“He knows better,” Jericho said softly. “But he does not care, not when it comes to you. If I couldn’t succeed in saving you, I was to try for Max, and then retreat to the woods. Is Max still alive?”
“Yes,” Arianna whispered, her voice slightly choked with shock.
“Katrina has him,” Braith said softly.
Jericho nodded. “She might be difficult, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get to him. Your father will not have to come for you.”
“He was going to sacrifice himself for Max too?” she breathed.
Jericho shook his head. “No, your father cares for Max, and he is an important member in the rebellion, but he was not going to come for him. You are his daughter Aria, he loves you, and you are far more important to the rebellion than Max is.”
Arianna shook her head, blinking in surprise at him. “No I’m not!” she protested. “Max is a strong fighter, he rallies people to the cause, and he knows the woods as well as I do!”
“No one knows those woods as well as you do,” Jericho muttered, his gaze darting briefly to Braith, who remained unmoving as he tried to absorb everything.
Arianna shook her head. “It still makes no sense,” she whispered.
“As your father’s daughter, a man that the rebels obviously admire and follow, you would be able to rally the rebels to battle even more so than Max,” Braith explained softly.
Arianna bit on her bottom lip, her gaze darted swiftly up to him. “I don’t want this; I didn’t want any of this.”
She looked so lost, so frightened and wounded. He had never seen her like this; even dirty and bedraggled she had displayed an air of defiance that was admirable. “I know, but it has to be dealt with.”
She turned back to Jericho. “My father had to know that it would be a suicide mission, that they would not release me, no matter what.”
Jericho’s gaze darted to Braith. “It was a chance he was willing to take, if it meant he had even a possibility of saving your life. Daniel is capable of taking charge of the rebels within the camps, while William and I could take control of the rebels outside, if your father had to come in here.”
Arianna’s eyes widened, her mouth dropped as all of the color drained from her face. “William?” she choked. “You brought William near here? What were you thinking Jack!? What was my father thinking!?”
“He’ll be fine,” Jericho said softly.
“Fine!” she sputtered, releasing Braith as she took an angry step forward. “Are you trying to get him killed!?”
“Aria…”
“Don’t you Aria me!” she retorted, suddenly charging at Jericho. Braith was so shocked by her sudden attack that he did not spring into immediate action to try and stop her. She was in front of Jericho poking him hard in the chest as he backed away from her. Her broken demeanor was gone, she radiated fury now. “What the hell were the two of you thinking!?”
Jericho seized her finger, keeping it within his tight grasp when she tried to pull it back. Aria let out a raspy grunt of frustration, then wound up and kicked him as hard as she could in the shin. Jericho jumped back slightly as Aria glared at him. “Damn it Aria!” he barked at her.
“You’re lucky I’m wearing this stupid dress and couldn’t get my foot any higher!” she snapped back.
Jericho glared fiercely at her, she returned it wholeheartedly. Braith stepped forward, seizing hold of Jericho’s arm. He didn’t think his brother would hurt her; in fact Jericho seemed to genuinely like and admire Arianna. There appeared to be an almost sibling connection between them, but Braith did not like him touching her. He didn’t like the idea of any other man touching her, even if it was his brother. Jericho glared at her for a moment longer before releasing her hand. Arianna looked as if she was going to kick him again, but she restrained herself.
“Now,” Braith said coldly. “Who the hell is William?”
Arianna folded her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Her brother,” Jericho answered.
Arianna’s lip curled at him, she looked completely disgusted and infuriated. “My twin brother,” she emphasized.
Braith did not entirely understand why that seemed to upset her so much. “Ok,” he said softly.
Arianna finally turned her attention to Braith; the desperation in her eyes stunned him. “William and I are inseparable, we’re rarely apart. The only reason he wasn’t on the hunt with me that day was because he had been hurt in a raid two days before. He’s my twin, he’s another extension of me, and we are almost exactly alike.”
“They’re both hotheaded and reckless,” Jericho explained further when Braith still did not fully grasp what she was saying. “I personally blame it on the hair.”
“You’re an ass!” she snapped, spinning on her heel and storming away. “My father and you are both idiots! William will not stay away.”
She strode swiftly to the door of the library where she stopped, and stood uncertainly. Her arms were wrapped around herself, she seemed torn, lost. “That is why your father brought him.”
She turned back at Jericho’s words. “At least here your father can keep an eye on him, keep guards on him so that he cannot break free and do something that could get us all killed. If he had left William behind than he would not be able to keep an eye on him.”
Arianna’s gaze flickered, and then she bit on her bottom lip and nodded slowly. “You’re right,” she whispered. Then she was moving again, coming back to Braith, slipping her hand into his. She stared up at him for a moment, her eyes searching his face. “What do we do?”
He didn’t have an answer for her. “Now, we make a plan to get you out of here,” Jericho said softly.
Horror filled Arianna’s eyes, Braith felt a sharp pain in his chest, his entire being recoiled at the very idea. He knew that she needed to leave, that she had to get somewhere safe, he just wasn’t sure he could let her go in order to do so.
***
Aria watched numbly, she hadn’t moved from the window seat since Jack and Braith had left to attend the banquet. They were needed there, they had to go, and neither of them wanted her anywhere near it. Braith did not think that Max would be brought, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance. No one knew how Max was going to react when he saw that Jack was one of the royal family, they did not need her presence there to complicate things.