I could feel the anger brewing around me. All but Asher were struck by his words. Even Ace dropped his sword a fraction, doubt clouding his face.
Why was Fen saying these things now? Here? Why was he pitting himself against his brothers? Saying 'your father' instead of 'our father?' Making himself the other.
But then I looked around and I saw. I saw what he was doing. And why. All eyes had shifted to him. The brothers edged forward, alert, focused.
He did this for me.
To give me a chance to run.
But I couldn't leave him there, with them. I couldn't let him destroy himself to save me. I moved to go to him, to stop him, to save him before he started a war with his brothers.
Before I could reach Fen, Ace's arm reached out to stop me. His grip was tight, unbreakable. Even in his weakness he was strong. My heart raced and bile rose in my throat. I turned to him, to challenge him, to explain that we had to help Fen, but Ace's face had grown cold and distant. Hard.
Tears filled my eyes, and I brushed them away with my free hand and tried to get Fen's attention, but he was deliberately not looking at me.
He was still speaking. Still confessing. Still riling them up, and Ace wasn't immune to his words. He had helped Fen and me search for their father’s killer. The whole time, Fen lied to him. Even if there was good reason behind it, I could see Ace did not understand. His eyes flicked back to the Prince of War, now an outsider, a Fae, an other. The Prince of Sloth was on an edge. And the way he fell would be dictated by Fen’s next words.
"And then, you chose me to find the murderer," Fen said. "Oh how I laughed at you all behind your backs. How I gloated to myself, brothers. But then again, we were never kin, were we?"
Dean drew his sword and roared. "You bastard! We should have never treated you as one of our own!"
Fen's eyes fell, a quizzical expression on his face, as if he had just learned something new. But he quickly returned to his cold, hard, disregarding performance. And that's what it was, a performance. "I understand now why I've always been better than you. Stronger than you." He stepped forward, toward his brothers. "I have the power of the Fae and vampire. I have the Earth Spirit at my side."
Eyes flashed to the white wolf baring his teeth to the right of Fen. Baron was the Earth Spirit? Tauren? But how?
By their faces, it was clear the brothers didn't know this part. Fen was saying he wasn’t just Fae but a Druid as well. The Earth Druid.
But it couldn’t be true, could it?
Ace spoke first, his voice soft in the echoing stone hall. "Our mother… our mother said she found a Fae babe on the battlefield that she turned to save its life. She said nothing of Spirits."
His words sent a chill down my spine. Fen wasn’t lying. But then… Did he just find out? Or had he kept his true heritage secret from me?
Me. After all we shared.
"It's true," Asher said, speaking for the first time. "I was there, remember? I saw the wolf enter the infant. It took physical form many years later."
Niam turned his eyes to Asher, his jaw hard. "All this time, Asher… you knew? You knew he was the Earth Druid and you said nothing?"
"Our mother knew," Asher said. "She swore me to secrecy. Swore me just as she did you, to never speak of Fen's heritage. Would you have broken your oath to her?"
At that the princes said nothing. The rage and passion that passed between them was fading into resignation. Old relationships were breaking, making way for something new.
Asher’s words gave me a brief comfort. Asher lied to his brother, but Fen never lied to me. Not about this. He didn't know.
But…
Oh god. I did this to him. I made him the enemy.
Fen and I needed to get out of here. Now. Before this shifted into something deadlier.
After all, I was the reason Druids had any power at all. And now that included the Prince of War.
Fen caught my eyes and held them. I could tell he wanted me to leave him. To save myself. But how could he think I would do that? How could I leave him here to face the wrath of his brothers alone? Stupid, foolish man. I shook my head, but he ignored me, continuing.
"Will none of you avenge your father?" he roared. "Is your fear of me too great? Do you piss your pants at the sight of me? Come!" He beat his chest with his fists. "Come at me, brothers." His last word dripped with mockery.
That was all it took for Levi to charge him. Fen jumped into the air and their swords clashed.
I pulled at Ace's hold on me again, but his grip tightened. He looked angry. His jaw clenched as he watched his brothers fight.
"What are you doing?" I hissed at him. "Fen needs our help. Let me go."
Ace turned his hard glare toward me. "I think you've done enough to help, Princess." His words bit, and I recoiled in shock. This wasn't the Ace I'd come to know.