Chapter 22

Calen

After I end the meeting with Averion’s captains the following day, Vesta stays behind.

She stands when the door closes, resting her hands on her hips. I cock a brow, waiting to see what she has in store for us.

Slowly approaching, she stops inches from the desk before slamming her hands on its surface.

“Have you lost your mind?” I straighten in my chair as her voice fills the air. “This plan is madness.”

“You know as well as I do, there’s nothing more we can do for Az and Ela,” I answer in a calm tone, refusing to fuel the fire burning in her gaze.

“After all these years defending him, that’s how you want to handle this?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, taming my own emotions before I answer.

“If there was another way, I would go to the ends of the earth to find it, but we’re out of options.” I clench my jaw. “If we want to save Lóna, we have to do this.”

“You’ve truly lost your mind.”

“This was his dream, not mine.” I tap my index on the desk. “That’s all it ever was, a dream, and now it’s gone. Just like they’re gone.”

As hard as it is to admit, it’s the truth.

“So your loyalty really doesn’t mean anything.”

A growl tears from my throat. “Careful now.”

“This is wrong and it will never work.” She squints at me before crossing her arms. “I don’t want any part in it.”

“It’s too bad I’m the General and you’re not,” I snap at her. “My decision is final. We leave within a fortnight.”

“So, now you care about rank,” she huffs.

Her eyes still carry fire, but my words have hit their mark.

I release a heavy sigh when her shoulders sag and I stand to reach for her hand. She has to understand why I’m doing this.

Vesta snatches her fingers away, brows furrowed and lips pinched, breaking my heart without uttering a single word. Whatever progress we made in the last weeks disappears in the blink of an eye.

“Dove.” I soften my tone, hoping it will be enough for her to stay. I don’t know if what we have means anything to her, but I can’t lose her too.

“Don’t,” she snarls.

“Out with it.” I motion for her to speak with a wave of my hand as irritation blooms in my heart. “I’m doing my best to keep everyone alive, including you. So, what would you have me do?”

She retreats as I round the desk to get closer.

“How am I to behave with you? Because I can’t tell anymore.”

A frown appears on her forehead before she shakes her head. “Not everything is about us. Why do you have to complicate everything? You’re the one who wants more out of this.”

“Is that so wrong?”

“Unlike you, I don’t need to tie myself down.” She chuckles at the words. “I never want the bond again, you hear me? I’d rather go off to war than feel that thing inside me again. To Zetrea it is.”

All I’ve ever wanted was to feel worthy and deserving of true love, her love, to belong and be unconditionally loved in a bond, but I have my answer now.

When my mouth opens, then closes, her features soften.

“I can’t do this, Cal. I can’t go down that path again.”

“What? The bond?”

“Not everything is about the freaking bond. Enough about that.” She rolls her eyes at me. “Why do you seek it? It’s a curse.”

I take this other slap to the face, one more hint and confirmation of my unworthiness. I’ve felt it my whole life, but I’ve heard enough.

“Very well. I won’t waste your time anymore.” I walk to the door and fling it open, not daring to make eye contact. “We both have work to do.”

“Great.” She walks past me before pausing, her nose wrinkled. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of options for a rebound.”

I slam the wood panel within an inch of her face. “That’s unfair.”

Finally facing her, I let her see the hurt in my eyes.

“Not once did I dangle your nightly escapades in the city in front of your face or ask for exclusivity to your body, and now you throw this in my face, as if it’s a likely scenario.” My heart tightens as I struggle to keep my voice calm and collected. “I’m not the one finding my bed untouched in the morning.”

I regret the words the moment they leave my mouth, but it’s too late.

“You know nothing.” Vesta pushes me aside with her full strength and swings the door open.

She’s halfway across the corridor when she stops abruptly and looks back at me with tears in her eyes. “For the record, I haven’t been with anyone else since that night.”

I inspect my reflection in the mirror once more, stopping on the red details in my gold armor. A different kind of battle awaits me today, one with the citizens of Averion.

I haven’t spoken with Vesta since yesterday, though I find her waiting by the palace doors, ready to escort me with the High Guard.

As I mount my horse, I glance at her, but she avoids my gaze. Once ready, we ride through the archway delimiting the palace walls and head into Averion.

The closer we get to the city center, the more people we encounter, all headed in the same direction. Most stores are closed, their owners probably at the central plaza. I straighten my spine as we travel the rest of the way, stoically ignoring the gawkers and hushed speculation trailing our passage.

With the hooves of our mounts beating the paving stones, I focus on getting through the next hour. The immensity of my task dawns on me when the High Guard begins clearing a path through the crowd amassed in the plaza.

The whole city has assembled in front of the makeshift platform erected in its center to hear me speak.

We stop our mounts behind the dais draped in crimson and gold fabric, and I wait for Vesta and her unit to spread around the stage before stepping up.

I tower over the assembled masses, holding their nervous chatter in check with a piercing stare. Ripples of silence spread until even the farthest citizens stands in mute attention.

“Citizens of Averion,” my voice booms, used to bellowing over battlefield chaos. “It grieves me to confirm rumors about our Lord and Unifier’s demise.”

Murmurs churn through the crowd at the blunt admission, but I slam my gauntlet against the podium, the sharp crack restoring order. “They abandoned obligations to us all. But I will not abandon our people or this nation, now under my leadership against the growing threat of our enemies.”

I sweep my gaze side to side, meeting random sets of eyes to drive the words deeper. “Despair solves nothing. As your new ruler, I vow to defend what we built here with every resource I have.” They need confidence now, not sympathy or platitudes. Those can come later, once stability returns.

“The army remains stationed at our borders, and increased patrols will scour the city day and night to safeguard these walls.” I pause for greater effect. “Your safety and our unity remains my singular priority.”

My final promise rings out over the silent masses, denying further dissent. Time suspends, accompanied with deafening silence, until a lone angry retort knifes towards me from somewhere center-crowd.

“Usurper!”

My blood freezes as the insult echoes between the buildings surrounding the plaza, and it’s not long before others repeat it.

“Traitor!”

Soldiers look hesitantly in my direction for instructions, but I signal them to stand down with a wave of my hand. This reaction is to be expected. I became one of them by betraying my own blood, and they all know it. As much as I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to truly shake this reputation.

I defied my clan and family to join Azran and worked towards unity just as hard as he did, but people conveniently omit that part.

Hostility fills the air, and the cheerfulness of the Winter Solstice that was mere weeks ago is long gone. Approval has left the faces of Averion’s citizens, replaced with fear.

An object hurtles out of the crowd towards me. I twist sharply but Vesta moves quicker, deflecting it with her sword, and tension explodes into chaos.

Cries erupt on all sides as citizens scramble over one another, desperate for a shot at me or an escape. Through the din I glimpse Vesta’s features as she scans the crowd, muscles tense, ready for further attacks. Her vivid eyes slice sideways, pinning me briefly. Simmering behind her duty-bound facade lurks fury and accusation. That glance wordlessly conveys her disappointment.

“Guards.” I square my shoulders. “Return order to the city. Make sure everyone gets home safely.”

The familiar commands help anchor my own whirling doubts.

I step down from the dais moments later, reaching for the reigns of my horse. Vesta follows suit and we ride back to the palace. Once within its safe walls, I order a curfew.

This city needs a grip of steel to prevent further dissent in our ranks. Within the first hour, I’ve already earned a new nickname, but I refuse to go down in history as only that.

The moment I lock myself in Azran’s office, I vow to do whatever it takes to succeed. All that’s left now is identify who to bring in on this, for the next steps of the plan requires absolute trust.