Page 31 of A Simple Truth

I fought the darkness as it laid thick on my eyes, drawing me toward sleep. Each blink grew heavier than the next, pushing me until I fell into the black abyss of nothingness.

“You are back...” A soft whisper sounded just a few inches away from my face, sending lightning through my body, pulling me abruptly from my slumber. I turned sharply to the side as my eyes met hers, the greenish tint in them a bit murky, as if still shrouded in smoke.

“Missed me?” I smiled, not able to hide the huge relief that flooded my heart as I took another look at her.

“Not even in the slightest.” She shook her head too enthusiastically for my liking, but I couldn’t resist a soft smile.

She was okay.

“I didn’t stab anyone,” she mumbled deliriously. And it took me a minute to realize what she was referring to.

“Good girl,” I whispered, moving a few pieces of her hair away from her blistered face. Her eyes slowly closed as she mumbled a few other things I couldn’t comprehend. “Get some rest, Finn. You have a lot to recover from,” I said as she tried to sit up all of a sudden, my eyes shooting up to the ceiling as the covers slipped, exposing her striking, bare body. “Let’s keep you covered up for now, okay?” I swallowed tightly, pulling the blanket over her again. She was still mumbling gibberish and dread turned my soul inside out, at the thought that her mind was forever lost. But then, I saw the familiar glare of defiance she directed at me as I pulled the cover over her shoulder. A glare that eased my soul and body all at once.

She was going to be okay.

I adjusted the pillows and blankets for her and she finally nestled in.

“I can wield it,” she said with less than a whisper. “I can turn them all to ash now.” My brows rose in amusement as she added a “whoosh” sound before falling back asleep.

“I cannot wait, little wildfire,” I whispered to myself, listening to her steady breaths. After a while, I cautiously pulled one of the pillows from her side, laying it down on the ground. Even though the couch would’ve been more comfortable to sleep on, it was all the way across the room, and that, in the moment, felt too far of a distance to be away from her.

19

FINNLEAH

My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. I was so terribly parched, like every drop of liquid in my body had turned to sand. Carefully, I opened my eyes, a seemingly effortless action that now felt like sandpaper scraping against my swollen eyelids.

I gave my eyes a minute to adjust to the absolute darkness I was in. Surprised to realize that somehow, instead of the icy river, I found myself inside the General’s tent. Intuitively, I moved my hands to my hip, searching for Heart Piercer. Only to find it gone. But that fact was utterly ignored as I realized that underneath the furs and silks, I was completelybare.

How did I get from being fully clothed in the depths of the woods to being naked on the General’s bed?

My heart twisted with unease as my dry tongue ran against my grotesquely cracked, dehydrated lips.

I needed water and I needed it now. Everything else could wait.

My eyes darted over to the corner table across from his desk. There—a pitcher and a glass. My mind fixating on the clear liquid as if it was pure gold.

I sat up sluggishly, moving the heavy furs away, only to gasp silently as my feet touched the cold metal underneath. My hands instinctively grabbed the sheets to cover myself up as I looked down to the floor.

There, in all his glory and might, laid the Destroyer General himself. Still fully dressed in his dark armor, he was peacefully sleeping, swords and helm right next to him.

He was back.

That thought shouldn’t be as comforting as it was, but I gave him another glance.

A whole month, and now he was back. My lips painfully cracked even more as I involuntarily smirked, noticing the small bit of drool at the corner of his mouth.

“Gross,” I whispered to myself.

I grabbed the softest sheet from the bed, wrapping it around myself as I cautiously snuck to the edge and stepped over his metal-covered legs.

Thick carpets covering the floor absorbed the sound of my steps as I tipped-toed toward the water, avoiding making a single noise while I poured the liquid into a glass.

A little moan escaped my lips as the cold, icy water ran down my throat, feeling like a breath of fresh air. I flinched a second later as the General moved, though his eyes were still shut. Hesitating only for a second, I gave up my manners and gulped straight from the pitcher, until my stomach was unable to take anymore.

I needed food. Hunger pains gnawed through my empty stomach from the moment my thirst was quenched. But first and foremost, I needed clothes. My hand tightly squeezed the corners of the fabric covering me as I slipped past the General into the freezing night outside. But not without looking back towards his peacefully sleeping figure, spread out on the floor near his bed. Appearing so deceitfully harmless.

I ran, dodging a few patrol soldiers as I hid in the shadows. The familiar, rectangular tent soon appeared in sight, and I quickened my strides, silently thanking the gods that my bed was closest to the door. I impatiently pulled a few clothes on, wincing at the way they rubbed against my raw-feeling skin.

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