Page 34 of A Promise so Bold and Broken (Compelling Fates Saga #2)

Chapter Thirty-Four

L essia blinked as her eyes left the swirling dark ones before her.

She blinked again as hard gray ones found hers.

And again when first hazel ones, then blue ones, met hers, only to quickly glance down at the dirty wooden floor.

“If… if it’s not about Loche,” she said slowly, unwilling to let the thought touching the border of her consciousness become clear. “Then who?”

The hands on her shoulders pulled her closer to a body, one of them dropping and another wrapping around her waist, pressing her against quivering muscles as if to protect her from the outside world.

“The one that’s loved by Fae and human.”

Lessia’s eyes met those gray ones again, and she must have only blankly stared at him because Loche repeated himself. “The one destined to take down Rioner is the reluctant ally, the one loved by Fae and human.”

“Yes… loved by someone like me? A half-Fae, half-human.” Lessia frowned as she stared at the group. “The reluctant ally… Like all recent regents in Ellow, Loche has honored the allyship with Vastala.”

“I’m not a reluctant ally, Lessia.” Loche sighed as he flung a glance outside the window. “I wanted a closer partnership with the Fae. I wanted us to work together. I wanted peace. I wanted… not this.”

Merrick’s hand around her waist clenched and unclenched as Raine mumbled, “Rioner misunderstood the curse.”

Loche nodded. “It doesn’t refer to half-Fae, half-human. It refers to someone loved by both.”

An unwelcome feeling crept across her skin, something lurking just beyond her awareness.

She shook her head.

No.

There was no way.

“Merrick,” Lessia whispered, needing him to reassure her.

Needing him to tell her she was strong enough for this.

Just… needing him.

As if he could read her mind, he glanced at the others quickly before removing the arm around her waist and taking her hand, lifting the arm with the traitor mark branded into it.

His fingers traced the snake that was barely visible beneath the black letters. “The blood oath.”

Their gazes intertwined, and even though she wanted to look away, she couldn’t when he continued, his voice lowering so much she wouldn’t have been able to hear him if everyone else hadn’t remained quiet—barely pulling air into their lungs, as if the whole room were holding its breath.

“The one bound by blood oath is a reluctant ally.”

“But…” Her bottom lip trembled, and she couldn’t finish.

Couldn’t ask.

Not this.

“Loved by Fae and human.” Loche’s voice broke in, and despite the pull of Merrick’s eyes, she turned around to face him.

His face was expressionless when he stated, “I loved you. It’s why I asked you to remove my feelings. I knew Rioner had his suspicions about me, and it wasn’t until one of my spies got ahold of that part of the curse that I understood he’d misinterpreted it…” Loche scratched the scruff on his chin. “You were hiding something. It was so clear, and I suspected all along you were spying for him. I don’t remember exactly when I realized, but at some point I understood it must be unwillingly.”

“Loche…” Lessia’s voice was laced with grief, and she couldn’t help but move toward him.

He waved a hand dismissively her way. “No one could miss how Merrick stared at you when you weren’t looking. Well, apart from you, of course.” He threw her an empty smile. “When I realized just how reluctantly you were bound to the king that day, I had to act fast. Rioner would have understood if I pushed too hard to keep you in Ellow, so… I had to throw him off.”

Take. Them. Away. Take my feelings away. Take every memory of us.

You are hereby banished from Ellow.

The memory came crashing down on her.

That pain… that pain in his eyes hadn’t been because of her betrayal.

It had been because of what he had to do to himself.

To them.

Lessia took another faltering step toward him when a shuddering breath left someone behind her.

She turned her head over her shoulder, and her eyes collided with Merrick’s.

No one could miss how he stared at you when you weren’t looking.

Already then?

But he’d hated her…

You and me.

His eyes seemed to speak to her, and she had to fight with everything in her to break the draw of his gaze when Loche cleared his throat. “Apparently it didn’t work, since you’re here and not as far away as possible from the war I expect to descend on Havlands.”

Lessia winced, her voice nearly betraying her as she responded. “There was no way I’d leave everyone I loved behind.”

“I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons I loved you.” Loche’s gaze curiously swept over her. “So strange to know I did, but not know why. I mean, you’re beautiful and all… or you probably will be once you’ve bathed. But you seem… just quite average?”

Lessia started when Merrick flew past her, pushing Loche up against the wall, his face twisting with rage. “Do not speak to her that way. I don’t care that you did what you did to protect her. You hurt her.”

When Loche laughed darkly, Merrick’s hand wrapped around his throat. “I told you not to test me. I do not give a fuck who you are, regent. You do not disrespect m…” A muscle in Merrick’s jaw twitched. “You do not disrespect her.”

“Yours…” Loche spluttered as his face shifted colors, red tinting his cheeks. “Sh-she didn’t even respond to my question… question if she was with you,” he wheezed as Merrick’s eyes flared.

“Stop it!” Lessia screamed as she ran up and pulled at Merrick’s arm. “Merrick, stop!”

He didn’t spare her a look as Loche coughed a laugh again. “See. Sh-she still cares for me.”

Whispers exploded through the room—like a thunderstorm had drawn in without them realizing, and for the first time since she’d met him, a flicker of fear reflected in Loche’s hard eyes.

“Raine,” Lessia pleaded, whirling around to gesture toward the two Fae warriors who’d stood idly by this whole conversation.

“Please!” she yelled when Raine and Kerym hesitated.

“Shit!” Raine swore, and with a jerk of his head that sent his red hair flying, he and Kerym closed the distance to the raging Merrick.

It took both of them to get Merrick off.

When they finally succeeded, Loche fell to his knees, a hand grasping at his throat as he fought for air.

Merrick panted as well, his chest heaving where he stood between his friends, his face so cold it had goose bumps rise across her skin.

Lessia’s head snapped between the two males, and when Loche reached out to brace himself against the wall and got to his feet—clearly not injured beyond his pride—she stormed up to Merrick.

Raine and Kerym snickered as they backed away, but when she shot them a dark glare, they must have seen something in her eyes, as they swiftly shut their mouths.

“What. The. Fuck. Merrick,” Lessia hissed as she reached him.

His features contorted into a mask of boredom as he shrugged. “I didn’t kill him.”

She couldn’t help her lip curling to show off her canines when he began picking at his nails.

Picking at his nails!

“Do not do that again,” she snarled, adding “Merrick!” when he continued only to look at his hands.

He finally glanced her way.

“Promise me?” She glared right into his indifferent eyes.

“No.” Merrick raised his brows in challenge when she stepped even closer. “I won’t make a promise I can’t keep.”

She was about to smack him when Loche hoarsely announced, “My guards are probably storming this cabin soon. We should get going.”

“Get going?” Lessia still glared at Merrick, her eyes following the tension building across his shoulders again—probably at Loche’s voice.

“Well, I assume you won’t leave again, regardless of what you’ve just found out, so I need to bring you to the castle as my prisoners.”

Lessia spun around, wondering if she needed to smack some sense into Loche as well, when he tilted his head, his mouth lifting into a listless smile.

“You won’t actually be prisoners. Once we’re at the castle, you’ll be free to roam it as you see fit, as I have only the most loyal guards there. On the way there, however, we’ll encounter a lot of people who doubt me, including some of those rebels you spoke of. I don’t expect them to understand the decision I made… and you’re still considered traitors to Ellow. I can’t exactly host a welcome ball in your honor.”

The castle…

Lessia shivered as she remembered the long white hallways.

The loneliness she’d felt living there.

The fear as the pressure of the king’s commands built upon her chest.

But it was where they needed to go.

And it was where she’d left that stone…

She inclined her head. “What do you need us to do?”

As Loche told them what to expect once the guards came in, including that he’d made sure one he trusted had taken Soria and Pellie to the cave, she turned back toward Merrick.

His face slackened with each moment she stared into his eyes, and when the door finally opened behind them and the guards stormed in, putting them back into chains and tying them down onto horses, Merrick didn’t say a word.

Still, she refused to let her eyes leave his the entire way back to the capital, even as thoughts other than what she’d found out about him fought for dominance in her mind.

No one could miss how he stared at you when you weren’t looking.