Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (57 page)

Helen thought about that. She wasn't sure actually. It had been done that way for as long as she could remember, but that didn't mean it was required to be that way.

"Let's just say it's law and drop it," Hunter said, looking at Syney.

"Let's not. I mean, I don't actually like many people in this place, and only two of them are royals, so I either have non-royals or people I don't like," Syney said firmly.

"Go for it," Helen said with a smile. "You're here to change things. Let this be one of them."

"So will you both be witnesses?" Syney asked.

"Yes," Leaf said quietly. He smiled at Helen.

Syney looked at Hunter, who was still silently looking down at his food. "You're the number one person I want up there with me," she said softly.

Finally he sighed and looked at her. "Fine. I'll do it. But you have to stop making so many waves. Start picking your fights wisely."

"He's right," Leaf added.

Helen rolled her eyes at them. They always knew how to make the mood get very serious. After that decision they flew through the rest of them, and Helen smiled at her progress. She was excited to show her mother. The comfort level also rose as they continued to talk. The boys even started to make jokes about past coronations and what they really thought about the whole ritual. For the first time since Helen and Leaf had started seeing each other, she felt completely comfortable. She loved it and wanted more, if she could have it.

Leaf

Leaf stared at the map of the Realm on the table in front of him and clasped his hands behind his back. The stance had become second nature to him when he had become a Royal Guard. It showed that he was at attention without being too aggressive. Right now he was worried. He had never had to organize a mission of this scale. He had no doubt he could do it—and effectively—but the whole idea of sending out three squadrons of troops where they couldn't easily call for help or reinforcements made him uncomfortable. The report of Shifter activity and the awakening of the Daemons, however, made the mission necessary. They needed to strengthen their defenses, and this was the way to do it. There would be two different stations. One would be up north, on the border of the neutral territory. The other, the more dangerous, would be set up along the east border of the Magic User lands, which directly met the lands claimed by the Shifters. He already had chosen a commander for the first and assigned him a squadron. They were scheduled to leave the next day. The other mission was a little trickier. He wanted to send a commander he trusted explicitly, and he only felt that way about himself and Hunter. Unfortunately neither could do it because of their duties at the palace.

He looked over at Hunter, who was reviewing the list of the two squadrons for the second station. He knew one name would catch his friend's attention, and he waited for it.

"You're sending Fern?" Hunter asked, looking up. "Why don't you have her command?"

Leaf narrowed his eyes at him. "Not the reaction I was expecting."

"She's good."

Leaf shook his head. "She can't think quickly enough."

"Who
do
you want?"

"You, but that's not going to happen." Leaf looked back down at the map. "It's too dangerous to risk so many."

"Maybe, but you have to do it. How about Ridge?"

Leaf grimaced. This wasn't going to go over well, but he had to ask. "What if you stepped down as Syney's Protector?"

Leaf looked up and met Hunter's gaze. "She's the only reason I'm officially allowed in the palace."

"I know, but you've proven yourself. You're perfect for this. You care enough to protect all of them."

Hunter shook his head. "I can't. Please don't ask."

"Had to try. Ridge might be good."

Hunter pointed to a section along the border. "I would have them set up here. There are some hills that could be used as protection for a camp. It also would give cover for surveillance."

Leaf looked at him.

"If things were different, you know, I would be first in line for this," Hunter said. "But I just can't. I...need her to breathe."

Leaf understood exactly what he was saying but didn't want to vocalize it. As much as he enjoyed their dinner the other night, he wasn't comfortable saying these things aloud. "Understood."

"How's the planning?"

They both looked over as Fern walked into the room.

"Good. You'll be stationed along this border. Haven't chosen your commander yet, but I will," Leaf said, indicating the spot on the map.

"I look forward to it." She turned to Hunter. "Do you have a moment?"

Hunter nodded. "Good luck," he said to Leaf as they walked out of the room.

That, he did not envy. For him, as head of the Royal Guard, being with Helen was a little easier. He wasn't paired and never would be. But watching Hunter walk away with a woman he was promised to after he had just spoken of the woman he loved made Leaf feel for his friend. That wasn't the best situation, even without the forbidden romance. He shook his head and looked back at the map. He needed to figure this out and soon. He had a bad feeling. Something was going to happen, and he needed to have the palace and the Village locked down for when it did.

Fern

"We haven't had an opportunity to speak in a while," Fern said, as she and Hunter made their way down a hallway. She didn't care where they ended up; she just needed the time to talk. She wasn't very happy with the way their relationship had been going for the past month. She had made many attempts to speak with him, but he seemed never to be around, always on duty with Princess Syney. That in itself wasn't too shocking, but she'd had a feeling for a while that something wasn't entirely right with their relationship—his and the princess's, that is. She didn't want to come right out and say anything; she simply was biding her time until she found something concrete to speak of. But in the meantime, there was one aspect of all of this that she needed to take care of.

"I've been busy," Hunter said, keeping his gaze in front of him.

"Of course. How is the princess?"

"Well."

Fern studied his profile for a moment. He obviously was trying to hide something from her. She wasn't sure whether it was something illicit, or whether he was still angry with her over the incident at the Great Lake. "I've been stationed with the troops setting out this month," she said.

"I know."

"I believe we will leave right after the princess's coronation."

"I know."

Fern put a hand on his arm to stop him. "I want to have our Joining ceremony before I leave."

He looked over at her, his face showing no emotion.

"It makes the most sense," Fern said. "There isn't any expected return date. We could be out there for a long time. It would be nice to have a family to come back to."

Finally he took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine."

"When?"

He looked away. "The evening of the coronation. Everyone will be here already, including your family."

"Sounds acceptable. I will look forward to it." She gave a short bow and headed away from him. When they had first been paired, he had seemed excited about the prospect. She couldn't help realize there was no enthusiasm now. She tried not to dwell on that as she made her way to the gym. She always had found a good workout was the cure for most things, even uncertainty.

Hunter

Hunter never had been comfortable in a bathtub. He preferred showers, which were quick and served their purpose well. But as he stared across the tub at Syney, he felt a newfound fondness for the thing. He rubbed her foot and felt his pulse pick up as she laughed.

"I'm ticklish! Stop!" she yelled, playfully slapping some water at him.

He laughed back and moved his hand to her calf instead. "How was your day?"

"OK. Picked out my crown with Helen. It's really pretty. I made sure they put purple stones in it. I missed you, though. I like Reed, but he isn't good for quick kisses in the shadows," she said with a smile.

"I hope not. I would hate to reassign him."

"Did you get everything done with Leaf?"

He nodded.

Syney smiled and bit her bottom lip. He loved when she did that. It usually meant she was nervous.

"What is it?" he asked. "I made sure to lock the door—both doors actually."

"It's not that. I, um, had this crazy thought this morning. I was feeling pretty sick after breakfast. Had a quick flash. I thought I might be...pregnant or something."

Hunter looked away from her. He could have stopped her there, but even he was curious to see where she was going.

"Crazy, I know. Wound up being bad oats. A lot of us were feeling sick. But I, um...I really was surprised at my reaction when I thought...you know... I was...happy. Really happy. And it got me thinking about us and the idea of having kids. We would have really cute kids."

Hunter looked back at her. "We can't have kids."

"Oh, yeah. I know that."

"No, I mean we physically can't."

"Because you're a Lycin and I'm a Magic User?" she asked, a pained look crossing her face.

"No, although I'm not really sure how that works. Right now, though, I can't have kids. I'm sterile. All wolves are."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That makes no sense. There are Lycin kids."

"Sorry. I'm not explaining this right," he said, sitting up a little in the tub. "A Lycin's reproductive system—or at least the parts that are used for procreation—are turned off. During our joining ceremonies, we're given an injection that turns them on."

"So you're literally turned on?" she asked, a smile snaking through her lips.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Yes, in a way." He took a deep breath, and all of the thoughts that had been hiding in his mind came rushing forward. He'd had good reasons not to get together with Syney previously, and now they were all going to be coming about, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had to join with Fern. Syney had to be crowned seated queen. Both of those things meant they couldn't be together.

"Hey, are you OK? You went somewhere else there," Syney said, placing a hand on his thigh.

Hunter nodded. "Just thinking."

"About bad things?" she asked quietly.

He nodded again. "We have to make some decisions soon."

"Why?" she whined. "These past weeks have been amazing. And we've gotten through them fine. Even Reed doesn't know about us, and he's always around."

"It's going to get harder." He paused and gave her a sad smile. "My Joining ceremony with Fern will be right after your coronation. And then you'll have a real chance of getting pregnant. How are we supposed to explain that?"

"We can hide it. Hell, I wasn't even here for almost a month, and no one found out about that."

"But you'll be seated queen."

"And that means..."

"That means you'll be in the public eye even more. You'll have obligations. There's no way we can even do this when you're crowned," he said, gesturing to the bathtub.

She stared at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "Why is this all coming out now?"

"I've been pushing it away. But I can't anymore. We have to do something about us."