Focus, Lena.
I huffed and staggered up to the camp, and the soldiers rose to their feet, instantly wielding their weapons when I arrived.
I let out a sarcastic chuckle. “You’re scared of me with these on?” I asked as I gestured to my cuffs.
Silas remained sitting and studied me with lowered brows, drinking something out of a mug—presumably alcohol—as the campsite reeked of it.
“What do you want, witch?” The one named Roland sneered. His muscular form strode up to me until he was mere inches away. I craned my neck up and met his hazel stare.
“My people are freezing. We need a fire,” I said plainly. Roland gave me a half smile, looking back at some of his men. I would consider him attractive if he wasn’t such a dick.
“Do you hear that, gentlemen? The witch has demands.” He turned back to me, and I tilted my chin up higher. “Not gonna happen. Although,” he leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I could keep you warm if you’d like.” He moved his head back, and rage overcame me.
“Fuck you,” I spat.
The insufferable asshole just grinned before Silas rose, the men around him freezing. Roland stayed relaxed, interestingly. I studied his face, wanting to punch it for the amusement in his eyes.
“Hendry, Edmund, make a couple of fires,” Silas ordered. “There will be less of them to make a statement of if they freeze to death.”
I stilled and looked over Roland’s shoulder. Silas’s expression was just…blank, emotionless. My eyes traveled back to Roland, and he spit on the ground next to my feet, grunted, and walked back to where he was sitting.
Charming.
I glared at his back in disgust before turning away. The day I would be able to take my revenge on him would be a good day indeed.
Hendry and Edmund began to walk towards my people, wood in their arms, and I trailed behind them. The blond man who showed Elowen kindness must be Edmund, considering I now knew what Hendry looked like.
They both chucked the wood on the ground by my people, about thirty or so feet apart, and squatted down to start the fires. I resisted the urge to let out another humorless laugh. It would take me all of three seconds to light these fires. But instead, I just watched them do it the hard way.
They carved their notches into the wood, then began rolling the spindles they used for their own fires in between their palms until smoke began to form. My people muttered to each other as they observed them, and after a few moments, the fires eventually started.
As the wood began to crackle and the flames rose, I got a better look at Hendry’s illuminated face. His tawny skin was maybe a shade darker than Elowen’s, and his hair was shaved on the sides. On the top, his straight, dark brown hair fell just at his eyebrows. His left eye was nearly black in this lighting, his other one blue. The glow from the flames complimented the sharp angles of his face.
Is everyone here just beautiful?
I crossed my arms.
Beautiful men with rotten souls.
Still, I was grateful for the fires. My people slowly moved close, holding out their cuffed hands as best they could to warm themselves.
“I’m going to grab more wood,” Hendry mumbled, his voice deep and clear.
“Thank you,” I said to him with as much kindness as I could muster, which wasn’t much.
He gave me a nod. “Come on, Edmund,” he called out to the other man. I looked at Edmund, whose skin was as fair as mine. Now that his helmet had been removed, short, blond curls lay softly around his face. They both stalked off.
I made my way over to Elowen, who was staring at Edmund as he went to fetch more wood with Hendry. Mages were now surrounding the fires.
“He’s not like the rest,” she said softly as I approached, her eyes glued to him.
I let out a small laugh. “Are you an empath now, too, El?”
She continued to gaze at the soldier. “He didn’t have to try and comfort me. He almost looked…like he feltbadfor what he was doing.”
“Well, I imagine it’s just like with us Mages,” I replied, basking in the warmth of the fire Edmund had started. “There are bad ones out there, of course, but plenty of good ones. I’m sure some of these soldiers are just following orders, just wanting to protect their homes. I’m sure notallof them are evil killing machines.” My mind went to that teenage boy from earlier.
Poor thing…he was just a kid.
