63. Greyland
SIXTY-THREE
GREYLAND
“Peter, wait up.” I caught up to him as soon as he left the dining tent. I snuck into the meeting when Sie wasn’t looking and heard everything Dravenburg had said.
“What’s up, Little Noren?” my brother’s best friend asked as he turned around. He looked conflicted as he watched the girl he’d been spending all his time with walk off. I knew he wanted to follow, but if we were going to portal into Tennebris tonight, I had to talk with him now. It couldn’t wait.
“I want to fight.”
“You’re asking the wrong person. You need to talk with your brother.”
“That’s bullshit. You and I both know Sie’s too stubborn to let me go. He’s always been like that, but I can fight, Peter. I’m good. I took guard classes in Kitlarn.”
Peter was quiet for a minute, but his gaze snagged on my eye—or what was left of it. I knew it was one of the reasons Sie didn’t want me to fight, and judging from Peter’s reaction, he told him. “I’ve trained with my ability,” I added, pissed off about the whole situation. I still had my two feet, my hands… I could st ill hold a blade and knew how to use it, even if my peripheral vision was completely shit now.
“Why do you want to fight so badly, Little Noren?”
“Does it matter?”
Peter arched a brow like it very much did matter, but I ignored it.
“I’ll make a deal with you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, but he didn’t flat out say no, so I continued, “You’re going to be busy with Sie and Vallie, and we both know my brother is going to go after the Council—”
“What’s your point, Grey?”
“My point is you won’t be able to look out for your sister. And whatever training you’ve given her over the past couple of weeks isn’t enough.” Lilia wasn’t a fighter. Hell, half the time she could barely walk straight without tripping over her own two feet. She was just too stubborn to realize it, and unlike my brother, Peter wasn’t the type to tell someone they couldn’t do something, especially her. If Lilia wanted to fight, she was fighting.
“So let me fight,” I said. “Distract Sie so I can slip through the portal, and I promise I’ll protect her.”
“Sie compelled you not to fight.”
“No. My brother compelled me to not sign my name on the paper. He never said anything about not fighting.”
Peter groaned. “Sie’s going to murder me when he finds out.”
“I know.” I smiled, knowing I won him over. Peter was worried about Lilia. He’d been training her every day since she came to Brighta. I knew because I was keeping tabs on her, but it wouldn’t be enough. Lilia was the most uncoordinated person I’d ever met. It wouldn’t surprise me if she accidentally tripped and fell right onto someone’s sword. She needed me. She needed someone watching over her.
“So don’t let Sie find out.” I grinned.
“What are you doing here?” Lilia asked as she caught the apple I threw at her. Dinner was questionable as Dravenburg didn’t want us throwing our guts up from Kallon’s portal, and even with the nausea serums Wells handed out, we were only served bread and porridge.
“Your brother asked me to watch over you.”
She was about to bite into the apple, but stopped with the green core halfway to her lips. I forced my gaze away as they curled. “No, he didn’t.”
“He did. Like it or not, we’re fighting together.” I was relieved when Peter agreed to tell Lilia it was his idea. “I know he told you earlier today about the arrangement. If you want to fight, you have to fight with me.”
She narrowed her eyes, dropping the apple onto the grass in the process. Her blonde hair was tied back into tight braids, but she still had pieces falling out onto her cheek, and I had to fight the urge to tuck the loose strands behind her ear.
I bent down to pick up the apple, then did a slow job of wiping it off with the ends of my shirt.
I took a step toward her, then smirked as I bit into it. She did her best not to watch me, but I could feel her eyes on my throat as I swallowed. I honestly had no idea how to act in front of her anymore. My mind kept yelling at me to stop being a dick and admit everything was real, but some inner part of me kept crumbling at the idea.
So here I was, falling right back into my usual habits.
“I am capable of taking care of myself.” Her voice lost its edge, and I noticed her tugging at the sleeve of her shirt, trying to hide her zero brand from me.
I tried not to think about that day, about how helpless I felt as I watched her on the stage, and how everything got so much worse in the weeks that followed .
Dravenburg gave us all leathers to wear, and since Tennebris was in their dark season now, it would automatically feel thirty degrees colder. I stared at her arm, knowing there was a scar running from the tip of her elbow stopping at her wrist, where she was compelled to cut herself. The leather blocked most of it from view.
I gritted my teeth. “It’s not about being capable, Lilia. It’s about being smart. Everyone should have a fighting partner, someone that has their back.”
“Right,” she huffed. “And I’m supposed to believe you’ll have mine?”
“Yes,” I said, then thought better of it. “Like it or not, besides your brother, I’m the only person who knows you here. I’m the only one who cares.”
I knew she wouldn’t believe me if I told her the truth. Besides bringing her to the cabin, I’d never been nice to her before. She still thought everything was in her head. And I couldn’t blame her. I made her life hell. Why would she think any differently? My so-called friends were the sole reason she was treated so badly at school, and I did nothing to stop it.
Half of me wanted to scream at her, to tell her what my second ability was until she realized it had been me the whole time. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to throw her down onto the grass and fucking crumble in her arms.
No—I wanted to pick her up and take her back to our communal tent. I wanted her as far away as she could possibly get from the fighting, and I wanted to make her mine.
I’d never been pissed at Peter before, but I was getting close to it now. I knew he didn’t like to put limits on Lilia. He never wanted to make her feel inferior because she didn’t have any powers. But fucking hell, I couldn’t understand why he was letting her fight tonight.
I was forced to watch Lilia go up against Lander in school, forced to witness her complete inability to hold her own in the ring.
But this wasn’t Abilities Class. This was real life shit and there would be no teachers to protect her now.
She pushed me aside and walked over to the group of Advenians waiting for Kallon.
I followed her through the crowd, keeping enough distance between us without taking my gaze off of her. I wasn’t about to let her run away from me the moment we got there.
My brother and Peter had already left in the first wave. Everyone that would be fighting directly inside the castle was already in Tennebris, starting the long trek through the woods. Lilia and I were in the fifth and final wave. We were the backup fighters. Normally I’d be pissed about it, but with Lilia here, I didn’t mind. Because even if I wasn’t ready to admit it to her, I wanted to protect her for more reasons than just because she was my ticket into Tennebris.
I needed her to be safe.
It took an hour before Scottie and the dual-color-haired girl finally showed up to portal our wave. The latter looked even paler than she normally did, and her bright hair was dyed a navy blue today, probably an attempt to blend in, even though it was impossible. She was one of the tallest females I’d ever seen.
I looked over at Scottie. I liked her, but some part of me was mad at her for not picking my brother. He could be an asshole at times—I guess it was the Noren specialty—but I could still see how much he cared for her, how hard he tried to hide the fact that he was still madly in love with her even now. Her sapphire eyes found mine, and she gave me a hesitant smile.
Her body was shaking, and she had sweat dripping down her forehead. This was taxing for them .
Scottie stayed on Brighta’s side as she cast her enhancement for the tall one and together they brought twenty to thirty people over at a time. I pulled Lilia’s braid, not able to find any purchase on the tight leather outfit she was in. But I realized my mistake as more of her silky strands immediately fell loose.
“Not so fast, Little ,” I said into her ear, knowing how she hated the nickname. There was another one I could use, one she actually liked and wouldn’t scowl at me for. “You’re going with me.”
I drank the nausea serum half an hour ago, but even with its effects coursing through me, the jostling of the portal still hit me hard. I couldn’t stomach my brother’s teleportation on a good day, but portaling—it was so much worse. It felt like it lasted an eternity, and I swore I was going to vomit ten times over as we were pulled through the endless purple and black smoke. When we finally landed on firm ground, it took me a minute of deep breathing before I could even walk.
It was weird being back in Tennebris. I found it oddly calming. I loved the winter months here and was one of the few Advenians who actually liked the dark season. I found the stars and moon comforting, but it was also freezing as hell. Even with our thick layers, I could tell Lilia was shivering next to me. She was armed with knives, not being able to use any abilities, and I planned to not let her use her blades either.
Everyone was eerily quiet as we started our long trek through the woods, the only sound was our boots crunching on the frost-tipped grass. I tried not to think about the last time I was here, dragging Lilia away before I got caught.
Scottie and Kallon were leading the group, having no one else to portal, and I could tell they were both anxious that all their friends had already reached the castle.
I started silently praying to Pylemo on the walk over. I was worried for my brother. I saw the broadcasts they were airing each day, and as much as I feared for Lilia being caught, that she’d be one of the zeroes murdered, I was just as terrified for Sie.
I didn’t know how the Tennebrisians would react to seeing him again, and I prayed they wouldn’t heed the two kings’ instructions and try to kill him on the spot. My brother wasn’t known for his pleasantries, no one from my family was, and it scared me that the airings were so believable. Hell, if Sie wasn’t my own flesh and blood, I would have had a hard time finding the lies in what the kings showed.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that I wasn’t paying attention to the woods around us. I hadn’t realized as the trees became less dense and the forest sounds were replaced by screams and metal clashing against metal.
We were here.
We made it to the castle and all my hopes of Lilia not needing her blades went out the window.