Page 12 of Their War

She landed another blow, this one landing across my cheek and crushing it beneath the force of her steel-toed boot, sending stars across my vision. At this point, all the pain had started to bleed together, and I no longer felt her blows as they kept coming. It seemed that the less I reacted, the angrier she got and the more she kicked me, but the only thing that I found myself caring about was how my men would react.

Darkness swarmed the edges of my vision, and I prayed that it would take me. The part that bugged me the most was that I was completely helpless. I had promised her a fight, but against her power, I was nothing.

She kicked me again, a cry of pain escaping me against my will. The darkness still hadn't gotten any stronger, but it hadn't faded either. A tear leaked from my eye as I prayed even more fervently for the blessed release that unconsciousness would bring. But then the darkness moved, a gentle caress against my non-fractured cheek. A whisper greeted me, “Hold on. They're coming.” Peace and happiness settled over me at that thought.

Even though I hadn't passed out, I was now hallucinating. The smudge of darkness greeted me like a lover, and the smell of night dew wafted through my mind. Love swarmed down the bond, seeming stronger than I'd felt in almost a week. So, that's what that felt like. To be loved. If I died here, I would at least know what it felt like. A smile crossed my face as I finally passed out.

Chapter Seven: Callum

We moved quickly while also trying to remain inconspicuous through the crowded streets as we made our way toward the Queen's hunting grounds. I wrestled with the urge to sprint to our destination, the need to save Rhowyn driving me hard.

She had done nothing but bring trouble and frustration into my life from the moment I laid eyes on her. Complications upon complications. While I wasn't a very simple kind of man myself, bringing my own baggage and problems into this situation, it would have been so much easier if she were meek or malleable, someone like Charity. And yet, the thought of being with someone like that after experiencing the fire and danger that Rhowyn simply was left me feeling depressed.

As an Autumn Fae that controlled fire, I spent years learning how to control it. Even still, after finding mastery over the element, it could still get the better of me. The excitement and danger were thrilling and made the conquering all that much better. The chase for more and more control was often a dangerous one that eventually got the best of the Autumn Fae who failed to realize that mastery was fruitless, a never-ending quest that was doomed to fail.

In the same way that fire danced and entranced me, Rhowyn pulled me into her flames, tempting me to try and control her, to become her master. A pointless endeavor that I knew I would fail at. She was life and destruction all rolled into one, and I found myself unable to resist her pull.

I had thought, foolishly at first, that I wouldn't need her, that I could help her and then move on, but I was finding out now that this wasn't and never would be the case. Just like the fool who thought they could control fire, if I continued trying to control her, I'd only end up burning us both.

Instead, if I gave in and realized that fire could never be fully contained, then maybe we both might walk away with something so much more. Being a master of fire wasn't utter and complete control. It was accepting the risks and dangers that came with such an element. It was realizing the truth and setting the flame up to do what it did best. It was giving the flame what it needed to bring forth the nature that could either save or condemn.

While I would never truly stop trying to push her since it was simply in my nature to do so, I could also ensure that she had the best path for success before turning her loose to do what she did best. To burn with passion and desire, with anger and violence.

I'd caught the looks of the others while I remained silent and withdrawn over the last five days, but I didn't care. I had needed to work through this gut-wrenching emotion that assaulted me as soon as I had realized that she was gone. It was almost laughable now how I had thought that I was keeping my distance, pushing her away with our arguments and fights. It wasn't until she was no longer there that I realized just how much I had come to care for her. My affection ran so much deeper than simply a Consort needing to protect his Chosen.

When the truth hit me, I had been truly rocked. I needed her in my life. She was constantly challenging me and fighting me, pushing back against my nature until I found myself becoming a man that I respected again. She was everything I had ever wanted and didn't know I needed. And I'd do everything I could to get her back.

I'd like to say that it took me an instant to know this, but it hadn't. It had taken the first three days of silence and inactivity before it had pierced my thick skull that I needed Rhowyn. Another two days to realize that I wanted her with a passion that scared me. The thought of losing her now was near crippling in its intensity. I would raze Avalon until I got her back, with no concern for anyone else. After losing everything I'd held dear, she was the first thing to bring that fight back into me. I hadn't even realized I'd lost it.

With her as our best hope for change in Avalon, her defeat now would ensure that our land failed, everyone doomed along with the loss, even if they didn't realize it yet. That included my people. The ones I had claimed to be fighting for but hadn't done anything more than subject myself to a lifetime of torture.

Avalonia had seen to pull me from the Queen's clutches in the only way that ensured I would keep breathing. And for that I would serve Avalonia and Rhowyn until my dying breath.

As we drew nearer to the field, thick stone walls rose up, going for as far as the eye could see. The roar of the crowd licked at the edges of my hearing. We were getting closer. Searching the bond, I felt Rhowyn's peace and happiness followed by a deep fatigue. Relief passed through me at the sensation. There was no fear, no pain. The ache in my gut intensified as I tried to keep from walking too quickly.

It wouldn't do to draw too much attention to ourselves, especially with the Royal Guard looking for us. If the Queen caught us now, then there was no way we'd be able to help Rhowyn, and she needed us. The Queen had something planned. I knew that with certainty after all the years I had spent with her. She wouldn't let Rhowyn's slight go, even if she'd been outsmarted by my fiery piece of trouble. I bit back a chuckle, wishing I could have been there to see Titania's face. It would have made all the years of torture worth it.

Nearing the edge of the village and the delineation that marked the Queen's property, we slowed our pace as we took in the arena's outer walls. There was no way we'd be able to clear them, and there were no entrances that I could see.

“What do we do now?” Lennox asked, all of us turning to Arryn.

“Brannoc, can you find an entrance?” he asked the Raven, who had joined us shortly after departing the market.

Brannoc smirked. “Of course I can. Finding one that you four can follow through is a different story. I'm sure the Queen's Guards have been increased in preparation for us. They'd be fools not to consider that we'd come for our Chosen.”

“Our?” Lennox said with a growl, his eyes narrowing.

“Yours,” Brannoc clarified. “I said your Chosen,” the Raven tried to correct himself, none of us truly buying it.

I wasn't a fool. I'd seen the way he studied Rhowyn as if she was a puzzle he couldn't quite figure out. She'd managed to ensnare him too, as evidenced by the fact that he hadn't left her yet. His job had been completed after getting us to the Gwyllion, but he'd hung around. At first, I'd thought it had been because of Arryn. Now, I knew better. He was just as infatuated as the rest of us.

“Sure you did,” Baer said with a weak smile, trying to bring his humor back. He'd been missing his joy since leaving Rhowyn and was just as antsy as the rest of us to get her back. Not waiting for any more of our heckling, Brannoc disappeared before us to scout for the best way forward.

“Anyone else buying his excuse?” Baer asked.

“Nope,” Lennox said, his jealousy and possessiveness peeking from behind the mask he'd donned in the last several days.

I shrugged, not feeling the need to say anything. Arryn looked pensively after his childhood friend. “He's clearly drawn to her. The last time I saw him look at someone like he does her was when he decided to befriend me.”

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