Chapter 70

As promised, I woke up early that morning. I put on some comfortable clothes to go work in the field. I made sure to grab a cup as well, to make sure that I could be covered from the sun.

I ate a quick yet nutritious breakfast before rushing out the door. The fields were easy to find as the forest had been cut down in that area. The lack of tall trees close to the city showed the point where the veterans worked the land.

I got there one of the earliest, their faces seemed to brighten up as they saw me. A new and excited helping hand to help with the work.

“You must be Luna Aelin,” one of them ducked their head as they spoke.

“The one and only,” I winked with a smile.

“What are you doing in these lands?” The other one wondered.

“Helping out, I wanted to be of use while I’m here,” I quickly explained.

“Extra hands are always welcomed, plus I used to work with that mate of yours in Faljketijn,” he informed me with a proud smile.

“You did?” I asked excitedly.

“And so did this guy,” he elbowed his friend.

“I didn’t catch your names, by the way,” I quickly slide in, remembering that I had forgotten to ask one of the most important things.

“I’m Olander,” the more talkative of the two said first.

“I’m Callen,” the other one said.

I shook both of their hands.

“What do you say we all go get some things started and I can tell you more about the Alpha’s and our adventures together,” Olander offered, guiding me towards the room where that led to the field.

Inside, displayed nicely against the walls tons of tools for gardening could be seen. Then, glass doors in front of us gave view to the fields that could be accessed from there.

“Right, so as it’s summer, if you want you can start harvesting the potatoes, Callen can help you out with that today until you get the gist of it if you want,” Olander offered.

“That sounds great,” I said joyfully, “will you mind reaching me too much?” I asked Callen.

“Don’t flatter yourself, I have been through much worse than that,” he joked.

We smiled at each other, two introverted people coming together for gardening.

“The rest of people will join us in no time, but if you two want to get started?” Callen took over from Olander.

“I’m more than happy,” I agreed.

“Right, so this way we have the sacks. So you can strap it to your back. Wait, Luna, let me help you,” he rushed to help me strap a sack to my back.

“Are you comfortable?” He wondered once he had finish adjusting the belts and straps.

I move around testing my range of motion. “Feels about right.”

“Great.”

In less than a second, Callen has his sack strapped to his back and smiles at me, telling me he’s ready himself as well.

“Right, so the potatoes are right there, do you see where the land kind of dips?” He shows me. I nod my head. “That’s where we’re heading. The sack you can take off as soon as we get there so you don’t have to try to aim the potatoes to the mouth of the sack blindlessly.”

“It could be quite cool,” I joke, making him chuckle.

“It is,” he agrees with a smile.

He walks me to the potatoes. There, we start by the first row where Callen shows me how to pcik the potatoes. We quickly both set t a comfortable pace where we’re working, me the even rows and Callen the odd ones, always side by side.

“We were warned about vampires, so I wanted to ask you what you did to get the vampires all mad with us?” He joked, but his question was sincere. I was sure many other people who had only been given insides here and there about my situation had a lot of questions.

“In a very concise manner, I’m like one of the Vampire Prince’s mate,” I explained.

“One of? And still he’s planning on attacking the North just for you? No offense, Luna.” He adds at the end, making me laugh.

“None taken,” I giggle some more. “I was his favorite for a long while, then he rejected me and I was exiled to Kylain, but now Ascian regrets it. Plus, he’s not planning on attacking, just stealing me away.”

“Ascian… name basis, huh?” He assesses.

I chuckle, “we were quite close in the past.”

“Eitherway. You steal our Luna, you are declaring war to the North,” he stated proudly, making sure I knew.

“Arsen will get him,” I turn down all the conspiration.

“I bet AA can’t wait to kill that fucker,” he cheered.

“AA?” I asked confused, first time I’ve ever had that.

“Alpha Arsen, we used to call him AA to make fun of him in Faljketijn. He wasn’t much of an Alpha back then, his father took it off him- I bet you know the story. Whatever, AA used to get so pissed off at us,” he laughed at the memory. “Who would’ve known he grew up to be such a great Alpha…” He said with a type of love and pride that I had yearned for growing up. I wondered how many of the veterans felt as though Arsen, and probably Ulises too, were some type of son-figure to them.

“Arsen doesn’t tell me much about his time in Faljketijn, or pretty much anything before me,” I admitted, not wanting for him to ‘accidentally’ spill all of the stories that Arsen had been hiding.

He thought for a moment, turned his face away from me, faced the sun that at this time of year didn’t seem to ever set. He took a deep breath, as though he was trying to calm himself from a nightmare- or perhaps a memory.

“Arsen served six years straight. No vacations. He has a lot of bad experiences, it’s impossible not to come back from Faljketijn untouch. Some day, he’ll open up to you. We all do. But, give it time. Don’t hold it against him. Let him know you’re there and time will do the rest, “ he offered me some wise advice.

I nodded my head.

“Do you have a mate, Callen?” I wondered.

“I do,” he smiled as he returned to work, grabbing another potato and putting it in his sack.

“And kids?”

“A few, two boys, one girl. She’s the middle kid,” he informed me with a smile.

“Any warriors? Or any of them want to become one?” I asked, wanting to slowly go into the one question that I wanted to ask. One that had been stuck iin my mind ever since I moved here.

“All of them!” He cried with excitement. I believed that was the true nature of a Northerner, specially those who live in this city. “My oldest one is serving in Faljketijn actually. The other two are a bit too young and they’re finishing their training.”

“Oh, wow! That was actually what I wanted to ask you…” I hesitated for a moment as I didn’t know how to ask this question to a veteran like him. I didn’t want to appear weak or dumb. “You see, I’ve been given it some thought, having pups with Arsen, what that will entail. And, for some reason, my mind always go back to Faljketijn. I was born in a city full of vampires, I don’t have that warrior culture and the thought of sending my pups to Faljketijn knowing some of the memories Arsen still struggles with… It just- I don’t know…” I confessed to him.

He chuckled. “Oh, dear. You don’t have to be that worried. Look, Faljketijn is scary, but nobody is ever sent there without the proper training. Arsen- out of everyone- will be the first to tell you whether someone is ready or not. Every parent worries and I’m sure for you, it’s even worse. But, you cannot protect your kids from every danger in this world, but rather make them ready for it. And if Arsen believes that pup is ready, trust me, that pup is coming home to tell the world how big of a hero he is,” he informed me.

I felt like I could breathe again, because deep down, I knew that Arsen would want all of our kids to serve some day in Faljketijn. Arsen was a protector and he wouldn’t want anything else for their kids. He would teach them how to protect those he loves and with that, his pack. That, starts with Faljketijn.

“So, I just have to trust Arsen’s instincts, and that’s it?” I asked humorously with a smile.

“Have you not been doing that?” He questions with a chuckle.

“Pf, I trust Arsen with my life,” I confessed, feeling those words right in my heart, touching my mark just to remember I’m his and he’s mine.

“We all do,” Callen mumbled, getting back to work. “We all do.”