Fates Entwined: Halven Rising

Portia and most of her soldiers left. Two stayed behind and stood outside the doorway, presumably to ensure Reese was taken directly to her room.

She rolled away from Keen and sat facing him with her arms wrapped around her knees. “What now?” she asked.

He stood and pulled on his shirt. “You do nothing.”

“Bullshit!” She leapt to her feet.

One of the guards glanced back, but otherwise remained with his back to them.

“Not now,” Keen said quietly. “Later, my love, we can continue what we started.”

Reese rolled her eyes. “You wish,” she muttered, so that only he heard.

Keen escorted her to her bedroom, but instead of leaving, he walked inside. He went to close the door behind him, but one of the guards stopped him.

“The queen wishes it to remain open.”

Keen tilted his head, power radiating off him. “Jacob, have you forgotten who your new master of the guards is?”

“No, sir.” Jacob glanced nervously at Reese. “But the queen—”

“Put me in charge,” Keen said. “And as you witnessed earlier, I have the Halven well in hand.” He grinned licentiously, and Reese fought to not roll her eyes again. “Now, if you don’t mind, we’d like some privacy. You may tell the queen that Reese’s ability presented, and that she is an empath. Such an innocuous power. She cannot create fireballs or paralyze the body with a touch. We are safe from her mundane Halven ability.” Keen closed the door in the guard’s face.

He’d downplayed her ability, but he also spoke truth. Reese wished her Halven powers were stronger, though they had been useful tonight. She had identified a Fae who wished them harm, and she’d confirmed that Theda’s trust in Amund wasn’t misplaced. That was something.

Keen tilted his head, as though listening. “Jacob departs to speak with the queen. The other three guards wait outside, but they believe we are…”

“Getting it on?”

He shrugged.

She paced the room. “You can’t stay here. I need to talk to Elena, and you can’t be around when I do.”

He moved closer. “You must not interfere in Theda’s plans, whatever they are. Stay clear of Elena and her mother, and whoever else they have helping them.”

She shook her head and laughed bitterly. “I’m not sure why you care whether I’m harmed or not; you’ve managed to thoroughly confuse me as far as how you feel. But I can tell you one thing. There is no way I’m not getting involved. I will. I am.”

His face tensed with anger. He spun on his heel, strode to the door, and opened it. “She is yours to protect,” he told the men outside, then stormed away.

Reese turned her back and flattened her hands to her face.

They weren’t good for one another. He didn’t want to be attracted to her, and she didn’t want to be with someone who didn’t respect her.

“Reese?”

Reese wiped her hands down her face, closeting away the emotions that threatened to overtake her. She turned to find Illa standing in the doorway. Concern filled her sister’s face and mind.

Illa moved inside. “I came to tell you that…our father arrives tomorrow. There will be a dinner to discuss an alliance between the two kingdoms.”

Reese wagged her head slowly. She remembered what Portia had said in the workout room about wanting Keen to rule Old Kingdom. “How can there be an alliance without the Oldlander king involved? Derek O’Brien rules Old Kingdom.”

Illa looked sad. “Yes, but there are few who feel he is worthy.”

Her Fae sister had been kind, but Reese was on her last nerve. “Derek not worthy? He and Elena saved this entire realm. You’d all be dead if it weren’t for them.”

Illa swallowed, her emotions filled with shame and frustration. “I don’t hold the same beliefs others do when it comes to Halven. Many in Tirnan have changed their opinions about offspring between Fae and humans since your friend cured the virus. But there are also those who believe Derek is not capable of leading a kingdom about which he knows little.”

She was right. But for the wrong reasons.

“Derek might not know much about Fae customs, but that’s because we’ve been kept separate from your kind our entire lives and treated as outcasts. Not knowing who our sisters and brothers are.”

Illa’s face crumpled. “I am sorry, Reese. It was not my choice to have been kept from you. If it makes a difference, I didn’t know you existed until recently. My father never spoke of you.”

And somehow, amidst everything that had happened this night—nearly having a sword speared through her in the pub, facing off with Portia, being kissed by Keen and rejected, then kissed again by Keen and rejected again—this thing, this knowledge that not even her biological father cared one whit about her, sank to her core, slicing her open.

She wrapped an arm around her middle and covered her face with her hand, turning her back to Illa. “Please leave.”

“Reese, you must understand. It is not our way. Our father…he isn’t a bad man. He’s the best of fathers.”

Reese’s shoulders shook. “I wouldn’t know. Now, if you don’t mind?” She wouldn’t look at her sister. Couldn’t.

Reese heard Illa’s soft footfalls grow faint as she left the room and moved down the hallway. And that was when the tears began to pour down Reese’s cheeks.

She crawled onto her giant, plush bed that held no warmth, no sense of home, and let out all of her pain.

Enid helped Reese into the beaded green gown. “This one is stunning, Miss Reese. You will be the prettiest woman there.”

“Don’t you mean I’ll be the only woman?”

Enid grinned. “The only Halven woman. But also the prettiest of Fae women as well.”

“Thank you. I highly doubt it, given the glowing celestial beauty all of you possess, but it’s kind of you to say.”

“It is truth. We never—”

“Lie.” Reese smiled, and so did Enid.

Reese looked down at the gown that clung to her curves, while also remaining modest. “I do like this one, only—” She looked toward the door the guards had allowed her to close while she dressed with the servant. “It needs something.”

Enid scanned Reese’s figure. “Any adornment would take away from the beading, and the color is so striking on its own.”

“Not that. I was thinking of something along the lines of…my pretty sword?” Reese grinned sheepishly. “Will that fit?”

Enid’s eyes grew wide.

Reese had received a message from Theda last night. It started like the buzzing of the last communication she’d sent with her powers.

We are in hiding inside the dungeon, where few venture. The attack takes place tomorrow evening. Be prepared.

All Reese knew was that things were going down tonight. The same evening she was supposed to meet her Fae father.

“No, I suppose my sword wouldn’t fit. Besides, after Portia banned me from training, they may have confiscated it.” Reese’s mouth twisted. “What about a dagger?”

Enid glanced at the door and nodded. She reached beneath her prim gray gown—hers of the matronly variety that went up to her neck—and pulled out a double-bladed short knife with a star design on the hilt.

“Jesus, Enid.” Reese gawked. “How long have you been hiding that thing beneath your skirts?”

“This is only my short knife. The long one is strapped to my thigh. Would you prefer that one?”

“No, no.” Reese held up her hands. “You keep it. In fact, maybe you should consider stashing it close tonight. Just to be safe. Do you understand what I mean?”

“I believe so, miss.” Enid’s eyes narrowed, and she lowered her voice. “The palace is aware of her highness’s presence in the kingdom.”

“Portia?”

“No.” Enid shook her head and looked around, though they were the only ones in the room. “Our true queen,” she whispered, barely audible. “But the kingdom fears rumors about a secret weapon the current queen hides. They dare not make a move against her. Not to mention, many have been made beholden to her.”

A secret weapon? They couldn’t afford another problem.

“Portia and her pledges of fealty,” Reese muttered in irritation. “She’s forced it on so many? Is that normal?”

“No, miss. Among high-ranking guards, yes, but not noblemen and servants. It’s never been needed before…well, before there was a change in authority. The kingdoms hold their nobility in high regard, protecting them to the death. They are our rulers, but they are also most holy. It is typically our honor to protect them.”

“Holy…” Reese said, considering. “What exactly happened to the angels who created your race?”

“Gone. To the holy realm, never to return. No one alive has ever seen them. They left millennia ago. It is said they wished for us to live prosperously without them, and we have lived in peace ever since.”

“Wait, aren’t you guys always warring with each other? Old Kingdom and New Kingdom fighting to the death?”

“Oh, yes, but only because Oldlanders are vicious beasts known to murder for power.” She blushed. “No offense, miss.”

Reese didn’t bother to point out that Newlanders could be a bloodthirsty lot as well, because she figured it would fall on deaf ears. Fae seemed blind to their prejudices. “None taken,” she said instead. “And it’s not like I’m a true Oldlander. My father is, but I’ve never met him.”

Enid winced. “He is here. Your father.”

“I know.” Reese took a deep breath. “Illa told me.”

“Well, he cannot find fault in you tonight. You will be the most beautiful woman there.”

Beautiful, but not valued—not respected. Not even in this land. Reese tried to smile, but her mouth couldn’t quite form one. She held up the blade instead. “You have some way for me to hide this beneath my dress?”