Blaine took my backpack, Kade’s and Nikoli’s as well, and strapped them onto Finn. I knew my familiar could easily carry over a hundred pounds for hours without tiring, but it still pained me to see him this way. But this ruse was a good one; it would make it believable so we could travel together. Monica, Victor, and Blaine’s clothes were dirtied and torn. They must have done that as a part of their lowly servant disguise. Whereas Kade, Nikoli, and myself were wearing pristine clothing with expensive furs and weapons. This would fit well with our traveling story.
I heard crunching gravel and then felt a strong energy at my back. I spun round just as the fae addressed me. “You’d have to be crazy to travel to the Winter Court in a time like this. The land is nearly impassable, and there’s no work or food there.” It was another highborn. He had bright copper hair, fair skin, and pointy ears. I don’t know how but I just knew he was a Fall Court fae. He smelled of cinnamon and oranges, and didn’t seem malicious. At least not yet.
Kade had been crouched, tying up the furs covering his shoes. He stood to his full height and looked down on the Fall Court fae. “We have jobs waiting for us there, and will make the trek just fine.” His tone was light but there was a subtle threat. He wanted this fae to know he was interfering in our business and he’d better step back immediately.
The fae wrinkled his brow and inhaled through his nose, looking confused and intrigued. “Right, safe travels.” He turned his back to us and walked off, and I noticed more than one creature was again eyeing our group.
Clearly the Winter Court was not a popular place to visit, and those who wanted to be there were considered evil or something.
He must smell the beast within us, Kade surmised.
It was probably our scents more than anything that had the fae here confused.
“We’re ready, My Lady,” Blaine said, bringing my attention back to the group. Monica, Victor, and Finn were saddled down with all of our gear, and definitely looked ready to head out. I felt awful for treating them as the hired help, but I loved that we could travel together. This was the safest way for us to move through these lands, so if they had to pretend to be below us for a short time, I knew they would have no problem with it. I would have done the same thing had it been reversed. This trip was about survival. Pride was not a luxury any of us could afford.
We left the travelers’ camp without fuss, but I knew word would spread. We had created a stir, looking foreign, with a huge wolf familiar disguised poorly as a traveling servant animal. Thank the shifter gods Nix was barely visible in the dull skies above us. There would have been no way to hide two familiars. My dominants were quiet as we left, each of them falling back a little to walk behind us. When we were a few hundred yards from the camp, I pulled the small map from my backpack, one that had been amended slightly from the gnomes.
Kade glanced over my shoulder, Blaine coming in from the left to look also. My friend nodded a few times as he leaned in to see better. His finger came out to rest against the map. “We got those changes too,” he said. “There are a few more villages, and some terrain we were warned against on this current path.” He traced his fingers along the path, stopping about halfway between two large mountains. “I know we planned to take the trail through this range. It’s definitely the quickest, but apparently is also a real target for bandits.”
The gnomes hadn’t told us that. I exchanged a glance with Kade. His eyes were very dark. “How much time would it add to our journey to go around it?” I finally asked, turning back to Blaine.
He hesitated a moment. “Two days, minimum. You have to cut around this mountain.” His finger shifted on the map. “Go through the forest here, which is huge, before coming out on the other side. There is a steep drop on the other side, so this is the only way around the range.”
Sucking in deeply, I forced my hands to steady on the paper. “We don’t have that much time. We’ve already wasted two days here gathering intel. Violet contacted me. She’s not doing well. We’re going to have to risk the bandits.”
The thought of risking my people made me want to throw up, or at minimum throw a punch or two, but two days extra travel time, or more, was not possible. We were just going to have to hope we made it through undetected.
No one argued with me, so I quickly folded the paper again and put it into my pack, right beside the flower from Baladar. Come on, Baladar, call me! I had tried to use the flower to speak with him many times, but either I had no idea how to do it, or the powerful magic born was not around to answer. I couldn’t even consider the possibility that war had broken out in the time we’d been gone from Earth, that my friends or family might be dying and we had no idea.
They’ll be fine, Ari. They are strong and sure fighters. This is not your fault – you don’t need to shoulder the burden of everything on your own.
Having Finn back with me had a sense of calm and safety flowing through my body. As we started to walk again, I filled him in on what Violet had said in the dream about me possibly having a fae essence that had been stolen from me, an essence that would mean my father was from the Otherworld and that … I was more fae than shifter.
What about Winnie? he said after I finished. Do you think she is the same?
My heart clenched at the thought of my little sister. She was well protected in Kade’s royal home, but I hated that I had to leave her behind. I let Finn’s question ponder in my mind, rolling it over and over. Finally I had to say:
I don’t think she’s the same as me. Mother loved her dearly, even though she never got to meet her outside of the womb. Me, on the other hand, she always had a hard time bonding with. It makes more sense if I have a fae father, and Winnie’s was shifter. Maybe Mother was raped? Maybe she was tricked or coerced. Something which meant she could never love me the way she did her second born.
Kade’s presence lingered on the edge of our conversation, using our bond to listen in. I was okay with that. He had not hidden himself and I could have blocked him out if I wanted to.
He spoke then: Fae father or not, that changes nothing about you, Ari. You’re strong and beautiful, wise and kind. You were a leader for a brief time and already garnered the love and support of your people. Your mother was the one with the problem, not you.
His unwavering love and support was like a rush of heat that coated my skin and seeped into my soul. It was so much more than I’d ever expected I would experience from a man. Wolves rarely mated for love, and heirs never did. The best I hoped for as a queen heir was that I would be fond of the partner chosen for me, and instead the fates had blessed me. I got a bonded mate, and I would not turn my back on this for anything in the world – worlds. A change was coming in the shifter boroughs, and it was going to rock them to their core. Wolves and bears were never supposed to be separated, and I was going to bring them back together.