Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(40)
I winked. “That may be true, but I think it goes both ways in this case. However, right now we have a hard day to get through, and I’m going to need your strength to do it.”
“You will always have my strength, angel. We will get through the day together,” Brayden murmured silently, before opening the throne room doors.
Queen Mab and King Madoc were waiting for us inside, so we informed them about everything that transpired during the night with the dream. Knowing there was nothing more that could be done at the moment, Brayden and I excused ourselves and decided to train together while we waited for Kamden to show up. My head wasn’t into the fighting, but I tried to maneuver the best I could.
“You’re fighting is terrible, Princess. Did you not learn anything that I taught you?” a voice called out.
Kamden’s laugh echoed through the air as he rushed toward us and scooped me up in his arms, swinging me around. “Are you just being lazy, or do Prince Brayden and I need to show you how it’s done?” he joked.
He set me down and all I could see were Lukas’ eyes staring back at me. Kamden and Lukas had the same shaped eyes, cheek bones, and smile. I can’t believe I didn’t notice the similarities earlier.
Tears welled up behind my eyes and I couldn’t stop my lips from turning down into a frown. Kamden narrowed his eyes and stepped back, unsure of what to do. “What’s going on, Ariella? Why do you look like that?”
I gazed up at Brayden quickly before he nodded his head and pushed me gently toward Kamden. Taking Kamden’s hands in mine, I squeezed them gently and looked up into his face. Wearily, I began, “Kam, there’s something I need to tell you.”
He kept his gaze strictly on me, never swaying, as I took a deep breath and let the tears fall from my eyes. “I hate we had to bring you here to tell you this, but I thought you deserved to hear it from me,” I cried.
Kamden clenched his teeth and said, “Just tell me what happened, Ariella.”
Lowering my head, I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him tight, and laid my head on his chest. “It’s about your brother … Lukas,” I told him.
“What about him?” he asked warily. His heart thundered against my ear and I could already feel the sadness creeping in around him. He knew what I was about to tell him.
“He’s dead, Kam,” I cried, my tears soaking through his shirt. “When the sorcerer came looking for me, Lukas was the one who guarded me. I tried to save him, but I failed. You have my promise that I will avenge him and all the others the sorcerer has taken away from us.”
He stiffened in my arms and quickly pulled away from me. I tried to grab his arm to make him stay, but he jerked out of my grasp and left me standing there staring at his retreating form as he walked away. “Kamden,” I shouted. “Kamden, wait!” I was about to run after him when Brayden caught my elbow in his grasp.
“Let him go, angel. He needs his space, but I know he’ll come back,” he assured me.
“He’s going to blame me, isn’t he?”
Brayden wrapped his arms around my shoulders and placed his chin on the top of my head. “He’s not going to blame you, Ariella. He will, however, need you to be a friend and help him through it. He still has his parents that live in the village, but he and Lukas were really close. I can’t imagine how it would feel to lose one of my brothers.”
I watched Kamden disappear, and the farther he went the more it killed me to know that he was grieving alone. “I understand,” I uttered sadly. “I’ll ask Nixie if she’ll fetch Zanna when she brings over Calista, Ryder, and Elvena this evening.”
“I think that would be wise, angel. In the meantime, you need to focus. Coran told me we’ve had several of our fae women request to be trained, and I think it would be good for you to help them. They will need your guidance,” he suggested warmly.
“Okay,” I agreed. My heart wasn’t into the training, but it was my duty to help the court. We hastily travelled to the training field, and when we got there I was amazed at all the women that were there ready to learn. Wide-eyed, my heart swelled with pride as I gazed at them in wonder. These women were willing to put their lives on the line for their people and their court. I wondered if soon there would be women in all the courts battling the front lines with their men. It was a new beginning for the Land of the Fae.
“This is amazing,” I breathed in awe.
“Yes, it is angel. I know you will do right by them.”
I searched over the women, but when I spied Taryn stretching and bending over in her tight black spandex outfit I groaned in annoyance. “Oh, I’ll do right by them, but if any of your ex-lovers are on that training field, I can’t promise they will make it through the first ten minutes.”
Let the training begin …
Training the women wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, but they were strong and they learned quickly. I was showing one of the women the proper way to hold a sword when a snowball smacked me against the back.
“Who the hell …” I growled, turning around to see who the instigator was. Brayden tried to hold in a laugh as my nephew, Merrick, balled up another snowball and pitched it at my head.
Laughing, I dodged the ball of snow as it flew past my head. I began to race toward the curly, blond haired little boy with the chubby cheeks. Merrick giggled and shrieked, “Ari! Ari!”