Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight (22 page)

I slumped as I
slid away from the window and found a seat on the edge of the
bed.
Snickers
.

"Freya?" Chevelle
asked, leaning close to me.

I looked up, into
his eyes, and didn't think before speaking. "I remembered your
mother's name. Sapphire." His expression was unreadable, until I
added, "Like Ruby."

And then his face
changed, as did his entire posture, and he answered me with a voice
that was harsh, defensive. "No, not like Ruby."

I pulled back
slightly, caught off guard by his response and surprised that I'd
even spoken it aloud. He purposefully settled and smoothed his
expression. Damn it, why didn't I faint when it was
convenient?

"I can't
remember," I defended in a voice near a whisper.

His hand lifted
to reach out to me but he caught himself.

"
I should tell you," he
started.

Oh, great, I'd
asked for it.
I waited for the
heavy, feeling my chest constrict as my wide eyes gazed back into
his. He took a deep breath of his own.

"You said that
you recalled Rune, my father." I nodded, not missing the strain at
his last words. "And you know that Asher was lord of the North," he
continued, slowly. "So, you understand that, as such, I...
we
were under his rule."

The tension in my
chest sharpened, as if a blade were forced there, and I felt my
hand clutch it automatically as his words were absorbed by my
ragged mind. I understood that I was backing away from him but
couldn't stop myself. My suspicions had been right, he was working
for them, they all were. He reached out and, though I flinched
away, caught my wrist to hold me in place. For one terrible moment,
I felt as if he would hurt me, but I caught myself, because he'd
saved me for Asher. My frayed thoughts ran a thousand directions,
wrenching me to pieces.

But he did hurt
me. Not how I'd expected, not physically, he hurt me with his final
words. "Not us, Freya, not my father and myself. We," his other
hand gestured between us, "me and you."

Everyone
.

Chapter
Twelve

Bonds

It had been my
last thought before the relief of blackness washed through me.
Everyone. When I woke again, it was a painful, all-consuming
knowledge. I had no idea how I'd missed it; once the truth was
there, I could not understand how I could have been so blind to it.
Of course we would have all been under his rule. Everyone,
especially me. I mentally shook my head at my lack of insight.
Asher had acted as my father, and had been the lord of the North. I
was his second.

And Chevelle. His
father had been Rune, led to train myself and my mother before me,
ordered by my father. Though I had more blank spots than memories,
I knew that Rune was a close ally to Asher. Of course, Chevelle
would have to have been loyal to Asher.

But no, not
loyal
.
I couldn't be sure where the thought had came from, but I
knew it was true. Chevelle had been under his rule, yes, but not
loyally. Why couldn't I remember the same of myself? How could I be
sure of his allegiance but not my own? And then I remembered the
dreams, memories of his tormented body on the ground as his own
father tortured him, wearing that malevolent smile. Was that
why?

Ruby cleared her
throat.

I groaned at her,
still raw. She leaned closer and my eyes flinched open
automatically.

"Good, you're
awake," she cooed.

I glared at her.
"What, Ruby?"

"Tell me what you
did to Chevelle."

I was startled
for a moment and then I shook my head to show my confusion at the
accusation.

She grimaced.
"Well, he has pushed back our plans and refuses quite sourly to
explain why."

I thought back
past the raw ache of his closing words and recalled that he had
been upset. "Something about his mother," I muttered, deciding not
to include the "like Ruby" portion of our conversation.

She eyed
me
suspiciously. "What did you
do, Frey?"

"I don't know," I
said honestly and groaned again.

She must have
felt sorry for me and my memory loss. "Yes, well, he is likely
sensitive about that, if all the stories are true. And they
generally are."

I sat up. "What
stories?"

She smiled
wickedly, relishing the opportunity to yarn one of her fairy tales
to an uninformed audience. But as she spoke, her face transformed
into utter seriousness and her tone was so low I had to strain to
hear. "These stories, though widespread, are not told boldly. It is
said
that the lord Asher was
somehow involved, so to flaunt them would assure death." I felt the
slackness of astonishment on my face and she leaned closer.
"Sapphire, Chevelle's mother, was much endeared by him, though she
was not acknowledged by leadership. She was forced to live outside
the kingdom, just as he was required to reside inside the castle,
with his father. Rune was a hard man, and Chevelle equally
stubborn. Reports of strife began even at a youthful age and the
discord only increased with time. Their distaste for each other did
not arrive from one particular incident, but it was merely one that
achieved the breaking point." My hand rested on my throat as I
listened anxiously. "From that moment, Chevelle declared his
division from his father by claiming his mother. He intended to go
to her and leave the life that had been set before him."

I gasped, shocked
by her revelation, but she wasn't finished. "Asher was informed and
did not interfere, which was, in itself, highly suspect. But on the
day that Chevelle was to depart, he was summoned to the gates." Her
expression went cold as she continued, "What he found there was the
body of his mother, draped in a royal gown, a lifeless beauty,
intact but for her eyes. Those striking, deep
blue eyes that so mirrored his own," her voice
dropped lower, almost a growl, "cleaved from their
sockets."

I could feel the
horror and disgust distort my features and Ruby nodded in silent
agreement. I considered the awfulness of it for a long, terrible
moment before questions flooded in. I chose a random, less
appalling one. "Why would Asher be involved in something so
horrible?"

I saw in her
expression, I'd hit the heart of it. She wanted to find a way not
to explain, but she'd gone this far already and when she finally
spoke, it was with her practiced "careful" tone. "Freya," she said,
"in all fairness, it is not known that Asher was to
blame."

"But-" I
started.

She cut me off,
holding up a hand. "It is thought so because of several factors,
among them, the strong reaction of Rune. He was openly devastated
by the loss, something that would have been an embarrassment to one
of his position. But, furthermore, he was angered by the
display."

"Rune didn't do
it, he didn't even know?" I asked, baffled.

"It appeared he
did not," she answered.

"So, what did he
do?"

She shook her
head. "Not as he should have. He held Chevelle responsible,
entirely and for the remainder of his days."

I was mystified.
"Ruby, I don't understand. Why would Asher care if Chevelle
left?"

Her jaw clenched
and she looked as if she would refuse to answer. I waited and she
decided. "It was not Chevelle's leaving that he took issue with,
Freya." She leaned forward and placed her hands on my shoulders. To
steady me. "It was that his second intended to join in the
departure."

It took longer
than it should have to connect her words with their meanings. When
they finally did, I was only able to whisper, "Then we ran?" My
mind was racing in so many directions I could not pin one down but,
for a moment, I couldn't help but remember my first real memories
of Chevelle, how I'd ran from Fannie, from the village, how council
had come after us...

Ruby was shaking
her head. "No," she said, "you chose to stay."

"He left me?" I
asked, with an unfair hint of resentment.

"No, Freya," she
breathed, "he stayed for you."

I saw his
crumpled body again, a mass of pain on the floor, felt the agony of
Ruby's story, his mother's lifeless body brought to him as a threat
or punishment by those that he must claim allegiance to.
He stayed through that. For
me
.

It was quiet for
a long while as we both sat, motionless. The torrent of emotion
washed through me while my mind tried to re-sort itself once more.
When Ruby finally moved, it was to glance up at Chevelle, who'd
been standing near the doorway, watching us. I couldn't say how
long he'd been there but I was sure by his expression he'd not been
aware of our conversation. And as soon as my thoughts went back to
Ruby's words, I found myself standing and walking to him. Maybe it
was simply that my mind was overwhelmed, maybe it was that I'd been
wanting to for so long now, but when I reached him, my arms slid
beneath his and around his chest in an embrace that shocked him. He
was probably wondering if I had regained her, the old Elfreda, but
I didn't speak a word, only held him as his arms finally relaxed
around me in return.

My eyes were
closed but I heard Ruby slip by us and close the door behind
her.

Chevelle's arms
lowered to my waist as he asked in a uneven voice, "What is it,
Freya?"

I raised my head
from his chest to look into his eyes and had to stop myself from
thinking of how blue. I leaned forward and pressed my lips lightly
to his throat. He pulled me closer and I automatically lifted to my
toes to find his lips for a soft, slow kiss. And though our kiss
deepened, he was reserved, unsure. But I could feel that he wanted
me, so I pressed harder against him, urging him to
respond.

I knew the moment
his restraint broke. My body was overcome with such force that I
lost track of my surroundings, aware of only him. Tremors washed
through me and I could not seem to get close enough to him, a deep,
compelling need and pleasure at each touch, each thought, each
breath besieged me.

The coupling was
indescribable, so intense and consuming I'd no idea if it had been
moments or hours or days.

I lay sleepily in
his arms as he placed gentle kisses on my cheek, my neck, my
ear...

It must have been
the kiss, which brought my full and complete concentration to the
place his lips were touching, that caused my dreams to slip back to
the deepest depths of my memories. My ears, rounded as those of my
father's, figured prominently as several of my childhood memories
played out in my dreams. They were not unpleasant, though that,
too, could have been influenced by my mood as I'd drifted to sleep.
Even those of Asher were calm and lacked any form of fear. I
recalled him at the battle, his mouth moving silently as he stood
passively by, watching. And he was other places, too, whispering
chants, focused on the fallen, focused on
me. He seemed to grow bigger in each new setting and I
nearly laughed at the vision. And then the dreams progressed to
include Chevelle and, even in my unconscious state, I was
interested in seeing the "new" details that had been previously
unknown to me.

So, I was
irritated when Ruby's sharp voice woke me, stealing the images
away. "Wake up, Freya," she urged as she jerked the blankets
down.

I sat up
suddenly, mortified at what she'd see. But I was dressed. I looked
beside me, Chevelle was gone.

Ruby was
oblivious to my horror. "The boys are meeting downstairs," she said
casually, "with any luck, we'll be leaving shortly
after."

She smiled,
delighted. She had no idea. I relaxed and released my breath.
Chevelle must have prepared things before his meeting, thank
decency.

I watched Ruby
choose clothes from my wardrobe, cheerily packing in the case that
we would finally depart as she'd been hoping. I was still
overwhelmed with contented satisfaction from the previous night and
couldn't help but feel grateful that she'd shared the story of our
past with me. I didn't exactly owe her, but I wanted to help her
somehow, help her reach the joy I had.

"Ruby?" I asked,
tentatively.

She turned to me
smiling. I hesitated and she stepped closer, stopping near the edge
of the bed.

I started to
flush but steeled myself. "Don't you want to... be with
Grey?"

She looked
startled for one moment and then laughed a loud, barking laugh at
me. I didn't see what was funny. "You were so serious, Frey. I
thought you had some significant dilemma."

"Is it
not
significant?" I replied, defensive.

She was still
smiling as she sat lithely on the bed. "Do you mean is Grey
significant? Of course."

I
waited.

"Frey," she
explained in a light, carefree tone, "we have been together for
ages."