“What’s going on?” she asked one of the men scurrying on a task.
He took one look at her, scoffed, and ignored her entirely.
“Oookay. Hey, you,” she called to another. “What’s the commotion?”
“Fuck off, bitch,” he growled as he passed.
“Well, at least he said something, so I suppose that counts as an improvement.”
She made a few more attempts, but each met with pretty much the same type of reply, and by the time the ships all took off a short while later, she was still entirely in the dark.
The ships accelerated hard, the air ringing out with their booms as they hurried off to whatever task they had at hand.
“You. Woman. Come help carry this!”
It was the cook. He was still an ornery son of a bitch, but he had use for an extra pair of hands, and hers were readily available. She hurried over and hefted the crate. It was heavy, but her new runes were stronger by the day, and where it would have been a lot of effort previously, she actually found it quite manageable now.
“Fucking madness,” the cook grumbled as he picked up two boxes of rations in his sweaty arms. “Follow me. And don’t drop that.”
“You can count on me,” she replied. “Will we be coming back for more?”
“Yes. The bastards tookeveryone. Even my prep cooks. Every able-bodied man save for a skeleton team staying here. It’s unprofessional.”
“You’re right. They really left you in a bind. That’s not fair at all.”
“It isn’t!” he agreed.
Margot felt a little surge of excitement. This was working.
“You know, they really should appreciate you more. You do so much for them, and they don’t even show any gratitude.”
“What do you know about that? You’re just a prisoner.”
“Well, yeah. But anyone can see how they look down on you. I know it’s not my place to say, but I think they’re assholes for not realizing all you do for them. I mean, your cooking? It’s fantastic. And they just eat it and leave a mess for you to clean up. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard even a single one of them say thank you.”
He scowled at her, but she could see her words were having at least some effect on him. They’d never be buddies. Hell, he’d keep her for his own if he wasn’t so scared of Gromm. But this tiny modicum of comfortable rapport just might loosen his lips.
“Why did they leave you behind?” she asked innocently. “Seems you’d be a valuable part of the team.”
“Not for this I’m not.”
“Oh?”
She wanted to ask more but knew she had to let him be the one to broach the subject. The seconds felt like hours, but she held her tongue, waiting.
“It’s a fucking waste, if you ask me. Going out there and just carpet bombing the whole place. I mean, sure, they’ll nail the thing, but it’s just so damn crude. And, of course, they’ll wantmeto be the one to cook up the blasted bits of whatever game they wipe out in the process. I’ve seen it before, and let me tell you, it’s not pretty. I mean, have you ever tried pulling a thousand tiny bits of shrapnel from meat before you cooked it? No, of course not. No one has because no one hunts like that.” He sighed, taking a deep breath, then another. “But Gromm gets what Gromm wants. And today he wants to be done with this world.”
Margot’s heart had nearly exploded out of her chest at the wordscarpet bombingbut she somehow managed to keep her expression neutral. But inside? Inside she was screaming. She touched the band around her neck. It was keeping her trapped in this place, but she had to warn Braxxos. Somehow, she had to find some way to get to him before?—
The air rumbled as blast after blast boomed out from the distance.
Nooooo!her mind shrieked in wild distress, but the explosions kept coming.
“Sounds like they’ve started,” the cook said. “Shouldn’t take long now. I don’t think they’re doing too huge a campaign, but then what do I know? I’m just the damn cook who has to deal with their damn mess.” He turned and stormed into his kitchen tent, pissed off at the hours of extra work this whole thing was going to dump on his shoulders.
Margot slumped to the ground hard, tears streaming down her face. No one said anything. No one was in the camp to even notice. They were out there bombing. Killing her mate.
She managed to pull herself together long enough to relocate to a spot out of sight and let her sobs flow, the intensity of her pain wracking her body, her heart breaking with anguish at the thought of him scared and alone as the bombs fell.
