AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Premila shook her head, but it wasn’t a signal that she didn’t want to speak. “Bee has been cold and…distant since the two of you met,” she said. “He expected you to come to him, and when you didn’t, he became angry. He…he tried to reach you, to talk to you a few times, but he wouldn’t go near you when you were with Avenel. And you’re always with Avenel when you’re not in the palace.”
She finished spreading the cream on Yasha’s face, then gingerly removed the simple baby gown he wore. The burns continued down his chest and his right arm, but they weren’t as bad. The fabric had probably stopped his skin from burning as badly, and it might have cooled enough to give him some relief since the incident.
“I think…I think Barthold realized you love Avenel,” Pre went on, her gaze focused on her baby. “He stopped trying to speak to you and became sullen and…angry.” She peeked guiltily up at me. “He’s been taking it out on me, but I didn’t think he’d harm his own son.”
“He’s beaten you?” I asked, forcing myself to steady my breathing so that I didn’t upset Yasha even more.
Avenel came into the room with the cool, wet rag and knelt at my feet, offering it.
Pre glanced to him for a moment, then said, “I’m so ashamed.” She burst into tears and crumpled in on herself.
I shifted the way I held Yasha and nodded for Avenel to place the cool rag on his burns. Avenel was clearly distressed by the sight of Yasha, but he stepped up to care for the baby so that I could focus on Pre.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Pre,” I said, reaching my free hand to lay on her shoulder. “Bee is the one who should be ashamed. I didn’t think he was capable of this. I didn’t think anyone was capable of this.”
“I didn’t think he would hurt his own son,” she repeated.
It was clear to me her mind was hurting as much as her body. I wanted to get her upstairs into one of our guest rooms as quickly as possible. I wanted to shield and shelter her in every way I could. And I wanted to go find Bee and tear him limb from limb.
“What happened after Yasha was injured?” I asked. “Did he let you leave? How did you get here?”
Pre swallowed. “He made me serve his supper. I had to wait until he went to bed. Once he was asleep, I just took Yasha and ran.”
I had to clench my jaw to keep from roaring. Pre deserved so much better than what she’d been given.
“You’re safe now,” I promised her. “I won’t let him anywhere near you ever again, if you don’t want to see him.”
She turned a frightened look up to me as Avenel continued to dab Yasha’s burned face with the rag. “He’s my husband. Shouldn’t I…go back to him?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, so furious that Yasha started crying harder after Avenel had just quieted him a little.
I glanced to Avenel, and with a nod, he took Yasha from my arms entirely and sat with him in front of the sofa. That enabled me to scoot close enough to Pre to pull her into my arms.
“I meant it when I said you could stay with me and Avenel,” I said. Avenel glanced up in surprise, but his expression quickly firmed into agreement. “You were supposed to be my wife, my responsibility. I can’t ever be a husband to you, but I can still be your protector for as long as you need one.”
“Sebald,” she wept, plopping her head onto my shoulder. All energy left her. I could feel the exhaustion rolling off her, and the hopelessness. She was too tired, and possibly too injured, to make any sort of decision now.
“In the morning, I’ll find a healer for you and the baby,” I said, stroking my hand over her back to soothe her. She flinched a little at the gentle touch, which told me she was injured in ways she hadn’t told me about yet.
It took a moment, but she sucked in a breath and sat up. “You can’t,” she said. “You have important meetings. You’re important.”
“You and Yasha are important too,” I assured her. “If I can’t attend the meetings, then so what?”
As soon as I said that, my conscience pricked me. I had just been wallowing in self-satisfaction and feeling like I could do the job I’d been given. Pre and her baby were very important to me, but could I let that come at the expense of the duties I’d been entrusted with?
I shook my head and said, “We’ll think about it in the morning. For now, you and Yasha should come upstairs and try to get some rest. We have both guest rooms made up right now, since we weren’t sure how many people Magnus and Jorgen would bring with them. We’re surprisingly ready for guests.”
Yasha was still crying, but Avenel had calmed the poor boy considerably. When Pre nodded weakly and tried to stand, he managed to stand while keeping the baby in his arms. I helped Pre to her feet, and all of us headed toward the stairs.
“You are so kind, Sea,” Pre said as I half carried her up the stairs. “You could have easily turned me away.”
“No, I couldn’t have,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re a part of my life, Pre. You’ve been my friend for years. We all have to rely on each other these days. It’s the only way the frontier will survive.”
Those words felt deeply significant as Avenel and I helped Pre and Yasha to settle in one of the guest rooms. We did all need to rely on each other. No matter what disagreements or prejudices the people of the kingdoms had, all of us on the frontier had to help each other and rely on each other, especially if the Old Realm had designs on us. None of us were going to survive unless all of us found a way to band together.
