Chapter 34

I'm in a tent. The canvas ripples in the wind, causing the door coverings to flap open, revealing the night air and the Kenta soldier standing outside before they fall shut again. The cot across from mine is empty except for a smattering of blood-soaked dressings littering the surface.

Sitting up, I inspect my healed hand, then my body. No aches or pains or remnants of clawed attacks. A fresh set of clothes sits on the table between the two beds, and I don't waste time changing into them. I've just pulled the green tunic over my head when someone sweeps a hand inside the door, pulling it back to reveal one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen.

"You're awake," she declares, entering the tent.

Her raven hair is coiled at the nape of her neck with a metal pin. Leather with a metal rope of some sort adorns her shoulders. It encircles her waist and hangs from her belt in a cinch. It's an impressive uniform. She's ranked, for sure.

She sets a pitcher and two glasses on the table. "I brought you water."

I don't move.

She pours into each of the amber glasses, eyes holding mine as she drinks from hers. "There's no need to be embarrassed," she says, smiling. "We've all done it one time or another. "

I reach for the other glass, forcing myself to take a measured sip despite the desire to gulp it down. "Done what?"

"Burned through our magic." She settles her rear on the edge of the cot opposite me, gripping the railing at her sides. "It's why you fainted. The cost of using magic too greatly is that it causes our human minds to turn off. Kind of like running out of oil in a lantern."

"Good to know," I tell her. "Do you know where Acker is?"

She gives a halfhearted shrug. "Probably somewhere committing atrocities while being shamelessly good-looking."

I narrow my eyes at her. "Who are you?"

As if remembering her manners, she straightens before curtseying. "I'm Beau. Third in command and Acker's sister."

" Sister? "

"Please don't tell anyone I forgot to bow," she rushes out. "It'll be my ass."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath. "Our secret as long as you never do it again."

"I can't promise that, but you have my word to not do it again in private."

"Thank you," I say. "I'm glad the Kenta find women to be valuable enough for you to be so high in rank."

"Woman or not, it's impossible to deny my skills."

"I didn't mean to insult you," I say.

"No offense taken," she says, dismissing my worry with a wave of her hand. "You'll come to realize things are different on land. Much different."

"Do you know what they did with the shifter?" I say, motioning to the cot she's leaning against .

She glances at the mess. "The Alaha boy? He's being held for transport. Why?"

I bristle. Held? "Transport to where?"

"To the Kenta dungeons." She says it like the answer should be obvious.

My heart drops, and I exit the tent before the next beat that follows. The guards standing outside my door startle at my sudden appearance, but neither of them make a move as I march past them.

Heads pivot in my direction, conversations dying as I descend upon the camp. Kenta soldiers are scattered about, playing cards and drinking ale, preparing dinner as nightfall approaches. Plumes of smoke fill the sky to the north and south, the tops of the tents reaching as far as the eye can see in both directions.

"Where's the prince?" I ask anyone willing to meet my stare. "Where's Acker?" Only blank stares answer back. I trudge through the maze of tents, asking again and again. "The prince—where is he?"

A voice cuts through the awkward silence. "I may be able to help you." Leaning against the post of a tent, hair bright in the setting sun, freckles lifting with his smile.

"Hallis," I say on an exhale. He holds my stare for a moment before he dips his head as if he's going to bow. I rush to stop him with a raised hand. "Please don't."

Surprise is clear on his face, but he's quick to mask it. "As you wish, princess." The way he calls me by my title, with a mocking undertone, feels familiar.

"Where's Acker?"

"I'll take you to him."

I follow a few steps behind his hulking figure. He's in military garb similar to Beau's, except the sleeve of his left arm ends with an abrupt absence of a hand. I look over my shoulder but don't see her.

Sound continues to fade away as we move through the camp. Some of the soldiers stop and stare, some look elsewhere. Very few are gracious enough to fake a smile or dip their heads in the Kenta greeting. If it's odd behavior, Hallis doesn't acknowledge it.

I don't need Hallis's confirmation of where Acker is when we come to it. The metal helmets of the soldiers stationed outside give it away. They nod their approval to Hallis, and he uses his available hand to hold back the material for me. "After you, princess."

I eye him as I step through. Then my attention shifts to Acker. I take in his appearance. It's as if my eyes can't drink him in fast enough. His hair is damp from when he washed up, eyes shining from the lamplight. The sleeves of his clean shirt are rolled up his forearms as he leans over a table with a map.

A smile quirks at the edge of his mouth, but he's quick to disguise it as he stands to his full height. "Jovie," he says, hand outstretched to one of the men with him. "This is the lead commanding officer of this legion. Rango, please meet the Princess of Maile, Jovinnia."

The stout man offers me a bow and a smile. "The pleasure is mine."

I don't know the appropriate response. I feel the weight of the eyes of the other four men around the table as I smile and nod in return.

"I wasn't expecting you to wake for another few hours," Acker says, rounding the table, eyes flitting over my shoulder. "I see you and Hallis have become reacquainted. I hope he was very accommodating."

Hallis isn't amused. "She's here, isn't she?" he smarts. "No thanks to her lack of survival skills as she marched through the camp demanding your soldiers give up your location."

Acker's gaze comes back to mine. "Did you meet Beau?"

"I did. She's… pretty ." Hallis grunts, but I ignore him. "She told me Messer is being held."

Acker stares at me for a beat, his eyes appearing darker than usual, his lashes seemingly thicker, and heavier around them without natural light. Then he looks at Hallis. "Where's Beau?"

He shrugs. "The princess was alone when I found her."

"I left her in the tent," I tell him. "Why? Where's Messer?"

The commander—Rango—chimes in as though I didn't even speak. "She's probably scaring my men."

"Acker."

He gives a command to Hallis over my head. "Find her."

I clap my hands in front of him. Sparks of light erupt from the impact, but I'm too irate to pay it any mind, or the men who get their swords at the ready. "I'm speaking to you."

Holding up a hand, a silent signal for his soldiers to stand down, Acker finally graces me with his attention. By the clench in his teeth, I can tell he's pissed.

He speaks without looking away from me. "Have three thousand ready to move south by morning."

Rango bows his head in compliance, gathering one of the maps from the table along with his men. I keep my searing gaze on Acker as they pass by, but I feel their eyes on me the entire way.

Hallis lifts a brow, appearing as bored as ever. "It appears not much has changed." Sunlight pours in for a brief moment before the door falls shut behind him, and then we're alone.

Acker lets out a deep breath through his nose, releasing with it the sharp edge in his jaw. "You can't undermine me in front of my men."

" That's your concern right now?" I say, stunned. "I didn't realize your ego was that fragile."

"You have no idea how delicate this situation is."

"Messer's—"

"Not him," Acker cuts me off. " You. "

I'm taken aback. "What?"

He walks around the table and waves me closer with a hand, turning to make room for me before the map. Round and detailed unlike any I've seen before, it shows the territories divided and labeled, prominent features marked and illustrated.

"We are here." Acker points to a wooden sword marking our position then slides the tip of his finger to the right. "This is the Roison border."

The land is twice the size of Kenta's, making up the majority of the right side of the continent's landmass. Ocean closes it in on all other sides, flat other than the shoreline to the north.

Acker moves his finger along the dotted line separating the two territories until he reaches the forest shaded with black. "This is the Dark Forest." It spans the entire border except for two short clearings along the north and south passages. "This forest has been plagued with dark magic for millennia. The most powerful of Heirs have gone in with the intent to break the curse and failed. But you," he says, "you single-handedly cleared it without blinking. "

Impossible.

"All of it?"

"All of it," he confirms. "Every map that exists will have to be altered because of you. Every scroll and depiction will need to be reworked to show a new and open border."

"How?"

I don't realize I've said it out loud until Acker replies. "That's what my men want to know. They were stationed north of here when they saw the light. According to some of them, it eclipsed the light of the sun in the middle of the day."

"They're scared of me," I say, putting the pieces together.

He doesn't deny it. "The last thing I need right now is you marching around and appearing unhinged." He leans forward, invading my space enough that I can smell him. "It looks like I can't control you."

That last sentence snaps me into focus. "You don't control me."

"Godsdammit, Jovie." He slaps a hand on the table. "You know what I mean."

" You brought me here," I remind him.

"And you brought an Alaha shifter."

"I didn't do any such thing and you know it."

"Do I?" he says, eyes sharp on mine.

I snap my mouth shut, afraid I'll say something I'll regret if I don't calm myself first.

His eyes are unwavering. "Did you know?"

Did I know one of my closest friends was masquerading as a pet? Or that he would follow us in our departure from Alaha? Either way, the answer I give him is the same .

I don't dare look away. "No."

There's a stretch of silence where he holds my stare before he says, "Okay."

The underlying current of tension between us dissipates, the comforting gaze of Acker returning in full force, the eyes of a familiar friend. It feels nice to put a title to our relationship, although the moment in the woods comes to the forefront of my mind, the moment when I thought he was going to kiss me, challenging the idea of friendship between us. Friend doesn't quite measure up.

Acker reaches for a sash of knives on the table and belts it across his chest. The Kenta emblem is stitched into the leather at his shoulder. "Let's go talk to him, shall we?"