Praetorian Rising

by J. McSpadden

  "I never said you were. Right now, I need you to understand that there's a plan you must go along with, no questions asked," Vesyon said evenly.

  Camille wanted to argue with his logic more than anything, but kept herself in check. "Why do I have the feeling I'll be sitting in my room twiddling my thumbs while the whole compound goes to battle?"

  "You won't," he responded with a shrug.

  "I won't?"

  "No. I have full faith you'll do what I need you to do—even if it isn't using a sword."

  "What exactly will that be?"

  Vesyon went from jovial to serious in less than a second, his emotions flipping so quickly that she almost lost the balance of the conversation. "There's a leak in the compound. Someone is feeding information to LeMarc, and I need you to figure out who it is."

  He hadn't been kidding when he'd said he was placing his full faith in her. "How am I supposed to do that?" Camille asked incredulously.

  "Stealthily," Vesyon said, scooting closer to her side again.

  "Thank you for being so incredibly obvious, but I need a little more help than that," she replied, extending a finger to poke him in the chest as he sat next to her.

  He grabbed her hand before she could withdraw it, holding it comfortably in his own. "Right now, I think you need to return to your room. Breakfast is in three hours, and then you'll be training with Theo. We'll discuss more after dinner."

  Neeko mewled from behind them, having waited patiently on the staircase during their conversation.

  Camille wasn't ready to leave yet—she wasn't prepared to shut off the valve of information and comfort that Vesyon provided. "You want me to train with Theo? Why?" She gently pulled her fingers from his grasp, not wanting him to feel the flutter of excitement zipping through her system at the mention of Theo's name.

  "Because I asked you to." He returned his focus to his pipe, removing any remaining tobacco before tucking it inside his worn leather pouch. It was a silent dismissal, but clear all the same.

  "Okay..." Camille said, dragging out the syllables while trying not to sound uneasy. She suddenly felt torn between the two of them. Theo made her feel electric, desirable and wanted. He brought a wildfire of intensity with him—every touch, every look sent her body into a dizzying haze.

  Vesyon made her feel calm, collected, and comfortably at ease with herself. He didn't press her to remember things; in fact, he seemed desperate to keep her from the memories he knew would be too painful. His closeness was a breath of fresh air, and she craved more of it. Vesyon shook his head as a smile brightened his face. "Camille my dear, I've missed you more than you could possibly imagine."

  He stood and extended a hand to help her up, his eyes never leaving hers. She glowed instinctively as she slipped her arms around his middle, burying her face into the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around her slim form as he pulled her close, molding her body to his. His sturdiness felt good, and his strength made her feel protected.

  "I want..." Camille started, uncertain of her own intentions as she pulled away. Their eyes clashed as she peered up toward his rugged face. His cheeks and chin were sternly defined, covered by a short spray of dark facial hair. Shoulder-length raven hair framed his features most handsomely, and she felt the urge to kiss him, to explore a depth of closeness she craved.

  "What do you want?" he asked, voice husky with restraint.

  She continued to stare in silence, watching his pupils dilate with indecisiveness. Internally, he appeared to be at war, uncertain of whether he wanted to pull her closer or push her firmly away. He slowly tipped forward, surprising her, and came to a stop mere millimeters from her mouth. She stilled, lips parting in anticipation as she dug her fingers into the linen of his shirt. He moaned so softly she wasn't sure she'd heard the sound at all until he ripped himself away, putting several feet between them.

  "No," he said, breathing heavily and leaning against the platform's railing. "I can't do that."

  Camille frowned, suddenly much too vulnerable for her liking. Guilt slid like a blade of ice through her stomach, chilling and deeply unsettling. She opened her mouth to question him, maybe even to apologize, but he placed a finger to her lips and pulled her close once more.

  "No, no, don't do that. Please don't apologize," Vesyon said, clutching her against his chest as though he would press the insecurities from her body. "I care a lot about you, Camille. More than you will ever know. We just can't walk down that path. You understand?"

  She searched his features for a sign of discomfort or regret but saw none, and she nodded. He, too, seemed to feel a sense of comfort around her, and it put her mind at ease even though he was refusing her.

  He leaned forward and kissed her cheek before putting several steps of distance between them. "I'll see you later today."

  "Yes, later," she echoed, uncertain of her own emotions as her fingers gently explored the skin his lips had grazed.

  Camille backed away on unsteady legs and descended the stairs after Neeko, leaving Vesyon with only the misty morning and softly swaying trees as his companions.

  Chapter Eleven

  Into the Storm

  Camille left her bedroom, ascending two floors before gliding between the artfully frosted glass doors of the kitchen hall. It was barely two hours past sunrise, and the circular room's entirety was packed with the roaring hum of aimless chatter. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she glanced around the expansive room, immediately recognizing Theo sitting at a table to her left. After their interaction the previous evening she wasn't sure how prepared she was to eat with him, but Vesyon had told her she'd be training with him later that day. There wasn't much choice; she'd have to face him eventually. Might as well be sooner rather than later.

  Gathering her courage, she headed into the center of the hall to take whatever food was being offered. She selected a ceramic plate from the stack and maneuvered her way to the table laid out with oven-warmed toast, butter, a bowl of very ripe fruit, and a pile of greyish-looking eggs. It was a meager offering of sustenance, but Camille felt like royalty.

  Asperians didn't even attempt to hide their obvious ogling as she shifted through the spread of tables, passing men in basic cotton shirts and pants as well as Rogues in full Romeo green uniforms. The women dressed in an array of homespun long dresses and thick petticoats, the clothing appearing worn and well-used yet hearty and ready to combat the weather topside. There was a smattering of women in Romeo uniform, the green pants and stark white shirt covered by a bulky green coat—a complete contrast to the women in feminine wear.

  As Camille smiled casually at the gawking strangers, she felt a warm sense of familiarity having experienced just the same response walking in the main square after her first week in Sierra Village. It seemed Sierra Village wasn't the only wary group within Aspera. Apparently, all villages would look at her like a strange bug creeping into their status quo.

  Despite the turn of the head, and the quick hush of conversation, as soon as Camille passed each table, they reverted to their morning routine of breakfast and gossip. It was very ritualistic, a rhythm the entire village appeared to enjoy. She wondered what the reasoning was behind hiding everyone underground. It was against her nature to live beneath the ground, but everyone there seemed to enjoy the safety—the knowledge that the High King and his many soldiers couldn't touch them.

  Having only spent a day in the compound, it was hard to tell how many villagers lived in Romeo Village, but those present were apparently healthy. It perturbed her to think of all the struggling Asperians back in Sierra Village, ones who didn't have the benefit of a hot, free meal three times a day. Her lips thinned in distaste as she set her tray down across from Theo on the smooth pine table with an unforgiving thud.

  "Hello, Camille. Surprised to see you here," Theo said, his voice an odd mix of astonishment and guilty pleasure. Despite the slight tinge of pain in his expression, she didn't notice an ounce of anger in his natural state as she'd expected. It
was the first time he'd used her full name without reason to, however, and it immediately irked her.

  Camille opened her mouth to respond with something biting but only then noticed a beautiful chestnut-haired woman, her smooth complexion a dark caramel gold, seated next to Theo. Her elegant hand was casually draped over his forearm like a mark of ownership. The woman's eyes were a sharp amber, bright and direct like a hawk’s, her long brown hair falling in perfect waves down the middle of her back.

  "Hi, there!" the woman said, grinning to reveal a line of straight white teeth.

  "Uh—hey, hello," Camille responded, wondering if it was too late to grab her tray and make up a lie that she had someone else to sit with. She glanced around, but the remaining seats in the hall didn't appear to be all that welcoming. Biting her lip, she resigned herself to stay where she was.

  "Oh, forgive me," Theo started, his cheeks pinking with a defused blush. As he reached for her tin mug taking a quick sip of tea. "This is Charles Ballen. The General's daughter."

  "I'm sorry?" Camille squeaked. "Your name's Charles?"

  The woman laughed like a tinkling bell. Camille's shoulders cinched in response, the sound jabbing into her like tiny needles dancing across her eardrums. Charles smiled coyly at Theo, her eyelashes batting in that perfect flirty fashion that Camille couldn't have replicated if she tried. Charles’s hand plastered itself back onto Theo's forearm as she leaned into him as though sharing a private joke with him. Was there anything not perfect about her?

  "Well, actually," Charlie said matter-of-factly, not even looking at Camille as she continued to admire the side of Theo's face. "Everyone calls me Charlie, but yes. My official name is Charles." She grinned like a lovesick puppy and poked Theo in the side, her eyes twinkling with admiration. There was no stopping the roaring flood of the girl's infatuation with Theo. "My father desperately wanted a boy, and when a girl popped out, he wasn't about to change his mind on the name he'd chosen. I would say it's always a good idea to prepare with a backup plan no matter how stubborn you are."

  At this, Charlie giggled and pressed her body against Theo’s side dipping her head to nuzzle into his shoulder. Theo unsuccessfully tried to disentangle himself from her grip with a plastered smile and a mumbled excuse of being hungry. Theo and Camille had put a hefty dent in their newfound friendship, but after what he'd expressed to her last night, she didn't think he was the type to run off and dump his anger into another female. She didn't know him well, but his sense of honor and pride was as easy to see as his anger. And yet here he sat, less than twenty-four hours after he'd kissed her passionately, with another woman on his arm.

  Camille wasn't ignorant. He was using Charlie. Unfortunately, by the look on Charlie's face as she held a fork-full of sausage in front of his lips, there was a reason for her puppy love. Theo tossed a smirk in Camille's direction pulling the fork from Charlie’s fingers, setting the sausage down on his plate. In his effort to torture Camille for her cruel words the night before, he'd pulled an innocent girl between them, a girl gushing over his every move.

  Despite her own immediate dislike of Charlie, Camille felt terrible for her. Charlie's actions blared the truth of her innocence as well as her intentions. For her it was natural to flirt, touch, and tease Theo; perhaps alone they did it all the time. Charlie had no inkling of what Camille meant to Theo; even Camille had no damn clue.

  If she could tell anything by the flush of pink blotting the edges of Theo's ears, she could guess his feelings on the immediate situation had turned a bit sour. What she knew for sure: she abhorred the idea of Theo being with anyone else. The thought of Theo kissing Charlie the way he'd kissed her last night had her fingers clenching into stern fists beneath the table top.

  "Vee said I need to see where your skill level is," Theo said, interrupting her thoughts of lunging across the table and slapping Charlie's hand off his bicep. "Are you listening to me?"

  Camille felt a crackling surge of frustration zip through her system, but she effectively smacked it away like an annoying bug. She wasn't going to let the idea of Charlie and Theo being an item bother her, not today. She patted at her unruly auburn locks self-consciously, desperately trying to soothe them down into a semblance of order as she picked at the food on her plate.

  "We need to make sure you know how to handle yourself," Theo continued, his confident tone of intimacy toward her like a hot poker in the gut. She wasn't sure if it was the way he looked at her or the immense depth of his azure stare, but she felt a sizzling bubble of heat brewing in the pit of her stomach as she glared at him from beneath her lashes. Did Charlie notice? Was she aware of the spark igniting?

  She shook her head and ducked her eyes to focus on the greyish eggs on her plate. At least Vesyon made her feel a sense of comfort, like he was there to help her through the confusion of remembering who she was, how she felt, and what she wanted. Theo's familiarity with her felt too close, and it unnerved her more than she wanted to admit even to herself.

  "What do you think, Camille?"

  Her eyes popped up to his face, her expression a blank slate hiding the tumble of emotions beneath the surface. "I'm sorry, what?"

  "Did you not sleep well last night?" Theo said, waving his hand in front of her glazed eyes. This made Charlie giggle, but Camille was pretty sure the brunette would find Theo hilarious even if he were reciting the Aspera Munera twenty-four-seven.

  "Um, no." Camille retorted, shoving a large pile of eggs in her mouth to keep the rising embarrassment from taking over her facial features. She didn't want to admit to the reasons why she'd gotten so little sleep that night before. After her meeting with Vesyon, Camille had tossed and turned as her mind warped images of Vesyon and Theo together in a myriad of brilliant pleasure and frustrating dead-ends. She hadn't woken that morning so much as given up on the idea of finding sleep in the first place.

  Theo's lips parted in a knowing smile. He was getting under her skin, and he liked it. "I asked," he said with slow focus on each syllable, "what do you think?"

  "About what?" she shot back, caring little for his cocky expression as she jammed her fork through a piece of sausage. Her mind unwillingly zeroed in on the memory of his hand slipping around her hip and cinching her body against his, and her throat seized. The memory made her choke, sending her into a spasm of coughs, spewing pieces of sausage all over her plate.

  "You ok?" Charlie asked, her face pinched with slight disgust.

  Camille coughed and hacked the bits of sausage still lodged in her throat but nodded in response, not trusting her vocal cords to form a single syllable without sending her back into a fit of coughs. Grabbing for Theo's glass of water, she chugged it quickly, downing the contents in four large gulps.

  "I was drinking that," Theo said dryly with a frown, but Camille ignored him. "Anyway," he said, staring at Camille to gain her attention. She glanced up and nodded once, encouraging him to continue before she lowered her face to keep the blazing heat of her embarrassment to herself. "There isn't a great place to train down here at the moment, so we're going to head up top," Theo continued, moving subtly away from Charlie's thigh casually pressed against his.

  "You sure that's a great idea?" Camille replied after a hefty gulp of steaming coffee she pulled from Theo's side of the table. He didn't argue but snatched the cup back the second she placed it back on the table.

  "Why wouldn't it be?"

  Camille shook her head, thinking of what Vesyon had told her the night before of the Equestrians coming to Romeo Village. Camille felt her cheeks flush yet again remembering the warmth of Vesyon's breath against her lips, a single breath away from making contact. Compared to the natural comfort of Vesyon, Theo's touch had been a roaring blaze burning her straight to the bone. She began to lose focus when her thoughts slipped toward how her dreams had contorted the events of her evening.

  "You positive you're alright?" Theo asked, his brows knitted together over his penetrating stare. "What's wrong with you?"

&nb
sp; "Nothing!" Camille shot back. "I'm fine."

  His brows shot upward into his hairline, the softer features melting away into a hard line of assessment.

  "I can guarantee you going up top isn't a problem," Charlie piped up, weaving a delicate arm around Theo's. He seemed unsurprised by her action and didn't make a motion to distance himself. "Acher Greeves assured us this morning that we could head to the north flats to train today,"

  "You've already seen me fight," Camille said, glaring at Theo. She shrugged casually hoping he didn’t hear the jealousy in her voice. "I'm not sure it's necessary." The last thing she wanted was to spend more time with him when Charlie was so obviously desperate for his attention.

  "It's absolutely necessary. I need to see you in full combat to test your skills," Theo said with a wink in Charlie's direction, puffing out his chest in a show of bravado. Charlie sighed audibly looking like she might faint with desire.

  Camille rolled her eyes and went back to her plate, both surprised and disappointed to find it empty. "I fail to see how fighting you will showcase my expertise in protecting myself. I'm supposed to go up against the best to prove I'm better, am I not?" she said, snatching a piece of bread off Theo's plate.

  His mouth popped open in surprise, watching as she shoved the entire piece into her mouth, chewing with satisfaction at his dismay.

  "There's no way I'm missing this," Charlie mumbled, nibbling on the edge of an apple.

  Theo quirked an eyebrow at Camille, allowing a tiny smirk to flash across his features before returning his full attention to the last bit of eggs and toast on his plate.

  In the span of a meal, his mood had gone from icy arrogance to sizzling excitement. His eyes rarely left Camille's face, staring at her as though everything between them was back to normal. The flip and sway of his emotions were disorienting, and despite nausea creeping in, Camille's stomach felt distended in bliss. It was the first time she'd been full in several days. A pang of guilt slid across her conscious thinking of Sierra Village and those she'd left behind. They'd never had such filling meals day after day. If they were lucky, they'd have one full meal per moon cycle. She surveyed the nearest villagers' plates in awe.