Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (13 page)

“I said we should call it a day and try again next week.”

“All right. Sounds good.”

Syney shook her head. When Helen got distracted, it was nearly impossible to get her back to the topic at hand. Syney looked ahead; the road had become denser with people, although most dodged out of their way, recognizing them. They were almost out of the market when Syney walked straight into a woman. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

The redhead looked at her. “Don’t worry.”

Syney’s smile fell. “Rose.”

The older woman’s smile also fell as they stared at each other.

“How are you?” Syney asked quietly.

“Fine. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Syney cringed at the title. Helen cleared her throat, causing Syney to look at her. “Sorry, um…Rose, this is Helen. And Reed, my Protector. Guys, this is Rose…Hunter’s mother.”

Helen’s face lit up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You have a marvelously kind son.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

“You’re very welcome.” Helen smiled as another older woman, Raven, walked up to join Rose.

“Two royals out and about. It must be our lucky day,” Raven said with a kind laugh.

Syney couldn’t help return it. “Raven, it’s good to see you.” She looked at Helen. “This is Leaf’s mother, Raven. Raven, Princess Helen and Reed.”

Syney watched as Helen’s face ran through a few emotions, stopping on sadness. “It’s an honor to meet you,” Helen said, taking Raven’s hand in hers.

Watching the two as they spoke about Leaf, Syney couldn’t help smile. She looked back at Rose only to find a frown on the older woman’s face. It didn’t take Syney long to realize she was staring at the necklace she had on. Syney instinctively put her hand on it. The day after Leaf had given it to her, Syney had tried it on, just to see what it would look like, and she hadn’t taken if off since. She had even lied about it to Adam when he had asked; she’d said it had been her mother’s. Not that that was so far off, but still.

“Do you have a moment to talk?” Syney asked Rose quietly.

Rose looked into her eyes and hesitated before nodding.

The two walked a few feet away to the mouth of a small alley.

After a moment of silence, Rose finally stared right at Syney and asked, “Is there something you needed?”

Syney took a deep breath. She wasn’t a fan of Rose’s tone and almost dropped the entire conversation, but she needed to be stronger than that. “I was wondering…if you’ve heard from Hunter at all.”

Rose stared at her. “Before he left, he came by.” She slowly smiled. “With Fern of course. I haven’t heard from him since, but I’m sure they’re both very busy. I’m expecting Fern home first, if you know what I mean.”

Syney struggled to keep her breathing even. “No, I’m not sure actually.”

Rose smiled even bigger. “The last thing we talked about was their having a family. They’re probably hard at work at that. Once Fern gets pregnant, she’ll come right home to have that little one.”

Syney nodded and forced as much of a smile as she could get out. “That’ll be a good day for you. Anyway, it was nice seeing you.” Syney turned away quickly. She wasn’t about to let Rose see her cry. She shot Helen a look before heading away from her, farther down the road. She stopped at a weapons stand and stared at the display, not really seeing any of it. She knew Rose wasn’t a mean person, which meant that whole conversation had come from somewhere else, probably anger. She couldn’t blame her. If Syney had a son who’d gone away to war, she’d try to blame anyone she could to get her own emotions out. But that didn’t mean Rose’s words didn’t hurt.

“Hey, everything OK?” Helen asked, coming up alongside Syney.

She nodded. “I’m OK. Just shouldn’t have talked to her.” She gave a sad smile. “She hates me.”

“Oh, I’m sure she doesn’t.”

Syney nodded. “I made her son leave the safe Village and go out onto the front lines. What mother wouldn’t hate me? But hey, you and Raven seemed to get along.”

“She seems like such a wonderful woman. But to be honest, we talked about you.”

“Yeah, she likes me.”

Helen laughed. “I can see Leaf in her. It’s the eyes, I think.”

“I’m really sorry you guys aren’t…together, you know. I thought it would last. At least one of us should have been able to be with…our wolf,” Syney whispered the last part.

Helen shifted uncomfortably. “To be honest we were together for a while. We just ended it this week. We didn’t want to make you uncomfortable after how things ended with you and Hunter.”

“Seriously?” Syney asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “You wouldn’t have bothered me, I promise. Why did you break up now?”

“I’ll be taking the high priestess vows tomorrow.”

“So?”

“So my vows…They don’t allow for side relationships.”

Syney’s eyes widened. “Oh. So you’re going to be like a nun. That sucks. Are you sure this is what you want?”

Helen hesitated but nodded. “It’s an honor.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Helen took Syney’s hands. “There’s more to life than being in love with a man. I love my religion, and I can’t wait to guide people, including you, toward our goddesses.”

Syney sighed. “OK. Just remember, you can’t undo this if you change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

Syney shook her head and looked out at the sea of people around them. Then she stopped suddenly. Anxiety rose through her body, and her heart sped up. She looked toward Reed and was about to call to him when a man jumped in front of her.

“You’re the target. You’re going to bring death to us all!” he yelled, grabbing a long wide blade from the stand next to them.

Syney jumped back just as he brought the blade down, slicing her arm open. She cried out, fell to the ground, and reached for her own knife that was
strapped to her belt, stabbing him in the leg. He went down as well just as Reed ran up, putting the man immediately in a choke hold so he wouldn’t go anywhere. Syney caught her breath and looked at the man. She felt a familiar sense run over her. She knew him, but from where?

Helen wrapped her arm around Syney. “Are you OK? Oh, Goddess, look at your arm.”

Syney pushed her away gently and crept closer to the man. Then it hit her. He was the one. The one from her room. She hadn’t seen him very well, but she knew it was him. She scowled at him and reached forward, pulling her knife out of his leg, making him yell out. “He’s the one who attacked me in my room last year,” she told Reed.

He nodded and put his wrist forward as he kept the man restrained. “Press that, will ya?”

Syney pressed the circular opal that was at the center of a leather bracelet and heard the master alarm sound. “Nice.”

Reed grinned and nodded.

Syney took in her surroundings and noticed hundreds of eyes looking at them. She looked back at Helen. “Well, that was fun.”

Helen shook her head. “We need to get you to the infirmary.”

“Not until the guard gets him,” she said, motioning to the man.

“OK. I need a cloth or something.”

About ten women jumped forward to fulfill her request.

Helen took one of the cloths. “Thank you—all of you.”

Syney winced as she wrapped the cloth around the wound. She was tired of getting hurt. She needed to find out how this damn war started. It seemed like the only thing that might stop all this. And she was beginning to think she wasn’t going to find any answers in the Village.

Syney was pacing in front of the guards’ interrogation room when Leaf approached. Her arm was bandaged, and her face was filled with what looked like anger. He had ordered the man to be brought to this room, even having his wounds treated there, as Leaf increased security yet again. He didn’t like what these attacks were doing to the Village and his guards. It was bad enough he had to send them out of the Village on missions and limit his number of guards in the palace, but now he was in the tough position of having to order double shifts and tripling Protectors. He was spreading his men too thin, which made him uncomfortable.

“You should get some rest,” Leaf said as he approached.

Syney stopped pacing. “No way. Are you interrogating him?”

Leaf nodded. “Are you sure it’s him?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t get a very good look that night. It’s just a gut feeling. I was hoping you might be able to…smell him or something. The only other people who were there were Hunter and Fern, and they’re not here.”

“All right. I should be able to. Even if it isn’t the same man, he still attacked you today. So he’ll be punished for that.”

Syney nodded.

“Might I suggest a little less—”

“If you restrict me to the palace, I might hit you.”

Leaf sighed and crossed his arms. “It’s not a punishment.”

“It would still feel that way.”

“Then you’ll have to inform me when you want to go out into the markets…or pubs.”

Syney rolled her eyes. “I was waiting for that reprimand. How fast did Birch go running to you?”

“He’s concerned, as am I.”

“You don’t have to worry about Adam.”

“It’s my job to worry about security risks.”

“Seriously? I’m not some ten-year-old who needs coddling! I’m nineteen, an adult—thank you very much! I can make my own decisions about who I spend time with!” Syney exploded, her hands flailing.

Leaf raised an eyebrow. Syney didn’t have these types of outbursts often. He suspected today’s attack had something to do with it, but he hadn’t seen her get this worked up since Hunter had left. “What’s the matter?”

Syney gave him a long look before deflating and giving a large sigh. “I ran into Rose and your mom before the attack.”

Leaf smiled, a little. “And that was bad?”

“When Rose tells me all about how Hunter and Fern will be starting a family soon, yeah, that’s bad.”

“She’s upset.”

“Got that. At me, obviously.”

“She still shouldn’t have spoken to you about that. I’ll have a word with her.”

Syney shook her head. “Please don’t. It’ll make things worse. She has the right to her opinion. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She smiled a little. “Helen liked your mom, though.”

Leaf looked away. “We just should be cautious about who you spend time with. And you’ve been spending a lot of time with Adam.”

Syney rolled her eyes, probably at the abrupt change of subject. “I like him a lot. And I trust him.”

“You’ve known him less than a month.”

“Time has nothing to do with feelings. I trusted Hunter the second I saw him.”

“You should get as much information about Adam as you can before you place your trust in him.”

“Fine,” Syney said, her annoyance rising again. “Do a security check or whatever on him.”

“I did.”

She stopped and stared at him, her mouth hanging open. “Oh. Well, what did it…Never mind. I don’t want to know. I trust him.”

“OK,” Leaf said with a small smile. He continued to stare at her silently. He knew she would cave; he just wasn’t sure how long it would take.

Less than a minute later, she sighed. “What did you find?”

“Nothing.”

“See? I told you!”

“No, I mean I found out nothing. No one knows anything about Adam Blaine.”

“He grew up in the neutral territories.”

“I tried there as well.”

She looked away and bit her lip. “You think it’s a fake name.”

“Maybe.” Leaf sighed and stepped closer to her, tentatively putting his hands on her upper arms. He didn’t usually get this close to Magic Users, but he cared about Syney enough to do so. She wasn’t like Helen to him, but almost like a sister, one who annoyed him and also made him laugh. “I just want you to be careful.”

Syney looked up at him and nodded. “I know. I’m just…I think I’m falling in love with him.”

“All the more reason to be careful.”

She smiled. “I will.” She took a deep breath. “Ready to get at this guy?”

Leaf dropped his arms and nodded. “You’re not allowed in.”

“Hey!”

“Not up for debate,” Leaf said before he entered and closed the door behind him.

Inside, there was only room for one small table in the middle, with one chair on either side of the table. Two guards were posted on either side of the door. Leaf nodded to them and looked at the man. He was middle-aged, with brown hair that was matted and sticking up. Dirt covered his skin and clothes, which were tattered and torn. His frame was thin and frail. This man was obviously very poor and weak. Leaf wouldn’t be surprised if the man hadn’t eaten a good meal or bathed in a long time. The Lycin took the seat across from him and took a deep breath. Under the dirt and stench, his scent matched the one he remembered from the night Syney had been attacked in her room. That being said, he felt there was no way this man had been the perpetrator. The attacker had jumped out of Syney’s window and then had been chased by a very angry Hunter through the Village. This man clearly wasn’t capable of that and yet he had done it.

“Do you know where you are?” Leaf asked him.

The man looked up at him with blank eyes. They were completely dead, as if he were in a haze. “The land of magic.”

“You attacked the seated queen today.”

“That bitch is going to kill us all. There will be no land of magic, only land.” The man shook his head and banged his fist against the table.