Page 50 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

After making sure Merrick was all right and stopping herself from stabbing Raine as well when he couldn’t stop laughing at her, she’d left the males on the beach and returned to the cabin to hide in this room, the energy that had kept her moving this morning dwindling with every step she took on the snaking path.

“You need to speak to me.” Ardow’s eyes sought hers as he opened the door, slipped in, and thudded it shut behind him. “You need to, Lessia.”

She was about to snarkily respond that she definitely didn’t, but when that emptiness from earlier glossed his gaze, she made herself sit up and pat the mattress beside her.

She might be furious with Ardow…

But he was still her friend.

Perhaps if she tried to understand him instead of blaming him, she could get him to see that what he was doing was wrong.

The bed creaked as Ardow sat down and leaned against the wall, nervously pulling at the ill-fitting clothing Raine had given him.

While Ardow wasn’t a small man by any means, he only had a fraction of Fae in him, and Merrick and Raine must have several inches on him.

Another surge of guilt swept over her.

Like her, Ardow was out of his depth here.

And he was all alone.

She had the—somewhat strange—friendship with Merrick.

And Venko would at least meet her eyes, even if they held doubt for what she was trying to achieve.

“Talk to me,” she said when he continued pulling at the gray tunic.

“I know you… you disagree with me.” Ardow grimaced when she nodded forcefully. “But please know, I only got involved because of how people like us are treated, Lessia. I need you to understand that.”

“Ard…”

“Please let me finish, then you can judge me as much as you’d like,” Ardow pleaded.

Flames of anger licked her veins, their constant presence becoming worryingly familiar, but she nodded, gripping the blanket tightly when her fingers twitched.

“I became part of the rebel movement before I met you. As you know, I left my family at sixteen to try to help my father, as our land wasn’t providing enough to sustain us and the workers my father employed. So I thought I’d go to the capital, find employment, and be able to send home some silvers for them so they could at least take a day off once in a while. That didn’t work out. No one would employ me when I showed them my papers and they realized my grandfather was half-Fae. I couldn’t even find anywhere to live… It was like the few coins I’d brought weren’t good enough for the tavern owners to keep Fae under their roofs at night.”

Lessia bowed her head, her eyes falling to her clasped hands.

She knew all this—had learned already, during the first days after meeting him, why Ardow had been so quick to approach her that first day on Asker.

It hadn’t been only because he carried Fae heritage, but because he also was burdened by devastating guilt toward his family.

Although his was less warranted than hers.

Ardow hesitantly touched her knee, his voice growing stronger when she didn’t swat it away. “I got drunk one night in the same tavern I met you, and some bastard started spewing shit about Fae, so I knocked him out in my frustration. Unfortunately, he had a whole group of men with him. After they’d nearly turned me into carrion and thrown me into the alley behind the tavern, a woman found me. She helped me onto a small boat, cleaned me up, and let me stay until I recovered. Whenever I was awake, she’d tell me stories. Stories about a united people, where Fae, humans, and shifters all worked together. I thought she’d just made them up to give me something else to think about other than my broken bones, but on the last day, she asked me if that world was something I’d like to be a part of.”

Ardow sighed as he dragged a hand through his hair. “I said yes without hesitation. Over the next few years, I was slowly introduced to more and more of their plans. In exchange for me bringing on more recruits, they helped me get that shabby apartment I had when we met, and they even sent funds to my family to help them get back on their feet. And once they were certain I could be trusted, I got to meet their leader. She is amazing, Lessia. A visionary. She believes what we believe—wants what we want! I know you’d love her if you met her.”

Lessia stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

She wasn’t so confident of that.

Someone who’d willingly sacrifice innocent people didn’t sound like someone she’d call a friend.

But she swallowed her argument and asked, “Who is she?”

Ardow squeezed her knee. “She is a shifter. I’ve never seen her real form. Honestly, I don’t think many have. But she has a vision for a world where Ellow, Vastala, and Korina work together—with no borders separating us. She has this whole plan for how it’ll all work—for how the people will choose their rightful leaders, and all will thrive under a new rule. It’s exactly what we used to dream of, don’t you remember?”

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