Chapter 25
Abonfire party, meant to welcome everybody to the base, was already in full swing when I arrived with Lili and Archie.
My sister hadn’t left my side since I got released. Earlier, I’d told them all about my mission. Now that I had them here with me, safely away from Kenric and the rest of the Defenders, I couldn’t help but tell them every detail.
Lili had cried. Archie was mad at first that I hadn’t told him.
“You know we would’ve come in a heartbeat,” Archie repeated his earlier words. “Promise me you won’t keep a secret like this ever again.”
I took his hand and squeezed it. “I told you—that Defender Kenric wouldn’t have let you leave. You would probably have been killed if you tried to go by yourself.”
My cheeks heated up just like they had done when we had this discussion for the first time back in the desert. I hoped they’d let it go soon.
“But enough of this!” I insisted, pulling them towards the table stacked with jugs of mead. “Now it’s time to have fun.”
I poured Lili the smallest mug imaginable of the sweet mead. “This is strong stuff, Lili,” I told her, handing her the mug. “Drink. It. Slowly.”
Archie fetched himself a mug of the regular, disgusting mead, and I poured myself a mug of the sweet stuff.
“Prue!” I turned around at the voice and met Elvira’s smiling face only inches from mine before she flung her arms around me. I returned her hug, and we crushed each other like we hadn’t been allowed to do in the prison. “I thought Boaz had killed you!”
I laughed, dispelling the anxious feeling that crept up my spine at the mention of the King’s Right Hand. “He almost did.” Gently freeing myself from her grasp, I turned to Lili and Archie. “This is my sister Lili and my friend Archie,” I said, introducing them.
“Oh, we’ve met,” Archie said, shooting Elvira a quick wink. I scrunched my nose at them in amusement, and Lili went beet-red.
“They’ve been getting acquainted,” she sputtered. “It was a long trip to the base.”
We all snorted at that. Even Lili gave a sheepish smile. I waited for the green emotions I often imagined would accompany the knowledge of Archie with somebody else, but they never came.
All I felt was happiness as I looked at the two of them, Archie slinging a long arm over Elvira’s shoulders and pulling her into him.
Archie’s eyes searched mine for approval. I nodded at him, my cheeks almost hurting from genuinely smiling. I knew he’d always wanted more than I could give him. Even now, free from the stress of survival, all I wanted was to have my friend Archie.
He deserved someone who could feel as deeply as he did. “You couldn’t have found someone better if you tried,” I told him, and Elvira rolled her eyes playfully.
“He’s told me all about you,” she grinned, and I flushed.
“All good things, I hope?”
“For the most part,” she shrugged, and we all laughed.
A kerfuffle of voices erupted from behind us. I turned to see a very drunk Felix shoving Jax away from him before taking a huge swig from a mug.
His face was red and swollen, and his sentences slurred as he mumbled even after Jax had left.
Shooting an apologetic look at them my friends and sister, I walked cautiously towards the drunken man. “Be right back, guys.”
His eyes found mine, but he looked like he was struggling to focus on my moving frame. As I walked by, I noticed a few disdainful glances from some of the rebels. Hannan had told me to expect this since rumors had spread about my treason.
When I neared Felix, he straightened up and waited for me to reach him.
“We never got to talk,” I said. “Felix, I’m so sorry about Felicity. I—”
I was cut off when he lunged at me, grabbing my arms so tightly I felt the bruises already starting to form.
He pulled me closer, towering over me as his crushing grip tightened. The eyes that used to look at me with kindness shone with hatred instead.
“Tell me one thing, Prue,” he spat, tugging me flush against his hard body. He looked terrifying, clenching his jaw in rage. “How come you get to walk free like you did nothing wrong? Like you didn’t betray the very cause my sister sacrificed her life for!”
His eyes shimmered, the tears already running down his reddened cheeks. His breath was sour with booze as his face drifted down closer to mine, mouth set in a snarl.
“I don’t even have a body to bury. Just this!” he yelled, raising his fist to my face. I flinched, readying myself for the impact.
When it didn’t come, I turned my gaze back to him, noticing the ring on his pinky—Felicity’s ring, embedded with their family crest: the anvil.
An apology hitched in my tightening throat, but I couldn’t croak out the words I longed to tell him.
“Felix, I’m—”
“Don’t bother,” he said, releasing my numb arms. Blood rushed to my cold hands as I flexed them.
“She died for a cause she believed in,” a voice said to our right.
My head whipped to the side. Hannan stood there, watching us and looking rather relaxed considering the scene playing out before him.
“Months before Prudence even joined us, Verena was planning to break into the prison,” he said with a patient tone.
“The information Prue provided us was crucial for the success of this mission. More rebels would’ve died if it wasn’t for her.
She went on the mission herself, too, which I’m sure you remember. ”
Hannan’s wrinkled face broke into a small smile, his eyes finding mine before he returned his attention to Felix.
“You’re grieving, son. But don’t dishonor your sister’s memory by pretending she didn’t go into that mission of her own free will.
She knew the risks, and she still went, just like you did.
“Taking your anger out on Prudence won’t make it hurt less. But you know what might? Friends who understand what you’re going through. Prue only did what she had to do to keep her sister safe. I’m sure you would’ve done the same.”
Felix remained silent even after Hannan had stopped speaking.
Then, he turned his bloodshot eyes to mine. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just shook his head and stumbled away.
I stood frozen. Thoughts of what I could’ve said or done to make him feel better infiltrated my mind, but with no clear answer.
I wanted so badly to take his pain away, say something that made it all better. But how could I be there for him like he’d been for me ever since I came here when he hated me?
“Prue?” Hannan’s soft voice broke me from my thoughts.
“I’m okay,” I said quickly. It felt so wrong that Hannan’s sympathy went to me and not Felix. “Thank you, Hannan. I don’t know what to do. Everyone who finds out what I did will hate me. Maybe it’s what I deserve.” My voice shrank with each word I uttered.
“I think you’ll find that people here are more understanding than you give them credit for.
Almost everyone here has lost someone they’d do anything to get back.
Every single person here came with a piece of themselves missing, whether because of loss, injustice, or something else, in the hopes that the cause could help them fill that emptiness.
I believe you’ll be just fine. Goodnight, Prue. Try to have fun tonight.”
Hannan left me stunned to mull over his words. Perhaps not everyone would hate me after all. The thought filled me with hope.
Like he’d just given me the last piece of the puzzle that I needed to be happy and stop hating myself for what I’d been forced to do.
Maybe the best thing I could do for Felix right now was to let him hate me.
I gulped down the rest of the content in the mug that I’d somehow held onto through it all and decided I needed more.
I’d looked forward to spending my first night as a truly free woman with the people I cared about. Free from the Defenders, free from Orken and Boaz. Free from the lies I no longer had to tell. Just free.
I swerved through the many bodies to get to the drinks table. My heart still hammered from the encounter with Felix, though I did all I could to push the memory from my mind. At least for now, I wanted to have a good time.
A familiar, tall frame was pouring mead from the big jugs into a mug. He looked up, his dark eyes falling on me.
Silently, Daegal stretched his arm towards me and offered me the mug, which I gratefully accepted after placing my empty one on the table.
“Thank you,” I said, watching him pour another one. “And thank you for not having me exiled earlier.” I’d meant it to be a lighthearted comment, but my voice carried no humor.
He ran a hand through the wavy mess of dark hair and sighed. “You’re wondering why I voted for your freedom.”
It wasn’t a question, and I wasn’t denying his statement. Truthfully, it was one of the only things I’d thought about since the hearing.
“Dance with me,” he said, a slight smile curling his lips as if he, like myself, was just reminded of the last party we’d attended together.
I agreed, and we walked around the big fire in silence. It’d already been lit in honor of all the new members of the Rebellion. Instead of dancing, however, we found ourselves walking side by side, just enjoying the happy atmosphere around us.
“I hated you for a long time because I thought I’d figured you out,” he said, running a finger over the rim of his mug. “Apparently, I was wrong about you.” He shot me an apologetic smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. Then, his demeanor turned serious.
“I understand why you did it… You put yourself through this to protect your sister. I thought your actions were selfish and that you did it because Elio Boaz had promised you freedom or riches.
“I’ve been in the claws of a monster like that before. There’s nothing you can do but play along. I’d thought about what to tell you ever since your sister joined us. I didn’t want to lie down and admit my mistakes, but I should’ve. I’m sorry.”
He sounded so genuine, it almost didn’t sound like the words were coming from him.
I touched his arm gently to stop him from walking further. We’d wandered away from the bonfire, so only a faint orange glow lit up his features. For a moment, we just looked at each other. “How could you’ve known?” I asked.
“I always assume the worst of people. My father… He didn’t exactly raise me to be the trusting, loving kind.”
“Is that why you left?”
He narrowed his eyes slightly at me, and I knew I was pushing the limits of the conversation from casual to personal.
“Part of it, yes,” he finally said. “That, and I don’t hold the same beliefs that the rest of my family does. I don’t think mooncasters are bad.”
“Does that go for all of us?” I joked, giving him a light push.
He grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled, making me stumble closer to him. “There are exceptions. And you’re not just a mooncaster.”
I leaned in, closing the already impossibly small gap between us.
Our noses brushed against each other, and I could smell the hint of mint and earth on his breath. “Then what am I?”
“Quite impossible to figure out, it seems.”
We both lingered in each other’s space, equally unwilling to back down. His eyes bore into mine, dancing roguishly. My stomach erupted like the fire behind us. What were we doing?
“What do you know so far?”
A smirk curled his lips. I couldn’t stop myself from running my gaze across his sharp features. Straight nose, angular jaw peppered with dark stubble. Amber eyes that looked almost molten as they caught the reflection of the flames behind me.
“I know that you’re still a smart-mouth, even when you shouldn’t be.” His eyes flickered to my lips. “And that despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to stay away from you.”
“Dae! Prue!”
Daegal closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose before pulling away. “Jax,” he said flatly as the man reached us, panting slightly from the jog.
I straightened up and took a small step back to create some distance between us, afraid that if I lingered there any longer, I’d have to rudely ask Jax to get lost.
“I had to make sure the two of you weren’t about to murder each other,” he laughed.
“I think we’ve reached a truce,” Daegal said, smirking at me and my red cheeks. “Haven’t we, Prudence?”
I smiled sweetly at him and cocked my head. “Is that what this is, Dae?”
His lips twitched at the sound of his nickname coming from me. “Yes, it does seem like we get along best when there’s fire involved,” he gestured to the bonfire behind us.
I raised my mug along with one eyebrow. “It might be the alcohol.”
Jax snorted, and Daegal’s face broke into a smile before he could stop himself. “That might be it. I guess we’ll see at training tomorrow.”
Right, training.
Now that I wasn’t in prison anymore, and he wasn’t on a dangerous mission, our scheduled morning training was back on. “Can’t wait.”