Page 36 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

Chapter seventeen

There were murmured words and the sound of people entering or leaving the room. Then the line fell quiet for a few moments before Marius rejoined us.

“Thank you for allowing the two of them to talk. I wasn’t going to stop getting puppy dog eyes until it happened,” Marius shared with a chuckle. “Now, as far as matters concerning your request for our help. In the room with me, I have Savo and Nixon, who are part of my pack and people I trust. Nixon is also a voting member regarding important decisions like offering up our troops for a war that isn’t ours.”

While his words were direct and to the point, they lacked the bite of someone who would instantly reject your proposal.

“On this end, it’s just my pack,” Sorin informed them. “We can’t return home with Lucian unless we have a peace treaty in hand for the president to look over. We planned to head out in the morning if we hadn’t heard from you.”

“Sorin, this is Nixon speaking. Can you tell us if we offer you the help you’re looking for, what are the expectations? Is it that you need more men to fight or the proof that Oscad is siding with you? I guess I’m asking if things go well, you now have control over the North. Where does that leave us?” Nixon asked.

To my surprise, Sorin deferred to Lucian for the answer, handing him the phone. Lucian took it hesitantly, like he expected the man to change his mind. Now with the phone in hand, out came the commander side of Lucian. It was like I could see a shift in his posture and expression, but this time, he didn’t hide behind the mask his father forced him to wear.

“I hope you don’t mind if I, Lucian Bakal, answer the question since I’ll be the new leader of Northern Asturg when this is over.”

“No, not at all. The question should have been directed to you in the first place. My apologies,” Nixon offered, his tone sincere.

Not at all surprised, Lucian stood so he could pace. Whenever he was strategizing or working on one problem or another, he couldn’t sit still. Many days, I found him walking laps around the couch in the living room, hand cupping his chin deep in thought.

“My first and primary reason for doing this at all is to save my people. Our land is dying, and the only way I can stop it from getting worse is to remove the man and his followers who don’t give a fuck. The secondary reason is that Danella deserves to live in a world that respects her. She doesn't need to fear for her safety every waking moment. To do one or the other, they both must happen. If I don’t feel my own Omega and the woman I love is safe even when she’s right by my side, how can anyone else?” Lucian took a breath rubbing a hand down his face.

“You asked what I’m looking for and where it leaves Oscad when this is over. I would love nothing more than to be a bridge between us. The South has much to offer the world, but the North has cut them off. That and as silly as it might seem to anyone else, I need there to be good relations between us because that is Danella’s home. Where her parents live. I never want to be the reason she can’t see them whenever she likes. Plus, I believe that with our three countries working harmoniously together, it can only be to everyone's benefit,” Lucian concluded.

These men were trying to kill me with all these amazingly romantic gestures. Not to mention just how sexy it was to hear Lucian allow himself to dream. To finally get to share his ideas for his people all along. I could only imagine what kind of leader he would become once allowed to do it his way. He’s seen all the wrong ways to run a country; it was time to let the man off his father’s leash and see him thrive.

“I believe that is something we can work with,” Marius said after a moment of silence. “Allow me to be frank. I didn’t actually think this was how our conversation would go. If I’m understanding you correctly, Lucian, you’re looking for an alliance. One not just for this fight but to have it continue after so that we might build a friendship between our countries.”

“Correct. That is exactly what I’m hoping for,” Lucian confirmed. “If I’m going to have a hope of rebuilding, my country is going to need friends and support to pull it off. We’re out of resources and won’t be able to create more right away. Of course, I’m not looking for favors by telling you this. It’s just the reality of my country.”

“Luc,” Savo cut in. “Do you honestly intend to go to the deserters?”

Biting my lip, I waited to see if Lucian would react to his brother calling him by a childhood nickname. “Who else would I go to when I need someone to hate the General as much as we do? They clearly know how to defend themselves since we’ve all heard stories of the skirmishes in the foothills. Many run off part-way or just after completing training. I doubt they just forgot it all.”

“Those are fair points,” Savo agreed. “Do you have a plan to get close to them?”

“Once we cross the border into Northern territory, we’ll change into civilian clothes. We’ll still have our packs, but what person runs without supplies? All I need is to get to one of the hidden villages and lay out the plan. Once they understand what I’m trying to do, they’ll see the benefit in helping.” Lucian outlined for his brother. “Where I feel Oscad will be most beneficial is after I’ve gotten the deserters on our side and we devise a plan. I want to make sure the army has no idea what we’re up to, so it won’t be a direct attack.”

“Oh?” Marius commented in surprise.

Lucian handed the phone back to Sorin, who’d come up with the idea. “If we don’t have a clue how many people we have to fight with, we need the best strategy to thin out the number of soldiers that will be in the main city. If we send out troops to different locations run by major supporters of the General, it will not only deal with them directly but remove reinforcements. This will also cause the General to send help to squash what he believes is a simple uprising. If we can focus their attention on somewhere else, they won’t see the actual attack coming.”

“I must say this is a rather clever plan,” Nixon shared. “So you would have our people to wait and assist you with the attack on the main city?”

“As far as plans go now, yes,” Sorin answered. “However, we won’t know the specifics until we figure out just how many people we have at our disposal.”

“That’s understandable. Nevertheless, knowing your vision of how you want this to play out helps us,” Marius pointed out. “I believe we have more than enough information to bring before the voting board of our governing body. As soon as I have an answer, I’ll have Savo contact you. I assume you’ll keep him in the loop of how to do that?”

“Of course,” Sorin confirmed. “We’ll be venturing to the mountains in the morning, so we will be on the move. I only bring that up in case you can’t connect to the satellite phone. It would be worth trying again. This alliance is of the utmost importance to us, and fate willing, we will see this through.”

“Godspeed and good luck on your journey. We will be in touch,” Marius said before hanging up.

We all sat in silence around the table for a moment taking in the fact that the phone call was a massive step in the right direction. Not only had we been given a chance to share our plans, but we also got to say them to the Head Speaker himself. Having Oscad as an ally would be massive in the long-term scheme of things. Now we just needed to make the rest of it happen.

“I want everyone to turn in early tonight,” Sorin instructed. “We will be up and out of here before dawn. Something in my gut tells me we don’t have much time to make it out of the South. I want to get over the border before anyone realizes that we’re not doing what we’re supposed to. So make sure your packs are stocked with what you can gather from here, and we’ll stop at the base we normally top off at two days from now.”

We all dug into our dinner that had been interrupted before starting on the rest of the tasks that needed to be completed before the morning. While the guys gathered things around the cabin, I worked with Cris to distribute the supplies. Taking what we needed was a tricky balance to ensure we didn’t make it too heavy and slow down. I wasn’t thrilled they made my pack the lightest when we needed to make the most out of the space we had.

“Sweetheart, if we make your pack too heavy, it will be harder for you to keep up. This would mean everyone slowing down to make sure you weren’t left behind. We can get more supplies, but we don’t have much time to get where we need to go. Of the two choices, a lighter pack is the more beneficial,” Cris pointed out.

Hearing him explain it like that got me to stop arguing with him. I still wasn’t happy about it, however. When everyone turned in for the night, I was settled in the middle of the makeshift bed while the others had puppy-piled around me. Since my heat, this was how we’d been sleeping, and I adored it. To know I had them all with me and I didn’t need to worry who was getting more of my time than another. I noticed the guys rotated without anyone saying anything about it, so whoever had been closest to me shifted back for others to get a prime cuddle spot. Tonight Victor was my pillow as Toma and Cris curled around my body to keep me warm and safe. I thought I’d struggle to sleep, but Victor was already prepared for that as he started to massage my scalp right away with a soft rumbling purr to lull me to sleep.