Page 40 of Inheritance
"Yes," I immediately answered, then frowned, "I just hope that our army doesn't suffer too many injuries before that...and that it's not too late."
I had to get to them, and quickly, before the Dark Elves escalated matters, now that they knew we were here for war.
Jace offered me a dark look, "Your parents are being held prisoner?"
"And my sister..." I hesitated, "Although, I suppose it's possible she is still hiding. Senka is a smart girl. If anyone has a chance to avoid the Dark Elf king and queen, it's her."
I smiled slightly as a memory came to mind. "One time, when she was in trouble with my mom for something ridiculous, Senka managed to avoid her for hours, and she'd only been eight at the time. It was pretty impressive."
"I'm positive she's fine then," Jace offered me a nod, looking a bit more hopeful. "We just need to get in there."
Yes, we did.
"Let's try to get closer," I nodded towards the group of what appeared to be team leaders gathering together and discussing something. I let the shadows wrap over me as I slipped along the buildings towards the farther end, Jace following quietly. I crouched down and tried to listen to their conversation, only picking up a few parts until I managed to fully focus on their words while reading their lips in part.
"Come dawn, the king wants us to march forward," one of the men stated.
"If we go to them, we lose all defense ability," another grunted.
"You think he cares about that?" a third muttered. "He just wants a win and could care less how it happens. You should know that by now."
"Then that's what we will give him," the final sighed. "We attack at dawn."
Moving back, I stood to full height in the shadows as Jace appeared next to me. I spoke quietly, "Instead of going to them, we will wait for them to come at least halfway towards us. Removes the ability for them to replenish as easily, and like they said, completely removes defense ability."
"It will be a slaughter of their forces," Jace stated, and he looked thrilled about it.
Part of my stomach twisted in resigned acceptance of the fact that we were at war and I couldn’t afford to feel bad for those we were killing. It could mean the death of those I cared about instead. I’d had to remind myself of that constantly since coming home to Pura.
"They decided who they stood behind, and now they will face the consequences," I ground out, hating the loss of life that was about to begin. While the commanders seemed to understand the risk, I could guarantee there were good people in this militia who were simply following orders.
War always had a price, and the people in charge were rarely the ones who paid it.
"Let's get back and inform the others," Jace said after nodding.
We began to travel back through the large expanse of land outside of the capital in comfortable silence. I hadn't liked Jace when we’d first met him—hell, until recently I hadn't liked him at all—but it was very clear that he was going to be sticking around. One of the biggest tells was his ability to accept that all of us would be in Ama's life because it proved to me that her wants and needs were far more important than his own. That was how it should be when you loved someone. It was something my own father had emphasized to me time and time again.
"Can we go?"I complained lightly, my arms crossed with frustration as I eyed the massive garden we were walking through. I had far more important things to do right now. Even schoolwork seemed better than this. Although I found schoolwork more entertaining than most things.
"No," my father responded patiently. "Your mother is enjoying herself. When she's done, we can leave."
"Why can'twehead back now?" I responded, gritting my teeth. "She can enjoy herself and we can go do something fun."
My father stopped and looked down at me, although it wasn't much of a 'looking down' because, even at nine, I was far taller than the other boys my age.
"Do you know why it's important that we stay?" my father questioned before nodding towards my mom. "Why it's important that we show interest in what your mom loves, even if we don't love it as much?"
"Why?" I sighed in frustration, but I knew if he was taking the time to explain it to me, it was important.
"I know you're young, Adrien, but when you love someone, one of the best ways to show that is to take time out of your day and your interests to focus on theirs because it shows that your happiness doesn’t come before theirs," my father said softly. "Your mother loves flowers, and while I don't love them as much, I love seeing her happy. I would do anything to see her as happy and content as she is right now. An hour of my time is absolutely incomparable to her happiness."
Oh. Well, I did love my mom and want her to be happy. She always made sure we were.
I swallowed, "Alright, I think I get what you're saying."
He chuckled, his more serious mood disappearing, "I know the flowers don't seem like much, but when you fall in love one day, you will understand how valuable something like that is."
I hadn’t fully understoodwhat he’d meant until meeting Ama. Until realizing that her desires, wants, and needs far surpassed mine and always would. I knew in part it helped that I grew up around two parents who, despite being more reserved in public, never shied away from expressing how much they loved one another.
