Breaker of Rings

Chapter 25

The worst part of a battle could be the aftermath, when all the broken pieces and shattered people were picked up and had to be attended to, when the path forward was no longer so clear. The showdown with the Skull King had been shorter than most of the Four Horsewomen's battles, but they knew it was only the first of many and that they couldn't rest for long. Even if they had managed to vanquish him for good, there would always be another enemy, another fight.

One of those fights was brewing in the heart of their settlement. It wasn't violent or even mean, but it still cut the Four Horsewomen to their core. Many of the refugees had already felt uncomfortable when Queen Paige brought Dean along with her contingent; he hadn't been involved in The Shield's most recent attacks, but he was still notorious enough that they knew who he was and what he could do. It had taken a lot of convincing from Asuka to assuage them, and even that was fragile. When the Four Horsewomen had come back with Seth in tow, tensions rose even higher. Once word went around that Roman would be arriving with his family, many of the refugees went to the Four Horsewomen and said they didn't feel safe with The Shield in the settlement, and it gave the women a dilemma. If they cast out The Shield—including Dean and Renee—Charlotte and Bayley would lose valuable mentors, and the Horsewomen couldn't be assured that the men would continue on their path of redemption. If they let The Shield stay, however, the villagers would question the Four Horsewomen's allegiances and their ability to lead, which could lead to unrest in the settlement. In the end, the Horsewomen had a small cluster of buildings built away from the settlement for The Shield to use. The distance placated some of the refugees, but many still chose to leave. They didn't bear the settlement or the Horsewomen any ill will, but they also didn't feel like they could stay and feel safe.

Another conundrum was what to do with the golden skull. Bex still had a hard time thinking of it as Shawn's, but she knew there had been a very real man behind it, a man with family and friends who deserved respect and peace. The choice to retrieve it from its hasty burial spot by the waterfall was simple enough; it would have been too easy for an animal or even an innocent wanderer to unearth it. "I don't think Hunter can track us with it," Seth said. "But in all honesty, I wasn't thinking when I stole it. I just . . . I had a moment of clarity, and those were so rare when I had the cuff on, so when I had the idea to take it, I didn't think twice about it."

Bex glanced down at his wrist, which now had more scars than links of chain. There was only about a row left since they had been taking removal—and their tangle of a bond—slowly. Asuka had helped unhook many of them with her magic, but the ones Bex helped with seemed to heal better. Seth claimed it was because they shared the same element, but she wasn't so sure. "What if we would sail far to the north, weigh it down, bind it to all four elements, and drop it into the ocean?" Bex suggested. She was sitting close enough to Seth to touch him, but she kept her hands in her lap. With the mistrust some villagers had for The Shield, she was careful to not appear too attached to him, but it was getting harder and harder to maintain the facade. "Or does he have family left? I would say they should have his remains," she added, "but if that's going to make them a target for Queen Stephanie. . . ."

"Then it might be better if we buried it somewhere." Bayley gazed at the golden skull, which sat at the centre of the table. The inextinguishable flames that Bex had thought might be part of Seth's spirit had finally disappeared, but the skull was no less eerie. The feather and the rock sat in front of it like offerings. "It doesn't sound like Shawn would want people to suffer on account of him, and I can't imagine his family would either."

Dean shook his head. "He wouldn't. We didn't know him well—at least I didn't—but he was a good guy. I used to imagine Hunter was like that once." Renee leaned against his arm and kissed his cheek.

"Then when Roman arrives," Sasha suggested, "we should do a binding. Since The Shield knew him, or at least of him, that could act as a familial tie. We can use double fire, double earth, double air. . . ." She reached for a small braid in her hair, now a soft lichen green, and twirled it. As the only one without an elemental partner, she felt somewhat adrift. The other Horsewomen had been doing their best to reassure her, promising they would look for other elementals—especially water-weavers—so they could all learn more about their powers and be less likely to align with tyrants like the Skull King, but that did little for the loneliness she felt right then.