Page 141 of The Blade in the Ashes
“Yes,” she answered instantly, not even bothering to soften the word. Sitting on her roll, she turned to meet my gaze. “Would you deny that the Athenian forces have sought outchildrento force them into joining the Dragon’s armies?”
An awkward silence fell over us, my brother looking obviously between Ayanna and me, before his gaze fell awkwardly onto Kent. My oldest friend just stared at the ground, even though I knew he must have felt it the moment that Ayanna looked toward him. Her eyes lit with understanding. Understanding and enough vindication to make my upper lip curl back.
“They gave me a choice,” he told her, although it seemed more like he was reminding himself of that fact. “I made a decision I do not regret.”
Ayanna watched him with narrowed eyes, the firelight flickering over her pale skin as she stared at Kent. “Well, consider yourself lucky then.”
Undoing the belt across her waist, she slid her instructor robes over her shoulders, revealing a thin-strapped chemise that left far too much of her smooth skin on display. She flapped the robes, content to use them as a blanket for the evening and I found myself watching her movements as she laid back on the roll.
Elaijah smacked my arm, leaning over to whisper. “Stop staring.”
I blinked, pulled out of whatever trance he’d just caught me in.
Ayanna was insufferable, pretentious, condescending and—apparently—hiding quite the body underneath those loose robes. Impressive curves. Flawless skin. Thighs and arms made of lean muscle.
“Not everyone was fortunate enough to be given a choice,” she continued, oblivious to my attention. “Especially those of us unfortunate enough to have such desirable powers.”
Elaijah tossed a stick into the flames. “The army tried to force you?”
I braced myself for her answer, expecting the worst.
I did not, however, expect her to turn those icy eyes on me.
“You don’t remember?” She asked, voice thick with accusation. “You were there.”
Her words froze me, punching at something deep inside. I felt the sharp sting of something… familiar as I took in her dark hair and too-knowing eyes and before I could stop myself, I found myself leaning forward, towards her.
Moonlight filtered over us all, leaving each of us in a silver hue even as shadows lingered all around us. Trees rustled. Bugs chirped. Kent and Elaijah stared at us. And yet, she was all I saw.
“My parents were Mortal,” Ayanna explained, her eyes never leaving mine. “A contingent of soldiers arrived at my house only days after I had first used my powers for the first time. They demanded my father hand me over and—”
“He said no.”
Memories flickered to life in the corners of my mind. I must have been only eight or nine summers old, traveling with my father’s legion. He had been recruiting. Most agreed to the promise of wealth, but not all. And when they didn’t agree to hand over their children...
“So they killed him,” she explained.
Through the firelight, I could make out the shimmering tears welling in her eyes.
“And then they killed my mother while she screamed for me to run to the Institute.”
The Institute.
The one place in the country that was exempt from service to the army in wartime.
It was a smart escape, but I suspected she didn’t need to be told that.
I swallowed, glancing towards Elaijah, whose face showed the same heaviness I felt in my heart. He hadn’t known our father well, but he knew enough to put together the pieces of this story and understand why she had been so aggressive towards me.
Our father had changed this woman’s life in the most permanent, devastating way possible.
“Well, as I said.” I cleared my throat. “Idon’t force it upon people. I never have, and I never will.”
I loved my father. He was my hero—the greatest man I had ever had the privilege of knowing—but he was not without his faults. And I was not the same man he was.
She stared at me, eyes narrowed as she took in every one of my words and measured the sincerity in them. Until, finally, she nodded. “See that you don’t.”
A silence fell over us all; no one knowing quite where that left us. Kent busied himself while Elaijah glanced at the stars above us, but the intensity between Ayanna and I seemed to remain. Everything involving her was always so charged. There was never a single moment of rest in her company and I was in desperate need of rest. Rising, I moved to my horse to unpack my own bedroll, content to lose myself to my thoughts if only so that I could find a reprieve from the weight of her scrutiny.
