Page 68 of Echoes of War

“You think you can trust Covert Province, my father, my brother, but you can’t,” I said, taking my cue from the floor to speak Millie had given me. “They will take what they need from your people. And the woman you speak so poorly of … she will wipe you from this land you call home and show no mercy. General Bennett is kind, welcoming, she cares for her own. All kindness has its limits. If you get in her way, there will be noyouleft to look out for.”

Nash’s brows quivered. He stopped pacing, forcing an unbothered countenance back over his demeanor. “Sure, that’s why you’re here then. Because the powerful need help from the powerless?”

“No, we’re here because we request your help to make things easier on our soldiers, our resources. As I said, we care for our own. The fewer the casualties, the better,” I reasoned, patting a napkin on the corners of my mouth from the delicious meal accompanying this show. “Make no mistake about our intentions, declining this offer may save your lives for a few months. But when war comes this way, because it will, darlin’. You can bet on it. We won’t be taking any prisoners.”

“Such a sweet and innocent looking girl. You’re a fool, a weak fool that thinks she has power, that she can control things, but you can’t. You show up at my gates making idle threats disguised as a warning with two half-assed Seers showing us the worst-case scenario.” Nash leaned against the table, scoffing as he scanned Abel and Moe up and down, “See, in our meeting with Covert, I wondered, what would make a father abandon his little girl. I couldn’t bring myself to come to terms with the idea of family turning against each other.”

He took a seat back in his chair, Millie following suit. Her gaze was a laser, eyes narrowing in on him in disbelief. Nash ignored her, keeping his focus on me. “I found your father to be a bit ruthless, in my opinion, but I see now what he saw. A lost little puppy that jumps to the command of her owner. You can pretend all you want over in Monterey that kindness and empathy get you far, out here on the battlefield, your general proves otherwise. Many of the people that lie here within our border werevictimsof her misjudgment in the last war. Came here when they had nothing else left after the idiots in Billings did Bennett’s bidding out in Yellowstone. Covert has offered us a pardon, to leave our people unscathed in a fight that is not our own. All we have to do is follow their rules, rules that don’t matter when you are thousands of miles away. Rules that don’t matter if you have a seat at their table.”

Moe banged her glass down on the table, forcing Abel to leap back with a loud screech of the chair. I reached my hand out to them, calming one’s anger and the other’s nerves. Millie’s eyes landed on me, watching me in awe.

“I’m the fool?” I laughed, fixating on Nash. “You can’t even see what’s going on around you in your own home. When we first arrived, it very much appeared like everyone here had Millie’s back. But I couldn’t help but notice that they cowered at your presence.”

“Do you have a point?” Nash’s glass shattered, cutting the flesh in the corner of his palm.

“My gifts,” I explained, taking note of his lack of reaction to the trauma on his hand. “They sense primitive emotions. Things like fear, happiness, lust,anger.”

“And my people are angry?” He scoffed in disbelief, wiping his bleeding hand on the table cloth like a barbarian.

“While there were a mix of emotions here, my best advice to you would be to let someone like my general, someone like your daughter”—I nodded my head toward Millie—“have a say.While fear certainly makes the wolf appear bigger, after a while, a wolf can lose its pack. And no one fears a lone wolf, instead, they seek to put the nuisance down.”

I finished my class of wine, leaving both my plate and glass clear. Slowly, I folded the napkin from my lap and placed it down on the table.

Moe and Abel rose at my side, waiting for me at the door as I glanced between Millie and Nash, grinning sweetly at Millie. “We’ll take our leave come first light. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“That went well,” Moe grumbled as she kicked the gravel from the center town road.

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to make a less than pretty face at her. “It would have helped if everyone around me wasn’t just leaving it up to my own volition on how to handle this.”

“Reina, please,” Moe scoffed, disregarding my complaints.

“No, I’m serious. Y’all act like I’m supposed to know how to handle things simply because I made sure a few settlements would share some science and mend a few relationships over the years. I’m not a war mastermind. I’m not Amaia, I’m not Seth …” I let out a frustrated huff, gaze fixated on the starry night sky. Time stretched as I collected my thoughts and tailored my emotions. “I don’t know what the heck I’m doing, and it would be nice if I could get some support.”

“You’re doing fine, Reina,” Moe reassured me, but her tone lacked authentic kindness. “There’s nothing we could have done in there to change how it would have turned out.”

I don’t know when Tomoe became such a Negative Nancy in my life, but at the moment I found myself lacking the patience for it. Abel cleared his throat, trying to disrupt some of the tensionbetween us. When no apology came from either of them, I stormed off ahead of them, wishing I could be anywhere but here.

Abel jogged up next to me, his presence lingering like a parasitic nuisance at my side. The last thing I wanted to take on right now was some more angst, and he reeked of it.

“Buzz off, Abel,” I muttered.

“I’m not leaving you to be alone right now,” he said, hand falling upon my upper back. “I can be your silent buddy. You’re right, everybody needs some support.”

I shook him off, not telling him to go away again.

The room remained silent when we got back. Each of us prepared for bed, no one wanting to be the first to speak, to apologize. I had no intention of apologizing for my outburst, and I’m pretty sure Tomoe felt the same dang way. Abel shot us concerned glances periodically, trying to figure out how to approach the mood now looming over us. Ultimately, he landed on the idea that shutting the heck up would be best for him and fell asleep, mouth open and snores blaring.

Tomoe drifted off soon after, leaving me awake with my thoughts at her side. A slight tap sounded at the door, so light I swore I was hearing things. The knock came again, this time harder yet still muted. I slid from the bed, tugging my nightgown further down to limit my exposure.

I cracked the door open, Millie stood there in front of me, face blank and mouth unmoving. “What do you want? I don’t need another blow to my ego tonight, spare me,” I whispered roughly.

“I think we both know we’re not the same as our fathers,” she replied like her presence alone wasn’t an inconvenience to my night. “Come with me.”

I gave her a quick once over then closed the door in her face. Tip-toeing across the room, I dressed myself in my thermo leggings and heavy coat, leaving my boots for last when I got outside.Millie sat on the first step to the house, a literal jump scare when I opened the door and I bit down my yelp.

She took off the second my boots were laced up, leading the way outside the gate. I kept quiet, interested in where she was taking me against my better judgment. But truly, who listens to their better judgment these days? Not anyone I knew, that’s for sure.

“Mind telling me where you’re taking me?” I asked as she tossed the saddle over one of the horses tied up near the gate.

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