Page 37 of The Eye of the Fifth
Gedeon had never been a loud male, but the news had subdued him more than usual. As he stood facing the young fledgling girl in the courtyard once more, his tongue struggled to form the words that would break her heart.
Though, she already appeared to be broken. Awaiting his instruction, she stared blankly at a spot on the dusty courtyard ground.All that fight, all that daringness that had piqued Gedeon’s interest since their first encounter, had seemingly been doused with a bucket of ice cold water.
A necessary precaution, Sekun had called it. Yet for this one human cub, thatprecautionwould cause unbearable pain.
Gedeon swiftly shook the thought away. He ought not to think in such a way. It was not a weakness to allow those thoughts to surface, but to acknowledge the hurt feelings of a human girl, a fledglingslave, was-
He cleared his throat. It was not his problem. ‘Amala, before we begin our session this evening, I must relay to you some regrettable news.’
The girl’s thick eyelashes flickered, his voice breaking some sort of trance. She looked up at him. ‘He’s dead. Isn’t he?’
He could not be sure how she knew. ‘Your father was a warrior, and he died a warrior’s death. Remember him with pride.’ A slightly fabricated truth to soften the blow.
‘No, he didn’t.’ Amala’s eyes locked with his, daring him to lie again.
So, she had not heeded his warning about wandering the castle and had found herself in places she should not be, learning things she should not know. It was becoming easier to believe that Ephram Opherionhadbeen a rebel, if his own daughter’s disobedience was anything to go by.
Against his better judgement, Gedeon chose not to comment on her illicit behaviour. ‘Was he a good man?’
He had the impression she was expecting to be reprimanded, for his question seemed to catch her off guard. The fire in her eyes dulled a little, her eyebrows stitching toward each other. ‘Yes,’ she whispered shortly.
‘Good men are often dealt a bad fate, overlooked and overshadowed by those who are threatened by their integrity. But know this, Amala. Though gone from this world, your father lives on. In you.’
Consoling fledglings…
In his mind’s eye, Sekun's sneering face loomed.
Amala’s eyes filled with tears, her bottom lip shaking with the effort of holding them back. ‘Will… will they tell my mother? And my family back in the Agni Lands?’
‘Yes, your family will be informed,’ Gedeon replied instantly, though in truth, he did not know how Sekun handled the aftermath of the deaths of his soldiers.
It was likely the men were forgotten before their bodies were even cold.
Amala did not need to know that.
In the distance, a man started shouting at the top of his lungs, the sound piercing the previously still and quiet air like a sharpened knife. Amala jumped with fright.
Gedeon peered over the courtyard balcony. A man no older than thirty stood below, just before the bridge to the black castle. Each of his hands gripped a torch alight with fire, the flames slowly licking down the wood toward his bare skin.
‘HEAR ME!’ the man screamed, his voice hoarse. ‘HEAR ME! HEAR ME, FIRE WARDEN! HEAR MY WORDS AND HEED MY WARNING!’
‘Stay here,’ he commanded Amala, then rushed from the courtyard and through the castle’s labyrinth of darkened hallways.
Two floors down, he knew Amala was following him, completely disregarding his order but keeping her distance in a failed attempt to be subtle.
‘Don’t scurry like a mouse, Amala,’ he scolded over his shoulder. ‘If you are to disobey me with such recklessness, do so with pride.’ He slowed ever so slightly, and after a moment, she was at his side, trotting to match his long strides. ‘I will allow you to stay with me. But you must remain by my side unless told otherwise. Do you understand?’
From the corner of his eye, he saw her fervently nod.
‘And keep that loose tongue still behind your teeth. Not a word uttered unless you are directly spoken to. Yes?’
Another nod. This time, Gedeon knew she would obey him.
The front gates to the drawbridge were already open by the time he and Amala arrived, and Sunsi and Sekun stood together (an unlikely sight), watching the man ailed by lunacy.
‘Your brother wants to kill on sight, without detainment first,’ Sunsi told him tightly as he stood by her. ‘But the pious fool demands to speak toyou. What areyourorders?’
‘The man causes public distress, boldly showing his faith in the Four,’ Sekun said, his upper lip curling with derision. ‘Treasonous cunt.’
