A Flash In The Densest Shadow: From Forest To Flames #2 Read online

  Chapter Four

  Aerity

  Sparks enveloped her as the pain began to paralyze her senses. The wound in her stomach screamed as she woke to faces staring down at her. The first one was Damien’s. His gentle hand caressed her face. “How are you feeling?” His tone was filled with genuine emotion.

  Amazed by the tenderness in his voice she croaked. “Like I got stabbed in the stomach.” It took him a second to realize she was trying to make a joke, but the lines of his mouth didn’t quite tip up like she had hoped.

  Eli’s head popped into view. “Hey doll. You always were one for wanting all the attention. So dramatic.” He smirked at her and she tried to hit him in the arm but ended up gasping as a shoot of pain slashed up her side.

  Eli tried to hide the grimace and played it off. “That’s what you get for trying to hit me.” His eyes lit with mischief, but it was the lingering bloodshot redness that gave his true thoughts away. He hadn’t slept in days.

  “You look like crap.” She huffed.

  His smile reached up to touch his eyes but then he immediately sobered. Leaning down so his forehead touched hers, he whispered so only she could hear. “You don’t realize how happy I am that you came back to me.” She felt a drop of wetness on her cheek. It wasn’t only her that was crying. Eli lifted his head and abruptly wiped away any remnant of weakness as Siel crossed her line of sight.

  “Oh, come on. You need to save some loving for me. I do fully expect you to take a knife in the stomach for me as well young lady. Don’t think your duty is done with just one brother.”

  She felt her lips tip up as she breathed in Siel’s calming scent. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She jeered until she felt a vibration on the table leaning up against the bed. Tilting her head, she caught sight of Damien with his elbows on the table and his face buried in his hands. He was shaking. Was he crying? She couldn’t tell until he lifted haunted eyes to meet hers. He too looked exhausted as if he was waiting by her bedside all night. Lifting her hand up on her good side, she gently touched his face. He shivered at her touch and leaned in the place a chaste kiss against her palm. Then taking her hand in his, he placed it against his forehead.

  She had never seen so much emotion from him before except for anger. That emotion he wore on his sleeve, but this was new, almost unsettling. The words of her mom came back to her. “You would be surprised just how much he cares. People wear masks all the time. You just need to learn to see through his.” Never removing eye contact from him, she spoke in a sob. “I saw my mom.”

  His face softened even more. “I know love, we sent her to your rooms last week.” Last week? She had been unconscious for a week? No wonder they all looked exhausted but that wasn’t what she had meant. “No, I saw my real mom.” He left his gaze from her to shoot Siel a worried look.

  “I asked to stay with her.” Silence filled the room. She could have heard a pin drop if she listened hard enough. “But she told me I needed to wake up.” She knew she sounded crazy but she couldn’t stop the words from diving out of her mouth as tears streamed down her face. The guys all crowded around her, exchanging pitiful glances. “She said you all needed me to come back.” Looking at each and every one of them, her gaze landed on Damien.

  He whispered. “She was right.” The look on his face nearly broke her as she squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them.

  “You saved my life Aerity. I can’t thank you enough for that.” Damien’s softly spoken words soothed a rotted blotch on her heart.

  This was getting too emotional for her. “I’m sorry I ruined our wedding. Third times a charm, right?” The guys relaxed at her playful tone and even Eli released a chuckle.

  “What happened to the guy who stabbed me?”

  Damien abruptly stood up, releasing her hand. “We should let her rest.” Completely ignoring her question. Not cool. She thought they had overcome this whole controlling thing of his when she had been stabbed. “We will come visit you when you wake up again.” Each guy placed a kiss on her cheek, forehead or hand and then shuffled single file out of the room. Well then. She’d remember that the next time they ask her a question.

  The person she assumed to be a healer or doctor, whatever they called them in this world, was holding a cup to her lips encouraging her to drink. She mused over the guy’s evasiveness until a yawn stole her face and a few minutes later blessed sleep followed.

  ∞∞∞

  Damien

  “Why didn’t you tell her?” As soon as the door closed to Aerity’s room, Damien noticed Siel leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

  “Tell her what?”

  “She had asked you a question about the person who stabbed her. Why didn’t you tell her? You don’t think she has the right to know?”

  Damien pulled in a deep breath and closed his eyes. The image of her lying on the bed in pain assaulted him and he abruptly opened them again. “And tell her what exactly? That the villagers hate me so much that they were willing to get me out of the way so she could be happy? That we were getting ready to torture a man for loving her too much? Oh, or maybe I could add that they really want you to marry her instead.” He could hear the defeat in his own voice as his body slumped against the opposite wall as his brothers.

  “This could be your chance to start over. She took a knife in the gut for you and all she’s asking back is honesty, a bit of freedom and to be a part of the kingdom. Why not let her?” Siel said softly.

  Rubbing his palms over his eyes, Damien let out a deep sigh. “You have no idea what it’s like to have the entire kingdom resting on your shoulders. Every action you take could be a mistake and have dire consequences. What if I give her too much power and it tips the scales? What if it makes me appear weak and then it seems as though we are easily overthrown?”

  “Aerity is power. It’s in the way she loves. How she sacrifices herself and shows strength even when she could be falling apart. There is no harm that will come from letting her appear as a united front with you. Stop fighting her at every turn and start seeing all that she can offer the kingdom. All that she can offer you. And not in just the ways you see fit...”

  Damien knew how difficult those words must have been for his brother to say and he couldn’t deny them either. The villagers respected Aerity more in a few weeks than they ever did him in his entire life. Maybe it was time he stopped fighting her. He had promised before the wedding to try and see her. Maybe this was how he proved it to himself and to her.

  “Thank you, Siel. I think you may just be right.”

  Chapter Five

  Siel

  The idea of Aerity lying in bed grimacing from pain, threatened to choke him. Physically seeing her in that condition made every bone in his body quake. He kept thinking about how they had almost lost her. The healers ran around trying to keep her heart from stopping. The idea of losing her was a feeling he didn’t think he could survive.

  He had wanted to release some of his aggression on the man who stabbed her but yesterday they had found him dead in his cell. The healer said it was from natural causes, but the timing was far too coincidental for him to believe that. When they described him to Aerity later that day, she said he sounded like the man she noticed watching her in town the night of the village festival. But it wasn’t confirmed before the man’s body was burned.

  Now Siel had nowhere to release his anger and fury.

  Over the last few days, he tried to stay away. Tried to give Damien time with her. But the aching in his heart wouldn’t fade. He knew Damien was in the room now and he wondered if Aerity would question where he had been. Little did she know that he slept outside her door every night because he couldn’t feel relief unless he was hearing her breathing.

  Resting against the door, he leaned his head back against the door frame simply reveling in the fact that she was still alive.

  Heavy footsteps sounded down the hallway, making him lift his head to the commotion. Elias suddenly stormed towards him with a
purpose; his eyes hooded.

  Immediately, Siel sat up straighter and stood, waiting for his approach.“Is Damien in there?” The general asked with a sense of urgency, his head nodding towards the room.

  “Yes. What’s happening?”

  Elias spoke over his shoulder as he knocked. “There’s a riot outside the city gates.”

  ∞∞∞

  Damien

  Elias barged into the room just as he was kissing Aerity on the forehead. She had fallen asleep a few minutes before and up until now he just watched her chest rise and fall. With the sudden noise Aerity jerked awake, a look of confusion forming on her face as she took in the proximity between the two of them.

  Clearing his throat, he straightened his back. “What is it?”

  Elias told him about the riot. Hearing the announcement, Aerity began to sit up. The motion caught Damien’s eye as he gently pressed her shoulder back down to the bed. “You need to rest.”

  She gave him a reproachful look. “No. What I need to be is with you, taking care of our people.” She didn’t realize what her words did to him, but still, he needed to stand his ground. He needed to keep her safe. She was already falling apart at the seams. Literally. She had the stiches over her gut to prove it.

  “There’s a riot. I know you love a good fight but not in your condition. It’s too dangerous.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “So was taking a knife to the stomach, yet I still did that. I need to go.”

  She just had to bring that up, didn’t she? Guilt churned inside him like a wayward sea. “No.”

  “Yes.” She argued.

  Elias shouted from where he stood by the door. “We don’t have time for this! If she wants to come and slice open her wound, then let her be stubborn!”

  Damien glared at his general. “You will not speak of her in that manner! Ever again, Elias! Do you hear me?!”

  Aerity’s head snapped towards him, obviously surprised by his defense of her. He slipped his hands under her body and lifted her in his arms. “What are you doing?” She asked as she gaped at him.

  “I don’t want you reopening your wound. If you insist on coming, then I will carry you so I can make sure that you are safe.”

  She looked as if she wanted to protest but remained silent as he carried her to the balcony. Glancing at the door, his jaw clenched. He knew he had to address the people, which held little room for him to be holding Aerity in his arms.

  Motioning for Siel to come closer, he passed Aerity to him. Siel eyed him curiously. As soon as the transfer was made, Aerity wrapped her arms around Siel’s neck and tightened the hold.

  Damien ignored the squeeze that image brought to his heart. She was more important than his pride. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Carly dashing down the hallway and frantically rearranging her hair. Apparently, they couldn’t have her looking like she just crawled out of bed.

  The bed she had been lying in recuperating in.

  Because of him.

  Clenching his fists, he shook his head to clear his guilt and stared down at all the angry faces below him.

  “What is the meaning of this riot?!” He boomed in a commanding voice.

  “Where’s the princess?!” A chorus of voices yelled back.

  He didn’t owe them an explanation but that wouldn’t help the problem. An angry mob starred expectantly at him, with their pitch forks and axes.

  He rolled his neck before he answered. “The princess is well. She is just healing after the attack. I assure you everything will be ok.”

  “How is it ok? How will we have food if this marriage never happens? We are starving!” One courageous man yelled. Brave or stupid. He couldn’t tell. Maybe just desperate.

  “The marriage will occur as soon as the princess is feeling up to it.”

  “The attack was your fault!” One woman yelled from under a hooded cloak. He thought he recognized her voice, but figured he was mistaken. “We heard they attacked you and she got in the way.”

  Damien wanted to rub his temples, but he knew it wouldn’t get them anywhere and it would only show them weakness.

  “We want to see the princess.” Another yelled.

  That’s when Damien heard her voice from behind him.

  ∞∞∞

  Aerity

  “You can put me down now.”

  Siel glanced at her, clearly battling internally. She ignored his look and cut off his train of thought. “If they think I am weak, it will only make things worse. They need to see me.” Carly was still fussing with her hair, pinning it back in a simple yet elegant hair style that she was sure looked better than her previous bed head. As much as she was thankful for the help, she needed people to stop fawning over her.

  Damien spun to join the conversation, keeping his body poised in case anyone in the crowd were to strike out in retaliation. “Aerity, they have weapons. You could get even more hurt.”

  “They won’t hurt me.” She argued, gently batting Carly’s hand away. Her friend scowled before forcing one more pin in her hair. Aerity almost laughed at her persistence.

  Siel sighed, looking at Damien. “You might as well just let her do what she wants. She’s just going to do it with or without your help.”

  Aerity turned her determined expression to Damien. He sighed as well. “Fine. But you barely cross the balcony threshold.”

  She scoffed. “I’m not going to the balcony. I’m going down to them.”

  Damien’s gaze snapped to hers. “You most certainly are not!”

  She simply raised her eyebrow and Siel snorted from beside her.

  Damien rubbed at his eyes in frustration. “Why do you need to be down there?” He asked her. “If they think we see them as dirt beneath our boots, they won’t take what we say seriously.”

  “Aerity, you are their future queen. They are beneath you. You can’t give them power over your actions.”

  “Just because they were born into a different family, does not mean they are beneath me. They are people. Just as you and I are. People who are scared and looking for leadership. Hope. They don’t want someone to remind them of how insignificant they are. They already feel helpless. Hence this display that makes them feel like they have some semblance of control. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a riot to squash.”

  ∞∞∞

  Damien

  They all watched as Aerity made her way down towards the gate, holding her head up proud and unaffected. There was no fighting her and no arguing. Siel was right, she would simply do what she wanted to anyway. But he would be damned if he openly admitted that he started respecting her for it. If it wasn’t public knowledge about the attack, no one would have been able to tell she had been injured.

  Light filled the villager’s eyes at seeing her alive and well. Their weapons lowered as they inspected her from head to toe to make sure it really was her. Damien couldn’t hear the words that she was speaking to them, but her concern and kindness were apparent. The way her hands reached out to touch those closest to her. The admiration practically spewed from their faces as they listened to her. Eventually, whatever she said had done the trick and they began to give up their fight and disperse. He could tell Aerity was exhausted by the end, but she waited until the last villager was out of sight before allowing any weakness to show. He met her at the entrance just as her knees gave out and she collapsed in his arms. He lifted her up as he had before, cradling her close to his body.

  “What did you say to them?” He asked softly, mesmerized by the way her long eye lashes fluttered as her eyelids opened and closed slowly. She looked beautiful when her face was calm and serene, but he missed the fire that normally penetrated her gaze.

  “We can’t erase the past, but we still have an opportunity to rewrite the future.” She mumbled as she rested her hand on his chest. His heartrate picked up under her touch as she rubbed her head along his shoulder.

  He tugged her closer.

  “What defines us isn’t the fact that we may have
fallen but whether or not we get back up once we have. We may have dropped to the lowest point, but we will rise back up again. No matter if we must claw our way to the top, we will do it together. We will fight together. We will survive together. We will succeed together.” Her last few words were spoken so softly he almost couldn’t hear them. It was no wonder the villagers all calmed down. Aerity was willing to fight for them. She included herself when speaking of them. Like they were all in it together. They didn’t have to do it alone.

  She really would make a remarkable queen.

  If they could ever make it through the wedding, actually married, that is.

  Reaching her room, he gently laid her on the bed. She stirred for a moment; a tiny smile appeared on her face. He wondered what she was smiling about and if one day her smiles would ever be directed toward him. A dream he would wish for every night.

  Checking her wound, he found that the bleeding had started over again. He would need to call in the healer to stitch her back up. As he turned to leave, her tranquil voice spoke from the bed. “Siel, is that you?” She asked deliriously. His chest burned as he turned to look at her. Siel hadn’t been visiting her the last few days. As thankful as Damien was that his brother was giving them time together, he was sure Aerity noticed his lack of visits. He knew he should say no and just walked away but something pushed him to sit at her side and silently take her hand in his own.

  Chapter Six

  Aerity

  She felt his presence but couldn’t seem to pry open her eyes. “Siel? Is that you?” Over the past few days, she noticed he hadn’t come to see her. She knew his reasonings and still it didn’t hurt any less. The thought of him here now, lifted her spirits. His hand grasped onto hers but something about it felt different. Still, she was so desperate for it to be him that she kept on pretending. She lifted his hand to her lips and then placed them over her beating heart. She heard a strangled noise come from the recipient of her affection and still she refused to open her eyes. “I haven’t seen you the past few days. I understand why though. Damien has been here every time I wake up. It means a lot.” She knew he was here out of guilt over what happened but still his presence helped chip away at some of the hatred she had built up for him. She felt the hand she held squeeze a little tighter, the recipient still not saying anything. Then something lifted her hand and soft lips passed over her knuckles. Those weren’t Siel’s lips. She knew it deep in her heart but that was okay. In her mind, they were.