Daughter of Crows

Chapter 11|| Brother

3 months later

The two of them had moved to the living area after finishing up cleaning the kitchen. Lucien had brought out his wine and the two had somehow ended up sitting on the floor in front of the fire. The liquor had them so relaxed that from talking about the training they were giving the girls and others, they ended up on the topic of their love life. It had been bought up a couple of times before as well, but Freye a never told him about her the incident which caused her to leave her home, and he never pushed it. He also seemed to be hiding something, and she pretended she didn't notice.

It had been days since they met and stayed together getting to know each other. They were sitting in comfortable silence after Freye had bought up and incident with a human man after she left when he spoke up.

"Her name was Aela." Freye turned to look at him from where she was staring at the fire. "I loved her dearly. I never thought I'd fall for anyone else ever. I also wondered if she was my mate. We hadn't ever taken it to more than make out sessions. She was a daughter of my father's friend. That's how we met. She and I wanted to get married."

"There was this rogue and a band of demons who were terrorizing all the females. I was young and foolish. One day, I thought I could take them all by myself. I slipped out of the camp and flew to their camp, which was miles away, without telling anyone, and got captured. They treated me like shit. Like I was a thing, not a being. They made me do things that I never would have even thought about. They did things to me that I never thought would happen to me."

"My brother and Alea came to rescue me. While we were getting out, two of their cronies were waiting for us. I was mostly unconscious and drained, but I was conscious enough to realize that Malik, my brother, had been captured and Alea had bargained away mine and Malik's lives so that she could escape. In a sudden burst of energy, I somehow killed the two guards and Alea."

"After I left their bodies behind and stumbled away, I found myself near a river. But I was too tired and fell unconscious and tumbled straight in the water. Later when I woke up, Kieran my beta, had already found me and brought me home. I couldn't feel anything. It felt like I was a ghost. My brain wouldn't stop playing those incidents in my head over and over again. Kieran was always near me, or my mother, or my friends, and when I went into that dark space again, feeling like i was a thing, not a person, Kieran or anyone near me would just say my name, and it reminded me that I'm real. You see, only people that I love, and trust call me Luc. When you call me Luc, it reminds me that I'm real."

"Luc," Freye whispered, blinking back tears.

"Don't," he pleaded softly. "Don't cry."

"I'm sorry. It's just that I want..." Mother, there was so much she wanted for him. She wanted him to never have experienced any of that, but she couldn't undo the past. "I want you to know that you are always Cas. You were never a thing, and you aren't one now. 

You are Lucien Azriel. A son. A brother. A friend. You are a King in your own right. My King. And you will always be my everything, but never will you be a thing."

He smiled at her before turning back to the fire. "I still am searching for my brother, and it is hard, but when you are near, it doesn't seem so bad." He paused for a long moment before continuing. 

"A decade ago, I found Penelope. She was..." Lucien turned to look at her, studying her face before he said the two words. "My mate." Freye felt a pang of hurt and jealousy in her chest, realizing that he wasn't HER mate. "She died in a battle with those exact rogue because of a bolt in her chest. I couldn't save her, but the one year I was with her, they were one of the best years in my life. Just before she took her final breath, she told me to find someone. To not mourn her and to be happy. I never thought I'd find someone, but then..."