I Am Ruined (TDA Lord of Shadows Sequel)

[ XXXIII ] Family Ties

"You are going to help us?" Emma asked in disbelief, "I don't know if you were just in there or not, but if you haven't noticed, your mother is not our biggest fan."

"Who my mother does or does not like is not my concern. The safety of this court is. If she is more concerned with personal revenge than the well-being of her court then she is not fit to be the Queen." Ash stated, his green eyes cold and hard.

Jace huffed in amusement, "Talk about rebellious teenagers, am I right?"

"I am not rebelling. I am being a better leader than she. If she were willing to listen, I would say as much to her. Do you accept my help or not? I cannot provide more than these troops, the rest will serve only the Queen. But these 10 are good men and women, trusted by me." He wasn't wrong, there were only about ten Seelies, give or take. Their postures had relaxed, looking around at the fae around them.

"How are we to know you can be trusted?" Julian asked, leery of the prince's proposition.

"So do not trust me. I am not asking you to change whatever plans you may have developed, or even to tell them to me. I am only asking that you allow us to help in whatever way we can. I will not bother to tell you I cannot lie, for we both know that is not true." The way he spoke was so different from the Queen, the formality was still there, but there was also transparency. He did not expect to be trusted due to who his parents were, but he still offered his help. Julian looked to the other two for a decision, his mind running with every possible way this could go badly for them. "Do you accept my assistance?"

"Yes." Emma said, without giving Julian a chance to consider things further. His blue-green eyes shot towards hers, but she shrugged, "What? It didn't seem like you were going to answer anytime soon."

Julian was looking at the group of them, plotting, "You all can communicate using acorns and stuff, can't you?"

Ash furrowed his eyebrows but nodded, nonetheless, "Nature answers to us. We may call upon each other using the land as our medium, yes."

"Good. We need to know how much time we have before the King arrives. Can you station your men and women around the perimeter? If they spot any Unseelie Knights or the King himself, have them send you a message. You will be staying with us." He said, the scouts all looked towards their prince for a command.

"Very well," He nodded, addressing each one by name and telling them where they would be stationed. "Stay hidden and be safe, may the land serve and protect you." And with a nod of his head, they all departed, heading silently into the dense forests around them. It was nearly sundown, the brightly colored stars already peeking through the russet sky.

"We'll need to have a good place to wait, an area where we have the upper hand for battle." Jace added. He had a very good point, they did not want to move around too much for fear of running into the King unintentionally. They didn't want this battle to happen sooner than necessary. Mark, Kieran, Cristina, and Jaime needed a chance to do their job and needed time to do it. Jace looked to his arm, where his endurance rune was dull, "And it seems that the blight is affecting our runes in the Seelie court too. Without our runes, we'll definitely need an advantage in battle."

Emma winced, "He has a good point, Julian. We can't fight him by the entrance to the Seelie Queen's quarters, especially surrounded by this many trees."

Before anyone else said anything, Ash spoke up. "I know a good place." All eyes were on him, wary. "If you trust me, that is."

***

Against better judgement, they followed him to the spot. It was not too far from where they had been, only a few miles east. They emerged from the dense forest into a large clearing; large enough that they could see anyone approaching for miles. It was a grassy plain, some slabs of stone and large boulders sprinkled throughout. They positioned themselves in the middle of the glade, settling on a few of the sparse boulders. Their vantage point gave them a view all around, even raised on a slight hill. It was the perfect position to have the upper hand in battle.