Page 25 of A Simple Truth

I smiled sadly, taking one last glance around the room before locking the door once more, putting the disturbed memories back to sleep.

“We are starting a war, Orest. A civil war. One we lost terribly twenty-three years ago. And I am not planning on losing it again. Truth is, we need allies, and we need armies. I don’t see anyoneelse lining up at our door with motivation to betray the Queen. And Lachlan’s army, though not ideal, is the largest one of all.”

“He publicly disgraced Zora and left her at the altar, Gideon. Is this alliance worth so much to you that you are so ready to forget that?” Orest’s words, though spoken calmly, still stung.

“Zora has approved of this alliance, Orest. Perhaps your concern comes from a personal matter. One that I must assure you has no grounds, though I definitely understand it, especially now...” I reassured as a certain freckled face popped up in my head involuntarily, those emerald eyes like poison, intoxicating my soul.

“My feelings for Zora have nothing to do with this, you know that,” Orest opposed.

“Yes, but if it makes you feel any better, Zora has my permission to kill him if he pisses her off.”

Orest chuckled unevenly, his frame easing as we walked out of the secluded chambers at the very top of the castle.

“Then he won’t even last a day,” he said with a certain optimism in his voice.

17

FINNLEAH

My ears perked up, listening to the quiet breathing of the Ten, listening to every move and slight huff amidst our dark tent. I had patiently waited for this precise moment for what now felt like an eternity, laying still in my bed until all of them were out.

I cautiously shifted in my cot, slithering off the edge of my bed. My eyes snuck another glimpse, freezing as Zora’s figure rolled to the side, still slumbering. I was fully dressed, now grabbing my boots and my Basalt Glass dagger before darting outside.

I adjusted my hair out of my face, wincing as the bandages on my sore hands moved. I was pretty sure there was nothing left of the pads of my fingers except bone—courtesy of hours spent snapping them, just for a single spark to appear. Snapping past the throbbing pain, past the hunger, past the exhaustion, well into the night, until finally, one little spark appeared between my bloodied hands.

The Ten had watched me closely, concerned I was going mad.

They hadn't had the slightest idea.What I was about to do would definitely put me in that category.

But I was done.

I was so done waiting.

It had been weeks.Weeksthat I had wasted, trying to reel in the power within me with absolutely no progress, other than one small spark.

Weeksand hours of precious time I had lost to practicing with no results.

Every. Single. Day.

Yet, I hadn’t been able to get to my source ever since the first time in the field; my body shutting down the moment I got too close.

“Where are you off to?” a Destroyer on guard asked as I passed by. I froze mid step, calming my body to look relaxed.

“Oh, just to the bathroom, I guess my stomach didn’t agree with that dinner.” I chuckled sheepishly, hoping that he wouldn’t notice Heart Piercer in my other hand, as I attempted to hide it behind my back.

“Happens to the best of us.” He smiled kindly.

“Yeah, just don’t tell Troy. I don’t want him to feel bad about his cooking,” I said, taking a few steps away.

“Between you and me, Troy could learn a thing or two about spices.” He scratched his well-groomed beard, before waving at another guard near the campfire. My stomach eased a bit, though I hurried my steps away from the sleeping camp and the small campfires that kept the guarding soldiers warm at night, until I was deep into the surrounding forest. Light snow dusted the frozen ground, and I turned, grimacing at my tracks that left a clear trail behind.

“If only I had the power to melt this snow…” I said out loud, the annoyance in my voice directed at myself.

But no more.

Not after today.

My plan was quite simple.

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