“I wouldn’t expect any less.”
Leif nods and rests back in his chair with his arms over his chest. His eyes soften and the animosity he’s held toward Kyron seems to dissipate a bit. Trust will take time, but I’m hopeful they will get there.
“I get why you did what you did, and I can move past it,” Terro says from the other end of the table. “But it’s fucked up that you left those who have stood by your side for years to clean up your mess. We fought for you not only on the battlefield, but we fought to break down every misconceivednotion about a Stigian amongst our ranks. We endured bloody knuckles and broken noses, kicking the asses of everyone who said you were a power sucking asshole. They claimed we were morons for having your back, that it was only a matter of time before you sucked us dry. We fought to make you a home here, to give you the opportunity to prove them all wrong. Within minutes, you unraveled it all and let them win.” Terro shakes his head, his dark braids brushing his cheeks. “What the fuck, man? I’d die for you, and you couldn’t so much as give me a hint about what you were doing. I would have happily endured their shit, knowing you did it for Raelle, but you left me doubting you.”
Kyron runs his palm down his face. “I was scared you would stop me.”
“Damn right we would have stopped you,” Greer says, slamming her fist on the table. “You’re a selfish prick. You had no right making me trust you if you couldn’t trust me in return.”
“You know I trust you,” he quickly replies.
“But not with your plan to save Abrum?”
“You just said you would have never let me go through with it, Greer!”
She jumps out of her chair, and it topples to the floor. “Fuck you, Kyron. Fuck you for making me care. Fuck you for becoming my best friend. And fuck you for leaving me. You made yourself irreplaceable in my life and then left without so much as a goodbye. I’ve always known you can be a heartless bastard, but what you did…” Greer wipes the back of her hand over her eyes. “You should have let me leave Basecamp the day I requested to transfer if you planned on backstabbing me.”
“No. No, I shouldn’t have.”
She bounds around the table and grabs the front of his jacket, yanking him forward in his chair. “You know the shit I’ve been through, how I lost my family and was left on my own. Why the fuck did you think I’d want to go through that again?”
“It’s not the same. Ulric, Terro, Abrum—they are your family. I didn’t leave you alone, Greer. I’d never have left if I thought you didn’t have people here that love you.”
The tears she’s held at bay spill over and run down her brown cheeks. “You’re the family that means the most to me, and you traded me for a kingdom you hate.”
Kyron wraps his fingers around her wrists, holding her hands to his chest. “I made a sacrifice not only for Abrum and Raelle, but for you too. I don’t want my best friend to die on a battlefield. You think I didn’t take you into consideration, but I did. You deserve better than this life, and I’d do anything to give it to you, even become the damn prince of Stigian.”
Greer’s arms tremble against his chest, and her jaw flexes as she holds his stare. She yanks her hand from his grip and plants her fist below his eye with a crack.
I gasp and cover my gaping mouth. Terro and Leif both go wide-eyed. And Kyron smiles as blood trickles down his cheek.
“That’s not even close to calling it even,” Greer says, rolling her eyes.
“I know,” he replies.
She steps around him, heading in my direction. “Get the fuck out of my office, you smug bastard, and figure out how to rescue Ulric.”
Kyron stands. “Will do, general.”
Greer drops into the chair behind her desk, and I push away from the edge, following the others out of the room.
“And Ky,” she says before we reach the door. “Pull that shit with me again, and Leif won’t be the only one plunging a blade into your chest.”
“Understood.”
Kyron closes the door behind us with a gentle click. We walk side by side down the hallway in silence. My head is reeling from it all. I knew it would be bad, but damn. I didn’t expect it to end so abruptly.
“What the hell just happened?” I ask.
“She forgave me,” he says, wiping away the blood trickling down his cheek with his sleeve. And he does it with a smile. He just ran a gamut of emotions, most of them harsh in nature, and somehow has ended up happy after getting punched in the face.
“But she…”
“Don’t try to understand it,” Terro says, throwing an arm over my shoulders. “All you need to know is Ky and Greer are good now.”
I exchange a look with Leif, and he shrugs. We’ve had our fair share of arguments, but nothing like that. I can say with certainty that we won’t be adopting the sucker-punch method for bestowing forgiveness, but to each their own.
Besides, I can’t totally knock how Kyron and Greer handle conflictwith one another. It seems to work for them. After all, the leaders of rival armies are finally on friendly terms.
