Page 25 of Their Queen

“No,” I choked out. “But I might as well have.”

“How?” she demanded, pulling back and putting her hands on her hips. That Autumn temper flared to life as she lectured me. If guilt wasn’t swamping me, I might have smiled at the epitome of what our people stood for. Fire and passion, steadfast and unyielding like the earth. “As much as you might think it, you are not responsible for everything that happens. You got played. We all did. If you’re guilty, then so am I, and so are our parents.”

“But...” I started, but she held up a hand.

“No. Callum, you didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, we should be thanking you. You kept her attention off us this entire time. I can only imagine what she put you through, but you’re here now. You’ve come with the Queen to put things right. If anyone can do it, it’s you.” Her words softened by the end of her rant, finally sinking into my dense skull.

My throat tightened at her words as Rhowyn’s hand found mine again, squeezing firmly to offer me the support and comfort I needed. “She’s right, you know.”

I laughed then, choking back the emotions that threatened me. “Goddess, save me from you two. The last thing we need is two females getting us into trouble.”

They both laughed at my joke, though it was the truest thing I had ever said. My sister beckoned, “Come, I’m sure you all are tired. Let me show you to your rooms, and we can reconvene in the morning, where I’ll go over everything we’ve done to prepare.”

“I’m looking forward to hearing what your forces and supplies are,” Arryn said, stepping forward as the commander in him took over, all business now that the emotional aspect had been dealt with.

We trailed after my sister, Rhowyn still holding my hand, but as we were directed to a suite with multiple rooms, she pulled away to check on Lennox, who was being doted on by her grandfather. He’d been following behind us, supported by Brannoc as they hobbled along. Twinges of his pain spiked intermittently through the bond, strong enough for me to feel it clearly. Rhowyn gasped when she saw the burns on his arms and through his clothes, halting our progress. “Did I do this?” she asked, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes watered with guilt.

Lennox smiled, playing off her concern as if he wasn’t in intense pain. “Oh, these? These are just little love bites, Princess. Nothing for you to worry about.” He winked at her, obviously putting on a facade to prevent her from seeing how badly she’d hurt him. This was after a pre-emptive healing from Arryn, and I was thankful she hadn’t noticed what he’d looked like before.

Speaking of which, Arryn strode forward. “Nothing I can’t heal quickly,” he told Rhowyn, kissing her forehead before leaning his head against hers. “I’m glad to be back with you.”

She held his arms, her eyes closing as they connected, leaning into his offered comfort. “I’m glad y’all are here now too.”

Brannoc swooped in, stealing her from Arryn and claiming Rhowyn’s mouth, telling her without words just how much he’d missed her. Hell, perhaps he was showing and telling her, what with their mental connection.

Jude and Jonathan smiled on, while Cyerra made a gagging noise. “Get a room, you two.”

Rhowyn pulled back with a smile, smirking at the Raven who’d kept our girl safe. “Maybe we will.”

“Gross! He’s family. I do not need to hear about this,” Cyerra complained playfully, though her eyes danced with happiness to have us all back.

Rhowyn turned to find Baer standing in a corner, shut down like he’d been the entire time since he’d woken. A shell of his former self. Pale and withdrawn, his eyes darkened and sunken from lack of sleep. She looked gutted when she realized just what kind of hell Baer was going through. A sharp inhalation escaped her as she started to walk toward him, obviously distraught by what she saw there. Instead of letting her approach though, he flinched and ran away to hide in one of the rooms. “I’ll be in here.” His final words echoed between us as he slammed the door, causing Rhowyn to jump at the severity of his reaction.

She turned questioning eyes on us, asking, “Why didn’t anyone tell me? I thought he was okay? Or as okay as he could be, considering.” Her eyes swam with guilt as they all jumped to try to assuage her. Arryn walked toward her, intent on soothing her, but my anger chose that moment to rise again at the reminder that she’d chosen to leave us all behind.

“Considering what? That you left us all behind without a word. That you abandoned us to fear for your life and safety? Denying us the right to protect you as was granted by Avalonia herself?” I snapped at her. After days of being denied the opportunity to voice my anger, it threatened to consume me. In this moment, I cared little for the remorse that grew on her face and through the bond, though it was quickly shadowed by her own temper.

“Excuse me?” she snapped back, her eyes hardening as she confronted me.

I stalked toward her. “You heard me. You. Left. Us,” I said, punctuating each word as she flinched at the truth in them.

“It’s not like that,” she said, deflating quickly. She’d known what she was doing when she’d snuck out in the middle of the night, running from us.

Laughing harshly, I asked, “Oh, and what’s it like? Please tell me what was so important that you had to rush out on your own?”

“Avalonia called me. I don’t know how, but I knew that I needed to find my way here on my own,” she bit back, defending her choices. She wouldn’t apologize for what she’d done, I knew that, but it didn’t ease my anger or the terror I had suffered under not knowing where or what she was doing.

I growled, my beast rising to the surface. “Not alone.”

“What?” she asked, clearly confused.

“You didn’t leave alone. You took the Raven. You left us and took her instead,” I growled, doing my best to pull my wolf back, my canines elongating and making my last word sound awkward.

“She caught me leaving and wouldn’t leave me alone until I gave in to her demands to bring her along,” Rhowyn defended herself, trying to reason with my beast now.

“What was so important that you could take her and not us?”

She threw up her hands, her frustration with me rising. Good, because mine was as well. She turned to the others looking for help but finding none. “You all feel this way?”

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