Page 140 of Fate and Flame
“The woman.”
“Myfemaleis here. Speak.”
I heard a rustling in the crowd behind me, but I didn’t bother turning. I couldn’t take my eyes off the human. His glossed-over eyes. The way his hands were held limp at his sides.“He’s enchanted,” I mumbled, though no one seemed to hear me.
“I’ve been sent to inform you that the High King of Alewyn is coming for you. He wishes to give you an opportunity to save the city of Hrundel. Surrender yourself to him and they live. Do nothing, and they all die.”
Don’t even think about it.Fen took a step toward the human, his hand on the carved handle of his blade.
“Stop!” Kai yelled from behind us. Apparently, he’d been the one causing the raucous in the crowd.
“Don’t kill him,” Rhogan begged, running at his side.
“We need him.” Kai pushed his way through the last of the crowd and grabbed the human. Rhogan followed, protecting the man with his wings.
“Yes. Now you see.” The yellow dragon turned his great body, nearly knocked down a tent with his massive tail, and vaulted back into the sky.
“Temir!” Fen shouted. “Someone find Temir.”
“He’s here,” a voice called as Greeve landed, a hand clasped tightly on Tem’s shoulder.
“Back to work,” Kai barked over the crowd and suddenly everyone sprang into motion.
Tents had been lined up along the borderlands. A great city of soldiers, Wren had said. And it was. Thousands of all types of fae had traveled south or were already living here. The irony was the southern army, those who would fight with us, was made of more than half lesser fae. Those who had been sacrificed and enslaved had something to fight for. Something to protect. Autus had started a genocide. These fae could either fight with us, or they would die.A life or death decision was no decision at all.
Hrundel though. The city outside of Coro’s castle. The merchants, the soldiers, the court I’d once called home. They would all die. Autus had given me the ultimatum, but we had given them their chance to flee. We’d offered them an open border to escape and only a few thousand had taken that option. Still, could I fault them? Could I condemn them to death?
I stared off into the distance, watching the tiny grains of sand blow in the wind like an hourglass. Time. We’d nearly run out of time. We were so confident Autus would move slowly. There was never a rush in the land of fae. He was tactical though. Had used our confidence against us.
I felt my body crushing beneath the weight of this decision. The world grew louder as it passed me by. I’d spiraled into my own mind. Not for the decision I’d have to make, but for the world that would suffer no matter what. For the madness on the other end of that offer.
“Hello?” Gaea waved her hand in front of my face. Startled, I reached for a blade. “Woah. Calm down. It’s just me.” She took several steps backward.
“Sorry.” I sighed, looking away from her. Beyond.
“You need to get your shit together,” she said, as blunt as ever. “Come on.” She wrapped her arm around mine and began walking. I followed, my feet moving before my mind could register where we were going. The tent where they had taken the proud human.
“We know where they are right now,” Kai was saying, “it has to be done. She needs to go.”
A sharp breeze whipped through the tent. Greeve was furious. “We can wait until they get closer,” he argued.
“Where am I going now?” Gaea asked. Her eyes locked on her mate.
“Hrundel.” He jerked around and stormed out of the tent.
“We need to know the size of his army. Our last three scouts haven’t returned,” Fen said quietly.
I laid my hand on her arm. “It’s your choice. Greeve can go with you.”
“It makes more sense to take Rhogan. I can spirit us in, he can soar above, get the numbers and I can get us back. Hrundel is flat terrain. Unless I can guess a safe place up in the castle, I think a higher vantage point is the best option.”
“He’s going to be so pissed,” I heard Kai say as I stepped out of the tent and went to stand next to a brooding Greeve.
I put my hand into his. We stood there, silent. Fighting our own internal battles for a long time. He’d heard the plan. He’d be staying behind while his mate went to a city taken over by the enemy. Everything felt dark and heavy. There were no simple answers and no reliable outcomes.
“This is it,” I said finally, maybe just to break the silence. Maybe to welcome him to my level of anguish. “I thought it was supposed to be easy.”
He nudged me. “Nothing worth doing is ever easy.”
