Page 109 of The Poison of the Earth
She’d railed me within an inch of my life and after curled up against me and opened her soul to me before sleeping all night in my arms. She’s a gorgeous Fae, with that white hair threaded with a pale green, and those unusual pink-orange eyes, but her heart is beautiful as well.
She’d stood up to those warriors, who turned out to be hermates, which... well, that’s... curious alright.
She defied them, befriended the griffons, suggested she sneak behind enemy lines all while blinking those big eyes that remind me of a fruit our Cook grows that he calls watermelon.
If I hadn’t already felt bewitched by her, I would been at her suggestion to poison the enemies. To put herself at risk so less of her men,ourmen, will die.
Furthermore, she seems... concerned about my feelings. And that alone is enough. More than my family has bothered to do. She’ll be a kind partner, I can tell.
Had I wanted to leave my home? Be married? I don’t know, honestly. My years as an outcast faeling had been hard indeed, but now, as an adult, I had found friends and... relevance, Isuppose.I guess it doesn’t really matter at this point, what I wanted.
Commander Lonan lashes his legs onto his mount and sweeps a gaze over us all. He nods firmly and takes off.
Korben calls happily, “See ya on the flip side!” And he takes flight too.
I look to General Kai and Ollie. She turns her lips up, trying to reassure me. My griffon nudges my back and I turn to place a hand on her.
“She seems to like you,” Ollie says, grinning.
“Most of them do. I spent a lot of time with our griffon master when I was younger. I raised Arden here from a hatchling.”
She brightens, “Ohh, theydohave names!”
I smile down at her bright face, “Just a few that I’ve named.”
“You’ll ride with me, Oleander,” Kai orders.
I see Ollie bite down a smile and nod.
“We can probably use the cloud cover to do a fly over,” I suggest. “Try to spot the wells, see what kind of guard set-up they have.”
Kai glares at me. “How high can they fly?”
I shrug. “Plenty high, into the clouds.”
Ollie smiles tightly, “Let’s do it.”
Kai lets out a worried sigh. “Fine. But Oleander, if I give an order, you will obey it, do you understand? As if you are a solider and I am your General, got it?”
She nods but her eyes hold mischief.
He looks to me, “You too, pretty boy.”
“You can call me Finnick, or Finn, but I won’t be called names, General.”
I learned long ago that you need to start as you mean to continue, and I won’t have him walking all over me. An image of him spanking me hits me and I turn away quickly.
He grunts. “We fly up, into the clouds, do a few dips, see what we can, as we head south west.”
We hop onto two griffons, Kai using the straps to tie Ollie’s legs in too. I give the command and they take off. We head high into the clouds and Oleander’s delighted giggle reaches me. I grin like a fool, pleased at her happiness.Do I already care for her so?
I wave to get Kai’s attention and point down. He nods and I command the griffons with a whistle. They dip down, breaking free of the clouds and I see the first war encampment of my life.
Cookfires trail smoke up into the sky like streams, tents dot the lands nearly until the edge of my vision. I think I hear Kai curse. A big pit is being dug and next to it are the bodies of the dead, assumably from the attack that Commander Lonan spoke of this morning. I jerk my gaze away, trying to stay on the task of finding a well. A large tent near the center catches my eye. On the northern edge I spot Fae lined up. I command Arden lower and sure enough, there is the circular stone shape of a well.
For this many Fae, there must be more than one, surely? I wish I could ask Kai, but it’s hard to hear when flying. I look to them and Ollie is pointing. I follow her hand and she’s pinpointed another well, further east but still near the northern edge of the camp.
Kai gestures ‘down’ and I command the griffons up into the cover to head back for where we had landed initially.
