For the first time since he arrived at the Cabin Roedin saw Avery rest. His body was still healing but he had done nothing but sleep for what felt like months. Avery, however, had reached the end. She had been nursing him non-stop and now she had her own injuries to tend to. With renewed tenderness she changed his dressings and they talked for a while before he saw her head nodding at the table.
"Why don't you get some sleep?" he suggested gently.
She tried to blink away the sleep and then nodded in acquiescence. "Can I get you anything?"
Always putting him first, he thought. Why? What did she have invested in his health?
"I'm not really sleepy, so maybe you have a recommendation from your library?" he asked.
She smiled mischievously. "Well I have an excellent new release on farm management. It's surprisingly relevant."
Roedin was again stunned by her attitude. She could barely hold her head up but managed to see the humour in her situation and smile. How long had she been going through this? Had this all become habitual, or did she cope by talking to foxes and rescuing faunids from the forest? He knew seasoned soldiers who had crumbled under less stress.
Roedin returned her smile. "How about your favourite? I'd like to read that one."
Avery rose and went the shelf immediately plucking the book off with hardly a glance. She hesitated before giving it to him and he thought he spotted a small blush under her bruises. She looked down at the cover and Roedin could see the pages were dirty and worn from hundreds of reads.
"It's actually a children's book. Each chapter is a different story of make-believe and imaginings. I think I always liked it so much because none of it is real, and when I read it I can pretend I am far away from here."
She let out a small chuckle and when she looked up her eyes sparkled with that sense of humour that never dimmed. "I don't know if you can handle it, some of the stories are very scary. Vicious faunids creep out of the forest and steal naughty children away. Children who didn't listen to their parents."
Roedin didn't often let his emotions show, but Avery seemed to pull down his defenses with her youthful innocence. He smiled and said, "As long as we leave the light on tonight."
**************
In actual fact, the book was fascinating as it touched on events that had actually happened. It was a collection of tales that had been twisted for a human audience and brought back fond memories as Roedin tried to sort out the fiction from the actual events.
It had the story of the Kalmyk, the Equus who ran across the desert to warn of an invading force. Though in Avery's book they were called centaurs and trampled human children to bring the primes to safety. Roedin frowned at the twisting of the heroic tale.
The children's book even included a famous love story that was re-enacted in theatres every year. A young girl falls in love with a 'disgusting faunid'—from the bizarre description of horns and fur and tails Roedin couldn't figure out which race and concluded it was some fabricated monster. The human is kind to this beast and when she kisses him the spell is broken and a handsome prince is revealed.
Roedin almost spit out his tea in disgust. The love story had sapiens slaughtering the lovers for contaminating blood lines! He could only imagine the uproar if the Corinthian theatre producer found out.
It remained Dark outside but Roedin read by the glow of the lumenstones that brightened Avery's tiny home. He read through the rest of the human fables, chuckling quietly or scowling at how similar they were to bedtime stories read to faunid or sapien younglings. Always the humans were good, sapiens evil, and faunids cruel beasts. Roedin sighed and shook his head in frustration, glancing over at the human tucked under a heavy blanket by the fire. How could she have read stories like these and still chosen to help him?
Avery jerked suddenly and cried out. Roedin looked around for an intruder, but the room was quiet save for the crackling of the fire. Then Avery screamed and bolted upright, immediately clutching her side in pain. She keeled over, panting heavily, her forehead resting on the wooden floor. Her hair was long again, having grown out overnight. It fell down off her shoulder forming a tent around her head.
"Avery? Avery, it's alright," Roedin reassured from across the room.
He wished he could get up and comfort her. He had no idea what he would do, but it had to be better than just sitting there and calling to her.
"Avery, look at me," he ordered.
After a few breaths she lifted her head and looked at him with an incredible sadness. She couldn't slow her breathing as she could only take small breaths with her broken ribs.
"It was a dream, nothing more," Roedin explained. "It's alright, you're safe."
Too late he realised his mistake. Her eyes darkened and she looked around with a cold hate. She slowly sat up and crawled into the rocking chair with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
"I used to think that, too," she said, resting her head back in the chair. "I was never hungry, never cold. When I wanted to go out the sun would shine, and when I needed to wash my clothes the rain would fill my basin. But when he showed up, everything was shattered."
Roedin watched her, waiting for her to go on. "It's not your fault," he offered.
She kept her eyes on the fire.
"Is it not? You don't know that. Maybe I'm an evil queen, doomed to live forever and be punished for my crimes."
"Avery--"
"Maybe I'm a prophet whose visions are too dark for this world, so I'm hidden away."
"Then why would—"
"Maybe it's a case of mistaken identity. I have a twin out in the world who killed his family and he's here to take vengeance."
"I don't think—"
"Maybe I'm no one, and he just got lucky. Maybe he just stumbled upon a human, all alone with no defense and no escape, not even death."
Roedin realised she didn't really believe these wild theories but her mind was trying desperately to understand why this had happened to her. He didn't know her story but it didn't seem fair that someone this generous and innocent was trapped here. This was the kind of human his friend had believed in. Tao knew she was out here somewhere.
"Then he's not the only one," he interrupted. "I got lucky too. I found a human, all alone, who didn't hate me for being a different species and saved my life. I crashed into a remote forest where lives someone who would blindly help a half-breed, seeking nothing in return."
She eyed him warily and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
"If he's able to come and go, then there's a way we can too. We just need to figure out how. When I'm stronger, we'll do it. We'll leave here, and I'll show you Corinth."
Avery gave him a sad smile, like she wanted to believe it was possible, but didn't have the energy to pretend anymore.
"You'll meet my family. My family...has a lot of influence. We'll find out where your preserve is and what happened to you."
Though he was trying to make her feel better, she looked doubtful.
"Your family. You have more than a brother?"
Roedin hesitated only briefly before sharing this private information. This girl wasn't a spy. She had been viciously tortured and never broken. She protected him and he wanted to give her some hope.
"I have another brother, Arctos. He is captain of the city guard. He's actually a half-breed as well. Ursid, so he has the strength and agility of a bear. Not to mention the appetite. Arctos grew up on the streets and still has his ear to the ground and connections with some of the herds and colonies in the territory too. Clearly, we're not actually brothers but family packs are often made up of relatives and close friends. We've been friends for nearly two hundred years, he's like a brother to me."
Avery's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How can two half-breeds have so much influence in a sapien city?"
Roedin exhaled sharply and resolved to tell her the rest. "My brother and sister...well, really my cousins...they're twins...and they are the alpha primes of Corinth."
Avery's eyes went wide.
"Our mothers were sisters and they died--" he swallowed hard. "They died a long time ago, and when Hayden and Addy inherited, they decided to share the rule."
"How can that work? Who out-rules the other?"
Roedin shrugged. "It's unconventional, but effective. They have divided responsibilities up, but usually they confer with each other and agree. Other alpha primes find it disconcerting, and I think the Adelyn and Hayden like that. Plus, they balance. Hayden is cool and calm, some might say hard, and Adelyn is boisterous and quick-tempered. They even each other out."
"But as a brother you don't rule?" Avery asked pointedly.
"Cousin, technically, and I wouldn't want it. It's bad enough dealing with prejudices and speciesism. Many primes have trouble with any faunid in such a high position. I prefer to help them in others ways."
Avery pursed her lips, looking back to the fire. Roedin was on a roll. She was forgetting about her pain for a moment and he wanted to keep her distracted.
"Hayden's mate is Sari, she's a dreamwalker. It's a rare magic that allows her to visit your subconscious. Maybe she can unlock some of your memories."
"She can see into my mind?"
"She's very powerful, but it's a heavy magic. It's difficult to control and often leads to madness. When Hayden felt the mating bond connect with her, he worked for decades with the sorcerers to help her control it so she could live a normal life. He has corporeal magic, he can influence the body, so he's able to support her when she needs it."
Avery didn't say anything but was watching him intently, perhaps not believing, but certainly absorbing everything he said.
"Their daughter is Niamh. Tao was Niamh's mate. They had been bonded for more than a hundred years when he was killed. She—" He broke off abruptly, deciding to leave the last bit out.
"Is she super strong too? Going to teach me to swing a sword?" Avery teased.
She didn't know that Niamh's grief at losing her mate was disastrous, and her anger to the humans hadn't faded over the last century. Roedin didn't doubt his brothers and sister would be willing to help Avery, but Niamh would be harder to win over. When Roedin didn't acknowledge Avery's teasing her smile faded and she turned back to the fire.
"Sounds like that book of bedtime stories has you believing in miracles. The only miracle around here is that I haven't gone completely mad, and even that's up for debate. Maybe you're not even real?"