Page 41 of A War of Embers

The dragon merely shrugs. “She can come along if she wants to.”

Now everyone, including me, is frowning at him. I wasn’t invited and the bastard is well aware of it.

“Lord Rowan has anticipated her arrival at some point. She’s impatient,” Zeke tacks on when no one comments, let alone seems to breathe. He snickers at everyone. “Scared of an immortal now, are we?”

“She’s dangerous,” Nox states.

“She is.” Zeke inclines his chin in agreement. “But she is not yours to worry about.”

Nox scoffs.

The ground seems to rattle as if Zeke’s dragon has landed not too far away. Instead the inky smoke I know a little well coils in the air near the top of the caravan as Lord Rowan makes his appearance.

Everyone stills. Unlike the shock from earlier, their wariness and fear is almost palpable in the air. They are terrified of him, yet revere him just the same.

“Keres is not your problem, Nox,” Rowan announces in a deep, tight voice. “She is mine.”

Lady Cirilla sucks in a breath so audible it’s practically a scream from between her clenched teeth. “She should know better than to stand against you.”

For a long moment, Rowan says nothing, he simply stares at her with a blank expression. Slowly, he shakes his head. “She and I have an understanding.”

“A bargain, you mean,” Lady Cirilla seethes. “What were you thinking, Lord Rowan? She could be following us even now, placing more of your subjects in her path of destruction.”

Rowan’s dark brow flicks up. “Her destructive path is only to end her own life, as you’re well aware of. But you do not get to question me. When Keres comes, I will deal with it. The rest of you are aware of your assignments.” His voice comes out like thunder, shaking the ground as the swell of smoke begins to wrap back around him. “Do not disappoint me and do not speak for me.” Within moments his body disappears along with the smoke.

Zeke turns a disapproving glare on Lady Cirilla. “Riling him up isn’t going to win you any favors.”

I guess that depends on who’s riling him since it seems to work out well for me. Interesting how everyone is on guard about my appearance on their little journey. If I simply wanted to badger Rowan, I would have come out by now.

Instead I glance towards Lady Cirilla, watch as her face twists in anger before smoothing out. The caravan begins moving once again, this time in a void of silence. No one whispers or jokes as they continue on their way. Several of the guards share looks of contrite, but otherwise the silence reigns.

The darkness of the night begins to creep upon us faster, the gray of the sky deepening until there’s barely any light left. Several of the guards light torches, tightening the border of their group so no one isn’t visible to the light. I jump from one tree branch to another, following the flames several paces out.

A clearing up ahead halts my attempt to continue to follow them. It won’t be impossible, but I’ll need them to be far enough ahead I can track their movement without being as close as I am now. Once everyone is in the clearing, a few break away from the group with supplies and begin to set up tents. The rest of them move on, towards where the tree line stops and an enormous wasteland begins.

Thick fog settles low on the ground, only ankle deep just it lulls like waves to the forest’s edge. Once the front of the group makes it far enough away, I hear Meredith and Deena’s voices breaking the silence with hushed whispers.

“Did you see him?” Meredith asks, reaching out to grab Deena’s upper arm.

“He’s as gorgeous as they say,” Deena murmurs. “Though he doesn’t appear to like Lady Cirilla much.”

“He defended Keres,” Meredith chuckles. “I thought for sure Lady Cirilla was going to explode. Do you think she’ll show up?”

“Zeke seemed quite confident in it.”

Meredith peers around the makeshift campground. “What do you think Nox’s deal is with her?”

Deena frowns for a moment. “Conflicting interests. Nox loves his job, sees it as protecting everyone in our realm. Keres isn’t after destroying our realm, but she’s a contradiction. An immortal who doesn’t want to live, but doesn’t want to make others die. I don’t think he knows whether to trust her motives after knowing other immortals.”

“Do you think she’s telling the truth? She told us she might be interested in training.”

“I think,” Deena slowly says, “that Keres doesn’t know. I think she truly doesn’t want to be here anymore and doesn’t have a good enough reason to stay. I also think she’s being narrow minded in that regard. She might be interested in training us, but it doesn’t supersede her interest in dying.”

Meredith sadly groans. “She would be such an asset.”

If I didn’t want to die, seems to go unsaid.

Something tightens in my chest causing an awkward thump to occur as my throat tightens. Never did I imagine someone caring about whether or not I chose to end my life. In Cinnabar there is no one. I’ve been here less than a month and already it seems I made connections with people. Not something I wanted to do at all.

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