Page 83 of Seized to Sacrifice
Rye stopped and regarded him for a moment as they reached the tents where the archives were stored.
‘If the Beast is truly able to escape its cage, you can no longer exist here as separate entities. Not anymore. Elle needs you to be whole … and so do Nyx and I.’
‘He won't speak to me,’ Thorne said sullenly.
‘Keep trying. He's as stubborn as you, Brother, but he loves Elle as much as the rest of us do. He will come around.’
Thorne nodded and disappeared into the tent, looking dubious. Rye continued up the thoroughfare to the Commander's tent. He’d asked around last night and now knew who Bastian was. The man was one of Quin's unit and Rye was predisposed to like him better than he had the day before. He walked past the two guards outside and neither made a move to stop him. Maeve sat behind the desk again.
‘Careful,’ he said, ‘spend too much time in that chair and some Brothers might think you’re trying to usurp Quin’s place.’
‘Well, some Brothers are cunts,’ she drawled, standing as he entered.
She had a sharp tongue and a ready wit. He suspected that she was aware of exactly who and what Rye and his Brothers were; perhaps even where they came from. She was no fool and she always knew more than she said.
‘Here again?’ she asked. ‘What business brings you to the Commander's tent? If you're here to share a morning meal with him, I’m afraid he's not here.’
‘Actually, I'm here to see Bastian.’
Maeve glanced behind her at where Rye knew the main bed chamber was and called his name.
‘You may have a wait. He’s indisposed.’
She went back to her papers, shuffling parchment around the desk and writing notes in a ledger.
‘It’s good to see you here, Maeve,’ he said, ‘and as a full Brother.’
‘Is that your way of asking how I came back after I fled the Army?’ She smirked. ‘I didn't ever pass the trials if that’s what you mean. Callan and the others found me and brought me back.’
‘And made you a Fourth,’ he said.
‘Aye. The first in a long time apparently,’ she muttered. ‘How'syourFourth?’
Rye’s expression shuttered. He couldn't help it. Maeve might be a friend, but she was still an outsider, and she didn't know who Elle was. But Maeve merely grinned at him.
‘Do you really think I haven’t noticed?’ she asked.
‘Noticed what?
She rolled her eyes. ‘You three may only come around for the odd campaign when Quin asks, but you’ve been in and out of the Camp all my life. You've never changed, never grown older. I've read through the archives. I spent time with the priests. I know who you are, Ryder. You were one of the first Commanders.’
That’s no secret,’ Rye shrugged. ‘I and my Brothers enjoy a long life as do others in the Army, your Commander and his unit included I suspect,’ he intimated, thinking of Bastian.
Maeve canted her head. ‘Aye. I suppose that's true enough, but I would guess that your Fourth has been with you a little bit longer that you let on, no?’
Luckily, Rye didn't have to answer as, at that moment, a blonde woman came into the main area of the tent from behind the desk. She wore Brothers’ blacks, her hair piled high on her head in intricate plaits, and a metal band around her throat that Rye recognized immediately. He wondered what her gift was. Clearly it was terrible enough that it needed to be kept under lock and key.
She looked at him with a pleasant expression. ‘I’m Lily. Quin’s Fourth. He tells me that you have a Fourth as well,’ she said.
‘Aye,’ Rye said, his eyes narrowing very slightly. What did this creature want with their Fourth?
‘There are few Fourths within the Army now, but only three of us traveling with the Camp at the moment including Maeve and I,’ Lily said as if guessing his darker thoughts. ‘Maeve and I like to welcome our Sisters,’ she said, ‘let them know that they have a place here.’
‘My Fourth already knows that,’ he said coldly.
Lily’s expression remained serene as she glanced at Maeve, and they shared a look that Rye didn't understand.
‘Bastian should be out in a moment,’ she said and turned away, making for the table across the tent and pouring herself a steaming cup of tea.
