Cassarah #2
“You’re trying to get him to act like a rational person.
However, I can assure you he is anything but,” I explained.
“What is it they teach us? To be able to outsmart a target, you have to learn the target. Know their habits, routines, where they are vulnerable, and then you can strike in the strongest way possible. That’s what I’m doing,” I offered, knowing she wouldn’t believe me.
“What everyone is missing is that despite the words I said, I have no intention of ever losing to him.”
“Did you hear that, you sneaky thieves,” Becka yelled.
Confused, I looked about trying to figure out who she was talking to when my men suddenly appeared sheepishly in the doorway.
“What, how did you do that?” I gasped.
Cole pointed at Jade as if having him to blame would get him out of trouble. “It seems he can use his Birthright on more than just himself…”
My jaw dropped. I knew locking the door wouldn’t keep a bunch of mercenaries out of my room, but I’d hoped the message would be clear.
Becka knew I needed a moment before I had to explain myself and to get them to calm down.
While I didn’t have many lingering issues from my mother’s treatment of me, the one thing I struggled with was getting the approval of those I cared about.
I knew they would be mad at me, and I couldn’t talk to them while they were all so upset.
“How long have you been able to do that? Wait, have you always been able to?” I questioned.
Jade shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know how long I’ve been able to do it. There hasn’t been a time when I wanted to hide others in my shadows.”
That was a valid point. He hadn’t been all that welcomed in his previous clan after his parents died. “I’m certainly glad we know about it now. We’ll have to test this to see how many people you can keep hidden. It will be an amazing tool for the upcoming battle.”
“Don’t think you can get out of this conversation by distracting us, little bird,” Jade warned, coming over to stand before me. “Now, I think we deserve an explanation.”
“No, you don’t,” Becka countered. “You just heard her reasoning while you were eavesdropping on our conversation. What more do you need to know? She had to get on his level and show him she was willing to do anything, up to death, to make it happen.”
“Sorry, but that isn’t a good enough answer for me,” Gavin announced.
As the only person not trained in the ways of a mercenary, I could understand why he wouldn’t understand.
The others might not like my choice, but they knew where I was coming from.
How did you explain to someone who saw the world in black and white that an action cloaked in gray was the right choice?
Walking over to him, I cupped his cheek and held his gaze as it burned with anger and fear.
“Did I tell the Lost King I would sooner die than let him become ruler? Yes. Did I also vow I would take him down with me if it came to that point? Also, yes.” I pulled him into a hug, squeezed him tightly, then took a step back.
“What I didn’t say is that I was going to roll over and let him kill me.
I needed him to understand I wasn’t going into this battle with my eyes closed.
It told him I was willing to go as far as I needed to ensure he never won. ”
I sighed, my shoulders drooping as I sank under the weight of my responsibilities. “He needed to see me as a threat to take me seriously. I needed to push him to get him to spill information, and it worked.”
“It worked?” he questioned. “From what you already told us, you didn’t get much.”
“No, I didn’t get much, but we didn’t have much before either.
Now we know we need to get to Creisal and see what’s happening there.
What if there is something hidden in that city he doesn’t want anyone to know about?
Everything he’s done is to draw attention away from there.
He’s leaving it for last, and that tells me whatever we might find there is a weakness he can’t outsmart another way,” I explained.
“My other hope is that the queen will regain her senses and be able to tell us something.”
“It still doesn’t mean you should have made a vow like that. You have access to magic like never before. What if it holds you to that? We could lose you, and all of this would have been for nothing,” Gavin argued.
Tossing my hands up in frustration, I turned to the others.
“What do you want me to say? I am queen first, lover second, and mercenary last. My duty the moment that crown went on my head was to my people… all my people, but that doesn’t mean I can play it safe just to satisfy those who love me.
Tell me what I should have done, staring at the biggest evil we’ve faced yet as he taunts me, telling me I’m going to fail? ”
Gavin looked hurt, but the others seemed to understand where I was coming from.
While I could understand why they weren’t happy about it, they were trained to look at a battle from all angles.
Gavin must have realized this too because he didn’t press the matter when he saw none of the others were going to.
“The question now is how do we proceed?” Zan offered. “You’ve now been crowned queen and brokered an alliance with what is left of the Norden royalty as well as Creisal. What are you going to do with all of it?”
Rubbing my hand over my forehead, I tried to think of something, but all I came up with were dead ends and more questions.
I wandered over to the seating on the balcony and sank into a chair, resting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.
Everyone slowly came over to join me. No one spoke—we just sat for some time, praying to the fates that something would come to one of us.