Page 1 of Their Trials

Chapter One: Rhowyn

My eyes were wide as I stared at the guys in disbelief. The trials were starting, and I could barely walk. How was I supposed to even complete them in this condition? I felt panic starting to rise within me, partly my own emotions and partly what I received from the bond with the guys. Standing there, the resounding emotion screaming between all of us was shock. No one spoke. No one moved. We all were just trying to process the fact that we were at a serious disadvantage.

The burning in my shoulder slowly started to register again and I swore it was growing more intense. “So, what do we do?” I asked them.

We all turned to Arryn who seemed just as flustered as we were, as if he held all the answers. He ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath and exhaling. “First, we need to get you healed. Do you think you can do it yourself?” he asked, studying me closely.

“Do I have a choice? I can barely walk.” I told him angrily. He just stood there, waiting for me to answer him, not reacting to my outburst. “Yes.” I finally said on an exhale. “I should have enough energy to heal myself a little more. Are you sure I can't try to go faster? Maybe heal myself a little more than we have been?”

“You can try, but we don't want to make things worse than they already are,” he muttered, his words revealing that he was unsure if we should take the risk or not. I could feel it in my gut, and it bled into my own emotions.

He turned to Baer. “Can you pick her out some clothes to wear? Plan for physical. Although we don't know what we’ll face, it doesn't hurt to be prepared.”

“Sure,” Baer said, snapping into motion quickly, eager to have something to do.

“Lennox, she'll need something quick to eat to refuel after she's used her magic.”

“On it.” Lennox said, storming from my room to do as instructed.

“I think you should heal her,” Callum said to Arryn.

“You heard what the Queen said. No one is to heal her,” he argued back, but I could sense how on the fence he was.

“If we don't survive the trials, it won't matter what punishment she has in mind,” Callum retorted. “If we had time, I'd be fine with letting her heal herself, but we don't. You know I'm right.”

Arryn studied Callum, running a hand through his blond hair, his green eyes conflicted.

“For what it's worth,” Baer said, peeking out of the closet to put in his two cents. “I think you should heal her as well.”

“Think about it. We can always tell the Queen that she healed herself with your magic after we bonded to her. It's what we were going to tell her anyway,” Callum said again.

Arryn wanted to heal me. I could see and feel it, but he didn't want to make things worse for us. Taking the decision out of his hands, I told him, “Arryn, it's okay. Just heal me. Callum's right. I can barely walk as it is, and I won't be responsible for y'all getting hurt or worse. Just heal me, and we'll deal with the consequences later. We're all on board with this.”

With my words, I saw the moment I pushed him over the edge into the decision. He ran his hands through his hair again and crossed to kneel in front of me, still not happy about our options. “Okay.”

He placed his hands on me, one on my shoulder and one on the opposite hip, skin on skin. I closed my eyes at his touch, warmth seeping from his palms, doing more to my body than simply knitting my flesh together. The intimacy of his touch had me opening my eyes to gaze into his green ones, watching as they shifted from fresh cut grass to deep emerald.

Both of us knew we were about to walk into a situation that we couldn't ever really prepare for, and the magnitude was finally hitting us. Whereas before, the trials were some distant problem I had to deal with; now, it was sinking in just how real this was. I couldn't help but acknowledge the fear of what we were about to face, the unknown and uncertain future we were about to head into.

The warmth intensified from Arryn's healing, easing not only the pain from my wounds, but his steady nature calmed my nerves. He didn't have to tell me. I knew he would be with me through whatever came our way. The sensation of having someone dependable like him, in this moment, almost overwhelmed me.

“Good,” Baer said, breaking up our moment. “Looks almost brand new. You did good, Arryn.”

Baer held out some clothes for me, and I grabbed them from him, jumping up without any of the agony I had experienced before. I needed to get away from them for a moment, the emotions threatening to choke me. “Thanks,” I mumbled to them both as I pushed past them and Callum, heading to the bathroom.

The burning in my shoulder continued, and it was only escalating, slowly becoming sharper and more unbearable as time passed. I turned to look at my shoulder in the mirror and saw the scars that now crisscrossed my back, both old and new. Lines and circles marring my skin, an ever-present reminder of the evil that lurked in this world and on Earth.

I underestimated the evil on Earth once before taking control of my life and refusing to be a victim again. However, crossing into this realm, I couldn't have prepared myself for what I'd face. Now I knew. And just like before, I would make myself stronger so I would never be a victim here again.

I threw on the clothes that Baer had chosen for me, dark brown leather pants that fit me like a glove but somehow stretched like leggings. Nice. A sports bra and blouse went on next, followed by a dark brown vest that had slots for knives. Even better. I laced up the boots he had also provided before pulling my hair up in a ponytail.

I took one last look at myself, trying to find the headspace I went into before a fight. I just couldn't seem to find that calm center I needed. When I went into my fights, I knew I had prepared myself for everything I could, but now, I found myself so wholly unprepared to the point that I knew victory was nigh on impossible.

Pushing those thoughts from my head, I opened the door to find my room empty. I heard the guys talking amongst themselves in the living area and followed the sound. I found them all ready as well, wearing similar leather pants and shirts in various colors and tall boots. They all turned to face me, and I couldn't help the arousal I felt looking at them all.

They were all so different, but each one looked delicious, calling to me in ways I had never felt before. I barely kept myself from licking my lips at the sight of them all there, ready to kick some ass. I crossed the distance and joined them, promising myself that I would take Baer up on his offer after the first trial. If we survived.

“You ready?” Arryn asked.

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