“Hard to say. Travel takes up most of the time and they have to go on a mission together as a team so—”
“Where are they being sent for that?” My father asked.
“Um—Maaki, I think. Crime in the south has multiplied over the years.”
That still sounded like it was far off. I was hoping maybe to get a better idea of when. I guess I still had some waiting to do. Nothing unusual. I’ve been doing that a lot but doing it now started to get boring. I’ve been leaned back in this chair for quite some time that I even fell asleep for part of it. I heard talking around me before I even opened my eyes and instinctively looked down. Trever wasn’t touching me in some way anymore. In fact, he wasn’t even in the room. It was Seth and my father.
“Hey, there.” Seth said. “Finally awake from passing out?”
He said it jokingly of course but I still defended myself. “I got bored.”
“I was kidding.”
“How are you feeling?” My father asked.
“Tired. Is it okay to move now?”
“Yeah. It was given back to you. You’re fully you again.”
“How long has it been?”
“Not that long.” Seth said. “They just moved on to Bryce’s room. So, can you feel any of it?”
I looked down. I looked pretty good except there was a red border around the whole design; the bad kind of red that said I was injured. I touched it and that’s when I felt a mild sting.
“A little bit. Kind of burning like. I’m not really used to that.”
Of course he laughed. “I bet. I can’t move this whole side of me. That’s how bad it is.”
“Well, you kind of have baby skin. I expected that.”
“I’m turning slowly to leave now.”
He had an attitude about what I said but I could only laugh because he did turn slowly like moving his upper body at all was painful.
“All right.” My father said. “Find something else to do until Bryce is done then you can converge about it.”
He just didn’t want us to fight. I guess I understand that. We’ve been doing that a lot. Hopefully we won’t have to around the time we can see our mothers again. I missed her but I always did my best to not think about her being away. I was good at it but this waiting was nearly done out in all of us. We just wanted it to be over but felt it never would be, not yet at least. There was still more to come.
Chapter 6
Darius
Time was a funny thing. We saw our boys as completely grown up now. They had finally gotten their marks like we had once did and they were fully healed within the week so they could start showing them off. Dirk was really anticipating that and was trying to rush through a family breakfast so he could go out.
“Slow down before you choke on it.” I said.
“What? It’s good.” He said it with a mouthful but of course I didn’t believe him. No one seemed to.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.” Seth joked. “Your fans can wait.”
“Shut up. Don’t call them that.”
“What else should I call them? Whores doesn’t seem appropriate. You don’t pay them.”
Dirk’s eyes narrowed but Zayden jumped in before an argument could arise. “Boys, that’s enough.” He seemed rather happy and started to get up.
“What is it?” Troy asked.
“Someone is using the portal.”
Seth was fastest to look but it was only Adele that walked through the doors.
Zayden was quickest to greet her. This was our longest period of separation but it was odd that no one else came following after her.
“Seth!” She ran and hugged him next.
He was glad to see her but clearly wanted something or someone else. “Where’s Cadence?”
Adele pulled away and looked as usual, less than happy. “Oh, I see. So seeing me means nothing?”
“Of course not, mother but something had to happen.”
“Actually not much is happening. We’re waiting for her to return from Lecca but it should be very soon.”
“Where are the others?” I asked.
Adele finally moved her eyes off Seth to see that we were all sitting here. “Well, hello, Darius. It’s nice to see you too.”
“Hi, Adele. We missed you. Now, why weren’t you followed?”
“They’re with the other two right now and—” She paused and looked around. “Boys, you look about done. Why don’t you run along and play?”
The boys looked at each other, not enthused. I’m sure she knew they were men now but I understood why she wouldn’t want to immediately recognize it upon her return.
“We don’t play, mother.” Seth said with his usual level of attitude. “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of us.”
“Maybe it’s not what I want to say but rather do.” She turned to Zayden, gripping the back of his neck and forcing his lips down into hers with her tongue purposely showing her eagerness.
It was only funny because Seth completely quivered to see his parents so close and got right up to leave. “We’re going.”
“Or—” Dirk suggested. “We could stay.”
He and Bryce didn’t seem to want to move with Adele so close behind them in a mood but Seth didn’t even give me the chance to intervene. He clenched his fists and hit them together, making Bryce and Dirk knock heads.
“Or—we’re going.”
“Ouch.” Bryce said. “You have a really hard head.”
“Like yours is any better.”
They got up to leave, following Seth out.
“What is this really about before I take you upstairs next?” Zayden obviously knew it was a game to get the boys to leave but he still enjoyed the brief contact.
Adele sighed and sat in her chair, making Zayden sit back down as well. “I don’t know. It’s just—something that happened that I thought maybe you should hear from me before Ruby comes home and exploits all her theories.”
“What about Ruby?” I asked. “Is she okay?”
“She’s physically okay but she’s having somewhat of a mental meltdown.”
“What happened?” Troy asked.
“Well, the year went great. The girls are amazing and completely fitting to replace us—”
“Adele!” I cut in. “What’s going on?!”
She took a breath like she was ready to share a huge secret. “We’ve spent so much time around Cadence, including Ruby and she’s truly convinced that she’s—your daughter.”
My face struck a blank until I realized she was still looking at me. I’m not sure—I don’t know how I should respond.
“Cadence is?” Zayden asked. “How would that even be possible?”
Adele sighed. “I don’t think I should get into that because Jaylyn even says it’s possible.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” I said. “What? How?”
She sighed again, a sign that she was going to explain it even though she didn’t want to. “I will tell you what Jaylyn said but I’m a neutral here. I don’t have strong beliefs about whether it’s right or wrong.”
“Okay.”
“We know that Meg had twins. Twins can happen two ways. One, coming from the same egg. These are usually identical twins and the same gender. Second, coming from two separate eggs which means their genders can be different. This is what happened with Meg.”
“But how?” Troy asked. “He was with her weeks after she was forced to be with Wyatt.”
Adele took another heavy breath. “She could have been very early in her pregnancy then and her body didn’t know it so she ovulated another egg.”
I honestly didn’t know what I was supposed to do with this but for the sake of Ruby and I, it had to be wrong. “Can’t Jaylyn tell? I mean, wouldn’t she know if it was me?”
“Maybe when she was pregnant but not now. I had her confirm early that Meg was pregnant before she was even with you but it was too early to tell the gender. When she got around to that, she could only feel on
e because Cadence was blocking her brother. She was stronger.”
That kind of hung on me for a little while. Stronger. I didn’t know what to make of this. It was the first time I was hearing of it and now, Cadence was already sixteen; an adult.
“Isn’t that a giveaway?” Zayden asked. “She would have his strength if she was his.”
“I know but we could never test that. Cadence has no idea that Ruby even thinks this. She doesn’t know that you were with her mother and her gift makes it difficult to test it.”
“You got them gifts too?” Troy asked.
“It’s kind of essential these days.”
“What’s hers?” Zayden asked.
“She can mimic any other gift within a given range so to accurately test it, Ruby, Dirk, Darius and even me or Seth could not be around.”
“What’s this range?” I asked. “How far do we need to be?”
“You’d want to test it?”
“If this is what Ruby thinks, she’s not just going to let it go until she has answers.”
“But what if she’s right, Darius? What if Cadence is your daughter?”
I gave it a moment to settle in but I couldn’t fully know what I would do. “Isn’t knowing better than wondering?”
“Not when it could change our life like this?”
“How would it change? Wyatt not being her father would mean we’d owe him nothing. He couldn’t use their marriage to get anything out of us.”
“Their marriage, Darius? You still think we could allow that?”
I was sorry but I had to laugh. “Adele, Zayden and I are not related by blood. It wouldn’t be considered incest.”
“Yeah, Love, think about it. It would really just bring the family more together permanently.”
“How can you be okay with that? If she’s not Wyatt’s then she’s not a Princess.”
“It was never about that, Love. I want Seth to have what he wants and that’s Cadence. You’re not going to be able to change that. It no longer matters who her father is.”
“It does matter.”
“What happened to being a neutral?” Troy asked. “It sounds like you don’t want Darius to be her father.”
“How can no one else see how it will complicate things? Ruby will never be the same and Meg won’t just go away. She’ll be a part of this family too.”
I could see her concern but either way, we had to find out the truth if this was already considered a possibility. It’s been a year but I still knew my wife. She’d want the answers too even if she doesn’t openly say it.
“I have to know.” I said. “You can’t just tell me something like that and expect me to forget about it.”
“But what will you do? Give me some assurance that no one will get hurt and I might consider allowing the test to happen.”
“Of course no one will get hurt.”
“I meant emotionally. That means you never go to Meg and you never tell her how sorry you are for never being there for her. She is not going to find out about this.”
“You don’t think Cadence will tell her? If she’s mine then I’m going to make damn sure that she knows it.”
“Sure, she can know but Meg cannot because she’ll move here so she can be closer and that is the last thing Ruby will want to happen. Think of the family you have, not the one that walked out on you.”
“She didn’t walk out on me. She wanted me to be with Ruby because she’s my soul mate.”
“No. Meg would have stayed and laid claim to you. I’m the one that told her to go.”
“What?!” Obviously this was the first time I was hearing about this but that didn’t make me happy about it.
“What did you expect? I was not going to let her split up our family and I’m surely not going to risk it happening again. She will not find out. We can keep Cadence busy.”
I didn’t know where I wanted this to go or why I was so concerned with it. It may be for the same reason Adele seems so infuriated with me. She truly thinks that I’d go back to her if Cadence was mine but I wouldn’t. She was already grown up. What could I offer her that she’d have need for? The time for raising her has already passed.
“We should still know.” Zayden said. “What needs to happen with this test?”
Adele finally took a breath to calm herself. “I guess It would be up to you and Jaylyn to try somewhere outside the outer wall. She has to be a mile from the rest of us.”
“What about me?” Troy asked.
“You’ll be with us so we can watch but I still don’t know about doing it. What are we supposed to tell her? She doesn’t know that this is even a possibility and I don’t want her to get any kind of hopes up. She’s like Jaylyn. One little light and she’s going to extort it until it’s true.”
“Has she even shown signs of strength before?” Zayden asked.
“She wouldn’t need to. Cadence is too kind and gentle for that kind of force.”
“Then how could it be tested without—” Zayden paused and looked up.
“What?” Adele asked.
“Someone else is using the portal.”
We waited a moment. I was hoping to see Ruby walk through the door but Trever did instead and the day just got worse.
“Trever, what are you doing here?” Adele asked. “Something wrong?”
“I guess you could say that. Cadence just returned.”
“Is she all right?” Zayden asked.
“She’s great. In perfect health after succeeding her mission.”
“Then what is it?” Troy asked.
Trever paused for what seemed like a long while. It was something he liked to do but we’ve always hated it.
“She brought distressing news. Sedrik plans to move against you.”
“What?!” Zayden rose to his feet. “Why?”
“He remembers—everything. He’s coming for Adele. You have to kill him this time, Zayden.”
“But what if—”
“No. He’s not in the mood to talk. He’s already gathered his army. He’ll be here on the first autumn dawn.”
My mind drifted back to war and I looked at Zayden for a response. Of course we were going to answer. There’s no way we would just sit here.
“Troy, summon the General immediately. We need to have the army ready to march by night fall. They won’t reach the city.”
He nodded and got right up to do it.
“Zayden, really?” Adele seemed concerned. “Going to war?”
“I will to protect you! He’s not going to stop.”
“That’s why you have to stop him.” Trever said. “And Zayden—” He did that pausing thing again but this time it was like he was trying to hold back some kind of emotion. “If you were ever going to do anything for me—end him quick.”
He turned right from there and walked out to leave. It was curious but we had more important matters at hand.
“Let’s prepare.” Zayden said to me. “Love—”
“Don’t you dare. I’m coming with you.”
He just smiled and touched her chin. “I was going to say, get Ruby and Jaylyn.”
“Right. The girls will stay with my father until this is over then we’ll do our group mission.”
“I don’t see it taking long.” I joked.
Zayden even laughed.
“Zayden.” Adele turned him and made sure he was looking. “Seth stays out of it. Whatever it takes.”
“I understand, Love. He wouldn’t be able to before his ceremony anyway and he’ll know that isn’t going to happen yet.”
She nodded and hurried off to get back through the portal and Zayden and I looked at each other.
“It’ll be just like old times.” I said.
“Worse but this time we’re going to stop him for good.”
It was really the only way if he remembered everything that’s happened before. He was King when I hit him and that alone could mean my death but this campaign wouldn’t lead to ours, it’d lead to his; what
ever it took.
Chapter 7
Seth
My mother was still here? That was strange. It’s been a couple hours already. I thought she’d want to get back. I walked into her room and saw both my parents preparing to go somewhere that involved a heavy use of battle gear. “Where are you going?”
They both looked up but my mother stayed out of it and let my father answer me. “We have to ride to the front.”
It was war. I could have guessed and I put my previous questions aside, ready to join them. “Then I’m coming too.”
“No. You’re staying.”
“But I can fight!”
“No.”
“I’m ready! I can do this.”
“No, Seth, you’re not.”
“Why, because you haven’t made me a man yet? Well, I don’t need you to because I know that I am and I can fight!”
“Can you? Then present to me your weapon.”
“Father, is that you’re excuse? Does it matter what I use?”
“Yes. You do not have your weapon yet so you are not going. That’s how it works. I can’t change that even for you.”
“You mean you won’t.”
“Seth, this won’t take us long. We just have to correct one of our mistakes and we need you here to look after the people.”
I looked to my mother but she said nothing. It was hopeless. If she couldn’t even back me up then there was no point in arguing it but I followed them outside anyway.
Their horses were brought to them and they got on as Ruby, Jaylyn, Darius and Troy were ready and waiting for them. I stood by my father and he looked down at me. “Don’t feel helpless, my son. I’m leaving the city in your hands. We’ll be back no later than a week.”
They all rode off to the gates and traveled south. I turned around when they were out of sight and started running inside.
“Seth!” Dirk called. “Wait!”
They caught up to me in the armory as I prepared myself for war.
“What are you doing?” Dirk asked.
“I’m going after them.”
“What?” Bryce wondered. “We’re all upset about not being able to go but is this really necessary? Do you know how much trouble you could get into if they found out?”
Autumn Dawn (Fate's Intent Book 11) Page 3
