He paused for a moment and studied her, the firelight rendering her features utterly captivating. Her ebony curls were almost blue in the light. Muscular shoulders and arms were revealed by the sleeveless tunic she wore, yellow veins moving with every twitch of her hand as she rearranged figurines on the maps.
And he couldn’t stoplooking.
“Are you going to help me or just stand there and stare, captain?” She looked up, her bright yellow eyes gleaming.
Raine gave her a ravishing smile and approached, stopping beside her and studying the map. “Apologies. I was just admiring the beautiful woman standing in this tent and got a tad distracted.”
She snorted. “We’re in a war, captain. No time for distractions.”
“Noted.”
He knew she was right, but he couldn’t keep himself from watching her. And it would only ever be her. From the moment he laid eyes on her that fateful afternoon on the training fields.
Glancing at her again, he noted her brow was more furrowed than usual. “Are you alright?”
She waved a hand. “Of course I’m alright.”
“Maeryn,” he said, lowering his voice.
Standing straight, she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. “This is not what I was expecting, I suppose.”
“What do you mean?”
She opened her eyes and gestured to the map. “We areleaving tomorrow, but I’m worried the force we’re leaving behind to protect my capital will not be large enough…”
“And?”
“And…we don’t have any more soldiers to spare. If we leave behind too many, we won’t have enough to face the army of daemons. I’ve trained for this for decades, but the reality of it is much more daunting than I expected.”
“No one can prepare themselves completely for war. It doesn’t matter what we know, putting it into practice is different. Besides, most of us are young. This is the first large-scale war we’ve experienced.” He spoke softly. “For what it’s worth, I think you are an outstanding leader. Do not question yourself on these decisions. They’re the right ones.”
She swallowed. “Thank you. Ever since we witnessed Deidamia’s death, I can’t help but question everything. I do not like being in the dark.”
“Nor do I. But this is a solid plan. Once we get out of the boundaries of Igneothenia, and we’re close enough so I can communicate to Sabriel, I will send some of the animals to gather intel on the daemon’s movements. This is what we talked about. We move to a safer location and learn what we can while we wait for the others to return.”
“And you don’t think we should go north again? Like before?”
“No. The weather caused too many issues. If we get hit with another blizzard, we’ll lose even more of our soldiers. We take our chances going south of the lake. You’ve been staring at that map for hours. You’re over-thinking it.”
“Despite your foolish antics, you seem to know what you’re doing.”
He tilted his head, taking a slow step closer. “Was that a compliment, boss?”
A hint of a smirk appeared on her face. “Do not flatter yourself, captain. It is only an observation.”
“You can’t take it back now. You think I’m an excellent leader.”
She shook her head, but amusement played in her expression. “That is not what I said.”
He laughed. “Well, I will treasure it nonetheless. All jokes aside, since I doubt you’ve eaten anything, I’ll bring you some dinner. Stop studying those maps and relax. I’ll return in a minute.”
He made his way to the doorway when Maeryn called his name.
“Raine?”
It was the first time she didn’t only refer to him as ‘captain’. Turning around, he schooled his features, trying to hide what it did to hear his name on her lips. “Yes?” His voice came out hoarse.
She looked…nervous. “I never got a chance to thank you.”
