Destined Queen

Chapter 3

Jareth Pov

    “Nicki, tell the others it’s time to go,” I said, nodding towards her. Nicki frowned, rolling her eyes at me. She shrugged, tying off the last of her braids, oiling the tip of it before shaking out her long braided black hair. She stood, straightening her pale yellow tunic, before nodding at me. Her honey-colored skin glistened in the morning sun as she wiped some of the dew from the wet grass off of the bottom of her pants before walking away.

    I sighed, rereading the report Lottie gave me, before looking up at her. Lottie had a whimsical look on her face, before looking back at me again. She looked so much like her parents. Mostly her mother, with her tanned skin, the olive tint of her skin. She had Serina’s green eyes, but the only thing of her father’s was Danny’s blond hair. Lottie had it pulled back in a messy bun on top of her head but when free it was long and straight, falling towards the middle of her back. She smiled at me, her face angled and sharp like her mother’s, and batted her eyelashes at me. “He didn’t have time to bring it to you, don’t look at me like that. He had to go.” She said, shaking her head at me. 

    I grumbled, flipping the paper to the other page, the one that had the picture of the man we were to hunt down on it, getting a good look at him, before going back to the first page that stated what he did and where he was seen last. Lottie knew me well, knowing I liked things in a certain order. I was the leader of the Assassins, and I liked being treated as such. It was my title, and it took forever to get it. Even after Jaelyn healed our mother, my father tried to take the title back. I had to fight him for it, but in the end, he was too tired, his old age and worry about my mother over the years weakened his resolve, and I beat him. He was complacent about the change, however. He gets to spend all his time with my mother now, and they have a lot of catching up to do. All of those years she was slipping away, and now she was finally whole again. “We need to get our weapons. Looks like he was last seen in the human town we get our supplies from.” I told her, rereading the report for the third time. 

    “What’d he do?” She asked, sliding her hand through my arm and linking her arms around it. 

I frowned, pulling my arm out of her embrace as I shook the papers at her. “He’s a werewolf. Tried to rape the princess when she told him she didn’t want him.” I told her, giving the short version of the report. King Tyler’s daughter, Lilian. She was beautiful, it was understandable why a man would want her, but to go against her wishes and try to rape her…it was horrifying. This man was definitely top of the list to capture. It’d be hard to stop myself from killing him. Lilian was a close friend, having grown up playing with her during the Alliance meetings. I sighed, looking at the houses. I liked this spot, the in-between. In between the sea and our town. It was calm, quiet, only the sounds of the birds squawking could be heard, with the swish of the ocean meeting the shore. “Go tell your parents we’ll be heading out,” I told her. She nodded and I sighed, heading to my own house. Mother was resting on father’s chest as they sat on the couch and he put his finger to his lips, trying to keep me quiet. 

‘A new hunt. I’m heading out. I don’t know how long I’ll be.’ I signed to my father. Everyone knew sign language here, or most everyone anyway. My aunt, the woman my father found in the woods when she was a newborn, was deaf. Not only that, but her daughter was deaf as well, and one of my assassins. It was only natural that I’d pick it up as well. After all, it came in handy when you were an assassin having to be quiet. 

He nodded, his eyes stern. ‘Be careful.’ He signed back to me. I nodded, and without a word I went up the stairs to my room, getting my bag and packing it. Mostly it was already packed. My clothes for travel were always ready inside the pack, along with a drawing pad and pencils. My guilty habit was my drawings. I found it helped relax me when we were on the road for a long time. I grabbed my weapon of choice, a double-headed long-handled axe, and strapped it on. Once I finished, I went downstairs and laced my coin pouch under my tunic, before adding a few pieces of dried cheese and bread to my bag. With one last wave to my father, I headed out, nearly smacking into Sage. He glared at me, his curly dark grey hair was soaked in sweat as he glared at me with his sky blue eyes. I grinned at him, messing up his hair even more as he went to punch me in the side. “What’s up, Sage?” I asked, smirking at him. 

“I just ran into Lottie. She said you’re sending out the group. When can I go? I’m fifteen now, so I should be old enough. I’m just as good as you are.” He said, glaring at me. 

I sighed, shaking my head. “You’re not as good as I am, Sage. Besides, you’re only fifteen. I know you’re eager, but you’re just not old enough. No one under eighteen was allowed in the group. Especially not you. You’re the next king of the Dragon Kingdom. Your parents will kill me if you get hurt.” I told him. 

He frowned, glaring down at the ground. “I don’t want to be king. This is unfair. By the time I’m old enough to go, I won’t be able to anymore since I’ll be king. f*****g sucks,” He grumbled, kicking a rock. I sighed, unsure what to say to him. He was just too young, it wasn’t allowed. He looked up at me, smirking one of his rare smirks. “You better catch them,” he said. I nodded at him and he sighed once more, before walking off. It really wasn’t fair, honestly. I knew Sage. He’s been one of my best friends for most of our lives. He didn’t want to be king. I’ve been hoping he’d grow out of it. Well, there was still time for him to grow, I suppose. 

I turned away from him and walked down the street, stopping in the armory where I just knew the others were. Everyone was there with most of their parents as well. Azalea and her twin brother Lenny were there signing to their mother, Doris. Doris had Azalea’s one-year-old baby girl balanced on her hip and I smiled, chuckling at the scolding Doris was giving Lea. Robby was getting his own scolding from his mother, Betty, though from the way he was trying to inch over towards his wife, Lea, and their baby girl, I’d say it was not too bad. Lottie was arguing with her mother. Serina wanted Lottie to use the scythe she always used, but Lottie liked her own unique weapon. Nicki, however, took the scythe, making Serina happy that someone wanted it. Nicki earned herself a pat on her back from one of her father’s, Tyson, while her other father, Matt, hugged her tight. 

All of us had our horses ready and packed with sleeping bags and tents, and after getting an earful from the parents to protect their kids, we headed out. Lea and Robby shared a horse, but the rest had their own. I took the back of the group, I always did. I liked to watch the rear and I knew my second in command, Lottie, would have the front covered. Lottie usually rode her horse next to her best friend, Nicki. Following them in formation was the shared horse of Lea and her husband Robby, and next to them was Lenny. Lenny’s horse pulled the wagon, and I rode behind all of them. It wasn’t the biggest team, but I trusted them with every part of me, and we’ve never failed a mission yet. “So what’s his name?” Robby called out to me. 

I pulled the report out once more, even though I already had it memorized. “Wyatt Lane. He tried to rape princess Lilian of the Werewolf kingdom. They’ve been searching for him for a few months now, but he’d been in hiding. A few days after his picture was distributed around, he was seen in the town closest to us, the one we trade and buy from.” I told him. 

Lenny was busy signing to Lea everything we said from his horse next to hers and her husband’s. “He must be very good to have been hiding for so long. That’s a far trip to not having been spotted once until now,” Lenny said. I nodded, agreeing with him. 

“Are you sure we’re enough? There’s only six of us,” Lottie asked, a soft, hesitant question. 

I shrugged, sighing. “There’s no one else available, and you guys are the ones I trust the most. I won’t let Sage go, not yet. He’s not old enough.” I said stubbornly. 

“He’s strong enough though. We could protect him. He’s going to be king one day. He needs battle experience. This is the best he could get with the alliances in place.” Nicki argued with me. 

I frowned. “I said no, and that’s final,” I ordered. Everyone went into relative silence, besides Lenny signing to his sister as we rode. I watched them all for a while, remembering them. Taking it all in, as I did every time we went on a mission. I know these missions weren’t the same as the ones my father and Uncle Jem had when they were assassins but…even still. Something could go wrong, someone could die. Someone could always die. Like Danny’s twin brother. I heard stories about him, and because of that, I took time to memorize everyone I brought with me, every time. I looked at the twins first, noticing the way they looked exactly the same, as they always did. Azalea, we called her Lea for short. She and Lenny were thirty-one now, the oldest of the group. Both with long straight black hair. Lea had hers pulled back into a braid down her back, while Lenny had his pulled back into a bun on the back of his head. Both had their father’s bright green eyes, a startlingly beautiful vision. Robby, Betty’s son. Like his mother, he had pale blond hair, so light it looked white sometimes in the bright sun, along with her icy blue eyes. 

Then there were Nicki and Lottie. Nicki was an abandoned dragon baby found in the woods, and Matt and Tyson took her in and raised her as their own. With her honey-colored skin and bright green eyes, she was the one of the group with the most anger, the most sass. She fought me at every turn, clearly couldn’t stand me, but I still trusted her with my life all the same. She shook her head from side to side, pulling the many braids her hair was in into a ponytail, keeping the braids from flying around her face. Lottie was tanned with an olive tint to her skin, long blond hair, and bright green eyes wide and filled with a shy adventure. She was the youngest of the group, barely eighteen, but old enough. 

We rode for a day and a half before we stopped for camp. The town was two days away, and we’d be there by lunchtime. We could just keep riding. It wouldn’t be the first time we had ridden for days straight with little rest, but I wanted them to be rested for whatever we’d happen across. Knowing my luck, we’d either find him right away and need to be sharp, prepared; or he’d be hard to find and we’d be in town for days. Knowing how long he stayed hidden for, I’d say he’d be hard to find. I gathered firewood and started a fire while Lea and Robby hunted. Lenny searched the area, while Lottie and Nicki set up the tents. We didn’t have to be so formal, there was no one searching for us. Even still, I made sure we always did everything right. Mistakes happened when we slacked, even a little bit. They might call me a hard-ass under their breath, but at least they were alive. It didn’t take long for everyone to return to the fire, the deer skinned and butchered, and the meat cooking on the fire. “What’s the plan?” Lottie asked. I nodded at her, sighing. She was nervous, it was normal. I had just appointed her second in command when she turned eighteen. She was surprised by it, but none of the others were. Lottie was easily one of the strongest out of everyone, probably only second to me. She might be young, but she was swift and deadly, and I knew she was smart enough to lead as well. It was an easy choice for me, even if it did make things awkward for us afterward. 

Lottie batted her eyelashes at me, scooting closer to me on the log, and I sighed. Absently I scooted away, turning sideways so my legs were stopping her from advancing. I knew when we were kids she had a crush on me but I thought she outgrew it. It seems, however, she seemed to think me appointing her second in command meant I cared about her. I could be wrong, of course. I wasn’t going to call her out for it and embarrass her, still, I wasn’t going to let her advance any further. “I’ll take the first watch, alone,” I said, glaring at her. “Robby and Lea take the second watch. She’s always awake earlier than everyone else anyway. Once dawn breaks, breakfast, packing up, heading out. We should be there by lunchtime unless the road gets busy. It usually does closer to the town,” I said. They all nodded and I stood, taking a step away from Lottie. “Once there, we split into groups. Lea and Robby, Lottie and Nicki, and I’m going with Lenny. Keep to your groups. Search for him. If you find him, go back to the square. Every thirty minutes we meet in the square. If someone doesn’t show up, we search for the one missing. We’ll find him.” I told them. They nodded, agreeing to the plan. 

Nicki pulled the meat off the fire and separated it into different plates. I grabbed mine and walked away from the others, stopping to grab my sketchpad and pencils before heading up the hill to watch over the campsite. I sighed, looking down at the others as they laughed and joked around. Slowly, after a while, they started to go to bed and I leaned against the tree, pulling out my pad and pencils. I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering her. It’s been months since I saw her last, even if it was just a glimpse. Even still, I could still picture her perfectly. Long pure white hair, a serious look on her face. Smaller lithe frame. Tanned skin, but her eyes…I’d never forget those eyes. Light blue, with gold around the pupils. Despite the mission, I let my mind wander for a while, flipping through the pages of drawings, all filled with drawings of her, and found a new page. I let myself wander as I drew her once more. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d get to see her, this time…and I couldn’t help but smile softly, feeling the small hope rising in the pit of my stomach.