Page 17 of FoolSilver
“Cadet Max demonstrated this capability en route to your outpost by shutting down a military bus running on tainted Stormglass. One thought. The engine died. Lights went dark. Every Stormglass cell in the vehicle drained in seconds.”
The silence that followed was different from the silence after the arrow demonstration. That had been surprise. This was closer to fear.
“Every kingdom has received tainted Stormglass,” Drakken said. “The Pallid Court, the Haven, New Columbia, and approximately one-third of our own fortress. No one else knows about the corruption. No one else can detect it. And no one else can activate it.”
His gray eyes swept the table.
“Except for Cadet Max.”
The room erupted. Not in chaos—these were disciplined officers. But the murmurs that broke out carried a voltage I could feel in my teeth. Chairs creaked. Pens scratched on notepads. Major Adrian’s fingers flew across his tablet.
“This. Changes. Everything!” Colonel Karrik said, his voice carrying the weight of forty years on the front line. Now he stared at me as if I’d materialized out of thin air, as if I were a legend. “We can disable the Pallid Court’s Stormglass infrastructure?—”
“And render their entire operation useless!” Lieutenant Colonel Reeves, barely containing her excitement in front of the heirs, stopped just short of pounding the table. “Transport, communication, arcane power, weapons systems—everything runs on Stormglass. Take it out, and the White Witch is done.”
And now every officer in the room was looking at me with the focused, calculating interest of military minds that had just identified a weapon capable of winning a war.
Shit.
I wasn’t just any weapon buttheweapon.
The word formed in my head and sat there, cold and heavy.
I darted my gaze to Aelindor. I could accept that Drakken saw me as a weapon—that was how he saw everything, a piece on the board, a resource to deploy. But Aelindor? Caspian? Nikolai?
Was that why they’d been kind to me? Why they’d carried me from the Scorched Wastes, kissed me, tucked me into a bedroll and said sleep, you’re safe? Because I was useful?
An ache opened in my chest.
But they’d taken care of me long before I’d revealed anything about Coldiron. Before they’d known what I could do. Caspian had carried me in from the desert when I was nothing but a half-dead, smelly miner. Nikolai had fed me and offered me a place to shower while asking nothing in return. Aelindor had ended my interrogation and extended his hand when I had nothing to offer him, not even the truth.
And still, a shadow of doubt remained, and it had teeth.
“Max is more than an asset.” Aelindor’s voice cut through the noise.
He wasn’t loud. He never needed to be. Every officer at the table stopped talking.
His blue eyes held mine. Not the room’s but mine.
“She means more than that to me. To the heirs.” He paused, letting the words settle with the full weight of a man who chose every syllable with care. “A great deal more. But her true role is not the topic of this briefing, and it never will be.”
My heart kicked so hard I felt it in the base of my throat.
He’d announced how important I was to him and all the heirs, in front of the high-ranking officers. In front of Drakken, who was staring at the Fae heir with a conflicted expression. In front of Caspian, who nodded at Aelindor with something close to gratitude.
This wasn’t strategy. This wasn’t a prince protecting a valuable asset for the war effort. This was Aelindor telling aroom full of soldiers that I mattered to him. As a person. Not as a weapon.
I blinked hard, then locked my jaw. I was not going to cry in a military briefing. Not after last night.
Commander Lee had my arrow again. She must’ve slid it off the table while every eye was on Aelindor. Now she traced its shaft with the possessive focus of an officer already drafting the requisition form.
My stomach clenched. I’d already lost my Coldiron dagger. This arrow, with its invisible runes etched along the shaft, was more valuable than anything in any kingdom’s armory. I hadn’t told the heirs about the demonic script. Wasn’t ready to explain how a mine slave could read a language that predated human civilization.
Shit. Me and my layers of secrets.
“I’ll need the arrow back, ma’am,” I said.
Commander Lee’s fingers tightened on the shaft. “This arrow should be catalogued as property of the Zodiac Covenant. An artifact of this significance belongs in the armory under proper security protocols.”
