Chapter 12 #2
“Come outside with me,” Illyan proclaimed.
“Ugh—” Azahara let out a frustrated grunt. “Illy, stop being cryptic and just say it.” She stood in frustration and followed the Fae as they glided out the door.
The wind chill caught her off guard, her arms wrapping around herself. The wool-lined pajamas she wore were cozy, but it was near winter here. Her bare feet and exposed arms bared too much skin for this time of year. How had it gotten chiller than earlier when she came out to find Kaed?
It was then she felt him wrap his arms around her. Coming up behind her to shelter her from the wind. “I’ve got you, Red.” Her body was immediately enveloped in warmth, causing her to forget the reason they had stepped outside in the first place.
“Thanks.”
“Do you see that?” Illyan pointed straight ahead, capturing her attention, which was south towards the Xrypt Cliffside.
A once beautiful water port turned abandoned after the Great Divide.
Now only lay wrecked ships and the stench of death.
From where they stood, they could see pillows of smoke coming from its direction. “It’s the Order.”
She felt Kaed tense, his arms tightening around her. “Why is the Order out here, the closest stronghold is a few days’ ride west,” he questioned, without really expecting an answer.
Illyan turned to them. “It’s why I was late getting home. I was expected to be back four days ago.” She pulled her eyebrows together. “There is a hunting party, they only strike at night and have been wandering around this area for the past week, or so they are reporting.”
Her heart leaped to her throat. The Gorruk…
“Who leads the hunt?” Kaed asked, his voice reverting to its soldier-like tone, the same one he had the first day she met him.
“No one is sure. They come at night, ransack villages, and leave without a single witness.” Illyan sounded just as bewildered as her expression entailed.
“You can’t get caught out at night. The Order has been trying to wrestle and get ahead of them, but whoever they are, they’re clean and stealthy.
My ears tell me they are searching for something, but with no evidence of who they are or any whispers from the villagers, I, along with the Order, are at a loss. ”
“Illy, were you trying to help the Order?” She was a bit shocked at the prospect of that.
“Oh, by the Mother, no. You kidding me? The only thing they are good for is breeding painstakingly gorgeous men.” Kaed let out a low thrum from his throat. “No offense.”
“Noted.” His voice should have been playful, but it wasn’t. Though something told her, it wasn’t because of Illyan. “Come inside, I need to prepare Moondancer.” He pulled her from where they stood and walked her back into the warmth of her home.
Illyan followed shortly. “You can’t leave, did you not just hear—”
“I heard you. It’s difficult not to.” He let her go then, and immediately she felt the cold sting of his warmth missing. He made haste to gather his things. “Doesn’t mean I can just sit here while duty calls me to do something.”
Azahara swallowed and pressed her lips in a fine line.
Illyan looked at Kaed, then at her.
She was making her way towards the stairs when— “No.” Illyan was before her, standing on the first step, towering over her as if they needed that extra foot.
“Not you.” They were lithe, skinny, and without much muscle.
She could toss them over her shoulder and fling the Fae like a saucepan without breaking a sweat.
Illyan was a friend, so she digressed from treating them like a frisbee.
Kaed’s heavy footsteps followed behind her. “While I agree she shouldn’t come, do not do that.”
“Do what?” The innocence hiding the ‘try me’ Elf echoing in their mind.
“Demand her.”
“Oh, like you, ‘get inside’.” They deepened their voice, trying to sound like Kaed but failing miserably.
“He said ‘come inside’, Illy.” Her tone laced with frustration. “Now, get out of my way.”
“No, Azahara, you can’t come.” Kaed cut in.
“Can’t I?” She whipped around and stared into his eyes without flinching. “You are willing to risk your life for something you don’t know what for, and I am what, going to sit here and just hope to the Mother you come back?”
Her earlier words about how her brothers had died in a war that was meaningless circulated in her head. Recalling, if not word for word, the conversation she had with her father when he broke the news to them.
“They died protecting their kingdom,” her father nearly shouted at her.
“Protecting them from what?!” She had not backed down.
“The rebels who wish to destroy this kingdom, Azahara.”
“No, Dad, that is a bullshit lie from a bullshit king that wants to rule the Divide. He will build a world on the bones of the people he promised to protect. They died for a lie, and you sit here and praise the king. Your sons, my brothers, are in the ground somewhere on a battlefield, never to be seen again. They won’t even get the proper burial they deserve.
For what? A world that was not broken. We were finally beginning to heal after The Great Divide. ”
“I’m coming,” she said just as Illyan placed their hand on her back. Immediately she pulled away. “Don’t you fucking dare, Illy.” She hated when they tried to use Magic on her unwillingly. The Fae could pull her to sleep in an instant the way her walls were down.
Kaed stepped between her and Illyan but kept his focus on her. “I’ve trained for years, hundreds of them. I will be fine.”
“You don’t even know what you’ll be fighting against,” she countered.
“I’ve fought many creatures, Red.” He smiled at her, but she didn’t budge. That didn’t deter him. “I just want to keep you safe.”
“Me too,” Illyan said and placed their head to the right of Kaed. She saw the water boiling in his head, ready to blow off the top. While the picture of them two standing there was amusing, her stoic expression didn’t change.
Azahara knew that she was being overbearing, but she wasn’t being dramatic.
While she could deduct, it wasn’t the Gorruk, based on the care they took when raiding the villages and leaving without a trace, that made her more nervous.
They were careful, and if the Order with several soldiers, guards, and likely rangers, couldn’t get ahead of them, what made him think he could?
She didn’t want to doubt him, but running in there without a second thought was a death sentence.
“Then let’s leave in the morning.” Kaed was ready to protest, but she raised her hand to stop him. “Early, just as the sun is rising. It will take us a day’s ride to get to the Orders outpost through Rosland. There, you can gather the intel, and we can assist if they need it.”
While Kaed went through, what she could only guess was each scenario in his head, Illyan appeared behind her. “Sorry, Ladybug.” They leaned in and whispered, “He is sexy when fired up, just like you.” She swung her hand back, but they were gone.
Gods, Illy. I swear to—
“Okay, deal.” His arms crossed over his broad chest, straining his shirt, and she felt her stomach tighten. “Again, you are full of surprises.”
A curious expression was drawn across her face. “Hmm?”
“I’ve witnessed women, facing the same choices, tell their spouses, boyfriends, and friends that they couldn’t go into battle.
I half-expected to hear those words from you, to see you refuse to let me go.
” He closed the distance between them, and she drew in a deep breath, inhaling his presence.
“But you surprised me. You compromised. Why?”
Her eyes held a gentle concern, fearing that he might consider her troublesome.
However, his response was quite the opposite.
“I don’t want to take anything away from you, especially your choice,” she explained, her head shaking slowly.
“Your duty means a lot to you, and I want to support that. But I won’t accept being cast aside like a helpless damsel.
I expect the same support, the freedom to make my own choices.
Please, don’t take that away from me.” Her voice broke as she recalled a long-lost memory.
You took my choice from me. You took everything from me.
“You don’t know what you want. I promise that in time, you’ll come to find that it is me you desire, and I will give you the life that you need. Forever, as mine.” Goddrick had once said in a laughable tone.
Her heart hurt for the life she was supposed to have before it was ripped from her—the choices she was denied.
Kaed lifted his hand, gently brushing a lock of her red hair behind her ear. His fingers traced her jawline, lifting her chin so she could see the warm smile on his face. “I won’t take anything from you,” he assured her. “I’ll only give. I promise.”
She wanted to hold onto those words and lean on them for support. “Thank you.”