Page 11 of My Eternal Light
He took the boy’s hand and led them to where Aiden was trying to talk to Aeron.
“We’re here to help,” Aiden said, pointing to their group.
“Lies!” the older girl in the cage next to him yelled.
“Cody, get away from him!” Aeron ordered.
Cody shook his head. “He helped Dillon. The man said he heard Dillon crying and came for us. I think that the Queen sent them.”
Darian turned to look at the boy. “Why would you think that?”
“The bad men hate the queen. They say she’s evil and forced us out of our home. But, I don’t believe him because he’s bad and does bad things. So, if he thinks she’s evil, I bet she’s really, really nice,” Cody explained.
Darian knelt down, tears in his eyes. “She is. And she did send us to find you. She made sure we came with blankets, and she has everyone in the palace making warm food for your arrival.”
“You’re lying…” Aeron’s voice broke. “I cannot have hope again, it hurts too much.”
Darian stood. “Aeron, what is your family name?”
Aeron slowly rose to stand as tall as he could in the cage. On shaking legs, he managed to look Darian in the eye. “I am Aeron Eirson.”
Darian’s body seemed to expand as a golden light surrounded his body. With strength Kincaid didn’t know the fae possessed, he watched as Darian simply pulled the bars apart to get to the older boy.
“Did he just bend that shit like taffy?” Brie whispered.
“Yup.” Priest and Gage answered together.
Darian reached in and before the boy could attack, simply pulled him to his chest and held him close. “My brother was Oron Vi’Eirson before he was adopted.” He stepped back to look at the boy. “As he once saved me. I swear to save every single one of you.”
Aeron gave a sharp nod, then a weary smile, before passing out.
“Aiden you will have to help with the heavy lifting,” Darian said, gently easing the boy to the ground. “I’m tapped out. The only thing I’m good for right now is the portal.”
“The queen has saved us!”
“We don’t have to stay?”
“Father will be so mad.”
The children began speaking all at once. It was as if Aeron’s acceptance cemented their own opinions of them. They were no longer to be feared, they were their saviors.
Darian reached into his pocket, then hesitated. “This really isn’t something I can tell them over the phone.”
“Call Aeson. He can mobilize our unit brothers quicker than you can say ‘potluck’,” Ari advised, looking around for something.
“Whatcha doing hun?” Brie asked.
“Looking for keys.”
Gage shuddered. “Why do these cages never have any fucking keys?”
“They stopped leaving the keys here when they found out the little ones were letting us out,” a girl inside the cage on the other wall explained.
Darian dialed a number and began giving orders for warriors to meet them at the palace in five minutes.
Kincaid gently rubbed the baby’s back.
“Do we really get to leave? And not be food?” Cody asked.