58. Scotlind
FIFTY-EIGHT
SCOTLIND
“How did your talk with Sie go?”
I had told Tezya I needed to talk with him and get some things off my chest. Ever since I came to Brighta, I couldn’t stop comparing what happened in Lux to what Sie did when he sent me there. I held onto so much resentment, and I realized, once Vallie viewed me in the same light, I finally understood why he did it.
“About as good as I look,” I attempted to joke as I entered our shared tent. I honestly wasn’t sure which tent I was originally assigned to, but when I asked Tezya how to find out, he made it clear that I was sleeping with him every night.
He scanned my face now, seeing my dried tears. “Did he hurt you?” His voice went from gentle to deadly in a millisecond.
“No, no. Tez, I’m fine. He didn’t. The talk was fine.”
“What’s wrong then?”
I walked over to him, shrugging out of my boots before I straddled him over the edge of the bed. “I’m just tired,” I answered honestly. “I feel so mentally drained and it scares me because this war hasn’t even started. We’ve barely done any fighting and yet I feel so exhausted. ”
He tucked my hair behind my ears before cupping my face. “This war has been happening for the past century. It’s just been in secret and only now is coming to light. And,” his thumb started stroking my cheek, “don’t feel guilty about being tired. You’ve been through a lot, Rumor. You’ve been fighting your entire life—”
I stopped his words as I pressed my lips to his. “Thank you for trying to comfort me,” I murmured between kisses. “But I don’t want to be coddled right now.”
If we kept talking, if I kept opening up, I’d break down, and I’d admit he was what had me so anxious. I was terrified this war would mean I’d lose him. I was so scared of the prophecy, and I thought about it every day, going over the riddle Dovelyn chanted, trying to make sense of it.
Without a sacrifice from Light and blood spilled from Dark, the chosen one will lose his spark.
I didn’t want to think about it now. I didn’t want to know what we’d have to sacrifice or whose blood we’d have to spill in order to keep him alive. Right now, I just wanted to get lost in him, to embrace the feeling of being alive for as long as I could.
He bit into my lip, causing me to hiss. “What do you want then?” He teased, tugging on my lip before letting go.
I ground my hips forward, pressing into him as my nails raked down his back. A warmth settled around my body as I looked down to see Tezya burning our clothes off.
“I liked the shirt I was wearing today,” I murmured as he flipped me around so my back hit the cot.
“Too bad,” he said as he kissed my neck, then my collarbone. “I like you better without it.” His hand cupped my breast as I arched into him. He pushed my legs apart, widening my hips, and lined himself up, about to fill me entirely—
A loud cough echoed from outside of our tent. “Tezya. Scotlind. Get dressed.”
“Fuck,” Tezya groaned. “Go away, Kallon. Whatever you need can wait until later.” He bent down, applying another kiss to the tender part of my neck.
“No, it can’t,” she said, “it has to be now.”
Tezya looked down at me, meeting my gaze, then covered my mouth with his hand as he plunged into me the next second. His eyes glinted as he watched me struggle to not make a sound.
“I’m busy,” was all he responded with as his hips started to move. His hand never left my mouth as he tauntingly pulled in and out of me.
We should… stop. My voice was breathless in his head. I kept gasping out loud between the gaps in his fingers, unable to control it.
There’s nothing more important than this right now, Tezya groaned as he thrusted deeper, hitting the back of me.
“Please don’t tell me that getting your dick wet is more important than this war?”
Tezya’s free hand tightened into a fist around the sheets. He stilled his movements, but he didn’t pull out of me.
“What do you want?” he spat.
“Dravenburg called a meeting,” she said, then to my embarrassment, seemed to be addressing me, “come on, babes, I know you can hear me in there.”
“Dravenburg can wait,” Tezya growled. I still couldn’t speak with Tezya’s hand clamped over my mouth. I didn’t trust my voice even if I could.
“No, he can’t. I don’t know how long the meeting right now will take, but Scottie and I still need to train today before the bigger one starts tonight. Unless you want her to not practice and be completely vulnerable when it’s time to fight because she didn’t learn the drop in her reserves, and she used all of her abilities to help me portal, and then someone’s going to kill her when…”
Tezya half growled, half shouted at her. “Okay. Okay—we’ll be there in five. ”
“It’s starting now—” she insisted.
“Five minutes,” he yelled, his voice left nothing to be questioned. Then he turned to me, his hand unclenched around the sheet before it found purchase at my hip, driving himself deeper inside me. You have five minutes to come all over me.
Everyone was already in the tent by the time Tezya and I entered. Since the big meeting with the entire camp was tonight, we were having our goals meeting now. We were making progress—we agreed on more things this week than we had in all the previous weeks combined—but it still felt too slow.
“What should we do about Sie?” Dravenburg asked.
“What do you mean what should we do about him ?” Peter seethed, his smile disappearing as he set down the croissant he brought with him.
“I don’t think he should fight,” Dravenburg said.
Sie’s fists clenched, his jaw clicked, but he didn’t move.
“Why?” Rainer asked.
“Because he’s going to die the second he steps into one of the kingdoms. We can’t ignore the fact that he’s been made into a villain. The broadcasts are atrocious.” We’d been watching them daily now. At the same time they aired to the kingdoms, we also witnessed the horrors. The killing of rank zeroes didn’t stop and somehow their deaths kept getting more and more grotesque. I had to force myself not to pull my gaze from the screens. And each person, each rank zero, had an ‘S’ carved onto their body somewhere.
It was ‘ Sie’s’ signature move.
It was vile. I tried not to wonder if it was carved into them before or after they died, because knowing the Lux King, my gut told me it was while they were still breathing .
“Everyone from both kingdoms hates him. He’ll be killed—”
Kallon interrupted Dravenburg. “That’s not true.”
“What’s not true?”
“That everyone hates Sie. There are some people that actually support him. Not everyone believes the Lux King.”
“We’re watching the same broadcasts, right, Kal?” Dovelyn asked. “No one likes him.” She turned to meet his cold stare. “There’s no denying it. We shouldn’t assume otherwise. It’s not like he had an amazing reputation to start with.”
“What I said isn’t an assumption, Dove. It’s a fact.” Her voice was firm as she tucked a green piece of hair behind her ear.
“How do you know it’s a fact?”
“From a source…” She bit her lip.
“Who?” Dovelyn’s eyes narrowed.
Kallon didn’t answer.
“Who Kal?” Brock asked, gentler than the princess had. Rainer was next to Kallon and was the only one who didn’t seem shocked by what she was saying. He didn’t say anything. He just stared at her, and I felt like an unspoken conversation was going on between them. He knew whoever Kallon was referring to, but he wouldn’t say. He’d keep quiet for her. The two of them were closer than anyone else out of their friend group. Since coming to Brighta, I caught glimpses of it whenever I saw them together. I glanced at Tezya to see if he knew what was going on, but from the expression on his face, I could tell it was news to him too.
“Does it matter who?” Kallon asked as a slight blush crept over her pale cheeks. “If I say it’s true, then you guys should believe me.”
“I am not your friend,” Dravenburg stated. “You may ask the others to trust you from blind faith, but if you’re going to start making decisions that will dictate this war, I need facts.” When Kallon didn’t say anything, he added, “Right, well if you won’t tell us your source, then Sie’s not fighting.”
“The fuck I’m not,” Sie spat, and I shuddered. Every time I heard his voice now, it was more and more menacing. Probably because he rarely talked, but whenever he did, it was dripping in rage and disdain. “You don’t get to order me around. If I decide I want to fight, then I’m fighting.”
“You’ll die,” Dravenburg deadpanned.
“Then I’ll die. It’s my choice.”
“I have a girlfriend,” Kallon said abruptly, and the words seemed so random that everyone stared at her in bewilderment. “That’s who my source is. I won’t tell you her name, but she can be trusted.” Kallon took an unsteady breath. “She told me there are groups of people who support Sie. He’s the face of the rebellion just as much as he’s been made into the face of the enemy.”
“How do you know this?” Brock asked.
“Because I still see her.” Kallon cracked her knuckles as she let out a shaky breath. “She won’t come to the camp. She won’t leave her family, but I have a portal in her home and I… visit her sometimes. She’s been telling me what’s been going on.”
“Why is this the first we’re hearing of this, Kal?” Tezya asked.
“Because I know what you’re going to ask of me. She won’t spy for us. I refuse to put her life in danger. If she happens to come across some knowledge then great, but I will not ask her to do anything that puts her at risk.”
There was a long silence before Dravenburg said, “How many people? Do you have numbers for who supports Sie? And is this in Lux or Tennebris?”
Kallon shook her head. “I don’t have numbers, but she lives in Lux. I don’t know anything about what’s been happening in Tennebris, but there’s… enough. Many people aren’t happy with the guards in their homes, many hate the new curfew, and most have already hated the Lux King before all the broadcasts. Th ere’s a lot of people who are seeing through what he’s doing and realize it’s all a farce so he can control them. I think we could use it to our advantage.”
“I’m fighting,” Sie said again, his voice lethal. “That’s final.”
“Fine,” Dravenburg scoffed. “But it won’t be my fault if your blood is spilled.” He sighed then moved on. “Who has the ring that was obtained?”
“I do,” Wells answered as he grabbed it out of his pocket. It was the first time I was able to look at it. Tezya mentioned it to me a few weeks ago, saying that he was working with Wells to figure it out, but I never actually saw it in person before.
It was beautiful. The width was wide, made to fit a male’s fingers. It was a perfect mix of gold and black. The colors spiraled and swirled up the band of the ring, blending and mixing seamlessly together. It reminded me of the colors of our markings. I couldn’t deny the symbolism of it.
“Have you figured out what it does yet?” Dravenburg asked.
“No,” Wells said, his voice lowering. “Not fully.”
“Have you had any visions of it?” Brock asked Dovelyn.
She shook her head. “I haven’t. I don’t know its significance yet, but I think Arcane might.”
Dravenburg sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”
“Because he’s always been fascinated with artifacts. He hates all other aspects of Advenian history, but if there’s a chance any magic is infused with it, he’ll be able to tell us.”
“No,” Wells snapped. “I can do it alone. I don’t need him. I already figured out there isn’t any Alluse infused in it. Tezya can still use his powers when he wears it. All I need is more time to figure out the rest.”
Tezya ran his hand over his face. “I agree,” he said slowly, “with Dovelyn.” A penetrating silence filled the air. The meetings seemed to be getting more and more tense, and I half wondered if we really were fit to rule over everyone if we came out on top after the war. We rarely agreed on anything. The anger and angst amongst us was palpable on a good day and a living breathing entity of its own on a bad one.
“Why?” Wells’ voice held a glimmer of hurt, but he tried to hide it.
“We would be stupid not to utilize everything in our arsenal. My brother can help.”
“It’s settled then,” Dravenburg said. “Arcane will assist with the ring. He’ll be let out of his cell, but he must be kept in chains. I want at least five Alluse users surrounding him at all times while he’s out. I want—”
He was cut off by Savannah sprinting into the war tent. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing ragged, her eyes wild. She held clippings of gray and black paper in her hand that Dravenburg narrowed his eyes on.
“I think the King is taking mortals into Lux,” she panted.