3. Chapter 1 Arden

Chapter three

Chapter 1: Arden

M y head is pounding, and the world is spinning. I'm not in my bed, and something isn't right, but I can't put my finger on what it is. Reluctantly, I open my eyes, and take a disoriented look around. I recognize these trees with their lavender trunks and blue leaves.

How did I get here?

This is the forest that Zorvan brought me through when I first arrived in Sangaris. But who knows how large the forest actually is. I curse myself for not taking better notes of the geography of the realm.

My hands and feet are unbound. I sit up and press my palms to my eyes trying to conjure a memory of what exactly happened. The hand over my mouth. The scent of pine and earth. The man from the hostage exchange. The man Livarius betrayed. The man whose eye I likely destroyed.

Re-opening my eyes, I glance around. I'm on a bedroll, next to a campfire. There's a small stump next to me with a canteen and my medications. Or at least I think it's mine. My arms and legs still don't have all their function back. There are two empty bedrolls within spitting distance of mine, but their occupants are nowhere to be found. There's a note beneath the canteen. I pick it up and read:

Artie,

We went out to find food. Your abduction was earlier than expected, and we were underprepared. There's a protective ward around the fire. Don't go far and you'll be fine until we return. Please take your medication. I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if you don't taper properly.

I'm sure you have questions and I swear to provide what I know in exchange for some answers of my own. Make yourself comfortable. We'll be here a while.

Nevidian

Odd that he called me Artie. Something inside of me is screaming that this is a trap. But I'm alive, unharmed, and they decided to leave me alone without bindings—something even Zorvan was unwilling to do on my first night in Sangaris.

My heart aches at the thought of my dragon prince, causing me to rub at my chest trying to soothe the void. No. He's not mine. Not anymore . But then, he never really was. He never could have been.

Stop wallowing, I scold myself as I reach for my meds. I chase them down with some of the water from the canteen. I find that they've also left me some rations. I nibble on some bread and think about how terrible I must be at staying out of dangerous situations since this is now the second time in less than three months I've found myself kidnapped. Will I fall for these captors, too ?

After what feels like hours, I'm bored. I meander a little further away from the fire, taking in my surroundings. The fire is dying down, and the cool air feels like early autumn. I begin gathering some sticks to keep the fire going. I don't know how long my captors will be gone, but I still can't produce flames like they can.

About thirty or forty feet away I find a small pile of brush. It will probably provide enough kindling to keep the fire going for a while. I approach and pull on one of the larger sticks sticking out of it; though it's closer to a tree branch in thickness.

When I grab the branch, the brush begins to shudder and shake. An awful guttural sound emits from it as it rises up from the ground, standing on four large clawed feet.

I'm no longer staring at a pile of brush. I'm face to face with a monster whose exterior is made of sticks and rocks. It reminds me of caddisfly larvae. It's almost as if the creature in front of me made a shell out of whatever it could find. Its face is hidden within the brambles, but I can see the faint glow of two violet eyes.

Initially, my brain tells me to run from the horrific beast. But then the extra sense I've been experiencing hits me again. The creature isn't aggressive, it's just scared. I startled it.

I hold out my palms in a non-threatening manner. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll leave you be," I say softly as I back away.

Its head comes forward a little into view, reminding me of a turtle poking its head out of its shell. What I can see of it reminds me of a giant opossum. It tips its head to the side and a large pink tongue lolls out of its mouth, as it shows off its sharp teeth. I stop moving in hopes of not provoking it. It takes a couple small steps toward me and sniffs me.

Then without warning it runs its huge slobbery tongue over my face. The gesture is playful, but its breath is foul.

I want to pet it, but from what I can tell the animal itself is underneath the dead foliage. I reach out my hand to touch underneath the sticks to pet its snoot.

It abruptly startles and hurries off away from me, causing me to jump. I spin around to see what frightened it and come face to face with the leader of The Sentinels and another man I don't recognize. The leader has his arms crossed over his chest. His helm is obstructing part of his face, but I can see that where his left eye should be, there's milky white. And he looks…disappointed in me.

"I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to leave the protective circle I made."

"The fire was getting low and I wasn't sure how long I would be alone. I know the forest gets cold at night."

"Well, come sit down. We have a lot to discuss."

I'm hesitant. But my choices are to obey and have protection, or leave and risk a night alone in the forest that almost killed me once already. I make the safer choice.

Sitting cross-legged on my bedroll, I wait for either of the men to start talking. The henchman isn't wearing a helmet like the leader. He's got dark auburn hair that glints red in the sunlight. He has the fair features of a vampire, but I've been in Sangaris long enough to know that appearances are misleading.

The leader's blonde hair peeks out from beneath his helm, and his remaining eye is bright blue—not unlike my own. He has a strong jaw and a muscular build. He's handsome in an unintimidating way even with the scar on his face.

Finally the leader begins talking. "I guess to start I need to know if you are open to exchanging information."

"That really depends on the information that you're offering me."

"We can start small. Gain each other's trust."

"If you were interested in my trust, taking me from my mate was a step in the wrong direction."

Through his helm, I see his eyes widen slightly. He and the auburn haired man exchange a look. Then he says, "You found your star destined mate? Is it Tavin or Lysander?"

"Neither." Both . He doesn't need to know that.

"The vampire? The stars fated you to Falmir's bastard?" He growls.

I let out a growl of my own. "The stars didn't, no. And do not speak of him that way."

"I'm sorry, I was just caught off guard. With your bloodline—What made you choose him?"

"Before I tell you something that personal, I would like to at least know your name."

"Yes. My apologies, I'm Nevidian. Leader of The Sentinels. This is Vantoro, my second." There's something about both of them that's familiar. Like I knew them from my childhood, or maybe a distant dream.

"Where are the rest of your men?" I feel like I'm playing an invisible chess match. Each question moving up the ranks starting with the least important; the pawns. Then we'll have to work our way up to see who sacrifices their queen—their secrets—first.

"They're not coming. They can't know we have you," he says cryptically. "They believe we're meeting with our superiors."

"And who is that, exactly?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"That is the one thing I'm not at liberty to say. At least not until I know where your loyalties lie."

"My loyalties? I'm loyal to no one but my mate."

"I expect that may change by the end of this conversation. How did you come to be in Sangaris?"

I consider my answer and decide that it's fine if he knows most of the truth. "Prince Zorvan had been hunting down my ex-fiance for several years, and when he found him he decided to take me as payment for the harm the hunters caused his family."

"Ex-fiance?"

"Yes. Todd Feathers. He's a well known hunter in the earth realm."

"Did you know what he was?"

"I didn't even know what I was. Why did you kill Gineva?"

"Who?" he asks, and rage starts to bubble inside of me.

" Who ? You killed a person and you don't even remember? The sister of the head cook at Feldorn castle."

"Oh, the owl shifter. That was an unfortunate situation."

"Unfortunate situation?!" I shout. "You killed a woman, and that's all you have to say about it?"

"I was commanded to make a point to get you into our possession. I did what I had to."

"I think this conversation is over. If you're the type of person who can kill innocent people without batting an eye, then there is no trust to be had. You might as well hand me over to your boss and call it a day."

"You're shutting down this conversation over a servant's sister?" he asks with genuine curiosity.

"That servant is a kind, beautiful fae. Her sister was innocent and didn't deserve to die over whatever beef it is that your boss has with Prince Zorvan."

"It isn't just my boss who takes issue with the cruel prince. And that's also where our opinions differ. I believe that no one in Feldorn is innocent."

"Well that's an interesting opinion that has absolutely no roots in reality. I have no interest in continuing this conversation. You're clearly delusional."

"I'm not delusional. My family has been repeatedly wronged by the kingdom of Feldorn while its inhabitants sat by and did nothing."

I scoff in response. "My family has also suffered at the hand of the leaders of Feldorn, but I'm not going to take it out on everyone who happened to be born there. Feldorn deserves better. Sangaris deserves better."

"You know," he says in surprise.

I let out a laugh. "I know a lot of things, you'll need to specify."

"You know that your father wasn't who you thought he was. And that your grandmother was a royal."

"Yeah, I'm way ahead of you. The question is…how do you know so much about me? Did you find out from the mole?"

"No, Livarius was my contact and he stopped being able to reach out after we attempted the exchange. He only knew what you had told him, and that was very little."

I knew there was someone else giving information to The Sentinels, but apparently they weren't working directly with Nevidian. "Then my question stands. How do you know who I am?"

"Because I told him," Vantoro says.

I give him a quizzical look then look back to Nevidian. The familiarity is nagging at me. "Do I know you two somehow? From a wiped memory or something?"

"Something like that," Vantoro says as he stands from his seat on the ground. His features start to shift and become more feminine. Long silver horns begin to sprout from her head, and within a minute I'm staring at…

"Mandira?" I gasp and jump to my feet. And reach for her. But I quickly pull my hand away. "You…died. Right in front of me. This is some sort of cruel trick."

Like me, my sister looks more like my mother than my father. The last time I saw her, though, she was definitely human.

"It's not a trick."

"And Mom?"

"Captured by hunters about seven years ago when she tried to come get you from the mortal realm. As far as I know, she's alive, but I don't know where."

"How long have you known about all of this?" I gesture vaguely. For one fraction of a second I was relieved that she's still alive, but anger is quickly diminishing any happiness I'd otherwise feel. I am so tired of people lying to me.

She sighs and sits back down. "Two weeks before I…'died' I started to grow these." She points to her head. "Mom took me to Dr. Andrews who explained to her what was happening. It was a shock to both of us. The doctor, too. She had been giving all of us magic and heat suppressants our entire lives.

"I had missed a few days of my suppressants because of the stress of finals, and my fae form started to take hold .

"Mom went through Grandma's things and found her old journals." Mandira shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Grandma lied to all of us, but of course you know that by now. Mom also lied to us, but not about being fae."

"What about?" I ask even though I'm not sure I can handle the truth right now.

"You and I are only half siblings."

"Dad isn't your dad? Then who is?"

She looks to Nevidian.

"Him?" I ask incredulously.

"That's not all," Nevidian says.

"Of course it isn't," I say as I sit back down on the ground to try to ward off the nausea I'm experiencing.

"Are you okay to keep going?" Dira asks.

"Just get it all out in the open. I can't keep being surprised like this."

"Nuvian is my brother," Nevidian says. "For some reason the stars thought it would be funny to mate me and my brother to the same woman. Unfortunately, she thought she was human, and since she believed in monogamy, she chose him."

"You're one of the twins," I say out loud. "Wait, why didn't either of you tell her what she is?"

"Your grandmother knew who your father was right away. He had only met her one time so he didn't recognize her. She swore not to tell the hunters what we were if we swore not to tell her what she was."

"So you lied. All of you. Everyone just kept lying and lying. Every fucking relationship I've ever had is based on a lie." I scoff. "And Dira. Why didn't you come get me yourself? It's been ten fucking years."

"Artie, you need to take some deep breaths. Your shifter form is trying to surface, and if you shift while still on the suppressants, it could kill you."

"I need you to take me back to my mates right now."

"Mates? Plural?"

Fuck. "I misspoke. Just take me back to Livarius. Now."

"I'm afraid that's not a possibility," a feminine voice sounds behind me. I jump from my seat and search the surrounding area.

A feminine figure slowly fades into view out of the ether. I glance at Nevidian in time to see a muscle jump in his jaw. The woman is ethereal looking. And judging by the way she's holding herself, she's very old, and very important. I simply don't have time for this shit.

"Who the fuck are you?" I spit out.

"Who the fuck am I?" She chuckles darkly. "I like you. It's been a while since anyone's spoken to me that way. I am Queen Cyndair of Solardin. That's who the fuck I am." She clicks her tongue and says in a chastising tone, "Nevidian. Hiding the girls from me after everything I've done for you. After helping you get revenge.

"I knew you weren't being honest with me, but I couldn't figure out why. Now I know. Well, I hope you enjoyed your time with them. I'm afraid we have to take our leave. Girls."

She flicks her wrist and my body moves of it's own accord. I'm walking toward her and I can't stop it. What the fuck ? Dira is doing the same. No. No. No. No .

"Please leave them with me," Nevidian begs, but doesn't move. I'm not sure if he's being controlled, too or just too scared to move. "We can just pretend that none of this happened."

"I've already explained to you the importance of having them in my possession. It's for the good of the kingdom, Nevidian. And when we took you in, you swore that you would do anything for Solardin. I'm cashing in."

"Please don't do this," Nevidian begs. "At least leave Mandira with me."

This fucker just kidnapped me away from my mates and lead me straight to his boss and now he's just offering me up like a sacrifice. I shoot him a dirty look. What does this bitch even want from me?

"Oh, don't be scared girls. I'm not going to kill you…yet. And if you cooperate, there will be no reason for me to do it in the future. Though I will be needing this." She takes a small knife and cuts each of our thumbs and allows a few drops of her blood to fall into a vial.

"You just controlled us without it. Why do you need it?" I ask indignantly.

"Because while I can control your bodies with standard magic, I need the blood to track you. That's how I found Nevidian after all. It's also a handy way to kill you from a distance if I see fit. Think of it as insurance that you won't leave me.

"We best be on our way. Good to see you Nev. I don't suggest you return to the city, though. Things might not go so well for you. I'll give your sister your regards." Then she grabs our hands and we're spinning through the air.

We stop moving abruptly, and I curse under my breath. My stomach churns from the force of the transportation spell. I catch glimpses of the capital. Their castle is surrounded by a bustling city, unlike Feldorn whose castle is separated from its subjects.

Beyond the enormous lavish castle, I catch a glimpse of a glittering sea.

As Queen Cyndair ushers us through the city streets, we earn a lot of evil stares from the people. What could we have possibly done to make them hate us so much?

She, along with some guards, bring us down to the dungeons beneath the castle, and shut us inside of the cell closest to the door.

"My grandsons will be down to keep you two company in a little while. Make yourselves comfortable," she says, and floats out the door.

Jaw clenched, I cross my arms over my chest and stare at Dira.

"Well this is just fucking great. Kidnapped twice in two days."

"We had to get you away from there," she says.

"I was already leaving! I was on my way to Kildara!"

"With the Keepers of Feldorn! Who couldn't even keep you safe, by the way."

"Because I was stupid and wandered away from them. They would have killed Nevidian if he hadn't drugged me—or whatever—like a coward."

"Why are you defending them?" she snaps.

"Because they care about me. And I care about them."

"Caring for the people in that kingdom has brought nothing but bad luck to our family. You're better off without them."

"Fuck you," I mutter. "You don't know anything about them. You've never even met them."

"Whatever. None of that matters now."

"Except," I drop my voice to a whisper, "your dad's fucking boss just took our blood, kidnapped us, and shoved us into this hellhole."

Letting out a frustrated growl, I hit my fists on the wall.

"Settle down," the guard says in a lackadaisical voice, sitting in his chair by the door.

"Can I get a book to read or something ?" I ask. "My brain's gonna rot."

"You won't be needing your brain much while you're in here, anyway. It's best to just accept where you're at, and let the royals do what they need to do."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough."