A smile played along her full lips, and I immediately knew Rohak would be uncomfortable with her answer.
“Everything but.”
As predictable as ever, the tips of Rohak’s ears instantly reddened, and he shuffled awkwardly in his chair as Sol continued.
“We slept in the same bed every night. There was lots of touching involved,” Sol said. Thandi’s face broke into a dazzling smile, one that Sol returned earnestly. “Skin on skin contact helped immensely.”
“That . . . actually makes a lot of sense,” I mused, already reaching for the journal in my belt. I flipped to one of the many pages on Bonds and wrote in an empty margin. “It’s clear that the Bond craves intimacy. So, naturally, it would at least be tempered by physical contact and proximity. Though I wonder about how long that would feed it and what the side effects would be from prolonged avoidance?—”
I trailed off as the room grew silent apart from my charcoal scratching against the page. I was met with five amused stares and one that held nothing but adoration. My skin burned where Rohak’s gaze wrapped around me like a lover’s caress.
Reluctantly, I put my book away.
“I—I can finish my notes later,” I said half-heartedly.
“Whatever you need, Faylinn,” Rohak interjected, but I shook my head.
“No, we should discuss what you called us here for. The people of Vespera are far more important than my little musings.”
Rohak inclined his head toward me in understanding and acceptance before taking his seat once more.
“Let’s start with the number of missing and dead.”
Chapter Twenty
Rohak
Aheadache throbbed behind my eyes, its cadence timed perfectly with the elevated thumping of my heart. I pushed fingers against my closed eyes, desperately pleading with whatever deity was left in the ether to lessen the constant pounding. Either no gods were available, or none were left to listen, because the relentless pain never abated.
We’d been in the study for hours, poring over maps and data, accounts and details, trying to create an accurate picture and assessment of what remained of Vespera. But numbers and words could only show so much; I needed to be outside, fixing the damage with my own hands, assuring the people with my words, but the reality of my new position meant I was stuck here.
When I suggested leaving the manor earlier in our discussion, I was met with uneasy silence, each of the Mages and Vessels present having a quick rebuttal for that argument.
“You’re still recovering; we cannot risk an attack on you in this state.”
“The people of Vespera do not yet know that you survived. If you were to leave the protection of the manor without us first announcing that news, you’d start a riot and reverse whatever progress we’ve made in the city thus far.”
Both of those arguments, made by Ben and Sol respectively, were annoying yet tolerable. The one that cut me to the core, however, was when Faylinn uttered, “You’re missing your magic, Rohak. You can’t protect yourself any longer.”
The stricken look on my face must have unnerved the newly appointed council because they instantly turned their heads back to thedata and figures, their voices louder than necessary in an attempt to drown any lingering awkwardness.
“Our best estimate is roughly one-quarter of the outer wall is missing,” Ben said, one large finger trailing down a paper detailing the damages to Vespera.
“How.” I was long past the time for pleasant engagement.
I opened my eyes in time to see the large Earth Mage shrug. “We haven’t been able to ascertain that yet.”
I groaned in frustration. “How have you not been able to tell?”
“If you’ve been listening,General, you’d understand that the damage to Vespera and our army was vast. That, coupled with the numerous deaths and complete decimation of our leadership structure, meant that we’ve been in basic survival mode for days,” Sol snapped at me. I gave her a droll look in response to her tone, but didn’t rebuke her.
Tensions and emotions were running high, especially after I forced both Ben and Sol to read the names of each of the dead aloud and explain how they died. Names of friends, lovers, and cadets were on that list. People that Sol had known since she was an unAwakened cadet; men and women that Ben trained with and grew to share camaraderie. Felix wept openly when his previous roommate and Life Bonded Vessel were listed. At one point, Asha’s trembling lip opened on a gasping sob, and she excused herself from the room for a time before returning with blotchy skin and red-rimmed eyes.
Apparently, her youngest brother was one of the boys listed as deceased.
All in all, it was a grim few hours as I absorbed each of the boys, girls, men, and women I’d failed to protect, and the night hadn’t gotten any easier.
“If you would just let me gosee, I could coordinate the efforts better,” I growled lowly, shifting irritably in my chair. I already expected the exasperated head shakes, but I felt like I had to suggest it again. “I cannot sit here and simply listen to speculation. I need to be able to see it, feel it, talk to people who survived it. Assess the Academy for damage, decide the best course of action for training new recruits, and reassemble task forces that were broken. Icannotdo that from this chair.”
