Chapter 24

Her eyes widened in attempt to keep the tears at bay.  Nodding, she looked down at the hands that covered her shoulders.  She agreed to let them come along, but they were going to speak about a few things before taking part on this journey.  After they knew each other’s secrets, then, they would decide whether they would come along with her.  Trust was a necessary component in all groups.  Without trust, they would never be able to believe they would protect one another.

Grabbing Nathaniel’s hand, she gently pulled it from her shoulder before doing the same with the other.  Her hand waved absentmindedly at the ground, and chairs emerged made from the earth.  Plopping down in one, she motioned towards the other four that sat in a circle with hers.  “We need to talk, to explain things to one another before we continue.”

Ainsely was the first to nod and sit down. Next Nathaniel set in his chair.  Standing there, Alin and Luther regarded their seats.  They knew that once they sat, there was nothing they could do to deter the questions that would be thrown their way.  If their secrets affected the group, if they could cause them harm, they had to surface.

Alin’s eyes connected with hers, and she knew that with him, if he sat in the chair, the secret he had kept from everyone except her would be revealed.  Letting out a sigh, he sat down.  “If it were anyone else,” he mumbled, “I would have left.”

She nodded in acceptance before turning her eyes to Luther.  The man shrugged.  “They are family secrets, but seeing as at least two of you already know, I see no reason in not sharing it with the others.”

“Then why did you stand?” Ainsely asked with narrowed eyes.

Luther’s smile turned cold.  “You do not sit until those around you sit first.  The first to sit is always the weakest.”

Ainsely sat up in his chair, ready to pounce at Luther, but Aubrey interrupted his movement.  “Then I guess I am the weakest.”

“Aubrey,” Luther said with regret, “you know that is not what I meant.”

“Sit down, Luther,” she snapped with narrowed eyes.  “If all you are going to do is antagonize my brother, I do not need that kind of help.”  Ainsely chuckled, but as she turned her eyes to him, the noise halted.  “The same goes to you, Ainsely.  If you two do not stop, Nathaniel, Daisy, Alin, and I will leave while you are indisposed.”

Seeing Luther’s eyes study her and Ainsely’s narrow, she knew they were contemplating how serious she truly was.  “I never tell a lie,” she reminded, making Ainsely sit back in his chair and Luther to sit down into his.

“I shall start,” she mumbled.  “I met him on a trip to your lands,” she said to Nathaniel.  “I was younger than I am now, not as wise, and instead of taking the guard with me, I decided to sneak and leave them behind.  Sleeping in the middle of a jungle with no protection may not have been the wisest idea either, but it was what I had done.  Just as I allowed myself to close my eyes, I heard them.”

“The swinging blades,” Luther said with a smile on his face.  “It was his specialty.  His foe knew who the person to kill them would be because seconds before their death, they would hear the swinging blades.”

“The swinging blades,” she echoed with a reminiscent smile.  “I heard them clear as if they had been in my ear.  As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew I was doomed.  Either this man was going to kill me, or he was going to allow me to live.  I knew either way, my father would not be happy.  One-way, I would be dead, gone from his life forever, and in another, I would stay with this man forever.  He was everything I wanted in a man, and as soon as I set my sights on him, I knew I would love him.”

Luther chuckled.  “You should have heard him when he brought you back to our camp.  He may have bound your hands and threw you in his tent, but as soon as he left you there, he came running to me, telling me of how he could not kill a woman such as you.  He knew the same Aubrey.  Days later, he says that killing you may have been the smart thing to do if he planned to steer away from pain, because seeing you every day and not being able to touch you was the worst thing he had ever experienced.”

“I did not know,” she whispered, tears running down her face.

“Wait,” a clear voice said, and Aubrey glanced towards Nathaniel, “Victoria said that he saw you when she was on his arm.  How could that be?”

She waved a hand dismissively.  “You have to wait for that.  If I would have known she was the woman who was on his arm, I would have killed her long before.”

“Back to the story,” Ainsely mumbled, riveted by the tale his sister was telling.

Clearing her throat, she shifted on her seat slightly before nodding.  “He came back to the tent barring only good things, a smile, food, and a free pass through their lands.  See, after meeting this man, I knew I could no longer travel to Nathaniel’s land and do as I had first planned.”

“Which was?” Nathaniel asked.

“Marry you,” Aubrey answered honestly.  “I was ready to leave my home, ready to live a new life and you were the way to get me what I wanted.  Once I met him though, I knew I could not fool you into a loveless marriage.  I would have thought of him and wished I were somewhere else, and you would have hated me for it.”  Nathaniel nodded in agreement, but she wished she knew exactly what the man was thinking.  “After they set me free, I went to your kingdom to speak to your father.”

“Where you talked him out of our contract,” Nathaniel said with a nod. “Tell me, will you explain how you did so?”

She shook her head with a secret smile.  “I promised I would not.”

“Fine,” Nathaniel replied with a sigh, before making a get on with it motion.

“A few weeks later,” she began again, “I went to Vallise, our trade town, to pick up supplies before my next leave.  To my surprise, as I walked into the clothing store, the man who I had met weeks earlier walked out.  I knew he would not recognize me, for I wore a disguise, but when he stopped next to me in the door way and took a step towards me, I knew he somehow knew who I was.”

“He said it was the way you smelt.  One can fool the eyes, but they cannot fool the nose,” Luther supplied.

Ainsely leaned forward in his chair.  “That was where Victoria was, was she not?”

“Yes,” Aubrey answered, “the woman was standing behind him, but I never once glanced at her.  I knew there was a presence there, but I was too caught up in the moment, to afraid that he would do something rash.”

“And did he?” Nate asked.

She chuckled.  “Oh, yes, he did.  Not at that exact moment, but as I traveled that night, just as I lay down, with my guards securely around me, I heard the swinging blades.  I remember how my heart beat in my chest, how excitement and fear all flew through me at once.  Knowing he would have killed my guards or done worse, I went to him.”

“He was trying to signal you,” Luther said with a laugh.  “He never meant to scare you.”

“I know that now,” she replied.  “He never did anything to scare me, but after that night, we were inseparable.”

“Until that night,” Luther started in a grave tone.  “He had ordered Aubrey away, told her that she needed to visit her family.  Aubrey would never admit to it, but not seeing them made her sadder than he liked.  He wanted her happy at all times, but he saw her lonely glances.”

“I wanted to stay,” she whispered, openly crying.  “I knew something was going to happen.  Something horrid was going to happen, I could feel it.  I dreamt it, but I left him there, knowing something bad would fall upon us.  I was a coward.  Instead of staying with him, making sure he stayed with me, I ran to my family.”

“Victoria,” Luther spat the name, “was part of our clan.  When my brother married a magic user, chaos had broken out, but everyone accepted Aubrey but Victoria.  None of us knew that the woman had been practicing magic of her own.  So, it came to a great surprise to us all when she murdered my brother with her magic and fled.  I followed after her, but everyone knows how that ended.”

“I still do not think his death was your doing,” Nathaniel stated. 

“Nor do I,” Ainsely mumbled, shock evident on his face.

Alin turned towards her and shook his head.  “It is sad, but not your fault.”

“I never blamed you.  When you returned from your home, you did not even say goodbye to us.  You heard one conversation of me discussing my brother’s death and how much I hated that woman, and you fled.  You were not the one who killed him, though, Aubrey.”

She shrugged before sinking back into her chair in exhaustion.  “It is your turn, Luther.”

“I will not give you a long story of my life,” the man replied while looking at every person in the circle, “and what I tell you must not be told to another.”

“We already know,” Aubrey said, motioning between Ainsely and her.

Luther nodded as he took a deep breath and addressed the other men.  “I am part of a group of assassins who target magic users.”

Alin attempted to stand from his seat, but when vines wrapped around his arms, he turned a glare towards Aubrey.  “He kills our kind, Aubrey, and you expect me not to be outraged by this?”

She shrugged.  “He has no magic himself, nor does any person in their group.  If he can kill us without having magic, he is better an ally then an enemy.”

“I will not hurt any of you, for Aubrey.”

Ainsely studied Luther for a moment before surprising them all by giving his acceptance.  “I trust your word.”

“So do I,” Nathaniel mumbled.

Alin narrowed his eyes.  “Aubrey trusts you, and I trust her.  That is the only reason why you are not dead at the moment.”

“The same to you,” Luther promised before turning towards Ainsely.  “What is your story, Prince?”

“I am cursed to be handsome to all women, except those who are related to me.  They find me remarkable.”

Luther raised an eyebrow.  “How is that a curse?”

“I do not know,” Ainsely replied with a laugh, “but my sister has a few theories we will not start on today.”

“I,” Nathaniel said in a clear tone, making all attention go towards him, “have no training in magic.  Since I did not show signs of it at an early age, my father deemed me unfit to learn their secrets.  After that, many of our people pitied me, but none questioned my father’s decision.  A king needed magic, and I had none.  I left my land because my mother had set it in her mind that when I found my true love, my magic would spring forth.  Having women being thrown at you was not horrible, but when you could not relax for a moment, it became so.  I left and arrived here.  The rest, led up to where I am today.”

All eyes turned to Alin as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  “Must I say anything?” he asked.

Aubrey nodded.  “It will all be fine, Alin, just tell them.”

Nodding, Alin opened his mouth ready to tell them his most hidden secret.

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