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Chapter 10
Rafferty
Rafferty was beginningto feel some things about the Redcap girl that scared him. He felt protective towards her in a way he hadn’t expected, and a fondness for those bright blue eyes of hers, the ones that burned with a fierce intensity that was difficult toignore.
Bree had a fire in her, and Rafe liked it. She didn’t take anything sitting down, and she refused to give in to things she did not want. He appreciated that about her. He even admired it, to his own detriment. Because he’d almost appreciated the way she’d stood up to Taveon, particularly when he’d found out that his old friend had been keeping the poor girl in a dungeoncell.
He knocked on the door of Taveon’s chambers, and the Prince answered with a weary kind of slump to his shoulders. His old friend looked as though he’d been defeated already. Maybe he had. Whoever had shot that arrow meant to take the Prince down by any mean’snecessary.
“Taveon,” Rafe said, finding it difficult to keep the irritation out of his voice. He strode into the room and crossed his arms while the Prince bolted the door behind him. “I need to speak with you aboutsomething.”
Taveon gave him an absent-minded nod. “I assume you are here about Bree. Is she well? Were you able to healher?”
Rafe frowned. “You might know the answers to those questions if you had come with us when we left the GreatHall.”
“You know I could not do that, Rafe. The Court would call me too weak and too soft to rule the realm. Besides, I had to attempt to find the fae who shot the arrow. He was gone far too quickly to trackthough.”
Maybe you not ruling would not be such a bad thing, Rafe couldn’t help but think. He was starting to wonder if the quest for the crown was turning his friend into the very thing he’d always sworn not to be: hisfather.
“She was gravely injured,” Rafe said. “She could havedied.”
“She was in your care, and she is a shapeshifter,” Taveon replied. “You would never have let that happen. Now, will you please update me on herstatus?”
The Prince rarely asked for things, and he hardly ever phrased his words as questions. The fact he had was a signal to Rafe that Taveon cared more about his slave than he wanted to leton.
“I had her shift into her beast and back several times. It appears to have healed the wound.” A pause. “And then I returned her to her quarters so that she could get some rest inbed.”
Taveon crossed his arms over his chest. “I suppose you have an opinion on her housingsituation.”
“You know I do, old friend. You should not be keeping her in thedungeons.”
“I have no other choice,” Taveon replied. “She tried to kill me, Rafe. Not only can she not be trusted in standard quarters but the council would find it most strange if I did not keep her in acell.”
“She tried to kill you because she was angry and scared.” Rafe sucked in a deep breath. “Just consider it, my old friend. If you are going to make her fight for you, at least make her life a littleeasier.”
Taveon glowered. “We shallsee.”
“She thinks you ordered someone to shoot that arrow at her, youknow.”
“What?” Taveon’s eyes went wide. “Why in the name of the forest would she think such athing?”
“Because that is all you have shown her.” A beat passed. “She does not know the true side of you, the one you will not let the Court see for fear they will not let you rule. Maybe it is time that everyone knows the true Taveon, the Taveon who will not be the kind of cruel King that Midaswas.”
“Good.” Taveon gave an absent-minded nod. “Let her continue to think it. She can imagine me a monster if she likes. There is no reason for her to feel warmth toward me. I would warn you of the same, but I can tell you are already far past that, my oldfriend.”
Rafe flinched and glanced away. Were his emotions that easy to read? Were his thoughts so readily plastered across hisface?
He had always been an open book, especially in front of Taveon. The two had never been very good at keeping secrets from each other. But they were exceptionally good at keeping their shared secrets from the rest of the world. Secrets they did not dare speak aloud, not inside the confines of this castle where there were eyes and ears behind every corner, just waiting to discover anything they could to take the Prince’s chancesaway.
“Are you certain you want your champion to hate you?” Rafe asked, instead of responding to the Prince’s pointed comments about his softening feelings toward the Redcap girl. “Your champion’s motivations will not be particularly strong if she thinks you are willing to wound her with arrows for the slightest ofcrimes.”
“It is a fight to the death, Rafe. She will have motivationenough.”
“And you do not worry?” Rafe asked, striding closer to his friend. “What if she dies? Do you notcare?”
Rafe was beginning to realize he was far more incensed about Bree’s imprisonment than he’d realized. He’d agreed to train the girl, not knowing a damn thing about her. But the longer he trained her and the more time he spent in her company, the more uneasy he felt about the entirething.
“She is a Redcap,” Taveon said with a frown. “She will be fighting in her beastly form. If she is well-trained, none of the others will stand a chance againsther.”
“There are other creatures in this realm who could cause issues for her,” Rafe said, even though they were rare. The Battle for the Crown required a champion to fight for the Prince, a champion who also happened to be a shapeshifter. Those fae who could shapeshift into different creatures of the night were few and far between. Even fewer still who could transform into dangerous beasts. Beasts like the one Bree carried deep withinher.
“That is unlikely and you know it.” Taveon’s face softened. “I know you care for the girl. As hard as it is for you to believe, I care about her well-being, too. I would not have her fight for me if I was not certain she could win. No one will be able to beat her. Not even the worst of thisrealm.”
Rafe hoped the Prince wasright.
