“Raikin, don’t be so forward!” Jay pleaded.
“I don’t ask for myself. But there are forces in Aeritis who will stop at nothing to take the human for themselves, whether to use her or rid our world of her. Especially as she grows in her power.Jasper alone—”
“Don’t speak of that man to me. I know bringing Avery to the battlefield could be a mistake. Especially if that man is there. She’s not ready to face him.”
Kyla squeezed her brother’s arm and Savine pulled away. He had no interest in her manipulating his frustration at Raikin. For the briefest moment, Kyla’s face registered hurt at his distance. It was the oldest issue they had together. Her insistence on trying to touch him, his disdain for her touch, and the manipulation that she could use with her touch.
“Would it not be better to disguise her here? Hide her amongst the Bayberries?” Kyla asked.
“The very birds of the sky and the wind itself have already reported to their masters that Avery is in Bayberry. I could never put that burden on the Bayberries. Each day we linger here without action puts them more at risk of attack.”
Raikin stood and pointed his finger at Savine as he let out a flurry of words. “You put your people at risk when you bring her with us to battle the loyalists. You know that. And no matter where she runs, she will be hunted. A battlefield is no place for her. She is untrained and untested in battle. You would be better off handing her over to the highest bidder. At least we will get something from the exchange,” Raikin continued. He knew how to use that sharp tongue of his. Knew to ask Savine the hard questions that Savine tried to avoid.
Savine instinctually touched the dagger on his belt. Raikin was testing him, and it took all his control not to strike back physically. “Raikin, you hold your tongue if you wish to keep it. I already have the Bayberry woman, Susan, working with her on training her magic. She has the skills to work with Avery’s form of magic. As for her being hunted down, it is your job to ensure that does not happen. You all vowed to protect her.”
Gaelyn let out a harsh, biting laugh. “A vow that was forced upon us. Now, you want us to test that vow in battle? It makes no sense. Of course, we must push the bastards back over the pass. But to bring Avery to the battle? Do you want to make us more threatened than we already are?”
Jay spoke in his gentle tones, the same he used for an unruly elk. “We ask because we must know. What is the end goal of this?”
Savine felt flustered. His typically decisive composure vanished. “I don’t know! All I want is to protect my people and her! I won’t allow another day to go by where all she knows of the fae is fear. I will not accept that her fate is death by our people,” Savine roared his answer, losing all semblance of the reasonable, assured man that he tried so hard to be.
Kyla spoke first. Of course she did. She was the only one willing to speak up when he lost his temper with his council. “We know you. And we are concerned for you and for Avery. About what helping her may entail, especially once we battle the king. You know, the things he’s willing to do to eliminate a threat to his domain. If you could give her binding protection. If you suspect she’s your—”
“No, I cannot do that. I won’t force our bonds on her. I cannot in good standing force anything on her,” Savine pulled away from his council and turned his back, looking out his door. He saw the mountains far in the distance. The pain that the trees experienced at the hands of his enemies was palpable, even from here. He needed to keep his calm and help his people, the forests included. But most of all, his body throbbed with the urge to keep Avery safe. To protect her at all costs.
“We’ll move forward with the plans I’ve already discussed in our previous meetings. All of us will ride out. Garnel, you will lead the charge while Avery and I head to the forests. I must go to them andassess the damage. I’ll do what I can to heal the trees before joining the rest of you on the battlefield.”
“So we’ll ride tomorrow?” Gaelyn asked. “Will Avery be capable of protecting herself? The only time I trained with her, she wouldn’t have survived a moment on the battlefield.”
“Enough of questioning my choices with Avery. All of you! I will raise the Abyss itself if anyone tries to harm her. Nothing else matters,” Savine replied, scowling at his council.
“Yes, sir,” Jay replied.
Gaelyn grinned with that sharp-toothed smile. “You speak so strongly of the lengths you would go to protect her, yet you have not been honest with her, have you?”
“Gaelyn…” Garnel growled in warning.
Savine’s essence pulsed as thorns shot out of his hands toward Gaelyn. The thorns pressed at her wrists. “You have your secrets, Seafae, and I have mine. Do not disclose my past, or I will make sure it’s the last thing you do. You’re all dismissed. Have the troops ready to ride at dawn. I will be staying in Bayberry tonight.”
Garnel lingered as the others walked away. Savine saw him hesitate as Kyla talked to him in low tones. Eventually, she turned away from him and caught up to Jay.
“Did you not hear my instructions? You’re dismissed, Garnel.” Savine’s voice was harsh, and he meant to have the warning in it. He wasn’t in the mood for company.
“Do you know how many years it took for me to realize my attraction to Kyla went deeper than a casual interest? Nearly thirty years. Thirty years of not understanding the draw to my best friend’s sister. Goddess knows that I tried to fight it.” Garnel seemed undeterred by Savine’s gruff words as he talked in a casual voice, like this conversation was the most natural thing inthe world.
Savine didn’t reply as he looked across the lake, and Garnel continued his speech. “For some, the draw to their soulmate is immediate. Like a lightning strike. That’s how Jay told me it was for him and Raikin. But, of course, Raikin was too blind to realize it for quite some time. Don’t be like Raikin.”
Savine’s eyes darted to Garnel. His closest friend, who he’d tried to keep at a distance for so many years now. “You don’t even know what you’re saying. Rylo’s Sage, Selene, wrecked any chance of me having a soulmate. Do you have any idea what she did to me in the Tower of Teeth? Took out my soul and snipped it into pieces.”
Garnel gave Savine a sad smile. “You can’t believe that she has the power to keep those bound by the Goddess apart. You have a soulmate, and you know who it is. I want you to admit it— and not just for yourself, because you deserve it. But for Avery and the cause. Because if she’s not your soulmate, then what’s the purpose of guarding her so closely? You know you’re not going to turn that girl into an assassin. Be honest with yourself and with all of us.”
Savine shook his head. There were signs he’d been denying for weeks. The way their touch lit him on fire. The possessiveness that he felt for her only continued to grow each day. But it couldn’t be true.
“I don’t deserve her. She’s too good, and I’m so broken. This cause is all I am, and without it, I’m a shell of a man.”
Garnel stepped closer, like he wanted to touch Savine, but he didn’t. “She’s only human. You don’t have time on your side with this. You can’t wait thirty years.”
Savine thought of Susan. She’d somehow slowed her aging to a Fae speed. Maybe it was possible for Avery, too? But Garnel didn’t know about Susan, and it wasn’t his place to share that secret.
