Page 126 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Niels shouldn’t have kissed her. That was a mistake. He’d just lost himself, lost control. She’d healed him, and in that moment of relief, he’d believed that they could go back to the way they’d been.
Maybe he could blame it on the Fogs if they ever got to really talk about it. Maybe she would change her mind. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
That was all his life would ever be: a ragtag bunch of maybes. A string of hopes and dreams, never anything more.
Just watching her walk beside Kase made his skin crawl.
They’d planned an excellent rescue for Hallie. They shared similar interests, like the desire to be out under the open sky. That didn’t mean Niels didn’t want to slug him every time he looked at Hallie the way he had when she’d leaped into his arms…like if he hadn’t interrupted, Kase would’ve kissed her like she was the only woman in the world.
Maybe it was a good thing he felt numb all over. Otherwise, he might’ve done something he’d regret.
The tent they stopped at shoutedwealthin the dimly lit cavern loud enough for Niels to hear the echoes. It looked like a miniature palace all stretched out across the back wall, its smaller sections jutting off each side of the taller one. The Stradat Lord Kapitan would’ve had the money and resources to commandeer something so grand while his citizens dealt with whatever they could scavenge.
A mix of gas lanterns and torches hung from the stone in intervals of ten feet or so. Tunnels branched off from the main thoroughfare, and the people here had begun to set up a market of sorts. He caught snippets of conversation every so often that suggested some people had stolen away to the capital and returned with bounty to sell.
It all left a bitter taste on his tongue. These people were in hiding. They’d been bombed not even an hour earlier. Yet, all they could think of was making a tenner.
Some of the coldness around his wound receded.
Niels finally looked over at Kase and noted his firm jaw and dead eyes, looking like he was ready for a Burning. The mutters he’d overheard on their hike down told him that the attack had taken out several sections of the tunnel. Maybe Kase was simply feeling for those lost.
“Kase?” Hallie prompted. “What’s wrong?”
Apparently she’d noticed, too.
“Focus on what you need to report for now. I’ll be with you the entire time.” Kase put a hand to the small at Hallie’s back and gestured her forward. Niels gritted his teeth and followed shortly after.
The inside of the tent was brighter than the outside tunnel. Three gas lanterns lit the space: one on a table that had clearly seen better days, judging by the suspicious darks stain on one side; one next to a cot, dimmer than the others; and the third atop a dilapidated desk holding neat stacks of parchment held in place by rock paperweights. The room felt sterile, in a weird way, even though the floor was packed with dirt and pebbles. Six chairs sat around the table, making the room feel much larger than it was.
A man in a military uniform sat at one end of the rectangular table. The man had a steely gray mustache and brushed back hair. A frown rested on his face, his arms crossed. If this was Kase’s father, Niels was hard-pressed to find any similarities between the two.
The man gestured for them to sit, and Niels blinked out of his thoughts to pull out the nearest chair and offer it to Hallie. A few pebbles dislodged and skittered across the ground at the action. Kase cast him a fleeting glance before guiding her to the chair. She sank slowly into the seat, her gaze fixed upon the man at the other end. Kase sat heavily in the one between her and his father. Niels pulled another out for Fely before he sat on Hallie’s left between them.
He kept his injured arm to his chest, though the wrapped shirt made it a little awkward. There wasn’t much room between him and Hallie, but it felt like the chasm was only growing.
Hallie didn’t look at him once. She kept her gaze trained on the Stradat Lord Kapitan, who finally spoke. “I was not expecting to see you, Miss Walker.”
If Niels didn’t know any better, he would’ve said that the words wore a coat of ice.
Her response came equally as cold. “And I, you.”
Niels surreptitiously rubbed his hands together underneath the table. He’d thought it was merely an expression, but maybe Hallie’s power could make him actually cold. His fingers felt stiff as they would’ve been if he eschewed gloves while clearing snow from the Metzinger farmhouse’s path to town. Or maybe he’d lost more blood than he’d thought. The wound had hurt, and it’d been deep, but he’d thought they’d stopped the bleeding.
The man’s stare hardened. “I only requested my son’s presence, no one else’s.”
Niels caught the tightening of Hallie’s fist where it sat upon the table. She moved it to her lap. Niels ignored his own discomfort and leaned forward. “Miss Walker and I have information for you.”
Using his good arm, Niels leaned heavily on the tabletop. He hoped everyone took it as fervor, not that he needed it for support.
The man’s hazel eyes narrowed in on him. “Who are you?”
Kase shifted in his seat. “This is Niels Metzinger. He…he helped me at Achilles.”
“I appreciate the support, Kase.” Niels straightened his shoulders and sat as tall as he could. He hoped he looked more confident than he felt. “However, I can answer for myself.” He met the Stradat Lord Kapitan’s gaze as steadily as he could. “Besides the information Miss Walker has for you, I have information for the High Council regarding the attack on Achilles in December.”
“Then please begin,” the Stradat Lord Kapitan said.
Kase tapped a few fingers on the table, seemingly to dispel nervous energy, but it only irritated Niels.
