Page 20 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“You are developing sores. That is an easy fix, it has just been made worse from not healing it,” Ranbir explained. A groan of pain sounded from the captain, and then a sigh of relief followed it. “Also, your vocal chords have snapped and your ear drums have burst.”
The captain promptly punched Ranbir in the face. I gasped in surprise, and then I ran at them. Fire lit my hands and water sloshed against the ship, my fury causing the wind to rage around us. The female crew braced themselves for battle once more, but Ranbir’s body suddenly blocked my way.
“That was my mistake, not hers. She did not wish to know, and I said it anyway out of spite. I got what I deserved, Bell.” Ranbir’s words were loud enough for the crew to hear, but I watched Ranbir move his fingers in jerky and strained movements after. Signing to the captain.
“Okay, with that settled, tell us what we must do so we can be rid of most of you,” the blonde said, translating for Captain Harligold as her hands moved.
If only I knew. Nodding, I grabbed Ranbir’s sleeve and tugged him towards the Trusted. We gathered, each pair of their eyes watching me with a desperate need for answers. In another life, maybe I was the one being led—the one without such a weight on my shoulders. Now, as I prepared to burden my family with that heaviness, I knew I would give up all of those lives of ease rather than force them to face what was to come. But that was not an option.
“I cannot make these decisions. It…it hurts. Asher’s magic will not let me. But you,” I said, looking to Henry and then Lian, “can do this. I know the two of you can save her. I trust you both. If you are willing to take on this burden, then it is yours. Unfortunately, we do not have time to think this through. I wish you did not have to make this decision at all, but you must.”
They broke eye contact with me, looking at one another and communicating without words. In the way only a family could. And then the two of them nodded, agreeing to a fate I wished had not been forced upon them.
“Okay then. The two of you will set sail with the pirates and the rest of us will return to Pike. We have a war to win and a princess to save.”
***
Leaving Lian and Henry had been agonizing. Terrifying.
Coming back to find Adbeel waiting had also been quite scary. As I walked up to him, I readied for a battle.
“My King, I did not expect you to await my return.” The formality had him lifting the corner of his mouth in a smirk. I was not in the laughing mood, though. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, first, you can watch your tone,” he said, moving to my side and walking up the path towards the entrance of Pike with me. Rolling my eyes, I remained silent, preparing for whatever it was he had wanted to tell me. He had overseen Pike in my absence today after all, I owed him my ear at least. “Second, I noticed Henry and Lian are not with you. That will be a problem for Lady Nash. She expects Henry to play his part in this war so he may earn his place as general when you ascend the throne.”
“Well, Lady Nash can, quite frankly, kiss my ass. Henry is exactly where he needs to be,” I sneered. Not having Henry at my side once more was quite the opposite of ideal, but it was the only way.
“You overstep again, Bellamy. Odilia will be a burden now, and for what? Are your reasons more important than the outcome of this war?” he questioned, the tone he used a scolding if I had ever heard one.
“For Asher, who holds the balance of this very war in her hands.” Adbeel’s tree-trunk-like arm whipped in front of me, stopping me mid-stride. Turning, I caught sight of the vexation in his gaze. This would be it then, the moment I finally cracked and faced whatever horrid future Pino foresaw.
“This must end, Bellamy. I understand that you want her, that she matters. But this is war, this is our future. She cannot be prioritized. I cannot let you risk my realm for a female that you hardly know but claim to love. Her life does not come before the survival of Eoforhild. Your nonsense stops now.” An order. That was what it was.
I faced him fully then, puffing my chest and willing myself to speak the words I had been hiding for nearly two years.
“What about the life of a princess?” I asked.
“I fail to see how the life of a fae princess matters to me. To our realm.”
“And if she were a demon princess?”
Adbeel pressed his hand to my chest, forcing me to take a step back from him. A low beastly grunt was all I offered. “You marrying her is not a possibility in current circumstances. She is not the Princess of Eoforhild. Call back Henry and Lian, we have a war to win.”
With that, he patted my chest and began to walk away. Pino’s warnings echoed in my mind. Adbeel was not to know without Asher. But if I did not tell him, then Ash would be lost to us forever.
Consequences be damned.
“And what about for your granddaughter?”
Chapter Ten
Stassi
By the time Padon came to fetch me I had already finished off half a bottle of vodka to myself, vomited, fell down my stairs, and wrote him a hate letter.
Quite the accomplishment, really.
“You look like absolute shit,” he muttered as he stepped through the threshold. I huffed out a sarcastic laugh, weighing the bottle still in my hand before hurtling it at him. But he knew me well, so I was forced to watch with disappointment as hesnatched the bottle from the air before it even came close to his face.
