Page 58 of Forcing Fate

“Where?” I asked, thinking of Stonesmead where my mother lived.

Nestled between the King’s Palace and the Wild Mountains of E’or to the east, the village was one of the safest locations to dwell in, far away from the war front. Northwing was the closest settlement to the front, on the northwestern border of the King’s Land. Beyond us to the west was the realm of the great Sky Trees, giant trees thicker than the biggest dragon, and taller than the palace itself.

Beyond the Sky Trees lay the sweltering path to the Shadowlands. We forced the Shadows back to their borders a time or two, but every time the King called the retreat, they followed. They seemed to have an endless supply of manpower for their war and endless greed to fuel their attack.

“To the south, close to Southwing. I fear they may have somehow received word of the King’s efforts to establish a breeding regiment for the dragons there,” she said wearily.

The dragons laid fewer eggs with every passing year. Without dragons, we stood no chance against the Shadows. The King instilled a breeding program at the school to the south, on the border of the wastelands. For all his efforts, it was still an experiment, as dragons would not mate simply because they were told to. It seemed as though it was a fluke, or the stars aligned when a female conceived.

Even when dragons went into season, they might not mate. Or they mated with several, to not even conceive. The breeding of dragons was still unknown territory, but the King was determined to pioneer in.

“Did they attack the school?” I asked.

“No. Dragon Riders held them off, but now they know dragons are there,” she sighed, and for a moment, I saw the weariness in her eyes. “I sincerely hope they’re as spread thin as we are.”

It was a hope we all shared. We wouldn’t be able to fight a war on two fronts. We barely maintained the one front we had.

“There will be more refugees today. I have to find rooms for all the women. We don’t have enough rooms as it is,” she said, rising to her feet.

There was one room she should have had to offer. Avoiding her gaze, I felt the sting of her words, even if she didn’t mean them the way I received them. I should have moved to the canyon by now.

“Master Elenor?” I clasped my fingers in my lap, and she tilted her head curiously. “I want to thank you for your kindness and patience during this time. I’ve been a poor example of how a woman ought to act.”

She offered me a rare smile, and her eyes shone a little brighter. “Avyanna, you’ve gone through something no one else has. You must know there are people here for you. I support you. Niehm supports you. I’ve gathered Willhelm supports you as well.” She tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear. “You need to understand you’re not alone. You don’t have to weather this storm by yourself.”

Tears pricked my eyes. She was right. She and Master Niehm took time out of their busy days to come and sit with me—just to let me know that someone else was there.

If I named anyone my friend, it would be Master Elenor, Master Niehm, and Willhelm.

Master Elenor looked at me, her eyes searching mine, and she pulled me in for a hug. I stood stiff with shock, before my pride crumpled in my heart and I wrapped my arms around her. She smelled of peppermint and lavender. Sharp and delicate at the same time.

“Now,” she started, pulling away to hold me at arm’s length, “if you’re feeling up to it, I could certainly use some help getting the new girls settled.”

I understood what she was really asking, without voicing it. Was I ready to get back out there and face everyone? Face the peers that would laugh at me and call me a failure? Was I ready to ignore what people thought, and somehow make use of myself?

“Let me get dressed,” I said with a small smile.

Children came in droves.

The masses were horrifying. Normally, after a raid, they sent all the children and women to one school to keep them together. Because of its size, they split this group of refugees between the two schools. The few able-bodied men who survived stayed back, as well as some women, to rebuild their villages and hamlets.

Fifty-four children and twelve women. We didn’t have sixty-six extra rooms. We didn’t even have fifty extra rooms.

I was tasked with the younger children. I washed them after the long road up north and changed them into clean clothes. I tried to feed those that looked as though they had no food in days. Despite how busy I kept myself, I still heard the whispers of the women. I saw the telltale empty stares of those who witnessed the Shadows face to face.

Survivors muttered that the Shadows knew too much, they came in too large of a force, and it was as if they knew what to expect. Too many villages were lost to them for it to have been a coincidence. A small group of Shadows might slip through the Dragon Guard that protected our homelands, but one this immense should have been found sooner. They should have never been able to destroy so many lives, so many homes.

I washed the face of a young boy, wiping away the remnants of his meal. His stare was vacant, as if he saw nothing before him. He refused to speak, and I had to spoon feed him even though he was nearly ten-winters old, give or take a few years. It was as if he witnessed something so traumatic, he could see nothing else.

I brushed his unruly brown hair from his brow and spotted Master Elenor speaking with an older woman from the new arrivals. I finished with the boy and made my way over to them.

The older woman shook her head and pursed her lips, watching the children huddled throughout the space.

“We will have to room them together,” Master Elenor told her.

“It would be better if you did.” She nodded, the corners of her mouth dipping in a frown. “They’ve been through too much for ones so little.”

“Mrs. Grimee, this is Miss Avyanna, my assistant. Avyanna, would you be so kind as to help us get the children settled?”

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