Broken Bonds

“Did you really tell the guy that his wife wants to die?”

Brynn winced and her lips shrank into a painful grimace despite Rey’s best intentions to be gentle. What used to be Brynn’s left eye was now an angry blotch of red colour and even the slightest touch of Rey’s fingers caused her pain.

“No,” Brynn said, “I healed her.”

Rey’s fingers stopped a short distance from Brynn’s face: “You healed her, and he punched you?”

“No,” Brynn shook her head, which turned out to be a not very wise decision because it caused another wave of pain, “I healed her, and she punched me.”

Rey frowned as she tried to put together what Brynn was telling her: “That makes no sense. Why would she ....”

“Sorry to interrupt. But I have something that belongs to you. And it would be awesome if you could calm it down.”

They were standing outside, Brynn’s body leaning against their wagon, so Rey heard the steps rushing to them during their conversation. She begged it wouldn’t be the man, she thought it would be, but her prayers stayed unanswered.

Was this some kind of game the universe was playing with her?

The less she wanted to see someone, the more frequently they would cross her path?

Because if yes, she would start thinking about not wanting to see a huge stash of money or her knight in shining armour really quickly.

And not her father. Definitely not her father.

“What do you mean?”

Brynn’s question was overshadowed by a loud yelling that could belong only to the one person they knew.

Rey turned around just in time to witness Lia’s newfound mate holding her underneath her armpits. Lia’s legs were kicking the air around them and she was yelling at him: “Let me go! I have unfinished business to deal with!”

“Seeing how angry she was, everyone was afraid to tell her who the person responsible for your new accessory was. She threatened to hurt all of us, something about us being the accomplices. Luckily, he was able to stop her before she had the chance to do anything.” Rey’s father explained.

“Calm down!” Brynn ordered Lia as her mate dragged her closer. “I didn’t waste all this time trying to make her feel better, so you could maim her all over again.”

Her words seemed to work on Lia.

She stopped kicking and her mate put her feet back on the ground. But something dangerous sparkled in her eyes and Rey realised Brynn gave her exactly what she wanted.

“Oh, so that’s who ....”

Lia’s attempt to escape was once again stopped by her mate. He caught her by her wrist and refused to let go.

“Lia,” Rey pleaded with her.

“Oh, fine. I will let go for now. But let’s get one thing straight,” Lia turned to her mate, “try to drag me somewhere against my will one more time and you will no longer have the limbs necessary to do so!”

Her threat was enough for her mate to release her. He even raised his hands and apologized: “I will not do that again, I promise. But could you maybe consider spending some time with me? Even a few minutes would be enough. I just ... I really want to get to know you better.” His ears blushed a pretty pink colour while he was talking.

Rey genuinely thought Lia was going to say yes. She was obviously contemplating it, but her stubborn side had to win again: “I can’t right now. I still have to take care of someone.”

“If you are talking about me,” Brynn joined, “you don’t have to worry. Rey already did everything she could, and I promised some people, I would check on them.”

“So someone punched you in the face and we are not even going to talk about it?”

“We will,” Brynn nodded, “but we can talk about this later. It is really not that interesting.”

“How is the fact that someone punched you in the face, not interesting enough to talk about?”

Lia asked but Brynn took her can’t hear you, won’t hear you stand and disappeared.

Losing her getaway card, Lia had to come up with something else: “I-.”

“Remember what we talked about,” Rey reminded her instead.

Lia gifted her with a really ugly look, but in the end, she sighed and said: “Fine. Take me somewhere. Anywhere. You have to have some favourite place or whatever.”

Her mate’s face lightened up so much, he could be used as an alternative source of light, and he quickly gestured for her to follow him. He had to be scared, she was going to change her mind.

Rey was too. She watched them leave and her father used the distraction to come closer to her: “Rey, I ....”

Lia’s agreement put Rey in the good mood, but not good enough for her to listen to her father: “I really don’t want to talk to you.”

She began to walk away from him, but he just had to push her buttons: “Your mother left me. I thought you should know that.”

“And what makes you think I would want to know?” Rey asked him.

“I know you will never be able to forgive me and I don’t blame you for that. But I thought, maybe you could ....”

Since her ex-mate was kind enough to share this with her already, Rey had some time to think it through. And her mother leaving really didn’t change much. At least not from her point of view: “She was there too. That night. Maybe she didn’t agree with you, maybe she even begged you not to do it. But that doesn’t change the fact she let you.”

Rey took a deep breath and continued: “I might understand your reasons one day. Ten, twenty, maybe thirty years from now. Maybe once I have my own kids. But right now, I don’t want anything in common with both of you.”