Page 13 of A Promise so Bold and Broken (Compelling Fates Saga #2)

Chapter Thirteen

L essia sighed and rolled over on the bed when someone knocked on her door.

She’d spent the afternoon staring at the wall of her room as she tried to muster up any courage she could for what was to come and not let fear fester from the rebellion and the full-blown Fae war she expected they were to face.

After making sure Merrick was all right and stopping herself from stabbing Raine as well when he couldn’t stop laughing at her, she’d left the males on the beach and returned to the cabin to hide in this room, the energy that had kept her moving this morning dwindling with every step she took on the snaking path.

“You need to speak to me.” Ardow’s eyes sought hers as he opened the door, slipped in, and thudded it shut behind him. “You need to, Lessia.”

She was about to snarkily respond that she definitely didn’t, but when that emptiness from earlier glossed his gaze, she made herself sit up and pat the mattress beside her.

She might be furious with Ardow…

But he was still her friend.

Perhaps if she tried to understand him instead of blaming him, she could get him to see that what he was doing was wrong.

The bed creaked as Ardow sat down and leaned against the wall, nervously pulling at the ill-fitting clothing Raine had given him.

While Ardow wasn’t a small man by any means, he only had a fraction of Fae in him, and Merrick and Raine must have several inches on him.

Another surge of guilt swept over her.

Like her, Ardow was out of his depth here.

And he was all alone.

She had the—somewhat strange—friendship with Merrick.

And Venko would at least meet her eyes, even if they held doubt for what she was trying to achieve.

“Talk to me,” she said when he continued pulling at the gray tunic.

“I know you… you disagree with me.” Ardow grimaced when she nodded forcefully. “But please know, I only got involved because of how people like us are treated, Lessia. I need you to understand that.”

“Ard…”

“Please let me finish, then you can judge me as much as you’d like,” Ardow pleaded.

Flames of anger licked her veins, their constant presence becoming worryingly familiar, but she nodded, gripping the blanket tightly when her fingers twitched.

“I became part of the rebel movement before I met you. As you know, I left my family at sixteen to try to help my father, as our land wasn’t providing enough to sustain us and the workers my father employed. So I thought I’d go to the capital, find employment, and be able to send home some silvers for them so they could at least take a day off once in a while. That didn’t work out. No one would employ me when I showed them my papers and they realized my grandfather was half-Fae. I couldn’t even find anywhere to live… It was like the few coins I’d brought weren’t good enough for the tavern owners to keep Fae under their roofs at night.”

Lessia bowed her head, her eyes falling to her clasped hands.

She knew all this—had learned already, during the first days after meeting him, why Ardow had been so quick to approach her that first day on Asker.

It hadn’t been only because he carried Fae heritage, but because he also was burdened by devastating guilt toward his family.

Although his was less warranted than hers.

Ardow hesitantly touched her knee, his voice growing stronger when she didn’t swat it away. “I got drunk one night in the same tavern I met you, and some bastard started spewing shit about Fae, so I knocked him out in my frustration. Unfortunately, he had a whole group of men with him. After they’d nearly turned me into carrion and thrown me into the alley behind the tavern, a woman found me. She helped me onto a small boat, cleaned me up, and let me stay until I recovered. Whenever I was awake, she’d tell me stories. Stories about a united people, where Fae, humans, and shifters all worked together. I thought she’d just made them up to give me something else to think about other than my broken bones, but on the last day, she asked me if that world was something I’d like to be a part of.”

Ardow sighed as he dragged a hand through his hair. “I said yes without hesitation. Over the next few years, I was slowly introduced to more and more of their plans. In exchange for me bringing on more recruits, they helped me get that shabby apartment I had when we met, and they even sent funds to my family to help them get back on their feet. And once they were certain I could be trusted, I got to meet their leader. She is amazing, Lessia. A visionary. She believes what we believe—wants what we want! I know you’d love her if you met her.”

Lessia stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

She wasn’t so confident of that.

Someone who’d willingly sacrifice innocent people didn’t sound like someone she’d call a friend.

But she swallowed her argument and asked, “Who is she?”

Ardow squeezed her knee. “She is a shifter. I’ve never seen her real form. Honestly, I don’t think many have. But she has a vision for a world where Ellow, Vastala, and Korina work together—with no borders separating us. She has this whole plan for how it’ll all work—for how the people will choose their rightful leaders, and all will thrive under a new rule. It’s exactly what we used to dream of, don’t you remember?”

Lessia clenched her jaw.

They had dreamed of that.

On nights where they’d sipped on wine before the fireplace in their living room, they’d let themselves dream up a world where their loved ones were with them, where no one had to hide, where Amalise’s lover was alive and Lessia hadn’t hurt her family beyond repair.

But nowhere in that dream had innocent people had to die for it to be true.

“But you would spill blood—the blood of people we know… of children… to achieve it? Did you even consider our children? You’ve put them in harm’s way now,” Lessia said, her tone eerily similar to the lethally low one Merrick preferred to use.

Ardow’s eyes flew down.

“We don’t want to,” he grumbled. “We will not harm those who join us, and we believe few will decide against becoming one of us when they realize just how many will stand against them otherwise. Especially once we’ve taken down their leaders…”

Ardow snapped his lips shut when she threw his hand off her knee.

She couldn’t believe him.

Rioner she didn’t particularly care what happened to.

Uncle or not.

But Loche…

“You haven’t even given him a chance to stand by you!” Lessia snarled. “How do you know he wouldn’t work with you? He believes in the same world we do.”

“We tried!” Ardow raised his voice. “When he stopped taking the bribes, our leaders tried to reason with him, but he’s too headstrong!”

“Try again!” Lessia glared at him. “I am sure he will listen if you explain.”

Ardow’s eyes narrowed. “Are you? He was ever so quick to throw you to the streets! You think we don’t notice how you can’t even hear his name without looking as if you’ve seen a ghost? What did he do when he found out your connection to the king? Tell me, did he listen to you?”

Her chest caved. “It wasn’t like that…”

“It was. That I am sure of.” Ardow threw his head back, his gaze flying to the wooden-beam-lined ceiling. “Lessia, we’ve been friends for a long time. I’ve heard you the past few days, and I agree that the planned attack is perhaps a bit hasty. I don’t want to see blood spilled any more than you do, and I worry about Amalise and the rest as well. I am willing to speak to the rebels and try to stop it—try to find another way. But I am telling you, I don’t think Loche will listen.”

Pity pulled at his features when she flinched, even as she tried to stop her body from reacting.

“Lia,” Ardow said softly. “You can talk to me.”

“There is nothing to talk about.” Her nostrils flared as she let the anger brimming under her skin wash away the hurt.

She was responsible for what happened.

She didn’t deserve pity.

But she’d make it all right again.

“Please, just talk to me. I know how you’re feeling,” Ardow said as he glanced at the door.

“What happened between you and Venko?”

She doubted she’d find out much more than what she’d gathered from the merchant’s hostile glares: that he and Ardow had been involved, that Ardow had lied to him, perhaps even worse than he’d lied to her.

But there was no way she’d speak about Loche.

Not just because it felt as if she would break apart every time his face appeared in her mind… but because she couldn’t afford to shut down.

Not like Venko was doing.

Because if she did…

There was no way she’d have the strength to endure the challenges she suspected awaited.

“H-he just sneaked up on me,” Ardow said shakily, and her eyes locked with his glazed ones. “I didn’t mean to fall for him. He was only supposed to be our source in the election. But I did, Lessia. I fell hard. He’s so different from anyone I’ve ever met.”

Ardow cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to lie to him, but it was too dangerous. Especially… especially with you there. I couldn’t risk it. But I grew careless, and that last night… I was going to tell him everything, I swear! But then Loche’s soldiers found us. And… you know the rest.”

Lessia shook her head. “Ard. What have you gotten yourself into?”

Her eyes widened when a sob shook Ardow’s body, and when his face scrunched, wetness touching his cheeks, she couldn’t stop herself from crawling over and wrapping her arms around him.

She knew the pain gleaming in his eyes all too well.

What Ardow had done to Venko…

It wasn’t so different from what she’d done to Loche.

Tears trickled down her arm as Ardow cried against her shoulder, and she hugged him tighter when he whispered, “I’m sorry, Lessia. I promise I want to make it right.”

Resting her chin on his head, she whispered back, “We’ll make it right together.”

As his body shook against hers, she prayed that she could keep that promise.