Leaving Mira with Alba—Rahana’s mother hen to newcomers—I marched to Radhak’s tent. Navir and Tyrone stood outside, two beefy guard dogs on duty. My pace didn’t relent, even as Tyrone said, “He’s in a meeting.” An attempt to keep me out.
“Oh, sorry I’m late then.” The smile I flashed their way was dramatically seductive, and it brought me more joy than it probably should have to see these two stalwart soldiers shift so uncomfortably on their feet. When I strode past and lifted the canvas door flap, they didn’t try to stop me.
Ravinder’s hands braced his bare biceps, stance wide before Radhak’s desk as his torsotwisted to see who’d entered, the glowing light through the cream-colored canvas catching on the new gold stud in his right nostril, a matching piece to the one high on his right ear. “Took you long enough.” He turned back around, offering nothing further in the way of a greeting.
“Sorry, some of us work for a living and had to assist the newcomers from Argora Vale who ran into some ogre troubles,” I said coolly as I strode up to the desk.
Radhak looked up from where he leaned over the spread map on his table, shoulders tense, beard painted with ever expanding patches of silver. He adorned a new matching gold stud in his left nostril, a recent addition to the many piercings along his ears. He and Rav got them to symbolize their brotherhood, something the Windguard military had made them take out years ago. Repiercing closed over holes seems like a goodidea when you get into Highcrest wine, courtesy of our new allegiance. “Trouble?” he questioned.
Well damn, their piercings looked really cool. Maybe I should get one. “Don’t worry, I took care of it. Seven.”
The look on his face told me he shared my sentiment—concerned.
“Handed them off to Alba. What’s this?” I motioned toward the map of Windguard, the easternmost kingdom on the continent. The one every single member of Rahana fled from persecution, until Argora Vale residents began descending.
Radhak sighed, returning his attention to the table. “We need a supply run.”
Normally something like that wouldn’t warrant the strenuous look on both of the brother’s faces. But given the map currently before them, I understood why.
“With our relationship to Nicholas still developing, I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate our usual stealing operation,” Ravinder added, contemplating all the ways this newly established alliance would impact us. I could tell from the look in his eye, the stiff posture he carried.
“Oops,” I said without a hint of true remorse.
Ravinder dragged his questioning stare to me, then rolled his eyes. “You’re going to lose a hand one day.”
I scoffed. “I think the new king would deem a few trinkets quite small of a reward for stopping his traitorous Commander and saving his life. It was my perfect aim that subdued him, ya know.”
Ravinder smirked, and my own smile bloomed in triumph.
Radhak continued, “It would be uncouth to request resources during their honeymoon. Besides, I predict our requests will become numerous in the coming days. I’d prefer for us to not appear as such a burden. We’ve sustained this camp as long as we have, a few more weeks until we sure up the numbers enoughto request adequate resources shouldn’t be a problem for us to handle.”
He places the pad of his finger over Hava City, the closest city to The Serpentine Line—the dividing river between kingdoms. “The team will need to be small since there’s too much to do here, too many new untrained bodies to protect. I’m already having to send the foragers out further.”
While he was right, and we had been able to remain self-sustaining since the camp’s establishment, those who wielded herbal magic couldn’t create something from nothing. A bushel of tomatoes? Sure, but they needed a single seed to start. With all the mouths entering camp, food was going out faster than new crops were coming in. The stress mottled Radhak’s rich brown skin, creasing his forehead and undoubtedly contributed to the dusting of gray forming around his temples that swept back into the bun he wore atop his head.
“I’ll go,” I offered, even as the lump in my throat tried to pinch off the words before they made it out.
“Yes, you will.” Radhak rubbed his jaw, already creating the team in his mind—and I’d made the list. Unsurprisingly, given my talents.
“I’ll join her,” Ravinder said.
“Aw, such a gentleman.” Batting my lashes over my shoulder earned me an eye roll. When I’d first joined the camp, good ol’ Rav hovered around me like a shadow, unsure what to do with my flagrant disrespect for, well, most things. Eventually it became annoying, and I’d snapped. We came to an agreement when he insisted I train just like the other soldiers under his purview. Not just for strength, which I definitely gained since then, but for building trust and mental resilience. Those first few weeks were rough, to say the least. Every day he reminded me I could leave. That if I couldn’t endure and find my reason for pushing through, I didn’t deserve to be here anyway.
I’d earned my place since then, so now when he insisted on tagging along, I didn’t mind. Besides Tio, Rav was my next closest friend, even if dealing with his incessant need to be in charge grated against my patience. More like a bossy older brother, really. And Radhak was the closest thing to a father I had left.
“Tio will come, too,” I said. He’d be itching to get out of this crowded camp, and I was sure he was still peeved that he hadn’t been part of the raiding team that stopped Commander Druller. But we had people to protect here. Families. Children.
“Great. Then there’s the team,” Radhak said, walking away from the desk and toward the water station. He twirled his fingers, and a steady stream gathered from the short barrel to trickle into his cup. Element wielders possessed Higher magic, and not many were known to exist now that magic had been shunned. They’d been high on the list of targets following the dark magic that ruined everything, after those with the gift of transference and seers. “I’ll prepare a list of the items needed. You’ll leave at daybreak.”
“Sail with the wind.” I mockingly saluted, sharing the sentiment that was most common in Windguard.
“Sail with the wind, my girl,” he replied with a light chuckle.
As I departed the tent, I swallowed the lump of apprehension over stepping into that wicked kingdom again. Curses could take many forms, including hatred, and I considered Windguard more cursed than The Cursed Kingdom itself.
That said, I was always happy to cause them a little trouble.
4
