Page 111 of A Simple Truth

She left me.

Zora was already standing by my tent with her hands behind her back.

“Gideon—”

“Where is the woman I love, Zorianna?” I snarled at her, and her eyes flashed with hurt.

“She is off to the Rock Quarries, to free her friend,” she winced at the words.

“How long has she been planning on doing this? How long did you know?” I fumed.

“I had suspected for a while now, but I had hoped that you…” Zora swallowed hard. “I had hoped that she’d change her mind...” My jaw was about to snap as the fires played within my eyes. I stormed inside my tent, not bothering to light up the room, lest everything would burn within my sight.

“She’ll come back, Gideon,” Zora assured.

“Come back?!Zora, the woman I love more than life itself is about to walk herself into a death trap and I’m supposed to just wait for her to come back to me?” A frantic laugh escaped my mouth. “No, fuck that.” I tried to keep my voice cool, but failed. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” I kicked the chair down. “The Royal armies are stationed in the Rock Quarries right now, transporting all the slaves east.”

“What are we going to do?” Zora asked, her voice grave as the reality hit her.

“I amgoing to the Rock Quarries, andI amgoing to bring her back.” Wrath burned within me as I pulled my nice jacket off, rapidly putting on my armor.

‘She’ll come back.’ Oh, I’d make sure of it. Even if I had to drag her stubborn ass to safety.

She would not fucking die for some pointless slave.

Fuck!

I was glad the lights were off so I wouldn’t see my hands shaking from desperation and fury.

“You can’t go,” Zora protested.

“Iamgoing.”

“No. Let the Ten go and bring Finn back,” she countered.

“No. I am going, Zora.”

“If we go, it’s treason. If you go it means war, Gideon,” my cousin said sternly.

“I am fully aware,Commander,” I growled.

“Zora, assemble the Ten, we leave in twenty. I’ll notify the De Villiars and Xentar. Gideon, the battalions will be ready to move out upon our return,” Orest commanded.

Zora’s nostrils flared as she gave a curt nod, obeying Orest’s command, swiftly leaving the tent.

“Why?” I asked Orest, as he paused on the threshold. “Why, Orest,why?” I asked again, unable to finish my question, unable to hide the crumbling façade within me.

“Guilt is a powerful emotion, Gideon,” he carefully answered.

“I thought love was all prevailing...” my broken voice uttered through the disheveled darkness of the room. Orest’s eyes darted to the quickly disappearing figure of Zora.

“Then you never truly loved.”

67

FINNLEAH

My goggles steamed up as my eyes drowned in moisture. I painfully bit my cheek until the taste of iron filled my mouth, fighting back the tears.

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