C. Bryant - Broken

“You think this was easy for me? I love Xantara and the thought of leaving my home and the people I care for goes against everything I am-everything you raised me to be.”

Belesgar moved closer, his fingers curled into fists. “But you gave it all up for what-the love of a woman we know nothing about?”

Octavion stared into his father’s eyes. The pain he saw there nearly broke him in two. “I love her. What else could I do? Would you not have given everything to save my mother or Estaria?”

Belesgar let the tension out of his shoulders. He sat on the bench and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I would give up everything for a mere moment with them.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I would do the same for you. It took all my strength not to beg for your release, to give all I own in exchange for the price you agreed to pay.”

“Father.” Octavion sat next to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “This is my burden to bear. I hope you know my swearing allegiance to Panthera means nothing to me, that I will forever see you as my king and Xantara as my home.”

Belesgar turned to face his son, his eyes moist for the first time since Octavion could remember. “Ramla is a good king. He will treat you fairly.”

“But he is not my father and will never hold a place in my heart as you do.”

His father looked down at his hands dangling between his knees. “I never told you about your mother, what she sacrificed to be my queen. Her father had promised her to another and became very angry when I asked for her hand. He said if she chose to be bound to me, he would disown her, that she’d lose everything.”

Belesgar smiled at the memory. “I actually tried to talk her out of it-convince her to forget about me-but she was a stubborn woman and would not hear of it. She said we were meant to create something grand together.”

He looked at Octavion. “She loved Shandira with all her heart, but the day you were born, she saw something special in your eyes. She lived long enough to hold you in her arms and see bits and pieces of your future in a vision. She never told me what she saw, only how proud she was of the decisions you would make and how you would choose to live. Then she said something that made little sense at the time, but now. .”

Octavion swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Even after years of pleading, his father had never spoken of the day his mother died-the same day Octavion had been born. “What did she say?”

Belesgar straightened and looked intently into his son’s eyes. “It was her dying breath. She looked into your soul and whispered, ‘Such sorrow.’ I thought she described how she felt about leaving you, but perhaps she saw how you feel now and the great sorrow you will endure when the time comes for you to leave.”

Such sorrow. Her words would echo in his mind for the rest of his life and described how he felt perfectly. The thought of leaving Kira and his family constantly tore at him and the threat that Ramla’s guards could whisk him away that very day, made it all too real. He had to find a way to tell Kira before it was too late. He needed her to hear it from him.

Kira’s first order of business was to clean the mess Ussay and she made trying to find a dress. She didn’t bother with wrapping the ball gowns, just hung them and threw the linens in the corner. She’d worry about that later.

After she changed out of her dress and into something simpler, she set out to find Ussay. She half expected her to be waiting in Kira’s room when she’d returned earlier, but since she wasn’t there she knew Ussay must be with Mara. Kira couldn’t wait to find out the details of Ussay’s date with Cade.

As Kira neared Mara’s sleeping chambers, the door flew open and an older woman walked out with an armful of dirty linens. She curtsied then continued down the hall, disappearing through a small doorway at the end. Since she’d left the door ajar Kira assumed it would be all right to enter. She found Mara sitting in the chair near the window nursing Ethan.

“Good morning, dear,” Mara said.

Kira averted her eyes. Mara hadn’t bothered to cover herself and Kira got an eyeful. “I’m so sorry, Mara. I should have knocked.”

“Nonsense. Did you enjoy the festivities? I do not recall seeing you after the Khapri.”

Kira pretended to fix her hair in a nearby mirror, giving Mara the privacy she didn’t think she needed. “Octavion took me to the meadow. It was fun. Have you seen Ussay this morning? I need to talk to her.”

Mara finished with Ethan, laid him across her lap and buttoned her dress. “I believe she is in the village. I gave most of the staff the day off for their hard work yesterday. They were up most of the night cleaning. Perhaps I could have Nestor fetch her for you when he returns.”

The same image of Shandira grabbing Arela flashed through Kira’s head. She spun around to face Mara. “Return? You mean he’s not here?”

Mara smiled. “All is well, my dear. He is merely taking Arela riding. He felt she was being neglected with all the attention on Ethan. He presented her with a pony this morning.”

“Oh, well that’s nice.” The panic that ran through her each time an image popped into her head was about to give her heart failure. She had to stop letting her imagination get the better of her. “I think I’ll go back to my room and rest. Maybe he can take me up to see. .” Kira didn’t want to say Lydia’s name out loud in case one of the servants lingered in the hallway.

Mara understood. “How is she?”

“Stubborn. Maybe a little impatient. I think she’s frustrated with not being well.”

“That will all come in time, my dear. We must be grateful she will recover.”

Kira agreed then politely excused herself from the room. As she walked back to her chambers she realized that, for the first time since she’d arrived, she wasn’t being watched. And if what Octavion said was true about not being in danger, at least not for today, then she could go exploring.

Kira’s first thought was to get a closer look at Octavion’s lair, but that made her think of the arm band she’d asked Altaria to make for him. She still needed to get a silver medallion and some leather so she ventured into the courtyard, across the wooden bridge and started toward the village. Her newfound freedom felt good.

“Pardon me, my lady.”

Kira spun around to see two guards trailing behind her. “What?”

Both men bowed to her, then the taller of the two spoke. “We have orders not to let you leave the castle.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “But I’m not in the castle, I’m standing outside, so you’ve already failed. Shall I tell Octavion?”

“No, my lady. But-”

Kira put up her hand. “Look, Octavion said it was perfectly safe for me to go into the village. If you want to follow me to Ussay’s cottage, fine. But then you’ll have to come back here because I’m not having you two follow me all day.”

Both men stood there with their mouths open, but said nothing.

“It’s settled then. Follow me or don’t. I’m going.” After all, what would they do, lock her up in the dungeon? She didn’t even know if Octavion’s family had a dungeon. She lifted the hem of her dress and strutted down the cobblestone street toward Ussay’s home. She didn’t look back to see if the guards followed, but didn’t hear their footsteps.

Around the entire perimeter of the village-and attached to either side of the castle-towered a white brick wall. It appeared to be built from the same material as the castle, and rose high above the cottage roofs. The builders had capped it off with thousands of jagged rocks-she assumed to keep intruders at bay. It wouldn’t, of course, keep out Royals.