Chapter 23 #2
Jaden cleared his throat. “I’m pretty good with the whole… chaos thing. Figured I could lighten the mood.”
“No,” Eve said.
“No what?”
“No lightening,” she answered flatly. “Just watch and stay quiet.”
Before I knew it, I was peeking again.
Jaden opened his mouth, then shut it.
Sheepish.
After a beat, he whispered, “Do you at least like jokes?”
Lionel finally spoke, not amused, but helpful in his quiet way. “She likes quiet.”
Eve shot Lionel a look of mild gratitude.
Jaden held up his hands in surrender. “Quiet. I can do that.”
A few seconds of silence. “…Probably.”
Eve groaned softly.
But Lionel’s lips twitched slightly, before another emotion smoothed his face.
“You seem different,” Lionel said quietly. “You’re mimicking Nate more than yourself lately.”
Jaden stiffened, letting a few seconds pass before he sighed with a faint smile. “You noticed, huh?”
“Hard not to,” Eve clipped, crossing her arms.
“Well,” Jaden scratched his chin awkwardly. “He always seems so carefree and happy even after almost dying… I guess I needed some of that confidence after…” He stopped, the pause increasing the pressure heavily. “I killed Caleb.”
“Nate isn’t confident, he’s cocky,” Eve muttered, smoothly trying to ignore the heavy conversation.
“Yes, you killed Caleb,” Lionel said blankly, making Eve shift uncomfortably. “Now you’ve got to live with it, find a way to make up for it… You can’t change the past, but you can decide your future.”
A shiver went through my body. His words echoed louder to me than I cared to admit. He was giving Jaden advice, only because Lionel himself knew the pain of regret.
The second watch was Ashley, Nate, and Malakai.
Ashley woke first, hand instinctively reaching for a knife that wasn’t actually in danger of slipping from her grasp.
Nate rubbed his eyes, taking a moment to remember where he was.
Why was I still not sleeping?
“You two keep watch,” Malakai said, leaving no space for argument. “I’m taking a loop around. If I’m not back in ten, assume I found something worth punching.”
When he turned, I shut my eyes again, pulse racing because I knew he often saw through my plays.
I heard his footsteps heading out into the dark, just far enough that the dust swallowed him whole.
Silence settled, awkward and huge, making me peek to see if they had fallen asleep again.
Ashley refused to look at Nate at first.
“You keep almost dying,” she muttered, arms tightening around herself. “Stop doing that.”
“That’s my bad, really,” Nate said with a crooked, exhausted smile. “I’ll try to schedule my next near-death better.”
Ashley’s breath caught, a sharp, shaky inhale.
“I—” She shut her mouth, thought it through, and started again. “I didn’t mean to stab you. I knew it wasn’t right the moment the blade went in, but then it was too late—”
“It’s fine,” he said gently.
“It’s not.” Her voice cracked on the last word. “I can’t… lose anyone else.”
Nate stilled, his expression softening more than she was ready for.
“Hey,” he murmured. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No,” he agreed, swallowing. “But I can promise I’ll fight like hells to stay, for you.”
Ashley’s eyes shimmered, she blinked it away stubbornly. “You confessed. Back there, before I stabbed you.”
Nate let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, great timing, right?”
She finally glanced at him, really seeing him.
“Look… I feel something, too,” she said in a tiny voice. “But I don’t know what to do with it. I’m… bad at this. And every time I care for something or someone, the world rips it away.”
“You care,” he said, voice softening. “That’s enough for now.”
Ashley exhaled, leaning her shoulder into his.
Just enough contact to say ‘stay’.
Time had leapt and I still hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. Third shift was me and Faelin.
Faelin shifted quietly by my side, her ginger hair still braided neatly. She was always alert and watchful, but tonight, she seemed more focused on staring at her boots than anything else.
“You look awake,” I tried sarcastically.
“You look like you wish you weren’t,” she returned with a faint smile.
I snorted. “Fair.”
For a moment, there was just the breathing hush of the ruined village. Faelin glanced towards where Malakai had returned, now asleep against the wall, still and facing me even in rest.
“I don’t think he’s dangerous,” she whispered quietly. “Not to us.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest. “He’s one of us,” I said. “He’s… home.”
Faelin gave a small nod. “I’m glad… I’m sorry I doubted you.” Her hesitation lingered like a feather in the air. I nudged her arm.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said.
“My friend was a lot like… Ashley. Hot-blooded, eager for adventure… a bit clueless,” she snickered and I couldn’t help smiling. “Not a single day passes without me missing her… But I don’t regret anything.”
I tensed, studying her carefully. “You… You had to end her?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah… I was the only one she let close enough.”
I swallowed hard, remembering Malakai’s words: ‘that’s why you’re the only one who could’. I shook my head as if it would make it all go away.
Just because it had happened to Faelin’s friend, didn’t mean it would happen to Malakai.
“Get some sleep,” I told Faelin who had begun wavering. “I can handle the last watch.”
She didn’t argue, simply squeezed my forearm once and curled into her bedroll.
The quiet wasn’t peaceful, it was the world waiting in anticipation.