by Lisa Daniels
Not entirely sure how to respond to that, Fayina looked away. “I can believe it.” Forcing herself to look at him, Fayina found herself wanting to ask more, despite the attitude she had tried to adopt. “From your appearance, you can’t be more than 25 years old. You had to have been a child when you married. Was it arranged?”
His reaction answered the question faster than his words as Adrik exclaimed, “Absolutely not.” Regaining his composure, the bear shifter clarified, “We don’t have arranged marriages. All bear shifters are allowed to choose whomever they wish to marry. There is never any kind of stipulation, even for our royalty. A person must live their life, and we try to keep from impeding the natural direction of a person’s path as much as possible. Obviously, we do have laws and regulations, but they rarely dictate anything about a person’s life. Only royalty has any kind of stipulations on the direction their lives will take, but we do not use our children to build alliances and power. As for my age when I married,” his eyes glanced up to the skylight on the opposite side of the furnished cave, “I was perhaps a little younger than the average shifter age at the time of marriage, but my age was comparable to yours now. I mean, I was 35 in human years. That is certainly still young considering how long we live, but not unheard of for two people in love to marry. And she was so beautiful, so vivacious, so…” his voice trailed off. Giving an apologetic shrug, Adrik looked at Fayina. “Most of us are in our 60s or 70s before we start considering marriage. But our circumstance made an earlier marriage advisable.”
“Your 60s or 70s!” Staring at him incredulously, Fayina wasn’t sure how to respond to this bit of news. If he had been 35 when he married, and his wife had died more than a decade ago, how old was Adrik?
“We age slower than humans. That was a large reason why my wife died so long ago. Like you, she was human. She died of natural causes at the age of 96. We had about 60 amazing years together, but it wasn’t nearly enough.” He wiped his hand across his forehead.
This seemed too much for Fayina to accept. “Now I know you are lying to me. No human can live that long.”
Adrik gave her a sad look. “Humans can, especially when they live in the bear shifter kingdoms. We are able to help them live longer because of our medicines and way of life. Except for shape shifters, we live a peaceful existence. Our bodies also age far less rapidly. Some of our tribes live to be a few hundred years old.”
“That’s impossible. You are…” Fayina found his stories impossible to believe, yet there was still no reason for him to lie.
He chuckled, “That’s why we fit into so many human legends and myths. One of our lifetimes is several generations to humans. Similar to how you can have many generations of dogs over the course of your life. To them, your lives must seem impossible. It is the same principle. And we are not the longest-lived of the shifters either.”
“What creature could live longer than a few centuries?”
“Dragon shifters. We don’t even know how old they can live to be since they are fairly reclusive by nature.”
“But they insisted on marrying human princesses.”
Adrik nodded, “I know, and three of them were quite angry about it.”
“Didn’t stop them from doing it, though.”
A lopsided grin appeared on Adrik’s face. “I know. Oh, I will never let them live it down either. Except Liam. Trying to make fun of him never works out the way you plan it. He’s too sweet for his own good.”
“You talk like you know them.”
“The four princes?”
“Yeah. You just said they were reclusive, but you seem to know them well.”
“Of course. They are all still young, and two of them are far more willing to leave their kingdoms than is usual for dragon shifters. Well, I suppose all of them will be leaving more often now that they are married,” he laughed again. “The world works in strange ways, but it will be best for everyone in the long run.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because they have bonded with human lands. I doubt that the children they have with their first wives will take the throne since those kids will have lives a fraction as long as their fathers, but I believe that they will have a bond to the human lands that will help protect them going forward.”
Fayina shook her head, “I don’t understand any of this.”
He gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry. I was going overboard. It was just so strange, even though I encountered one of them with the human who became his wife. You know he had the nerve to say that I was a pushover?”
Fayina couldn’t help but smile. She cocked an eyebrow. “Something tells me he was right.”
“What?” Adrik looked offended. “First, you can’t side with him. Second, when he said it, he was helping the human woman find her lover so that she could run away from her royal family.”
“Sounds like he failed.”
“No, he succeeded, just not in the way he had intended. He was always a softie. Not quite at Liam’s level, but much more so than the other two princes.” Adrik suddenly held up his hands. “Sorry, my original point was that you were sick because of me. I sincerely apologize for the tangent.”
Fayina had lain down. Now she propped her head up on her arm. “Why did you tell me that it was your fault? Why not let me think that it was something else?”
“Why lie about it?”
“Aren’t you afraid that it will erode my trust in you?”
“I believe trying to hide it from you would actually give you reason not to trust me.”
Fayina found no fault in that logic. She pulled at her lower lip. “That is not… you know that you aren’t like most people.”
Adrik’s smile was gentle as he shrugged. “I get that a lot.”
“Filip said that you were assigned to me because he thought I would be the most difficult. If you hadn’t been a bear shifter, he probably would have been right.”
“I haven’t found you difficult. You don’t trust easily, and considering the life you have lived, that is not something that anyone should hold against you.”
Fayina sat up and scratched her head, not sure how to bring the topic back to what she wanted to ask. “How…” she chickened out before she could utter what she was thinking. Instead she switched to something else. “How did you pass the toxins on through… what happened? How is that even possible?”
Adrik tapped his mouth with his knuckles, debating how best to answer that question. “Toxins are not like poisons or diseases. They are created with certain types of magic and poisons, a magic that makes the poison more potent and increases the number of symptoms. There isn’t a toxin that can seriously hurt a shifter, but that doesn’t mean they don’t affect us. The toxin that the bandits were using is designed to make us careless, increasing the odds that we will shift in front of humans. In a lot of kingdoms, humans are terrified of us, so they attack. The only way to deal with them is fleeing. If they are in big enough numbers, they can kill us.”
“I don’t understand why anyone would kill a bear shifter.”
“We haven’t always had the best relationship with humans, and some humans are far less forgiving, depending on the transgression. You also have a very different understanding of the world than we do. Differences breed mistrust.”
Fayina knew exactly what he meant as an image of her father flashed through her mind.
Adrik continued, “Since this kingdom is not exactly hostile to us, I am not sure what Jake hoped to achieve, or if he even realized that it wasn’t really going to help him. I dare say he didn’t care. The toxins don’t seriously affect us, but they can affect humans. And what we did ensured that you would be affected.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I should have controlled myself and protected you. But…” his words drifted off.
Fayina supplied the end of his thought, “You were in a weakened state and I didn’t help by initiating.” Sighing, she felt really guilty about the way she had treated him. However, it was obvious that Adrik was no
t angry, and it appeared he did not want to get rid of her as quickly as possible. Perhaps it was still possible to be friends with him. Though what she would do with her life was a little harder to decide now that she didn’t have anger to guide her.
Sliding out from under the covers, she headed toward the small closet without the sheet. He had seen her body too much over the last few days for her to be concerned with what he would think of it. Any thoughts he could have must have already passed through his mind. As she entered the closet-like space, she called out, “I think you were right about the pants. I’ll stick with something a little easier to put on.”
Adrik appeared in the doorway. “Actually, I think I can help you find some pants that will work.” He passed her and began pulling clothes out. The bear shifter pulled out several items, held them up, then shook his head.
By the time she was dressed, he had taught her how to lace up a pair of pants that did not feel uncomfortable, as well as helping her into a bra.
Fayina stood in front of a mirror, bouncing on her feet and watching as her chest movements were constricted. “I thought you were kidding about this being helpful, but clearly you were right. If I were to fight, I bet they wouldn’t be any kind of problem.”
His chuckle caused her to look away from her image and into the reflection of his eyes. She noticed that his cheeks were flushed, but he had his usual smile, and Fayina couldn’t help but return it. The pink on his cheeks looked good as Adrik said, “They never would have been a problem. It will just make it easier to ride when I am in bear form.”
Fayina smiled and looked back at herself. “And when making love. I can probably get a lot wilder with this on.”
“I doubt you will find any man who will allow you to keep it on when making love.”
Again she looked at him, and there was a quirky smile on his face. “Are you telling me that you would take it off?”
“My dear Fayina, I would never take it off without asking. I would simply request. Vigorously.” He stood up. “Come on. You need to eat something.”
Fayina followed him to the kitchen area. “My legs have certainly healed fast. I couldn’t even walk earlier.”
He gave her an enigmatic smile, then pulled out a chair for her. “I hope you like fish.”
“I suppose it won’t hurt,” Fayina was looking at a large plate of food, and all of it looked like something she could get at a royal ball in Caden Kingdom, the largest and most influential of the human kingdoms. “I have to say that this is very impressive.”
“And you are letting it get cold. Eat up.”
After the first bite, Fayina realized just how hungry she was. It didn’t take her nearly so long as she had expected to finish and ask for seconds.
Chapter 9
Putting the Offer on Hold
Despite how well Fayina felt, Adrik had been right that she was not up to full strength. Leaving the cave would clearly have been a mistake as she didn’t think she could hold on to him, at least not with her legs. Walking was easy enough, but she quickly found out that anything more strenuous was difficult.
The evening after their reconciliation, Adrik had begun to teach her how to use a sword. Fayina had asked where he had found two swords, especially since bear shifters didn’t need weapons, but her teacher had adeptly dodged the question and started the lesson. Less than ten minutes in, Fayina had to stop because her legs simply could not do what he was demonstrating. While it was true that some of the problem was that she wasn’t nearly so coordinated as he was, her legs started to feel shaky even after some moves that she knew she could do.
As she built up her stamina, Adrik acted as her overly patient teacher, even once shaking off a nasty cut she had accidently given him when she overextended. She was rather surprised at how quickly he healed, too—only a few days passed and it was difficult to see any sign that he had been injured.
When she noticed as they were eating breakfast, Fayina couldn’t help but ask, “What about the wound from that arrow?”
Adrik seemed confused for a moment, then he realized what she meant. “Ah, yes, Jake’s thugs.” He lifted up his shirt. “Can’t even tell now.”
“How does your body heal so fast?”
“A large part of it is thanks to you. I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but you are incredibly gifted at treating wounds, despite the fact that you don’t use magic.” This praise from him caused her to blush. Adrik was profuse in his praise of her skills with a sword (despite the fact that she believed he was exaggerating), but that had made her more shy, not less. Since Adrik was not stingy with his praise, the princess found herself blushing more often over the course of a single day than she had in her entire life. There was something even more pleasant about having him praise her healing skills, though. On that front, she knew that she had performed well. He continued, “Perhaps… if you would like, I could show you how to make certain salves and potions. It would enhance your current, impressive abilities.”
Fayina paused for a minute as she considered her future for the first time. She had all but insisted on being taken back to her family, but now she was having a hard time convincing herself it was the right move. The only thing that she knew she had to do was to let her parents know that she had not been abducted. Adrik said that he had sent word that she was fine, but Fayina wasn’t sure that was going to be nearly enough to persuade them that she was fine. They would rather latch on to an excuse to attack their neighbors than listen to reason.
But the idea of seeing them again was getting increasingly difficult. For the first time in her life, Fayina felt happy. Not because of a fleeting liaison or getting away with something that would have upset her parents, but because someone cared about her. Not her position. Not about what she could do for him. Adrik had never once asked her for anything. With each passing day, she felt the desire to stay with him.
And that was where things became difficult.
Since that one passionate night, he had shown no sign of being interested in her beyond as her friend and teacher. Afraid of hurting him, Fayina had not attempted anything else with him. And that on its own had come as a shock to the princess. Over the course of her life, she had rarely cared about hurting others. Now, she found herself watching what she said, and making sure that her words were not offensive, even unintentionally. Fayina was aware that the time she spent with Adrik was changing her, but she found that she liked the person she was becoming with him. The idea of losing that relationship paralyzed her. The princess wanted a closer relationship, but she didn’t want to make things uncomfortable. She wanted to stay near him, even if it was just as a friend, but Fayina wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject. From everything he had said, only humans who married shifters went to live with them. Would she be allowed to accompany him to the north?
For the first time, Fayina was envious of Myra. Filip was taking her up to the northern realms, and Myra hadn’t had to do anything special to be invited.
Finally, the day she had been dreading arrived.
They had just finished practicing with the swords when Adrik handed her a towel, the usual praise flowing freely. She was wiping off her face as he put their weapons away, a sense of contentment causing her to smile into the soft towel. When he returned, Adrik said, “I suppose we need to discuss our departure. We cannot keep putting it off.”
He handed her some water, which she drank as much out of a desire to delay speaking about it as to quench her thirst. Panting, she managed to say, “I guess so.” She was going to put it all on him to determine what came next because she couldn’t bring herself to say what she knew she should.
“Nico has been monitoring your kingdom, and it appears that they have yet to turn your absence into a reason to fight. But he feels that it is only a matter of time.”
Fayina rubbed her eyes with her left hand. “It’s surprising they didn’t start fighting immediately after we disappeared.”
“Well, both families got word from th
e bandits soon after you disappeared. Needless to say, they were quite shocked to find out that you and Iliya had been together, a detail that Jake obviously planned to use as additional leverage. Or a way to pit the two families against each other instead of coming after him.”
“That was probably the only move he could have made that would force them to work together,” Fayina mused.
“I thought so, too. But Jake was clever in other ways, and it has resulted in your family losing a considerable sum of money.”
“They were trying to get me back?” This news seemed wrong to the princess.
“I’m sorry,” and the expression on Adrik’s face reflected how he felt, “but no. He’s been sending men into the garrisons of both kingdoms, and they have made off with a lot of supplies. And they killed a much larger percentage of the military during these raids.”
Fayina felt the color drain from her face. “I don’t know how he could do that.”
“Jake has injected his men into both militaries. Actually, he has loyal followers in several of the kingdoms up here, including the kingdoms of the other two princesses who were imprisoned with you. Apparently the plot with the shape shifters went beyond simply impregnating you and hoping that your families didn’t kill you or your children. Jake has been paid handsomely to set up his men to protect the infants and ensure that they thrive.”
Fayina could not believe what she was hearing. “That’s impossible.”
“It’s actually worse than that.”
“How is that possible?” She looked at him, her eyes wide and her heart racing for her kingdom.
Adrik took a deep breath, “Some of the men that Jake has worked into the militaries are shape shifters. And there are some shape shifters working in the palaces and castles. They were to teach the children as they grew.”
Fayina shook her head, “We can’t let them. We absolutely cannot let them.”
