It drew the battle lines.
Luc and her on one side, his old Chosen camp friends on the other.
The gesture eased the last of the unreasonable hurt she’d felt.
“She’s bespelled you.” Revek looked surprised that the words had come out of his mouth and he snapped his jaw closed with a clink of teeth. He closed his eyes and breathed in, and then opened them.
“Want to start again?” Luc asked. His mild tone was deceptive.
Ava could feel the tension in his fingers as they gripped her shoulder.
“I apologize for attacking you earlier.” Revek’s fists were clenched.
Her cloak was still over her shoulders, and Ava could feel the tingle of danger.
“Commander?” A soldier poked a head in, took in the tableau, and reared back a little. “Sorry, I can come ba—”
“No.” Massi sounded relieved. “What is it?”
“The scout parties from the Kassian side have doubled since the Venyatu column joined us.” The soldier’s gaze landed on Ava, and she could sense the curiosity from him. “They’re coming closer, too.”
“Double our own patrols, then. I know it’s usually Massi’s task, but Dak, can you see to it right now?”
Massi’s lips thinned at Luc’s words, and Dak glanced between them before nodding and leaving with the soldier.
“You don’t trust me to run the patrols anymore?” Massi asked.
“I don’t trust you to come back and finish what I asked you to do.” Luc shrugged. “Am I wrong?”
Massi was silent for a beat and then gave a sigh. “No. I’m sorry, Ava. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I have no excuse.”
She also didn’t like Ava, according to the working in Ava’s cloak. But her cloak’s warnings seemed to be getting more sensitive, she’d noticed over the last few days. She had worked in a protection spell, layering it a few times against specific threats, but it had become so fined-tuned it was now a barometer of how people felt about her.
“Apology accepted.”
You can accept apologies graciously, her grandmother had always said. Doesn’t mean you forget, or ever trust the same way again.
Massi seemed surprised at how easy it had been. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “Thank you. I look forward to getting to know you.”
Everyone turned to Revek. His fists were still clenched and he was looking down, but he slowly raised his head.
“I am sorry, too. You did nothing to warrant my attack. I don’t remember it, or why I started it, but I am sorry you came close to being hurt.”
Ava inclined her head. “Again, accepted.”
He nodded, then turned on his heel and walked out of the tent.
Massi looked like she was going to go after him, then stopped and turned back. “He wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been playing stupid games. It’s my fault. It’s been a shock, having him get lost in the rage after so long. I’ll go make sure he’s all right.”
She walked out, and for a moment, there was nothing but silence around them.
“Thank you for accepting their apologies.”
Ava turned to Luc. He was still focused on the tent flaps behind which Massi had just disappeared.
“They’re your family more than your friends. And families can be difficult.”
He glanced at her, and his mouth quirked.
“You’ve got that right.”
Someone hailed a hello from outside, and Luc grunted in irritation before he walked over and lifted the flap.
Deni and General Ru stood together.
“Welcome.” Luc drew the flap back and waved them in, turning to mouth an apology to her.
Deni gave her a quick, amused look, and then took up a guard’s stance just within the door.
The general came deeper into the space, looking around just as Ava had.
“You have a lot of maps,” she said with interest, and moved over to the table. She caught Ava’s gaze as she crossed to it. “Avasu.”
“General.” Ava bent her head.
“Tell me about the fight you had outside this tent tonight.”
Ava glanced at Luc. She would leave this to him to explain.
“Some of my people were joking about my taking Ava away from her fight last night, and they thought it would be amusing to spar with her again. Unfortunately, the soldier who entered the match with her was once in a Chosen camp, like many of us, and he suffered a relapse, his mind taking him back to the horrors of the days spent fighting for our lives against each other. He forgot he was safe and sparring against a friend. Ava held him off without harming him until I arrived to stop it.”
There was silence as the general took in his words.
Ava glanced at Deni, and saw this was the first he was hearing of it. His face had hardened, and his gaze on Luc was no longer so friendly.
“If your people are prone to forgetting who is friend and who is foe, that is a problem.” General Ru looked up from a map she had rolled open.
“I agree.” Luc moved over to the table, and began to place weights on the edges of the map so the general did not have to keep holding it. “But to say they are prone to it is not true. It is one person, falling into a fugue state for the first time in years. I’ll keep a careful watch on him, and I’ll make sure there’s no possibility of harm to your people.”
General Ru said nothing as she bent her head over the map. When she looked up, Ava could not read her at all.
“Accepted, Commander. I will trust you to keep your word.”
Luc held her gaze a moment, then nodded. “Our guards have reported an increase in the Kassian scouting parties.” He pointed to the map.
“As have ours. But before we continue . . .” General Ru held up a hand, and looked over at Ava. “You are not authorized for this level of information.” She glanced over at Luc. “I would like to bring in two of my lieutenants for this strategy session. Ava, you can fetch them, and then find something to do away from here until we’re finished.”
Ava saw the look in Luc’s eyes—the quick flash of fury. She took a step toward the general, bowing almost from her waist.
“Certainly.” She turned to Luc, her gaze fixed on him. She saw him struggle to rein in his temper, and then finally succeed. “Would you like me to find your lieutenants as well?”
Luc said nothing for a long, slow beat. “Thank you, yes.”
She winked at him, making him blink in surprise, then turned and walked out, glancing a parting shot at Deni as she stepped through the door.
He was watching her with interest, putting the pieces together.
And there were a lot of moving parts to this, she admitted.
It was going to take a lot of juggling to keep everyone happy.
But the general was right. She couldn’t stay to listen to high level strategy in her current position.
She was Luc’s lover, not his lieutenant. And she was under the command of General Ru by her own request.
So she would play messenger, and wander through the camp, listening, and making friends.
Given what her life had been just over two months ago, that actually sounded like bliss.
Chapter 12
While they waited for their lieutenants to arrive, Luc offered General Ru something to drink, and called to one of the guards outside the tent for some food from the open kitchen nearby.