Page 150 of Fate and Flame
“To be fair, I sent myself to the king’s castle,” Ara responded. “We lived.”
“And if I ordered it?” Fen asked.
Greeve looked absolutely stricken. I hated that for him. Hated all of this.
“Then it would be done,” he said, void of emotion.
“I won’t go if she doesn’t want to go, Greeve,” I answered. “I respect her too much for that.”
“And I will not order it if you don’t want it to happen,” Fen added. “But I think we have to consider it. Take the day, think about it. We’ll discuss again at dinner.”
“I would talk to Gaea,” Ara added. “She won’t like this decision being made for her.”
We split ways, and I found myself shirtless, running drills with Rhogan in the dry desert heat to pass the time. I should have rested. I should have let my mind shut off after the very long night, but I couldn’t. Instead, I got lost in the swordplay and moved by memory alone as we shuffled through everything we were working on.
I’d beat Rhogan several times these past few days. The practice and the coaching from Kai had helped me so much I’d found confidence with a sword in my hand, had earned each of the blisters on my palms.
By dinner, the tension in the tent was high. Kai, of course, made it his personal mission to distract us. “Ten coins says I can catch fourteen grapes in a row,” he said, nudging Wren.
“Five coins says you choke on the first one.” She smirked.
“Deal.” He tossed his little coin bag on the table and buried his hands into the bowl of fruit, plucking them from the vine until he had a pile in front of him. “One.” He showed her the grape like it was a magic trick, then launched it into the air, tilted his head back, adjusted to the left, back to the right, and just as that grape landed into his mouth, it caught in the back of his throat and he lurched forward.
Wren slammed her hand into his back and the grape shot across the tent.“Thank you.” She slid the coins across the table.
“Best of three?” Kai offered, slamming his fist into his own chest as he coughed.
“Nope. Next time I’ll just let you choke.”
“Oh, let’s do that.” Ara set a bag of coins in front of her.
“Let’s not.” Fen grabbed the bag and tossed it back to her. “We have enough to worry about without choking out the commander of our army.”
“Fun hater,” Ara grumbled.
“So, where did we land on the plan to go to the enemy camp?” Wren asked, stealing one of Kai’s grapes.
“What do you want to do?” Rhogan asked from beside her. “You get a say as well.”
“As long as Gaea’s got my back, I’m okay with going. I think Temir’s right. We need to save as many humans as we can, and we need to reduce the size of Autus’ army.”
“I’ve always got your back, girl.” Gaea leaned her head onto Greeve’s shoulder. “I’m in too. If we are careful and do everything by the book, we will be fine. And if anything seems fishy, we leave.”
Fen looked to Nadra. “You’ve been silent through this whole thing and you’re a part of it also. What say you?”
“I never wanted this power,” she said honestly. “But I have it now, and if something good can come of it, even if we only save one single life, I think we have to do it.”
“Greeve?” Fen asked.
“Gaea can make her own choices,” he said as if he’d been practicing the bland line all day.
She patted his hand and smiled.
Kai snorted, but the smile vanished with one sharp look from Greeve.
“Then you should leave as soon as dinner is over,” Fen said. “They may be distracted with a meal and that will give you a bit of extra time.”
I ignored my racing heart. This was what needed to happen. This could change everything. Voices from thousands of soldiers filled the silence. Nadra grabbed my hand under the table and I felt her reassurance vibrate through me. Because if everything went awry, it was all my fault.
