Jaspen shifted his insistent gaze to him. “I would hold my tongue if I were you, or my next demand will be to have your ass thrown out.”
“I’d like to see you try.” The corner of Eyden’s mouth pulled up into a challenging half-grin.
“I’m going to throw both of you out of this tent if you don’t behave,” Elyssa said.
Lora had lost her appetite. She stared at her plate as a fog surrounded her mind, anxiety building up. Elyssa must have noticed. She stood up and tapped Lora on the shoulder. “You want to go lie down?” she said. Then quieter, “I think you could use a breather.”
Lora nodded, grateful to get out of this situation.
“This conversation isn’t over,” Jaspen snapped loudly as Lora got out of her chair.
“I say it’s on pause and I’m not taking other requests at the moment,” Elyssa said as she walked past him. “We’re gonna try the tracking and report back.”
Lora followed her, but her eyes were focused on Eyden. He was about to stand up until Elyssa shook her head. He nodded and reluctantly sat back down.
Lora couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed, but she turned her back and matched Elyssa’s steps away from the madness of this conversation.
* * *
“Where are we going?” Lora asked when they walked past Elyssa’s tent. She’d figured they were going back to her room.
Elyssa kept going for a few seconds until she slowed down and looked over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
“Are we not going back to your place?” Lora asked again as she picked up her pace to catch up.
“No, I made up one of the empty tents for you since I’m not sure how long you’ll stay.”
“I can’t stay for much longer,” Lora immediately answered. She was starting to feel restless not actively searching for a cure. Although she had no idea where to go from here. All she knew was that she needed to keep trying.
Elyssa opened the flap to a smaller tent, not very far from her own. “I know you have your own mission,” she said as she waited for Lora to enter the room. “That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.”
This tent didn’t leave much free space, but it was a space for herself even if only for a short period of time. Lora’s eyes stopped at a familiar item. Her backpack was placed on the ground next to the bed.
“Eyden brought it,” Elyssa explained.
Lora moved closer and noticed a new WiFi cube sitting on top of the backpack. It was a reminder that they needed her, but also that her family was probably waiting for another message from her.
Resisting the urge to take out her phone right away, Lora met Elyssa’s eyes. “I’m sorry that I can’t help you as much as Jaspen—and I’m guessing you—want me to. I really hope you’ll get all your friends back and the tracking I can do here will help you enough to find them.”
Elyssa sat down on the edge of the bed. “I understand your hesitation. Eyden told me you’re doing this for your family. I would’ve done anything for my parents, too.” A look of sadness came over her face. How long ago had Elyssa’s parents passed away? Were they taken by fae? “I was talking to Eyden earlier and he filled me in on what happened with Halie. She said you might need a level five to figure this out, which is quite bizarre, really, but that’s beside the point. You know that the king has his own healer? The most powerful healer in Turosian?”
Sensing where Elyssa was going with this, Lora asked, “So I’ve heard, but how would I get to him?”
“Well, here’s the thing: I came across, or rather my fist came into contact with, some information a few weeks ago and I’ve been following Saydren, the healer, ever since. I know where he likes to hang out. Eyden didn’t know any of this until today. He’s more focused on trailing guards and keeping out of sight, as you might know. We usually share intel, so to say, but these past weeks have been busy and we haven’t had time to properly catch up on all of our top-secret ventures. If I had known he needed a healer, I would have told him earlier, but the stubborn ass kept me out of the loop.”
Lora stared at her, unsure how to respond. So this was what she wanted to talk to her about. “I see. Let me guess, you’ll tell me where he is if I help you out first?” Disappointment was taking over her feelings, but could she really blame Elyssa for taking advantage of the situation when Lora would’ve done—wasdoing—the same thing to save her own family?
Elyssa looked almost insulted at Lora’s assumption. “No, I’m not gonnaforceyou to help us. He’s usually at River’s Point every Monday and Wednesday evening.”
Lora was taken aback by this free offer of information with no strings attached. Once the initial surprise wore off, she was already counting the days in her head. Monday was three days from now.
“I can show you the way once we’ve freed our people. Or I can show you before we leave and describe him to you. I do have to say, though, I don’t think Saydren is someone who’ll agree to help you without a price. Having back-up would be damn good. Eyden wanted to go with you, but he has to go with us to Rubien. Jaspen was right when he said our friends only have days left before they’re moved and no one can track them anymore. Having you guiding us would save us time.”
Elyssa looked at the door before catching Lora’s gaze again. “Even Eyden knows this, but he’d prefer you stay here where it’s safe. I can’t blame him. He promised to help, but they’re my friends, not his. Farren…he means a lot to me. I’d knock any door down to get to him. I’ll understand if you decide you can’t wait. But I hope you’ll consider joining us even though it’s dangerous and you might miss Monday’s window.”
“Why did you tell me all of this? If you really need my help, why didn’t you offer me a deal?” Lora asked, genuinely intrigued by Elyssa’s honesty.
“Because you should choose of your own free will. Everyone who is here, at this camp, is here because they believe in forging a better future. They’re here to fight for the human lives in Liraen. I won’t lie and tell you it’s safe to go with us. We all know the risks and we take them anyway. If you’re like me, you even walk into them blindly at times. I know you didn’t choose to get mixed up with us, but you can choose whether you stay involved now.”
