Page 65 of Unlikely Omega

“What, are we buddies now?” I can’t catch my breath and it makes me even angrier. “Motherfuck. Get dressed, goddammit, and catch some sleep.” I march out, letting the flap fall close, gesture at the two guards outside. “I want you to keep your eyes on the tent, make sure they don’t cut it open and escape again. Got it?”

“They escaped?” The guards glance at each other uneasily. “Commander—”

“Just make sure they stay inside.” I shake my head at them and stride away, running a hand through my hair, then gripping the back of my neck and squeezing.

Fuck, it’s going to be a long night…

“I still don’t understand why he’s sending you, Commander,” Evert says. “Is it possible that these two Temple people are so important? It’s just a priest and an acolyte, or so I heard.”

“They seem to matter to the Temple,” I say.

“The Temple. Screw the Temple and their unexplained emergencies. You’re in charge of an army. If their gods have demanded we deliver these two individuals to the Summer Capital, why don’t they transport them themselves on a cloud or something? Save us some time?”

Chuckling a little, I rub my eyes. Everything hurts with tension today. “Right… Want me to pose the question to the Temple, do you? See what they reply?”

Evert huffs.

Meet Evert, my lieutenant. He’s as religious as a log. Zero spirituality in that man. Not that I’m particularly religious myself, but I’m superstitious, I suppose. I always pray to Aras, the god of war, before any major decision, and occasionally spill some wine and kneel facing the west, where death resides.

I was raised in the army, okay? Bunch of superstitious idiots, the lot of them, but hey, I became like them, and now it’s in my bones. I can chuckle along, but something in me shivers when he’s so flippant about the gods.

Maybe it’s the Fae blood in me. They had magic, these Fae, didn’t they? Magic is divine. It’s a power borrowed from the gods. Maybe that’s why I can’t give my finger to the Temple, not outright, and besides that… the General commanded me.

Along with religion, I nursed at the teat of discipline. An army man, through and through. I’m not gonna question the General, even though the gods and goddesses know I want to.

“Five trusted men to ride with you,” Evert is saying now. “I’d prefer no wagon, so you can ride faster, but that’s not an option with prisoners. We’ve brought in the wagon with the cage, so you can use that. Stuff them inside. Tie some provision packs at the back to keep your horses light. How does that sound, Commander?”

“Sounds like you have this under control.” I clap his back. “Throw a couple of blankets into the cage, okay? It’s chilly.”

“Concerned about the prisoners?”

“I’m sure the Temple would like them alive so they can kill them themselves.”

“Right… Did you meet them properly?”

“Define properly.” I gaze over the camp, the lights from burning oil lamps, shadowy figures moving inside the tents. A horse neighs.

“I mean…” He comes to stand beside me, gazing in the same direction. “Are they really Fae-blood? Are they dangerous? Should we send more men with you?”

“Nah, it’ll be fine.” I wonder what he thinks of me, if he considers I have any Fae-blood at all. I’ve been here all my life, but the signs are there if you care to look.

The signs that got me kicked out of my home.

I know people talk about them behind my back.

“Wouldn’t want those pointy-ear bastards to win after all, huh?” He bumps my shoulder with his, grins. “They lost the war. Can’t afford to give them a chance for revenge.”

That answers my question, doesn’t it? He hasn’t even suspected anything about me. Good old Evert.

“The Fae are gone,” I say, my voice rough. “They’re not coming back.”

“And yet that’s exactly what the Temple fears, isn’t it? And the Emperor. I mean, why would the General send you along, of all people, otherwise?”

Because the General isn’t naïve and kind if misguided, like Evert. He knows what I am, even if I sometimes conveniently forget it myself, and even though all this time I thought I was liked well enough in the army, that I’d always be treated like an equal, it looks like it was a pipe dream all along.

Whether he believes that this mission is important or not, the only reason he’s sending me along is to test my obedience, my wildness, my Fae-ness, and maybe, just maybe he hopes that in the Summer Capital they’ll take a good look at me and execute me along with the others.

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