Page 80 of Their Chosen

“Maybe you should go get Master Jude,” he murmured as I passed him.

“Why?” I retorted. “You heard what she said. We can't heal her. Neither can Master Jude.”

He barely held back the eye roll at my response, sighing as he said, “Yes, but he can complete the bond, possibly removing her glamor. Which will let her fae healing kick in.”

Now, I felt like an idiot. “Of course. I'll go get him now.”

He glanced at Baer, Arryn, and Rhowyn briefly before looking back to me. “Hurry.”

I nodded and took off down the halls. The big oaf cared for her, too. That look said it all. Why wouldn't he admit it? I wondered as I picked up speed, blocking out all other thoughts as I carried out my mission.

Chapter Thirty Three: Callum

I followed behind them, trying to keep my mind blank and on the task at hand. Our pace was torturously slow since Rhowyn could barely put one foot in front of the other.

We finally cleared the atrium, turning the corner to our own hallway. I couldn't stand it anymore. The need to get to safety was eating at me. I stomped forward, rounding them. Not asking permission or giving any warning, I stooped and grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted her over my shoulder, the least painful carry I could think of.

Once I had her settled, I pounded down the hallway at a much faster pace than before. I heard Baer and Arryn scrambling behind us as Rhowyn groaned in pain.

“What are you doing?” Baer demanded. “You'll hurt her.”

“She's already hurting. We're no longer in sight of others, so her pride is safe. At least this way, we can get her in bed sooner.”

A giggle-snort escaped Rhowyn before she groaned at the pain. “Don't make me laugh,” she whined at me.

“I wasn't trying to,” I stated, perplexed at what she could find so funny.

She sighed. “This was not how I wanted y'all putting me to bed tonight,” she explained.

“Oh,” I mumbled, taken aback at the thought that she wanted me in her bed. I could feel my cheeks heat.

Baer laughed, somewhat nervously, as some of the tension left us. If she was making jokes, then she'd be okay. Physical wounds would always heal. It was more the mental ones that I was worried about.

I bit back the urge to question her further, knowing we couldn’t do so until safely behind closed doors. So, I carried her back to our suite, crossing the room to lay her in her bed face down. This was the first time I had been in here since she’d thrown a vase at me.

I pulled the covers around her and gazed at her face, her eyes closed in exhaustion. The stunning dress she wore was tattered but still holding together somehow. The gown had provided her with absolutely no protection, and on her behalf, I was disappointed. I couldn't bring myself to admit to her, but she was breathtaking in her gown tonight. She’d held my attention all evening, as she did with everyone else in attendance. My favorite aspect had been that she’d had no clue how entrancing and magnetic she was.

I clenched my fists at that thought; to see her skin marred in such a way devastated me. She didn't deserve the whipping she’d received tonight. Just like I never really deserved the same scars that I also received at the hands of the bloodthirsty Queen. She served herself, not the land and certainly not her people. Tonight, being the perfect example for those who dared defy her in any way.

I sat down in a chair that one of the guys must have placed here, watching Rhowyn as she breathed shallowly. I couldn't bring myself to tear my gaze from her perfect face. I’d never wanted to feel for her. Duty had always guided my every move. Especially since the Queen murdered my parents. Everything I had done since had only been for my people. I wasn’t even sure anymore if I knew what it meant to live for myself, but for the first time, I wanted to.

I wanted to believe she was as strong as we all thought. I wanted to believe that she was our future. But a part of me couldn't help but hold back. I was skeptical that any person or fae could best the Queen. If there was one thing I had learned, it was that the Queen wouldn't relinquish her power willingly. It was this that kept me from investing fully in Rhowyn. As magnificent as she was, she wasn’t duplicitous enough to compete with the Queen. And I wouldn't want her to be because then I would lose all respect for her.

A knock on the door sounded out, but still, I didn't move from her side. I couldn't even if I had tried. Whether it was the bond of Chosen and Consort or something more, I didn't want to evaluate it right now. I was glued to her side, my protective instincts firing into overdrive.

I heard the shuffle of the others entering, Arryn and Baer, their whispers and worry invading my senses. I didn't bother glancing at them, my gaze glued to the curve of Rhowyn's face. The dark lashes resting on her cheeks, brow furrowed in pain even in unconsciousness, her shallow breaths setting a cadence that I clung to.

Looking back, I had known something would happen tonight. It was just a matter of time, especially now that the Queen no longer had me to take her frustrations out on. If I could have taken the whipping for Rhowyn, I would gladly have done so. I was used to the pain the lash inflicted after so many years of being on the receiving end.

But once Rhowyn showed up, everything changed. The Queen had become more frustrated, increasingly unpredictable. And as soon as the opportunity to exert her power over the unknown girl who had swept the Court in whispers and intrigue presented itself the Queen had taken it.

But what scared me now, more than all the years of tiptoeing on the edge, was the look I saw on Titania's face as she beat Rhowyn. She enjoyed the power but knew she hadn't dominated Rhowyn in the way she thought she would.

In a surprising turn, Rhowyn had taken control despite being the one receiving punishment. She had stood up for the servant girl, showing no fear, fighting until others were threatened, and then bore the punishment with as much dignity as I'd ever seen.

She had somehow known that by withholding her cries of pain and fear, she would also be withholding that which the Queen craved. Which confirmed what I had suspected all along. Rhowyn was no stranger to pain, to abuses inflicted by those who should have been protectors. Somehow, she managed to take a situation that should have broken most people and turned it into her greatest strength.

And yet, she had stood up for someone who was nothing in the Court's eyes. She had risked her own life, maybe not knowingly, but she still had jumped in to take the place of someone she knew would break under the Queen's lash.

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