Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (60 page)

Mellisandrianna stared at her eldest daughter. There was such passion behind her words, as useless as they were. She needed Helen to feel that passion toward things other than forbidden love affairs and pardons. "No. The only true pain is physical, and the only way to break a bad habit is with pain."

Helen recoiled from her mother, stepping back to her chair, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'll take the execution."

They all looked over at Hunter.

"But nothing happens to Syney."

"No, this is wrong," Cass said, standing up. She walked over to her mother and looked at her. "Let him have a choice. Let him leave with the mission if he wants to."

Mellisandrianna felt her mind cloud. "He just chose."

"No, he's looking out for Syney. Tell him nothing will happen to her whether or not he dies," Cass said firmly.

The queen looked at Hunter. "Nothing will happen to Syney of course. And I will give you the option. You can stay and have your public execution or leave with the mission under the notion that, if you ever do return, you will not fall back into your former habits. Which do you choose?"

Hunter took a deep breath but said nothing.

"Let him think about it," Helen said quietly.

Mellisandrianna nodded. "In the dungeon of course." She motioned for Grass to take Hunter away. This did not turn out the way she had foreseen. But it did give her some things to think about. Cass's magic was growing stronger, which was something that needed to be dealt with. The first time she had used the mind compelling when they had found Syney, Mellisandrianna barely had felt anything. But this time she had felt Cass's mind actually touch hers. She didn't expect her youngest daughter to be the most powerful. It was interesting.

Cass looked over at her, even though everyone else had left. "I want to go on that mission. You will let me go on that mission."

Mellisandrianna smiled at her. Why would she want to do that? It was no place for a royal. But in order for her to keep up pretenses, she had to comply. There would be a time when Cass needed to use the compulsion on her, and there couldn't be any doubt that it worked. "Yes, you should go. I will inform Commander Leaf right away."

Cass nodded and headed out of the room.

This might actually turn out to be a good thing in the end
, Mellisandrianna thought, looking around the now empty room. She just needed a way for it to spin back to her. She sat back down on
her
throne and planned out her next move.

Leaf

Leaf stared at Grass. He couldn't order the younger man to let him into the dungeon, but he wasn't going to move until he let him pass. Helen once told him his stare was close to her mother's. Neither of them took any prisoners.

Finally Grass huffed and stepped to the side. "Not too long. Wouldn't want you two to do any conspiring, would we?"

Leaf didn't say anything; he just walked past him through the doorway and down the steps into the dungeon. He needed to think. There had to be some way of getting Hunter out of this. No, there was a way out. Leaf just wasn't sure Hunter would take the assignment out of the palace; he wasn't sure he would take it himself if given the chance. He looked at Hunter, who was pacing in the last cell, the same one they had thrown Raine into. Leaf never would get used to seeing his men behind bars.

Hunter stopped when he saw him.

"What happened?" Leaf asked.

Hunter shrugged. "I have no idea. I was headed for the chapel when Grass grabbed me. He told me the queen wanted to see me, and that was it."

Leaf shook his head. "I almost didn't even get into that meeting room. She tried to block me out."

"I know she's had it in for me for a while, but there was no way she came up with this on her own."

"Let me go! I am a royal seated princess. Do you really think you can stop me from going anywhere in this palace that I want to?"

Both Hunter and Leaf looked toward the stairs as Helen huffed down them, sending a choice phrase relating to Grass's mother back up the stairs.

"You shouldn't be here," Leaf said to her calmly.

"Neither of you should be," Hunter said, a little more sternly.

Helen rolled her eyes at both of them. "Like I would be anywhere else." She looked at Hunter. "It was Cass."

"What?" he asked, a look of confusion on his face.

"She overheard you and Syney. She must have gone to see Syney and waited for her to come back."

Hunter closed his eyes and grimaced.

"She told my mother that you two were involved romantically and that you were both planning on leaving, which is just the dumbest thing." Helen stopped when she saw the guilty look on Hunter's face. "Oh, wow. You were leaving, weren't you?"

Leaf looked at his friend. The thought had crossed his own mind once or twice for him and Helen to leave, but he always had pushed it away. No matter what he felt for Helen, he had a duty to his men. Hunter was like-minded, which meant this decision hadn't been reached without a great deal of thought.

"We didn't tell anyone," Hunter said quietly.

"You would leave in the morning, before the coronation?" Leaf said.

Hunter nodded.

Helen backed away from the bars. "That was a selfish decision."

"But it was theirs to make," Leaf said simply.

Helen shook her head. "There's more to it than just them. I'm sorry for whatever pain my sister has caused." She gave both men a hard look before heading up the stairs.

"Don't let her bother you," Leaf said, looking after her.

"She's right, though."

"I'll help you get out."

Hunter looked at him. "What?"

Leaf took a deep breath and glanced up at the stairs before leaning closer to the bars. "I'm assuming you had a way out?" He continued when Hunter nodded. "Then I'll get you out of the cell. I'll even get Syney to you. Just promise me you'll be happy."

Hunter nodded. "As long as she's there." He paused. "But I'm not sure I'm OK with you helping. You can get into trouble."

"I'll make it look like incompetence on Grass's part. It shouldn't be too hard."

"I'm still not sure."

"We have about an hour before the guard change," Leaf said. "That would be the most opportune time."

Hunter stared at him while Leaf silently begged him to take the option. Hunter opened his mouth to speak but stopped when they both heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They were too heavy for a Magic User. Leaf gave Fern a brief nod when he saw her. She returned the gesture and strode over to them.

"I'll be right back. Have an answer then," Leaf said before headed out of the dungeon.

He looked at Helen, who sat on a bench near the door. She was wringing her hands, her face filled with sadness. He wasn't expecting that reaction from her. He saw himself as a true believer in what Syney represented for the Realm, but even he was willing to let her go so that she and his friend could be happy. Helen looked up at him and shook her head before getting up and heading away from him. He sighed and went in the opposite direction. There were a few Guards who would help if needed. He needed to quickly gather his men just in case.

Fern

Fern bit back her pride as she stood in front of Hunter, the solid metal bars between them. This wasn't about her, and she knew that. It still didn't sit well with her. She tried to keep her face neutral as she took a deep breath.

He wasn't looking at her; at least he had enough sense to feel bad about the situation he had caused. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Don't be sorry for me," she said firmly. A little too firmly. She took another breath to steady herself. "I couldn't care less where you find your pleasure. But there's much more to this than just taking advantage of a young girl. She is our future!" Fern yelled. She took another shaky breath. She needed to calm down, but she wasn't finished. She needed to get this out before she couldn't. "There's a reason she's here at this time. We're at war. Syney is the only one who can stop it. It was seen in a prophecy! She will bring the Realm back to its glory! My brother died in a Shifter attack only a few years ago. His death can't be for nothing. We need peace. We need
her."

Hunter finally looked up at her, his face passive but attentive. "You're right."

Fern's breathing slowed. She wasn't expecting that. She didn't have anything else planned to say, but she would have continued to repeat herself if she'd had to.

"I didn't know about your brother. I'm sorry about that," Hunter said quietly.

"Thank you."

They stared at each other for a while before Hunter finally stepped forward. "Could you get Leaf for me?"

Fern nodded and headed up out of the dungeon. The commander wasn't too far away, only down the hall speaking with a handful of Guards. She stayed a respectable distance away until he acknowledged her. She delivered Hunter's message and followed Leaf back down the stairs. Leaf looked at her when they reached Hunter's cell. He wanted to be alone with Hunter, but she wasn't going to let that happen. He was her Commanding officer, but she needed a say in what was going on.

"Fern," Leaf said firmly. It was a command.

"No, let her stay," Hunter said.

Leaf looked back at him. "What's going on?"

"Let the queen know that I'll take the assignment at the border."

"Hunter—"

"And have the high priestess move my joining with Fern to the morning. It will be easier. That way we can move out right after the coronation with no distractions."

Fern smiled, not something that came naturally to her. Hunter finally was seeing things her way.

"Are you sure about this?" Leaf asked.

Hunter nodded. "It's what has to be done. And don't tell Syney. Don't tell her anything."

"While I agree that this is the best course of action, are you sure you want to do that?" Fern asked. "If the princess really was romantically involved with you, leaving without any warning or explanation will likely be very hard on her."

Leaf didn't acknowledge her; he just stared at Hunter. "Don't do this."

"It'll be easier for her this way. It's best for everyone," Hunter said, dropping his head.

"If it's what you want."

"It is."

Leaf nodded and headed out of the dungeon.

Fern slipped her fingers through the bars. "This is the right thing to do."

Hunter nodded. "I know."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," she said, backing away from the cell.

He nodded again and turned to walk farther into the cell.

There wasn't much she could ask for. Even though she had said that what had gone on between him and Syney didn't bother her, somewhere deep inside it did. She also believed every word she had said to Hunter. It was less about them and more about the Realm. She had come to see Hunter as a great man, and he shouldn't have to be humiliated for doing something so stupid. She was very glad he had made the right decision.

Noelle

Noelle knocked once more on Gabe's door before heading away. He had been distant since they had returned to the Village; he was frequently gone, and quiet when he was around. She didn't like it. When Gabe wasn't being snarky, something was wrong. She glanced at the large clock in the Great Hall. It was almost time for the coronation. Syney had asked to sleep in a little, seeing as it was a big day, which meant Noelle hadn't seen her since the day before. The dress was pretty complicated, but Syney had insisted that Hunter could help her into it. Noelle was happy for the two of them. They had been spending a lot of time together lately. Syney had tried to hide it at first but gave that up once Noelle had walked in with breakfast one morning and gotten a good view of Hunter without his shirt on. And Noelle had to admit, after seeing that she realized Hunter's appeal.