Chapter 2

              I sat near the fire with my hood up, picking at the rabbit that had been cooked looking at the handful of soldiers with me. It had been five days since Mikah's murder. When I had bolted from his room when my mother confirmed that his wings had indeed been taken, I had run blindly to the barracks to find Xaviar. I knew he would help me enact my revenge plan against the Fire clan, a plan that I needed to complete to assuage my guilt at ignoring my brother's link in his final moments.

               Xaviar had helped gather a dozen of the most trustworthy soldiers, ones that wouldn't question a stranger joining them on a mission. I had forged orders from my father for Xaviar to pass on. The men were to accompany a hired assassin undetected into the Fire kingdom and were to retrieve Mikah's wings while the assassin eliminated the royal line of the Fire clan. To everyone around the fire, except for him, I was the hired assassin.

               Getting close enough to the Fire clan Castle was the hard part. We had all dressed as peasants, our cover story being that fighting on the Fire and Water clan borders had forced us to seek refuge further in Fire clan lands. Xaviar had come up with it, knowing that people on both our side and the fire clan side of the border had been hit hardest by our kingdoms clashing. While my father had ordered our soldiers to defensive methods only, the fire clan still attacked regularly.

               By day we blended into groups traveling towards the castle, hoping there would be enough refugee groups going all the way to get us there. At night, we broke off into the forest and hunted for our food and slept. We didn't want our cover blown by a nosy refugee while we slept. The people of the Fire clan had a notorious reputation for theft, and we couldn't risk one of them going through our bags and finding our weapons. We would never get close enough for me to kill the only remaining members of the Fire clan's royal line.

              I was grateful that the Fire clan's king had done the majority of my work for me decades ago. I only had to kill him and his son while my men recovered Mikah's wings. The king had been fearful that someone would challenge him for his throne and murdered all of his relatives, save his wife. My father had told Mikah and I the stories of the Fire King's ruthlessness towards even his own blood when we were children. The rumor was that he had also murdered his own wife after she had borne his only child, a son. His paranoia was well known throughout all the kingdoms he wouldn't risk a second child to challenge his seat, which is part of why getting close enough to enact my revenge would be the hardest part of my plan.

           "You should really eat something instead of pick at it." Xaviar said softly, settling himself beside me on the ground. "You have to act like everything is normal, you're supposed to be a ruthless assassin."

            I tore a strip of meat from the rabbit I had been picking at and shoved it in my mouth. "Happy?" I asked, rolling my eyes under my hood even though he couldn't see my expression.

           "M," he said, lowering his voice so only I could hear, "I know you're a strong fighter, you kicked my ass every time before your father decided it wasn't proper for you to train anymore, but this has been a hard journey and you need your strength."

            He was right. Grief had curbed my appetite, but I still needed strength to fight if we were attacked along our route, and so that I could kill the Fire King and Prince. Begrudgingly, I forced down the rest of the rabbit in front of me. My stomach rolled in revolt.

          "I need to walk." I said, standing abruptly, "I won't go far, I just need to move before the rabbit comes back up."

         Xaviar nodded, but his eyes betrayed his concern. I walked away quickly before I began to sob. His concern had reminded me so much of Mikah. My chest felt hollow without the ability to connect to my twin. The only thing holding me together was the burning need to avenge his death. I couldn't break down now.

           Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize I had come to a stream until I felt the wetness soaking through my boots. I stepped backwards, out of the water and knelt down. I needed to feel the magic and connection in the water. It wasn't the water of my home, but all water spoke to Water Fae, the way that each clan was able to connect and speak to the element of their clan name. I closed my eyes and allowed the sounds of the moving water to comfort me. For a moment, the hollowness in my chest subsided.

           After a few moments of being soothed by the sounds of the water, my peace was broken by the sounds of fighting. I knew I had only been gone for minutes, what could have happened in that time? Fear gripped the hollow space in my chest, while my mind was working to convince me that my soldiers were sparring, I heard the distinct whisper of the water. Discovered!

             I tore out into the clearing where I had left my men, Xaviar throwing me a staff as I came into view. Fire clan soldiers had discovered us, the plan had gone sideways. Before I could pause to wonder how they knew we were in the kingdom, let alone where to find our camp for the evening, I found myself fighting off one of them.

             I dodged his charging form and whacked him across the back of the head with my staff. He turned around, unfazed, to be met with the end of my staff squarely hitting his nose. I heard the crunch of it breaking and hoped it would slow him down. I had been restored somewhat by my communion with the water, but I had barely been eating during our five-day journey. I was not at the top of my game.

             He charged at me again and I dropped low, flipping him over my body and twirling to land a blow with my staff in his stomach. Even with the air knocked out of him, he was determined. Goddess, what did they do to their soldiers for them to be so unphased in battle? I knew my only chance was to get to his sword before he did. Spotting it not far away I ran headlong into the fighting soldiers, mentally noting that we were severely outnumbered. I dropped to the ground, feeling it tear at my clothing as I slid under the sword of another Fire clan soldier. That was going to be sore tomorrow if I survived this fight at least.

             I scrambled back onto my feet with the first soldier's sword in hand. Xaviar blocked another attack from the soldier who I had just dodged.

             "Go", he grunted, meeting a flurry of swings with his own sword.

              I twirled and dodged my way through the fight, looking for any opening to escape. My heart twinged with guilt as I spotted my chance to get free of the skirmish. I didn't want to leave my men to die, but as the only surviving heir it was my duty. I sucked air between my teeth and forced my guilt down, darting for the open space. Suddenly the air felt thick with electricity.

             I skidded to a halt a few yards away from where he landed. He was shining like a beacon, his whole body bathed in the most beautiful white light.

             Impossible! Fated Mates are a myth! I mentally screamed, but my feet moved me toward him of their own volition. There was no denying that none of the others seemed to sense the electricity that was thick between us or the light emitting from him. I couldn't stop my feet from moving me closer either even as my brain screamed that only Lycan really had destined mates, fated mates were a Fae story told to little girls. My hand reached up as if to touch him, but before it actually could I felt a pain in the back of my head and was knocked unconscious by the blow. END OF CHAPTER 2