Page 56 of Enchanted Shadows
She gave me a smile that promised violence. “My idea, yeah. I wanted to make sure there were only the three of them.”
One by one, they let go of me as she continued explaining.
“Fern was standing by the showers, ready to put out the fire as soon as they started it, we just wanted to make sure they were actually going to do it. And she would have been faster, but lover boy over there made a crude remark about your sister who bumped into Fern. Zara had to hold Wren back from running out there and getting herself burned. Or more burned than she alreadyis.” She ducked her head in a wince. “Sorry, Wren. Didn’t mean it like?—”
“Not mad,” Wren said, wrapping her arms around herself. “Say what you want. This is my fault.”
Pippa offered in that no nonsense way, “You didn’t beg for them to start the barracks on fire. The only thing you are at fault for here is merely having poor taste in men.”
I couldn’t help it; I snorted a laugh as I told Wren, “She’s not wrong. Listen to Pippa.” I turned and looked over the women. They looked fine. No one appeared to have been burned. Other than the damn smell in the air, they seemed unbothered.
“All of you—” I had to pause to grit my teeth before swallowing down my rage, my Enchantment still swirling in my forearms and palms. “All of you are fine? No one got burned?”
I looked at each of them, most of which were wearing shorts and simple cotton shirts, or some other variation of pajamas. They all must have done their nails tonight, because the bright fuchsia color was back. Dammit if I wasn’t proud of them for handling this. Twice now, they’d handled business before I could even arrive to help. It wasn’t even that I wanted to be their savior, I was just sick of them being in situations where they shouldn’t have had to handle things. Situations which went beyond the fine line of hazing and crossed into violent territory.
“We’re good,” Molly told me.
My eyes landed on Zara last. Her necklace she always wore wasn’t even out of place. She gave me a soft smile as if to confirm she was fine.
More people showed up, and Miles beckoned me over.
Much to my dismay, Krew and Keir arrived.
To my king, I snapped, “What if more loyalists are in hiding in the forest right now?”
Krew smirked. “Then I venture to say your team of womenwould handle them just as adeptly as they did this. You’ve trained them well.”
“I—” he had a point. “You still shouldn’t be here.”
Keir patted me on the shoulder. “Raikes. They knew I was arriving soon and were likely waiting around for it. They knew you would be distracted, as would the wall surveillance with more guards shifted around for our security. These men are not entirely stupid.”
I wasn’t sure that explanation helped anything. I gritted my teeth and turned to Krew. “Get them out of here before I commit murder. Multiple murders.”
Krew gave me a nod. “Will do. Team Three is almost here. They’ll take them to the mountain. I will assign Team Five to come in tomorrow and oversee the team of construction workers I will have in to rebuild the deck of the barracks. Some of their clothes might smell like fire, I’ll send a team to help with that too. By this time tomorrow, you won’t even be able to tell this happened.”
I shook my head and looked up at the stars. “I will still remember.”
“But don’t let it eat at you,” Krew said, ever his perceptive self.
“That smell in this forest,” I admitted to them, my two closest friends, never mind the fact that they were each kings in their own rights. I closed my eyes and inhaled, the stubborn burn of smoke still lingering in the air. “It got to me. Messed with me a little.”
“I considered that also,” Krew admitted.
Keir added, “Between that fire, and the fire Esta breathed on us to get us out of her lair when everything went down in Dra Skor, I don’t like the smell much either. But I will say that over time, the fear that creeps up on you from the smell does lessen.”
Of course. He lived in a place where dragons could breathe fire and bonfires were a common form of celebration. It wasn’t like it was something he could avoid forever. Maybe that’s what I neededto do. Have a positive memory with fire to balance out the horrifying one.
As the team arrived and took the men away, I stood watch, considering that all of us had scars from Theon’s reign. Even if they weren’t visible. Somehow the ones beneath the surface of our skin were deepest. Slow to heal. Hard to shake.
I had worked so damn hard to carve out a better Wylan. Were some of the things I had lived through finally catching up to me?
If they were, there was only one option: I would bend, not break. If tonight proved anything, it proved there was still work to be done. I wasn’t dull enough to believe that getting these three men locked away was going to solve these tensions. If anything, it would only again fan the flames with the loyalists.
The war on cruelty was not yet won.
CHAPTER 18
“One would think,” Sam panted as we ran the second time to the rock and back, “that we might have been let off the hook after last night.” Another breath. “Allowed a reprieve.”
