Page 91 of Their War

My eyes started to water, never having realized just how much I needed to hear those words from him. No one had ever been proud of me before. I’d only ever been a burden, another mouth to feed, a delinquent and runaway. Even as I tried to be strong and do what was right, I was always told it was never good enough. So, to hear his words now, I was about to crumble into a puddle of tears on the floor. “I love you, baby girl,” he whispered right before his arms wrapped around me in the best hug I’d ever had.

And I lost it. I sobbed into his shoulder, pouring out all the hurt, pain, and anguish that I had accumulated over the years. I gave him every tear that I had held back because I had to be strong for my mother, to keep her on the straight and narrow. I clung to him, pulling him closer until I was nearly sitting on his lap like I would have done as a little girl.

He only held me tighter, his own tears falling into my hair as we both let go of it all, taking solace in each other. And as I relinquished everything I’d clung to for so many years, deciding it had no place in my life anymore, light began slowly filling the void that had haunted me for as long as I could remember until there was no darkness left.

Physically, I felt lighter, the burdens I’d carried weighing me down more than I could have imagined. And still, I cried until there was nothing left to pour out, my father’s arms around me, holding me through it all.

Pulling back, I didn’t know what to say, but it seemed that words weren’t necessary for either of us. I could see my emotions echoed in his gaze, and I knew he felt the same way.

“Listen, Rhowyn, I just wanted to tell you something more. Something you should know,” my father started, his brow furrowing as his mind worked out the best way to say whatever it was he needed to tell me. “There was another reason I had sent you to Earth, another reason I needed to hide you.”

“Okay…?” I asked hesitantly, my mind racing with possibilities.

Another knock had us turning to the door. “You ready?” Baer asked softly, and I knew that they’d all just felt what I had, my mental barriers weak after my ordeal with Avalonia.

“Yeah, I just…” I trailed off, looking around for the leathers that Brannoc had provided me with.

“I’ll leave you to it,” my father said, rising to leave.

“But what about…” I started to ask him, but he cut me off.

“It can wait,” he told me, walking toward the door before stopping and turning back. “Thank you.”

Before I could answer, he was gone. “You okay?” Baer asked, stepping closer.

“Yeah,” I said, confused by it all, but for the first time, I actually did feel good. “Yeah, I am.” A small smile pulled my lips up as I looked at Baer, noticing the wreck he was.

“What about you?” I asked. My time communing with Avalonia had been especially hard on him. The bags and shadows under his eyes told the tale of what he had suffered while I’d been oblivious.

“I could be better,” he admitted to me, while I started to change.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, confused by the change in his demeanor. My happy-go-lucky guy was now resembling Lennox when he pouted.

“I’m worried about what’s coming next. I know we need to do this; I just don’t like it,” he admitted with a sigh.

After strapping the last blade to my hip, I walked up to him. “I don’t like it either, but there’s nothing we can do about it. If I don’t do this, Avalon will fall. There’s no one else to stand in Titania’s way.”

“I know. You’re right, I just…” he trailed off.

Wrapping my arms around him, I looked up at his gray-blue eyes, running a hand through his disheveled brown hair. “You just what?”

“I don’t want to lose you. I can’t,” he admitted, swallowing.

I smiled sadly. “You won’t.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“I can because I know that if anyone has anything to worry about, it’s me. I know for a fact that if something happens to me, it’s because something worse has already happened to all of you. I know you’d all die before letting Titania hurt me, and I’m scared shitless about being left behind. Alone. Again.”

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll never leave you. I love you, Rhowyn. Promise me you won’t do anything reckless. Promise me that you’ll let us protect you.”

“I can’t promise that, but what I can do is promise that I won’t do anything without a damn good reason. I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

He sighed. “I guess that’s the best I can hope for with you.”

I laughed, painting on a confident face. Fake it ‘til you make it, right? “Damn straight.” I swatted his chest. “Come on. Let’s go kick some fae Queen ass.”

Chapter Fifty Three: Rhowyn

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