Will – Prepare the Siege #3
“My dream in Mellryn had to be a message from my mother,” Malin murmured against his ear. “I really think she has a plan. I know this is the right choice. I wish you were coming, but you are more valuable here.”
She stepped back slightly, her blue eyes drifting to the maps. “Hopefully, we will not be too far apart for our mental connection. I will try to reach you.”
“As long as you come back to me safely, that is all I need,” Will whispered. His voice was thick with raw desperation. “You are my everything. Just come back.”
He kissed her, the touch delicate and tentative. It was not a plea. It was the absolute, terrifying truth laid bare in the gloom of the tent.
Malin reached up, tracing his jawline with a grounding touch. Instead of returning his tentative brush, she pressed a firm, heavy kiss hard against his mouth. It felt like a brand, stamping him with the unwavering certainty of her love.
“I will be back before you can worry,” she promised softly. “I love you, too.”
She walked out of the tent with Jacien trailing behind her like a silver-eyed shadow, the flap of the canvas snapping shut behind them.
Will stood there for a long heartbeat, his hands clenching into fists at his sides as he violently wrestled with the urge to stop her from leaving.
Just as he finally managed to swallow down his anxiety, the heavy canvas of the tent flap pulled back.
He glanced up sharply, his heart doing a stupid, hopeful stutter at the thought that she was returning to him.
It crashed right back down as he watched Aldrik walk in, his face set in a mask of iron resolve. The General’s eyes immediately dropped to the maps on the table.
He looked… different. The lines of strain around his eyes had smoothed. He moved with a lightness that wasn’t there yesterday.
He looked rested.
At least one of us slept, Will thought with a twinge of irritation.
A foot soldier followed close on Aldrik’s heels. The boy looked terrified to be among the commanders. He held out a sealed scroll with a trembling hand.
Aldrik took the letter, snapping the wax seal with practiced efficiency.
His eyes swept over the page, and the rigid military tension in his shoulders completely evaporated.
A fierce, almost predatory gleam flashed in his eyes.
The news must be good, as a sudden electric energy radiated from his battle-scarred frame.
Hopefully, this meant he would be able to put his blades to use and focus on something he was good at.
“Change of plans,” Aldrik announced. He tossed the scroll onto the map table. “Fellspire has agreed to terms for a meeting. They want a formal discussion of a peace treaty. Tomorrow afternoon, instead of just a discussion of a parlay.”
Will stopped, the bitter coffee suddenly turning to ash in his mouth. Every alarm bell in his head started ringing at once. “You’re joking. They don’t do peace. They do domination and silence. Their armies are almost as violent as the Order.”
“While the camp slept, I worked,” Aldrik said, his voice carrying a quiet reverence.
“My Ael’an… my Elowen… came to me in a dream before dawn.
It was brief, but she gave me specific words to offer the Upper Synod of War here at Fellspire.
I sent my fastest courier with the message before first light.
I just received their response. They want to meet.
” His voice was firm when he added, “There will be no clandestine operations. We may get the device through political efforts after all.”
Khelek frowned. “This feels like a trap.”
“It might be. That is why I’m not going to risk our troops within their weapon range.
It will only be our small group. I have no doubts in our abilities to get ourselves out if there are problems,” Aldrik admitted.
“She came to Malin in much the same way. I have faith that it was her in my dream, as well. I believe that we must try. She seems to know more than she can share. If the talks don’t go well, we can reconsider that evening and try the other path the next day.
Right now, this is the only path that guarantees we get the EMP device without starting a war.
My love matters most. If we can get it by asking, we must try. ”
The metal of Will’s mug clattered against the table as he dropped it. Every survival instinct he possessed screamed against this plan. He loathed the idea of staking their lives on the goodwill of tyrants.
Blades were more effective at getting what was needed.
He looked across the table at Aldrik and the truth of the situation hit him. It wasn’t a seasoned general staring back at him, but a desperate, terrified mate fighting for the woman he loved.
It was not Will’s mate in a coma slipping further away each day. If the tables were turned, he knew he would put his faith in empty dreams, too… If it meant saving Malin.
Swallowing his pride, he nodded slowly. It was the General’s decision.
“Fine. But I’m keeping my knives.”
With both Malin and Aldrik having dreams that they felt came from Elowen, he hoped that he was not on the battle axe’s dream list.
He was bothered enough by his own nightmares… he didn’t think he could handle adding her to them.