Page 30 of The Tree of Spirits
He studied my face.
“You think I’m horribly naive, don’t you?” I said quietly.
“Yes. But I wouldn’t call ithorrible,” he added quickly, in response to my frown. “There was a time that I thought I could ignore politics too. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time. When things were so clear. So simple.” His gaze swept the forest before it returned to me. “But it’s not that simple,” he said with a resigned sigh. “I can’t just ignore the things that I don’t want to deal with. People are counting on me to save Gaia.”
We tackled the trudge through the forest in silence, following the trail toward the Apprentice Village. I breathed in the warm and humid summer air.
“You put too much pressure on yourself, Kato.” I sidestepped a fat tree root, and my shoulder brushed against his. “Sorry.”
His hand flashed out, steadying my gait. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” He didn’t retract his hand.
Which made it much harder to focus.
But I tried anyway. “The world isn’t counting onjustyou. You aren’t the only Knight on Gaia, you know.”
“I know I’m not the only Knight on Gaia. But I am the most powerful.”
I laughed.
His eyes narrowed. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you’re not the only Knight I’ve heard make that claim.”
“Yes, well, clearly you need to stop hanging out with such self-important Knights.”
“Clearly,” I chuckled. “So, it looks like we’re almost there. Soon you’ll be free of me and can go off to do important Knight things.”
“You are not a prison, Seven. And I don’t ever wish to be free of you,” he said quietly, his eyes ensnaring mine.
“Uh, same,” I choked out.
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Good to know. Well, good night.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the top of it.
And I just stood there, pulse racing, head spinning, gawking at him like a total idiot as he melted back into the forest.
EPISODE 2
A METAMORPHIC MYSTERY
CHAPTER 1
OPERATION: FREE GAIA
Sporting a new, even shorter haircut and the same old snappish expression, the General looked just as friendly as ever. He addressed the news camera in cold, clipped tones.
“This morning at 0600 hours, the Knights entered the Park. Their Quest—the goal ofOperation: Free Gaia—is to cleanse the district of all Cursed Ones, making it safe for our citizens once more.”
“Wow, the General doesn’t mess around.”
I looked away from the TV screen, which hung suspended over the snack and smoothie bar, a bright and cheerful island with tropical trimmings at the center of the outdoor cafe. The air smelled of freshly-baked bread and strawberry-sweet citrus.
“It certainly is a bold move,” I replied to Asher.
My team was waiting at the bar to pick up our to-go lunch order of smoothies and sandwiches. We were taking a lunch break from our busy day decorating the conference center. This stroll to the cafe down the street was supposed to be relaxing. But it was hard to relax when a war was waging on our doorstep.
“Trying to reclaim a fallen district from the Cursed Ones,” Asher said, playing with the cup of drink umbrellas on the counter, “I don’t think it’s ever been done before.”
“It hasn’t. And for good reason,” said Eris. “It’s very dangerous.”
