AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“When I locked you in the room, I couldn’t think of anything else to prevent the guards from coming in and hurting you. I know it’s not an excuse, and I shouldn’t have done that. It will never happen again.”
“You’re damn right it won’t,” Nava said.
Arkimedes rubbed the back of his neck. The top button of his shirt came undone, revealing the angular lines of his clavicle, streaked with sweat, dirt, and—were those bruises? “Have patience with me, Bee.”
Nava’s skin tingled with the use of the nickname he’d given her a year ago, after she’d found out she was a Beekeeper. It warmed her from the inside out, bringing flutters to her stomach. She shifted on the cold, uneven floor. “Outside, you said this area of the city has changed since you were here last. Were the shops open ten years ago when you first came to the kingdom?”
“I bought bread in this bakery on my way to the Society’s safe house,” he whispered, glancing at the family who sat by the fire.
“Do you think it’s because you were gone for so long?”
Nava wanted to believe that her mother hadn’t known that cursing Arkimedes eleven years ago would condemn a whole kingdom. She’d been so focused on protecting Nava, who was only fifteen, that she hadn’t asked any questions. And so she’d cursed him to become a crow every night until the moment Nava accepted him as her soulmate—of her own free will.
Arkimedes considered her words in silence, his face hard and lost in thought. He didn’t need to answer for her to understand that he’d been asking himself the same question.
“I don’t think I was the sole cause for this. I believe my father allowed the kingdom to harbor resentment toward humans, and so the wealth of these businesses flowed elsewhere. Our connection to the kingdom will allow nature’s balance to continue. The crops will grow, and the animals will breed. This…” He pointed at the room, at the cobwebs accumulating in the corner above them, at the dusty surfaces everywhere. “Hate caused this.”
Balance. That was how Aristaeus had described their role as Beekeepers. Their task was to create balance.
Small, shuffling steps drew their attention. A child not much older than her brother was approaching them with two steaming bowls. The girl wore a tattered dress and a wool sweater that was two sizes too big for her. “Would you care for a meal?”
“Oh! You don’t have to give us your food.”
The girl ignored Nava’s protest and crouched forward, placing the small wooden bowls on the floor. The liquid inside them was still steaming.
“The broth will keep you warm at night. It gets cold in these old buildings.” She stood and watched, as if she was waiting for either Nava or Arkimedes to accept her offering.
Nava reached for her bowl. It instantly warmed her stiff fingers. “Thank you.”
“Kyle is just looking after us,” the girl said, taking a long step away, her weary eyes bouncing from Arkimedes to Nava.
“You three are too young to be here on your own. Where are your parents?”
The girl flinched at the gravelly tones of Ark’s voice. She moved back another few paces. “They are gone.”
“How?”
“They came during the night, demanding that we surrender Caden, my youngest brother. My parents tried to fight since Caden is only seven. They said the Crown has no rights over us until we are twelve.”
Arkimedes leaned forward, picking up the bowl near his feet. “Did the Crows come to take him?”
The old fear Nava had stopped feeling ever since she’d escaped Willowbrook flooded her in a flash. This was what Nava’s mother had warned her would happen if the Crows ever discovered Cameron and her. The Crows and the Crown worked together in a way. First, the Crows tore young magic-wielders from their homes—usually between the ages of twelve and fifteen when they first presented their gift of magic. Then the kingdom’s army took over the care and training of the children until they’d served the kings and queens for long enough to return home. But people died before that time ever came.
It was an abhorrent practice.
The girl nodded. “We heard they don’t come to the Copper Kingdom, so we traveled here by ship, seeking refuge. But the Dark Ones are even worse. They hate humans.”
“I’m half human,” Arkimedes said with a curve to his lips. He took a small sip of his soup as he leaned against the wall. “Don’t tell strangers about your story. It’s true that Crows seldom come this way, but be wary.”
The girl’s shoulders dropped with a sigh, and a tentative smile lifted the corners of her chapped lips.
This. This was the Arkimedes she knew. How he’d been before his memories were taken. His good nature, forever masked by an indifferent frown and a scary aura, nevertheless shone through.
Her heart fluttered as she took him in: his long dark lashes and the straight profile of his nose. She loved him so much. Her earlier fears seemed idiotic now.
Nava glanced at the shop’s door where Devon was taking the first watch. Then she looked at the children by the fire. Little did they know that a Crow stood right amongst them.
3
