Chapter Six Arthur

"W hat are we doing here?"

Mabel's voice is nervous with an edge of fear. The others are still below deck and, reaching out with my mind, I cannot sense any movement. They must still be asleep, I surmise.

"Ah, so you've heard of Kiros Somu then?" I ask, still forcing the boat through the water. It slices the brine quickly, waves coursing along either side of the vessel. I had hoped to get us well beyond the boundary before they noticed where we were.

For this is the only place I can keep them all safe .

"It's dangerous here," she whispers, as though all of the air has been knocked from her lungs.

"Which is why it's the perfect place to be," I reply. "No one will follow us."

"But you've put us all in danger."

She raises her voice, glaring at me as she does so. My face is high above her, merely darker spots in the clouds now. I knit closer together, giving her more features so she has a point she can see to focus her anger. After all, she's still probably pissed that I've been gone for all this time.

Except, it seems to do the exact opposite. I see tears forming in her eyes as her bottom lip trembles. The rest of her is shaking too, but that's likely from the cold enveloping us.

"Are you with them ?" she finally asks, her body giving off a full ripple from both the chilly air and fear. "Are you on Reeve's side?"

"Of course not," I respond. Although, I once was and that's what got us all into this horrible mess. If only I had the courage to let her go all those years ago. It wouldn't be my problem now and I wouldn't have to see this look on her face. "I would never intentionally hurt you."

Using my magic again, I draw solidity into my arm and let my fingers settle on her cheek, reveling in how she still feels the same, even after the long passage of time.

"Intentionally," she says, the word so soft it is whipped away in the wind. But I am the wind, so it settles in my soul and festers there. "You've hurt me in the past, though. And you did that on purpose."

"That I did," I reply in all honesty. I won't lie, no matter how much it might hurt her.

Even as I touch her, we are still moving forward, and the pull of the island is calling to me. Drawing me home . "But I was lied to and that's why I did the things I did. I thought it would help. Reeve told me it would mean we could be together. Forever. And I stupidly believed him."

"What do you mean?" She frowns at me but doesn't pull away so I solidify some more, slowing the boat but it doesn't matter now where I direct my magic because the mists have already worked their barbs into the vessel and there's no way we can turn back now, even if the others wanted to. Only the queen can let us go again. Only the ruler of all the kings in the lands that reside on this side of the mists can turn the boat around.

And she will never grant us that wish now I have returned .

"Reeve was in love with you–he still is–and that's why you were changed."

"No, my father killed Jashor, and King Hervoet declared he had to be punished. That's why I was changed."

"That's the official story," I say softly. "Reeve always had great plans for you, though. And he was determined to have you–at any cost."

"How do you know this?" she asks, her voice a mere whisper in the fog surrounding us. I draw myself as far back into my body as I can, making myself more solid than I have been in decades. But it's enough for Mabel to be able to see me clearly, to feel me.

As soon as she notices, she gasps a short moment before reaching out to touch my face. Her forefinger rests against my jaw and I close my eyes and groan. It has been too long–far too long–since I have felt the touch of another. I never allow it because it hurts too much.

Because it isn't her touch .

"Reeve promised me we could be together forever," I say, my eyes still closed. I'm too scared to open them again, to see her judgment as I reveal myself to her. "Then he changed you and told me the truth of the matter."

"Open your eyes," Mabel says, and I can't help myself. I don't want to do it, but she has asked, and I will do anything to make things right between us. Mabel has always controlled me like that. When my gaze settles on hers, she speaks again. "Now tell me the rest of it."

I fight the urge to close my eyes. She needs to see how much this has affected me. I need her to see it. This is the only way to move forward. If I want any chance at all, Mabel needs to see how our past has caused our pain–even if it is entirely my fault.

"Reeve always wanted you, even before you were grown. He was always at court, hiding in the shadows when your father visited, hoping he had also brought you along with him. When he did, he remained hidden, watching you and waiting until you were of age. Then, he set his trap.

"By then, we were together, but Reeve didn't care. Not about me, or, more importantly, your happiness. Instead, he plotted a way in which he could have you. But, first, he needed to change you so that you would live forever–just like him."

She swallows hard and a single tear slips down her face. I want to concentrate on it, to watch its journey down her delicate neck but I can't draw myself away from the pull of her gaze. Gods, how I have missed the intensity of our love.

"He used glamor on you first–"

"But I don't remember," Mabel interrupts.

"Of course not," I reply. "Once he realized glamor didn't work, he blocked those memories from your mind. Then, he tried out a love potion since you still only had eyes for me, trying to make you not love me, but it didn't work. He could never seem to get you to take it or to hide it so you would drink it unawares. So, he had to try something else. And when an opportunity arose to go on a hunting trip with your father and Jashor, he jumped at the opportunity. He knew that he could make your father do something that would be unforgivable to the king."

"Reeve caused Jashor's death?" Mabel asks, her face now as pale as snow.

I nod my reply and then hold on tight as Mabel sags into me. "My father never did anything wrong?"

"He thought he did, that was a part of Reeve's glamor on him. He also used his magic to make it easier for him to agree to the next part of his plan."

"So, the king didn't even come up with the punishment himself?"

Once again, I use a head motion to give my answer.

"That bastard," she declares as I wrap smoky arms around her, letting her sag in further as she reassesses her entire life. Everything I have told her has changed her reality.

"I've been so mad at my father for so long," she offers up under her breath, and I rest my lips on her head.

"It was never his fault," I say. "But what comes next was certainly my fault."

"How?"

"When I found out what Reeve was doing, I went to him and tried to get him to change me too so that I would become a monster hunter just like you. I figured that way we could live out our time together. I didn't care that you couldn't have children anymore, I had no need to pass on my family name since I had a younger brother who could fulfill that task for me. All that mattered was being with you. At the time, I had no idea that Reeve was in love with you." My words warm her hair as I continue to speak into her skin.

"Reeve promised me he would change me, that we could be together but, of course, that wasn't true. He simply wanted me out of the way. He wanted me gone so that he could move in on you. Reeve had grand plans for his newly made monster hunter. I was as much a thorn in his side as your humanity was. It only took a few days for him to draw me in and to cast the spell that would change all our lives."

She pulls away and looks up at me. "All of our lives? You mean the others, Brugo, Zeklan, and Fenn, don't you?"

Another nod from me.

"He didn't lie that he would make me immortal. Unfortunately, that was the only truth he gave me. Instead of becoming a monster hunter like you, I became a monster. Four monsters to be exact."