LouisaOur entire family took turns taking care of me for a couple of days, while Liam took care of some business. He was still very worried about the northern region and what might have been going on over there. The snow hadn’t stopped falling for over a week when he came to see me looking very upset.At first, I thought something might have happened in the north, but I didn’t want to push him while he paced back and forth in front of our bed. I waited patiently while he huffed and sighed and pulled his fingers through his hair until finally, he turned to look at me.“I hate this. I hate being so busy and not being able to spend enough time with you. How are you feeling?” He looked worried, and I smiled to try and ease his concern.“I’m fine. Our mothers have made sure to give me all the advice they could, and I haven’t been sick for two days, which feels really great.” I shrugged and could see his shoulders relaxing. “Are you so stressed because of me?” I frowned and he sighed befor
Helena“You can’t. You just can’t, Bennie.” I frowned and all around us the small council went silent as soon as my brother and Louisa walked in. Her appearance drew the attention of the small council away from what Bennie was saying, but as soon as the meeting started, I was ready to run for the damn hills.“Your majesty, I would like to volunteer to go to the north.” Bennie stood up as the meeting started, and I wished the earth would just open up and swallow me. I asked him not to do that. If it wasn’t safe for my brother to be there now, it sure as hell wasn’t safe for Bennie!Sadly, my mate heard about what had been going on and how worried Liam was, and he thought it was the perfect opportunity to prove he was worthy of his new title. Liam frowned for a moment and then looked at me.“Well, sister. I take it you have something to say about this?” Liam looked amused as soft mumbles could be heard from the rest of the small council. I could say no and then that would be the end of
LouisaI thought Bennie was being very brave, but I also knew that speaking up like that during a small council meeting did not bode very well. Bennie and I were only there to observe, really. We didn’t have any authority unless … Unless our mates were killed. I could also imagine how Helena must be feeling. She didn’t want me and Liam to go, and now Bennie was going.I wished that there was something I could do to ease the burden on all of them, but this was what we were here for. We were the royals. We had to be strong and do the difficult things to protect our packs. To protect everyone in our kingdom. If something really was brewing in the north. We needed to know sooner rather than later.I joined the small group in the armoury in the late evening. Liam wasn’t happy that I wanted to be there, but I felt that someone had to be there to comfort Helena. It broke my heart to watch her as she said goodbye. It broke my heart to watch all of them say goodbye.Liam didn’t want anyone to
Helena“I haven’t heard a word for two days.” Liam hissed as I walked into his office and my smile turned into a frown. We took all week to get the nursery ready and Louisa was waiting to surprise Liam, but what I just heard nearly stopped my heart.“Liam?” Tears stung my eyes as I looked at him. My hands felt numb as my fingers interlaced, and my knuckles turned white. “Did I hear that right? You haven’t heard from Bennie?” My heart, which almost stopped a moment ago, started racing, and I felt the darkness tugging at the back of my mind.“Helena, that doesn’t mean …” What he was saying and what his face was showing me were two different things. I took another step forward and everything went dark as my legs gave way under me.BennieI was so tired
HelenaLiam stepped aside and Louisa pushed me into the room where Bennie was lying in a hospital bed. I gasped at the sight of him. He was connected to so many wires that I was almost too scared to touch him. I touched his hand, and it was so much colder than I was used to.“We are keeping him sedated until his leg heals. He had a very bad break, and we had to reset the bone.” The doctor explained, and I looked at his leg, which was covered by an enormous cast.“How long will he be under?” I frowned and the doctor sighed.“A day. Two at the most. As soon as his body starts healing itself, it should happen faster. His body is weak at the moment.” The doctor frowned, making a note before looking at me. “If you don’t have any other questions, I need to check in on another patient.” I nodded and thanked him, holding Bennie’s hand.“Helena, you need to rest. Can we take you to your room? I will bring you back a bit later. I promise.” Liam looked worried, but I nodded. I didn’t want to lea
LouisaThe timing of all of this couldn’t have come at a worse time! Both Helena and I would either have a new born or be at the very end of our pregnancies when the snow melted, which put us both out of the fight and in serious danger. I listened carefully as Liam and the small council discussed what the next steps were going to be feeling the tension in the air.Bennie and Helena were still out since his injuries were serious, and she wasn’t going to leave his side, which left her vote in my hands. I didn’t want to do the wrong thing and I didn’t want to vote on anything without discussing it with her and Liam first.“The fact of the matter is that the northerners have found someone to support them in this war against us. We have to act, and we have to be ready.” The small council couldn’t come to an agreement on what we should do. It was a decision between waiting for the war to come to us and moving so we were on the attack before the northerners could move.The latter meant that
HelenaIt was one of the coldest winters we have had in a long time. I was glad that Liam and Louisa were home after what Bennie told us, and I was even happier that he got back home safely. It was a sad thing the day we had to inform the families of the men we lost, since we couldn’t have an official funeral for them, but Liam insisted that we at least have a memorial.Bennie tried to bring his men back, but it was impossible, and he had to leave their bodies behind, or he wasn’t going to make it back. Sadly, he healed soon enough and was right back to helping Liam and the small council plan for war. I hated that he had to be one of the men who would fight. I hated that my brother was going to fight.I hated war! We were meant to have gone into a period of peace, but it seemed that some people’s greed pushed us in the same direction each time. Liam spoke to the pixies after some complaining about it, and they gladly agreed to help us.In the meantime, Louisa and my bellies grew by th
HelenaI swallowed hard to get rid of the enormous knot that had formed in my throat. I had to be strong now. I had to be strong for him, for our pup and for our people. I didn’t want him to go. I didn’t know if I would ever see him again, but I couldn’t give into those fears.All around us, people were saying goodbye to family. They were saying goodbye to warriors who were going to fight to protect us. I couldn’t be the one to break down. I had to be strong for all of them. I caught sight of Liam kissing Louisa and their son and I looked into Bennie’s eyes.“You come back, do you hear me? You come back, and you bring my brother with you. Alive.” We all knew nobody could make any kind of promises, but I needed him to. I needed him to fight the way he did the last time. I needed him to do everything he could to keep that promise. “All of you! You come back alive.