Page 28 of Rising

“Why would I require a regular citizen to treat me as if I were their superior?” I deadpanned.

The idea of that made no sense to me. I wanted their respect, sure. But respect was earned, not given. And at the end of the day, I was here to serve them and their safety, not the other way around.

“From what I’ve seen so far, maybe a traditional approach to things would do some good around here.” His eyes lingered on my chest and my shorts as the words slipped off his mouth and my eyes squinted in disgust.

I turned towards the counter, fully intending on being the one to go quiet this time, but biting my tongue had never been a strength of mine. “You’ve been here for what? Less than five hours? How would you know? Besides, traditional is an ironic word choice coming from the likes ofyou.” My eyes lingered on his chest and waistline this time, giving him the same energy in return, making my distaste for him clear.

I knew it was a low blow. Watched it slap him in the face, an apology formed on my lips as he replied, “Turkey soup for me, but not you. Why?”

Shocked at the sudden turn in conversation and his sudden interest in my eating preferences, but thankful for the change in conversation, I hesitated before replying, “I’m a pescatarian, but most days I prefer no meat at all.”

“Hm.” My eyes squinted at his non-answer. I found myself pleading with Elie to stop chatting up whoever was able to corner back there so this entire interaction could come to an end.

“Hm,” I mimicked.

“I was going to suggest some extra protein may help your … condition,”—he gestured to my body, clearly meaning my frail state—”your strength. But I see now that you wouldn’t take advice fromthe likes ofme.”

His dig at my appearance stung. My exhaustion and hunger turned to anger at his audacity and the way he felt comfortable to comment on my body and judge my decisions, but it faded as his point hit home. I’d just done the same to him.

My lips pursed at the guilt. “I’m informal with the citizens because I want them to know that they can trust me, feel safe with me. Not only that, Iwantto know about them, I care about them and, more importantly, I’m responsible for them. I know that I’m General, but I don’t and never have claimed to know it all. I do my best, Alexiares, it’s all I can do. The rest I just learn along the way.”

He said nothing as we both faced the counter once more, just in time to spot Elie headed our way.Finally.

I thanked Elie and grabbed my portion of the food. Alexiares’ eyes slid towards my cornbread container, noting the difference in size between my pan and his small plate wrapped in foil.

“The extra carbs should help withmy condition,” I teased, suddenly energized by the thought of one of my favorite foods. Stomach excited at the little pieces of sweet corn that littered throughout the perfectly fluffy yet squishy bread.

He chuckled at the desire in my eyes and walked off as if he knew where he was going. I found my footing and led our way back through the parts of The Compound we had already walked, not yet ready to expose every side street, tunnel, and alley to him.

When we arrived at The Pit, I surveyed the damage remaining. From what was visible to my eye, not much was left aside from a small bit of debris. Water and fire magic helped speed the clean-up process along drastically. I sighed with relief at the one less to-do item on my list, still daunted by the long night that lay ahead. It was around eight p.m. and I’d likely be up working until the early morning hours, only to be up again to resume my duties not too long after my head hit my pillows.

I walked towards the lounging room at the center of The Pit to see who was hanging around, wanting to keep their hands busy or take on an extra shift. There’d be a few antsy soldiers desperate to find some way to spend their time as their nerves were fed by the pulsating air from the attack. Though I doubted watching a prisoner who wasn’t technically a prisoner was on their list of ways they wanted to spend their night.

A few soldiers eyed me upon entering, blinking slowly, trying to process if it was actually me standing before them. I knew chatter had probably been going around about me being out of my quarters today. Followed by more chatter on my small role in defending our home, but they probably assumed it was just that, chatter.

After a few awkward breaths, every soldier in the room snapped up at attention.

“Soldiers,” I said, acknowledging the gesture and placing them at ease. I pushed my shoulders forward, head high. “I need two guards outside Cell C for an overnight shift.”

I didn’t bother making it as a question; they understood that me posing it as a volunteer opportunity was a privilege in itself. A series of “Ma’ams,” flew around the room as each one offered up their services, though most didn’t sincerely desire to be selected. Glancing around the room, I settled on two whose faces shone from genuine interest, bringing them out towards the courtyard to brief them as Alexiares lingered behind. The distaste for his situation obvious in his scrunched up face.

“If you keep on scowling like that, you’ll need rounds of Botox that we don’t have,” I called over the soldiers’ shoulders as they chuckled in response.

His brows furrowed even further as he bit down on his lip, resisting the urge to respond. A few moments later, when the soldiers were up to speed, they turned towards Alexiares, ready to guide him towards his cell. They stopped, giving me a moment to speak to him before they departed.

“Your belongings will be to you before morning once I have time to settle in and review. After you eat, the guards will take you to the bathing area to wash up, or before if you wish. I suggest you get some sleep. Tomorrow will be long.”

“What time should I be ready?” he asked.

“When I can get to you,” I said, leaving it at that as I went to find the next available soldier to send a message to Seth about setting up a meeting for tomorrow.

Amaia

After leaving the new town psycho in the guards’ hands, I made my way back to the lounge. Opting to recruit a few more soldiers to do my bidding in order to cut down on my action items for the evening. I sent one soldier to arrange a morning meeting with Seth in my study to discuss the transfer of power and the second to go gather Alexiares’ belongings from the gate and to bring them to my study.

On the walk back to my quarters, I mentally prepared my schedule for the day ahead. I’d oversee some training to assess the condition of my soldiers before and after my meetings. Then I’d have lunch with my family, make sure everyone was okay and on the mend after today’s events.

There was a hole in my heart from their absence in my daily routine, and I longed to have that piece of my life back. But I also knew it would take a lot of work for us to get back to how things were before.Ifthings could ever go back to how they were when we were all missing such a large piece.

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