34. Sie
THIRTY-FOUR
SIE
“Let’s go,” Savannah called over her shoulder. I nodded and followed her to the border of the camp. If everything went to plan we’d be rescuing Scotlind and kidnapping Arcane tomorrow.
Tezya and the eldest prince had been communicating, and I was surprised to see Wells was right. Arcane agreed immediately. I underestimated the love he had for the mortal. The fact that he’d risk the King’s wrath just to see him again was absurd. But I guess that’s what love did. It made you stupid and had you acting irrationally.
What shocked me the most was that it took them four days to agree on a meeting place. Tezya was pissed. Every day Arcane dismissed a new location was another day Scotlind was the King’s prisoner and already too many days had passed.
Neutral territory on human ground, far from mortal civilians was what Arcane finally agreed on. He just had no idea we moved locations, so the meeting spot was close to the new camp. Savannah, having suggested it, was taking me there now to scope it out.
For it not being a far walk, it felt long, and Savannah kept finding ways to annoy me. She was sipping loudly on her coffee, claiming it was too early in the morning. She wasn’t exactly chipper. It would have been easier if Kallon portaled us, seeing as she already had one in place, but I was curious. I wanted to see more of the mortal lands, and the camp was starting to feel more and more like a giant cage.
Plus, it wasn’t like I didn’t have time to spare. I hated doing nothing. And despite sparring with Tezya every morning, my days were bleak. It was strange to think that my time with him would be the highlight of my day. But it wasn’t his company I craved. Lately, I only lived for the thrill of the fight, for the pure bliss of complete dissociation. I wanted to taste blood in my lungs and feel the sweat drip down my back until all I could focus on was the task at hand. And that was the only thing Tezya gave me—an even match.
“This is it,” Savannah said as she spun around. Her eyes were wide, and I found myself staring at the silver hoop coming out of her nostril. The tip of her nose was red, and the cold air was leaving her lips in thick puffs.
I forced my gaze away from her face to scan the perimeter. It wasn’t bad. The ground had a slight incline to it, giving us the advantage of better vantage points.
We were standing in the middle of a small clearing. The grass was long and untamed beneath a thick layer of snow, only exposed through our sunken foot tracks. It gave the allure that it was forgotten. Ice clung to the bare trees circling the open pane, and even though everything was dead and neglected, it still looked beautiful. The sun reflected off the snow, casting everything in a soft sparkle.
The Dark Kingdom’s cold season was only just starting. Tennebris would be completely covered in darkness in a few short weeks. It was strange to me. I was still trying to get used to the fact that they had sunlight all year round, that it came and set each day .
“There isn’t much cover,” I said, forcing myself back to why we were here. “With the leaves off the trees, we won’t be able to hide.”
“I know,” she admitted as she turned away from me to scan the area too. “Kallon will be stationed a mile or so back. Part of Arcane’s terms was that Tezya comes alone. He’ll sense if she created a portal too close to the meeting spot. You’ll be over there.” She pointed to a large fallen trunk not too far away. “If things go sour, you’re going to teleport us to her. She’ll be waiting at the other end, ready to portal in case we need an out.”
“Won’t he be able to sense the rest of us standing by?”
She shrugged. “Probably not. A portal draws a lot of energy and the air around it shifts and pulls. A person doesn’t change it much as long as we hide behind a tree or an object. Arcane picks up on everything. He notices even small details. With Dovelyn’s invisibility, we’ll probably have a minute or two before he senses us.”
It was strange—she knew more about the Luxian heir than I did. But I guess it made sense if her brother used to date him, and she grew up around Advenians her whole life. I pushed it out of my mind and asked, “Alright, and if things go right?”
I didn’t think this plan was smart. So many things could go wrong. I knew Savannah hated the idea even more than I did with her brother directly at risk. I wanted Scotlind back. I still wanted to try, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this felt too easy.
“If things go right,” she said, “my brother will be safe, and Arcane will be a prisoner at the camp.” Rainer and Wells were working on a place to hold the eldest prince if we were successful. “And,” Savannah continued, “you’ll both have your girl back.”
My girl. I scoffed. “She isn’t mine. ”
She tilted her head to the side to assess me. “Could have fooled me with the way you look at her all the time.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s none of your business.”
She shrugged. “Seeing as we’re risking my brother and the safety of the camp to get this girl back, I would say it’s a little bit my business. I don’t see how one girl is worth all of this.”
Was she? Was Scotlind worth risking the camp? Her sapphire eyes seemed to stare at me even though I knew she was in Lux at the King’s mercy. I owed her this much. I owed it to her to be the one to rescue her this time. Sending her to Lux in the first place was my biggest regret. I was constantly thinking about how things would have played out differently if I’d just rescued her in the Tennebrisian dungeons, if we ran away together and escaped all of this, leaving our world behind. But somehow I didn’t think Scottie would have been happy. She wasn’t the type to be content while others suffered. I knew she wanted to change things. Knew her dreams were equal parts risky and terrifying, but she would have always regretted not fighting back. She would have resented me if I had taken her away back then. And now, if we can manage to save her, she’d finally get the chance to do what she always wanted.
“Scotlind would think it was worth it if it was you in her place. She wouldn’t hesitate to risk her life to save someone she didn’t know,” I finally said because it was the truth. She would have stopped at nothing to help someone. She fought fearlessly for those who needed it. “She was only captured because she saved us, giving us time to escape. If it wasn’t for her we would all be rotting in the dungeons in Lux right now.”
Savannah nodded. Her lavender hair falling over her face before she tucked a strand back. More silver jewelry lined the curve of her ear.
We both mindlessly went to work, scoping out the rest of the area in silence. When we finished and were certain there wouldn’t be any surprises, she said, “I have a question about your abilities.”
“Okay.” I didn’t know if I was going to answer her or not. I hadn’t spoken a lick of my powers to these people or to anyone really. It was technically considered rude to ask abrupt questions in Tennebris, but my interest was piqued.
“If you teleport today, would it drain all of your reserves or would you still be good for tomorrow?”
“Why?” I asked. I was even more surprised she understood how our abilities worked. That she knew about reserves and how only time refilled them. I guess having best friends as powerful Advenians would do that.
“Because I want you to take me somewhere.”
“I can jump and be fine by tonight.”
“Great,” she smirked, closing the distance between us. I stilled as her hand slid into mine, surprised that they were just as callused. I could feel her knuckles jut out from the rest of her fingers. “I’ll tell you which direction to go.”
The girl was crazy. The fact that this didn’t scare her, the fact that I didn’t scare her. Half of Tennebris was terrified of me, and they had some sort of power to defend themselves with. But she had nothing, yet she wasn’t intimidated at all.
I had to be just as insane to agree, to actually use my ability for a mortal’s request, but gazing into her eyes, she didn’t look very human.