Shattered Heir (Broken Gods Book 1)

by N. M. Howell

  She stared at him a long moment, considering. She glanced up to the villagers. Elves, humans, and children all stood together staring up at her, their eyes shining and their faces hopeful. It sent a deep sadness through her, looking out at them. There was nothing she could do to bring back the lives of the ones they’ve lost, but perhaps there was something she could do to improve their lives going forward.

  A small boy stepped forward just then, his hands outstretched toward her face. Rhea knelt, her eyes burning with unshed tears. He placed a soft, small hand against her cheek and looked up into her eyes. His own eyes were wide and deep blue.

  “Are you Princess Rhea?” he asked her, his voice so soft she hardly heard him.

  Rhea swallowed a lump in her throat and slowly nodded. The boy’s face lit up, his eyes shining like a thousand stars. Even in the darkness of night, now that the sun had fully set, his eyes were illuminated and bright, full of hope.

  His hand dropped down and he turned back and ran to what Rhea assumed was his father. The child whispered excitedly, and the father looked up at her with surprised eyes. He then stepped forward, taking his child’s hand.

  “So, it’s true?” he called to her. His eyes burned red, a reflection of the loss and devastation he had just endured. But still he smiled at her, offering a look of encouragement.

  She stood, her back rigid and her muscles tense. She nodded to him quickly and looked away. He had been peering so deeply into her soul, his eyes so intense that she couldn’t look back at him.

  She had abandoned these people. She never realized it until now, but her escape had caused much more harm than she ever could have imagined. She’d run away for her own benefit, wanting to escape the horrors that her father had inflicted on the world, but by escaping, she’d turned her back on her people. At the time, she hadn’t realized that there was anything she could have done to help her world. Still now she didn’t think there was anything significant that she could do to change what was happening, but she was there now, and she had to at least try.

  Her guardians watched her as a myriad of expressions must have crossed her face. She felt sadness, anger, elation, and determination. She finally settled on a mixture of determination and hope, a thread of anger woven through. She knew what she had to do.

  Turning her back on her guardians, Rhea stepped up on a large stump. Taelor offered a hand, lifting her from beneath her elbow so she could stand tall on the fallen tree.

  As she stood, the audience quieted. People stepped forward, gathering around her, and murmurs of excitement washed through the crowd only to dim in silence when she raised her hand.

  “My name is Rhea Greystone,” she called out to the crowd. She felt her guardians bristle behind her, but they stood silent, waiting for her to speak. She glanced back momentarily and caught Grayson’s eyes. She couldn’t tell if he was terrified, angry, or proud. He offered her a curt nod and stepped back. She took it as acknowledgement of his approval of what she was about to do, and she smiled back at him and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  She had hated them for pulling her back into this awful world, but now she was grateful at what they had revealed to her. Had she stayed in the human world, unaware of everything that was going on in her home realm, who knew what further destruction would have occurred and how many more lives would have been lost. Unsure whether she would be able to change their fate, she knew then that she could at least instill hope for these people, if at least for a short time.

  “We thought you were dead,” a man’s voice called from the back of the crowd.

  Excited shouts erupted around her and Rhea bowed her head to them, a sign of respect.

  “Have you been here this whole time?” a woman’s voice called.

  “Why did you leave us?”

  “Are you back for good now?”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “Are you here to take the throne?”

  Rhea’s eyes flicked from voice to voice, her eyes settling on each speaker in turn. Their voices got more excited as each one spoke, but by the looks on their faces, she wasn’t sure whether they were happy to see her or angry that she had left in the first place.

  Letting out a deep sigh, Rhea lifted her head high and spoke. “Gentle villagers,” she began, “there are no words I can offer to console you over the destruction and horrors of what happened here. My heart aches for each and every one of you, and I mourn the loss of your friends and family. What happened here is unforgivable, nearly as unforgivable as what I have done.”

  Whispers passed through the crowd and her guardians took a small step forward, prepared to intervene if necessary. Her hand twitched silently behind her, signaling for them to stay back.

  “For you see,” she continued, her voice steady, “I made an extremely poor and selfish decision six years ago. I was afraid and I was weak and I left. I turned my back on this world and our people. I fled the evils of my father’s grasp, running away like a coward.”

  “You were just protecting yourself,” a man called.

  “You were only a child!”

  Rhea smiled. “I thank you for your understanding. The truth is, I hadn’t realized what I was turning my back on. For the past six years I was in the human world, unaware of the horrors and destruction that was taking place in our realm.

  “But I’m back now, and my guardians have made me see the truth. I stand with you against the evil ways of the gods. I choose no one’s side, only the side of peace. I’m not sure what I can do to turn this world around, but I vow to you right here and right now that I will do everything in my power to help see this world restored to peace.

  “We cannot allow this destruction to go on any longer. The lives of our people, of our friends and families and our neighbors, are all at risk if we just stand by and let the gods rule over our lands as they have done throughout our history. What once was a strong and powerful realm, now lies in ruin and destruction. If we continue at this pace, there will be nothing left.”

  The crowd grew excited, the sound of their cheers rising as she spoke.

  “Do you intend to take the throne?”

  “Will you be our queen?”

  The crowd started chanting her name, and she swallowed back the lump in her throat. Raising her hand in the air, she waited until silence fell once more.

  “I’m not here to take the throne,” Rhea spoke slowly. The faces of the people who stood before her fell, the excited murmurs disappearing into the wind.

  “But I do intend to help you find someone to become king or queen who will lead this world to a better place. I made my decision six years ago, and I don’t intend to replace my father. I have no interest in being queen or being a ruler. I know nothing of politics or ruling, I wouldn’t be the right person to see this world to a new future, but I do vow to help you find someone who will. I’m one of the people, one of you, and I wouldn’t know where to begin should I be given the throne.”

  “But it’s in your blood,” one person shouted.

  “There’s also evil in her blood,” another said.

  The crowd turned toward where the last voice came from.

  A tall woman with long silver hair and pointed ears stepped forward. Her eyes were dark and her face creased with concern. “How do we know what you say is true? We witnessed the destruction your father caused on our world. We don’t know you. You were but a child under his rule when he lived here, and you abandoned us. As you say, you turned your back on your people. How are we to believe what you say now is true?”

  Rhea allowed the silence to consume her as she considered the question. She then shook her head slowly and frowned. “You have no reason to trust me,” she said, her voice soft. “I know that. If I were you and after living through the horrors that you’ve lived through both today and in the last many years, I wouldn’t trust me, either. I’m the daughter of an evil king, and I escaped and turned my back on my people, at that. But I promise you this. I am not my father. I fled because I cou
ld not bear his evil. Because not an ounce of who he was runs in my blood.”

  She paused and let the words sink in. She knew them to be true, and she knew her guardians knew them to be true, but these people, the society that had never met her in person and never experienced the world she grew up in at the castle, they didn’t know her. They had no reason to trust her.

  “The fae and the elves are a very close race,” she continued. “We share traits, we share ancestry, and we share a desire for peace.”

  “The Emerald Fae have deceived us. They turned their backs on their own people and joined the evil ways of the usurper king.”

  Rhea couldn’t tell where the voice came from, but it was loud and angry and elicited a number of jeers and angry cries from the audience.

  Rhea shook her head. “I am not the Emerald Fae. I cannot begin to understand their reasoning for turning sides, but I assure you I stand for peace. I stand for unity. I will not tolerate the death or destruction or the chaos that has reigned over our realm for years. My mother was fae, a guardian to King Aeris. She was a peaceful and loving woman, kind and true, and her blood runs in my veins just as the blood of my father does. My father may have made me an heir to the throne, but my mother made me who I am as a person.”

  “We knew your mother,” an old woman called out to her, stepping forward. “She visited our village years before. She was a kind and gentle woman, and everyone who met her loved her deeply.”

  Rhea’s eyes stung as she nodded her agreement. “She was all those things, and more. She died protecting Aeris, my father, despite the fact that he was an evil and awful being who brought our world to ruin. She somehow saw the good in him and honored her bond to her god. She died because of him. I do not intend to allow anyone else to die for gods.”

  A chill ran up Rhea’s spine at the utter silence that met her words. The whistling of the wind around them, through the rough and dry trees and through the grasses, echoed loudly in their surroundings. The soft crackle of the low embers from the village above carried down toward them through the wind, as did the soft babble of the brook. Rhea took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, choosing her words wisely.

  “I do not claim to be strong. I do not claim to be worthy. I don’t know what I can do, but I’m here standing in front of you because I realize now who I am. I am Aeris’s daughter, for better or for worse. I am heir to the Otherworld throne, and while I do not intend to sit on that throne, I intend to do my duty as one who is bound to protect this world. I don’t ask for your help in fighting, I don’t intend to bring anyone else into this mess or risk anyone else’s lives, but I do ask for your support. I do ask for your trust, and I do ask for your allegiance to peace and goodness as I vow to work tirelessly in the restoration of our world to a state of peace.”

  Rhea closed her eyes, letting her words wash over the silence of the crowd. She had never so heavily felt her destiny weigh upon her as she did at that moment. She let it consume her, wash over her, allowing the truth to flood her very being. When she opened her eyes, the sea of people she saw looked back at her with smiles of renewed faith, of hope. Eyes filled with tears looked up at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back.

  Suddenly a sound erupted. It was so deafening she had to step back. Cheers and shouts of her name echoed through the wind. Their voices and songs were so loud against the surrounding silence, they thundered in Rhea’s ears.

  She turned back to her guardians, her brow pulled together in a pained expression. For she was defeated by her own identity, and she knew going forward she would have to do everything she had promised. She would have to be true to herself and true to her people, to renew and replenish her ruined world. She would do absolutely everything in her power to see this realm returned to peace.

  As the crowd rejoiced, singing and dancing and hugging each other, she jumped down from the stump, landing softly amidst her five guardians. She looked up at them hopefully, waiting for them to speak. She waited for Grayson’s wrath and Taelor’s condescension. For Keaven’s disappointment and Arry’s mischievous judgment. She waited for Roan to shake his head at her, but none of these things came, at least not from all of them.

  They stared at her, their eyes wide and their expressions soft. They looked at her like they’d never looked at her before—all except Taelor, who held his guard—and at that moment she felt bound to them. As they gazed at her with utter reverence, she felt her heart swell and at the same time, the first time in her life, she began to fully comprehend what her mother had explained to her so many years before.

  Gods were nothing without his or her guardians, and one could not be whole without them present. She felt that, deep in her heart. Standing there with them, she felt whole. She knew she couldn’t do this without them, and she finally accepted the fact that her life, going forward, was no longer going to be just her. Her life came as a package deal, the six of them together. Right there, right at that exact moment, she stepped into her true identity and let her destiny become her.

  When the excitement settled, they decided to make camp with the rest of the villagers. There was a flat field down the river and many of the folk had already started setting up temporary shelters to brave the coming nights. The villagers had made the unanimous decision to stay, to rebuild their structures and maintain the community as best they could, with help from outside cities where extended friends and family lived. It would be a long process, but Rhea supported their decision. They wouldn’t let the enemy win. They wouldn’t let their spirits be trampled.

  The crowd quieted as people began settling in for the night. Children slept as mothers sang soft lullabies to them. Grandparents rested and fathers gathered wood for the fires. They went about their lives as if their homes hadn’t just been torn from them. It was a testament to their perseverance.

  Rhea and her guardians chose a spot next to the river downstream, a protected area surrounded by dry bushes away from the gathering crowds. Roan set up a small tent for Rhea and lay down mats and blankets for the rest of them. Rhea was amazed at what fit in that small pack of his, but was laughed at by them all when she realized that of course there was some magic to it. They weren’t in the human world and weren’t bound to the traditional laws of physics. A bag could hold a lot more than met the eye when magic was involved.

  Rhea was about to bed down for the night. Exhaustion had set in and the weight of her decision was firmly pressing on her shoulders. Taelor stopped her, placing a soft hand on her arm as she was about to enter the tent.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  Rhea turned to him, frowning. Out of all her guardians, he was the only one who didn’t seem pleased with her actions of that night. He had avoided her, not making eye contact for the last hour. She figured he was just upset about the events of the day, these being his people and possibly even distant relations. Rhea allowed herself to be pulled away from the tent, far enough out of earshot of the rest the guardians and the sleepy crowd.

  Taelor frowned deeply, causing Rhea to take a timid step back.

  “What’s the matter with you?” she finally asked him.

  “You are careless,” he finally said. His words hung in the air like a wet blanket, wrapping heavily around her shoulders, suffocating her. She finally opened her mouth to speak, but words didn’t come. How could he not support her now after everything they’d been through?

  “It’s not that I don’t think you’re strong or capable,” Taelor added. His voice was slow and steady, serious. “It’s just that you risked so much by stepping out as yourself today. You didn’t think. We told you to keep your identity secret, to mask yourself until the right time. Now that everyone knows you’re here, rumors will spread like wildfire. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aelon or his people hear about your return within the day.”

  Rhea shook her head, frowning. “I understand it’s a greater risk, Taelor. But if I’m going to do anything, I can’t do it in secret. People need to know I’m back. I need to moti
vate them, to give them hope. I can’t do that if I’m invisible.”

  Taelor’s frown deepened. She recognized deep exhaustion in his eyes. Heavy creases were set deep above his brow and on either side of his mouth, likely the result of many years of fighting. Out of all her guardians, he seemed to be the most involved in the war, but she still didn’t understand how or why.

  “If you succeed at this, you need to listen to us,” he said. “You must heed our advice. We’ve been here longer than you. We know the world. You’ve been a stranger for so long and you’re naïve.

  “What you did today was careless and stupid, and I’m not sure how it will affect our mission, but I do know that going forward, things will be a lot more difficult because of it. How are we to keep you safe if the entire world knows you’re here? When most of the world wants you dead?”

  Rhea shook her head, a soft smile forming on her lips. “Taelor, you have to accept this as a small victory. It’s one step in the right direction. Did you see their faces? They saw hope for the first time in a long time, I suspect, and it was because of me. It made me feel stronger and more driven than I’d felt in my entire life. I finally have a purpose, and that purpose doesn’t involve cowering away in the human world or our world, pretending to be someone I’m not.”

  “You’re not listening,” Taelor snapped, his eyes menacing.

  Rhea jumped back, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She had never seen him so angry.

  His eyes were wild, the deep blue flaring to nearly black. “Going forward, you must obey us. We know what’s out there, and you don’t. If we’re going to be a team, if we’re going to win, you need to be careful. You can’t be careless. You have to trust us, Rhea.”

  Rhea didn’t know what to say. She had let him down, she saw that much. But she had only tried to do what was right, what she felt in her heart to be true. She opened her mouth again and closed it, because the words refused to come.

  Taelor’s face softened, his expression changing from one of anger to one of sympathy. “Rhea, what’s almost worse than risking your safety is that you gave them false hope. I know you think you can help without stepping on that throne, but there’s nothing we can do unless you truly become queen.”