they wanted to sell me for some iron. They ended up changing their minds about using me as soon as they were done with Mariam.”
Memories flashed through my mind like it was happening in front of me all over again. Mariam’s tear-stained cheeks and her mouth crusted with blood on the corners, telling me in a hoarse voice to fight, to run. I tried, as they grabbed my clothes and ripped them off me. I tried.
“My fingers managed to grip onto a broken shard of wood from a chair nearby and I stabbed the man who had his hands below my waist while he was touching himself. It was the first time I’d killed someone. I ran, naked, until I collapsed in some bushes for the night. I’d cried and cried silently so the Dramens wouldn’t find me.
“I eventually went back to the community to find Mariam. Her body had been left behind. I couldn’t do anything for her, so I packed a bag, dressed, and kept moving. I was in a neighboring town raiding a house for supplies when Tor found me. He took care of me, protected me, and lifted me when I wanted to give up. He told me stories of this place but made it seem like they weren’t real, like he was only human. I want to hold his lying against him, but he sacrificed himself so I could get here. Maybe Celestine told him I was going to save the princess and that’s why. I’m not really sure, anymore.”
I suffered from nightmares of the blond Dramen’s face above me every night until I came to Crysia. Telling this story to Rune made me question everything with Tor . . . every word he said, every kiss. Was any of it real or part of the charade as a human? Tears streamed down my face without permission. I didn’t want to cry and show weakness.
A warm hand touched mine on the tree’s limb. Rune looked at me in awe, not with pity or sadness. “You have a warrior’s core, human or not.” He said those words like they were fact, instead of his opinion.
“I don’t feel like a warrior.” I laughed honestly, my hand gripping his like it was the only tether to my sanity.
“We can sense it, from one warrior to another. I see the fighter in you.”
“Better watch your compliments, General, or I might get a big head and think I can take you down.” I laughed again, trying to lighten the heavy air settling between us.
He huffed in a teasing way and pulled me off the branch with our joined hands.
“Hey!” I protested and yelped in surprise as Rune tossed me over his shoulder and carried me out of the woods.
“Your dragon isn’t coming, so off to work on your skills we go.” I smacked his back trying to get free from his strong arms, but his grasp on the back of my legs didn’t budge. I knew why he was acting like this; he wanted to lighten my mood and take me out of that dark place I was heading. It was strange to see him so playful, but his plan worked.
“You’re acting like a caveman,” I groaned and pinched his backside, which in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have done, but I couldn’t take it back now.
“Shush, human.” He popped me with his large hand on my bottom, making me shriek and wiggle to get free.
“Who are you and what did you do with grumpy Rune?” My shrieking turned to giggling at what this must look like from an outsider’s view.
He didn’t answer me but took off with Fae speed toward the palace with me over his shoulder, then in what seemed like one minute, he dropped me to my feet at “our” waterfall.
“Najen said you had improved. Show me what you learned.” There were weapons set along the bank of the river, and while I thought about showing him how good I was getting with throwing axes, I decided it was time for a little payback. I shifted my feet for an offensive stance. Rune cracked his neck, smiling at the prospect of pummeling me into the ground.
“I’m gonna show you how it’s done, old man. Two hundred years probably makes them old joints ache.”
