Chapter 27
Alightning bolt blazed across the sky, briefly illuminating the terrain before them, followed by a thunderous boom. “Of course we’re moving the army in a fucking storm,” Raine muttered from atop his horse.
“Did you say something?” Maeryn shouted above the thunder and pouring rain.
“Nothing!”
They’d spent days in meetings, arguing over where to move their forces after sending the animals to spy on the daemon’s movements during their brief stay west of the volcanic province. And now they were moving out again.
The daemons had moved their war camp and now marched north, seemingly to join their forces in Frosthaven. What they were up to, Raine still didn’t know. But the fae continued west, closer to his kingdom.
After much debate, their current plan was to settle their forces where Oakshire used to be before Andras decimated it.
They’d have the Emerald Mountains to the north, the Greywood Forest to the south, and additional protection from the river.
All they could do was hope Ava and Casimir were successful and Caelestia would be joining.
Sooner rather than later.
But if this weather didn’t cease, their journey would take longer, and now it was time to make camp for the evening. They couldn’t push them any further today.
“We’re stopping,” he told Sabriel, unable to see her in the rain.
Thank the Mother. My fur is soaked and I’m so hungry I was preparing to eat your horse.
“Very funny. You’d have to become my steed then.”
I’ll rip off your arm before I let you ride on my back.
“Aro lets Casimir and Ava ride on him.”
That’s because he’ll do whatever Ava wants. I, on the other hand, would not stoop to such an embarrassing display.
“Because it would mess up your precious fur?”
Exactly. We are alike in our vanity. I will alert the others of your plan.
Raine signaled to Maeryn it was time to stop. They held up their arms to communicate to the remaining army, unable to see most of them but assured they’d pass the word along.
Raine dismounted, finding a grove of trees nearby to tether his horse. Reins in hand, he approached Maeryn.
“I’ll take him,” he offered.
“Thank you, captain.”
“Anything for you, boss,” he said with a wink.
She shook her head. “I’ll go help set up camp.”
Raine trudged through the mud, unable to get Maeryn’s bright eyes out of his head.
And those pouty lips he wanted so desperately to kiss.
And bite. And tug on that damned lip ring.
And the water droplets running down her neck from the rain…
he wanted to lick them off. To run his tongue along every inch of her skin to see what she tasted like.
Fuck.
Calm your thoughts. This is almost as bad as Finnick, Sabriel said, trotting over.
“I’m aware.”
When you fall, you fall hard and fast. Control yourself. We’re in a war.
“Well aware of that too. Thank you for the amazing advice.”
She barked and disappeared into the woods to hunt.
After securing the leads to a tree, he joined his soldiers to help with camp set up, giving orders as they erected the tents. Another flash of lightning lit the sky, revealing that the clouds were drifting further away. The rain had subsided to a light drizzle, the bulk of the storm finally passed.
“If you have earth or stone magic, use it to reinforce the floors underneath the tents. It will help with the mud,” he called.
Maeryn stood with Aelerion, using their lava to attempt to start a fire.
Raine stopped beside them. “It’s too wet,” the king said. “Once the wood catches, the rain immediately puts it out.”
“What if I made a shelter?” Raine asked.
“You can do that with your vines?” Maeryn asked.
He lowered his voice. “I can do a lot with my vines.”
Maeryn scoffed and waved her hand. “Show us.”
“What? The shelter or the—”
“Captain,” she cut him off. “Make a shelter.”
They stood in an open meadow, trees on the edge where the horses were being kept, but hardly anything nearby that would be able to protect the fires from the rain.
Raine raised a hand, vines rising from the ground, and wove them tightly together.
He grew thick roots, reinforcing the structure and soon had created a small open shelter, bolstered by four woven pillars and a roof.
Tall enough where the flames wouldn’t set it on fire.
“Impressive,” Aelerion boomed. “Let’s make several more throughout camp.”
Raine’s stomach rumbled as he headed to the cook, the smell of stew tickling his nose with the promise of sustenance.
Maeryn was still overseeing the last of the setup, while the rest of the leaders were conferring inside the command tent.
He planned to join them, but he was starving.
Besides, Maeryn hadn’t eaten either and he wasn’t going to let her work ethic get in the way of her nutrition.
It wasn’t the first time he’d interrupted her, encouraging her to eat.
She was more stubborn than Casimir. Never stopping.
Bowls of stew in hand, he searched for the beauty, finding her near one of the campfires.
“It’s time for a break, boss. Come sit and eat with me.”
She took the bowl from his outstretched hand, sitting under the shelter before the fire. “You’re very thoughtful. Thank you.”
Raine sat beside her, groaning as he inspected his muddy boots.
“I shall have to get a new pair when we return,” he muttered.
“You’re concerned with the state of your boots?”
“Just because we’re in the middle of a war doesn’t mean I can’t look good while helping you command an army.”
She cocked her head. “I don’t think I quite understand you, captain.”
“Captain? Are we back to that now…Maeryn?” He purposely dragged her name out, watching her reaction. Her pupils enlarged ever so slightly, and he had to bite back a smile.
“I apologize, Raine. I’m used to formal titles,” she replied, flicking her gaze toward the fire.
“I am far from formal, I’m afraid.”
He took a bite of stew, both of them eating in silence.
“So, what’s your story?” he asked, unable to look away.
“What do you mean?”
He waved a hand. “You know…your story. Tell me something else about you. You’ve told me a little about what it was like living in hiding most of your life…but I’d like to know more…”
He wanted to know everything.
“Oh.” She turned away, her tongue darting out to play with her lip ring.
Fuck me, he thought. She should not do that around me, or I might pounce on her.
Clearing his throat he said, “I’ll go first.” He set his empty bowl on the ground and leaned back on his hands.
“I grew up on the edge of town in Mosshaven. On a farm. Father was a farmer, like I told you before, and Mother was in the army. My mother was killed in the original war when my sister and I were very young.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Maeryn said.
“Thank you. I don’t really remember her, to be honest. After her death it was just the three of us for years. Until my father caught Casimir sneaking onto our fields and stealing crops. He took him in and raised him as one of us.”
“So the general is like a brother to you, then?”
“He is.”
“What a nice father you must have. That he took him in without hesitation.”
“He’s a good man.”
“Where is he?”
“Back home, tending to his crops. He’s not a fighter.” He elbowed her arm. “See? That wasn’t so hard. Now you tell me something.”
“Is this your way of trying to get into my bed?”
Raine balked, surprised by her boldness. “What? No. Why do you ask?”
“Your reputation for debauchery precedes you.”
“That’s fair. But I’m also capable of monogamy when I so choose.”
She hummed, giving him a bemused tilt of her lips. “Alright, I shall tell you something. Growing up isolated felt…normal. I knew nothing different. It’s being out in the world that’s strange. Overwhelming.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Still alive. They stayed with the group now at Igneothenia to start rebuilding. They are not warriors either.”
“Why did you decide to fight?” Raine asked.
“I heard stories of how Eorhan used to be. I wanted to help make it that way once again.”
“We all do,” he said softly.
Shouting erupted nearby, interrupting the moment.
“Spy!” someone yelled.
Raine was on his feet in an instant. A heartbeat after he and Maeryn emerged from their shelter, a spear of ice shot straight for him. A blast of lava melted it before it could hit its target.
“You’re welcome,” Maeryn said.
“Do not kill the spy!” Raine yelled, sprinting toward the source of the ice.
A fae from Frosthaven raised his hands, a flurry of frozen crystals swirling before him. Raine conjured a vine from the ground, wrapped it around the man’s feet and pulled him to the ground.
Their enemy raised his hands again, but Raine wrapped him so tightly in a cocoon of green, he didn’t have another chance to attack. Raine and Maeryn approached, preparing to haul him to a tent for interrogation. The man struggled, spewing filthy curses as he fought against the vines.
Maeryn leaned over him. “You will be—” But she was cut off, stumbling back with a yelp.
Raine snapped his head to her. Blood dripped down her arm, her shoulder impaled with a dagger of ice.
A wildfire of rage consumed him. Someone hurt her, but it wasn’t the man laying before them. His hands were still bound. Someone else must have come with him. And whoever it was, Raine was going to kill them.
“I’m alright,” she insisted as he scanned for the other intruder.
There.
Raine met eyes with the other ice fae, giving him a feline smile. The man shot more of his icy daggers, but Raine dodged each one as he prowled forward. A flicker of fear passed over the man’s face.
“You’d better be fucking scared,” Raine said, whipping out a hand and wrapping a thick root around the man’s head and torso. With a flick of his wrist, he snapped his neck, sending him crumpling to the ground.
“Are there any more?” he asked the soldiers around him.
“No, there were just two. They were trying to steal the maps.”
“Prepare the other for interrogation.”