by J. McSpadden
Ephidra Lily
The elevator raced past the first ten underground floors of the compound, depositing the weary, blood-soaked group into a brightly lit hallway. Neeko escaped immediately, scurrying down the white tiles without making a sound, his little mud riddled paws prints the only marker of his direction.
Vesyon set Camille down on shaky knees, pulling her gently along by the elbow. Despite his thoughtful touch and outward demeanor, Camille felt a radiating heat of anger sizzle in the pit of her stomach. It wrenched at her insides, the haunting words of Metus like a buzzing fly in her inner ear. They're keeping information from you, and despite what they say about me or your past, you deserve to know the truth, no matter the cost.
Her skin tingled with the absence of Vesyon's grip as he walked ahead of her to meet Phillip at the end of the hallway. She recognized the door they entered as operations, and this time the room buzzed with energy. Every person except for Vesyon, Theo, and Camille flitted around the room like a horde of determined yet fretful bees, yelling loudly across the crowded space and motioning with their hands until they were red in the face.
It looked exactly the way Camille felt inside: full of chaos escalating with every passing minute. She felt as though she'd just run twenty miles in a flat-out sprint, yet at the same time, her muscles were charged with fresh energy.
Phillip barreled toward the group, his face pinched with concern as he grasped Charlie in a quick yet heartfelt embrace. "Are you all right?!"
Charlie allowed a few seconds of hugging before shaking him off. "Daddy, I'm fine. See? Nothing to worry about."
Once he'd made sure any blood on her clothes had come from an outside source, Phillip turned to Camille. "What happened? Are you okay?"
With a flap of his hands, he ushered them as a unit into a private room just off the main floor of headquarters, and they followed in silence. Phillip glared at her as they crowded into the small quarters, shut off from the buzz and panic of operations. Camille felt her mouth go dry at his direction attention. He didn't press Camille for a response. He appeared aware that she was still processing what had just occurred. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words sat heavily against her tongue. Was she okay? Her physical well-being wasn't the issue, yet it was impossible to explain what she was feeling. Camille's eyes glistened at the memory that had crashed to the forefront of her mind in the absence of Metus: a woman's face framed in a curling wave of chestnut locks, her dark skin bleached of its natural sunny glow. A river of tears tracked down the woman's cheeks, and Camille knew who she'd been—Charlie was the spitting image of her. The realization of it made Camille's stomach turn over in disgust.
Theo stepped forward to respond to the General. "Chimera. At least thirty of them."
"What were you doing so far outside of Romeo Village?" Vesyon asked sharply, his eyes swimming with hints of black as he surveyed the trio. With arms crossed, his fists buried beneath his fur cloak, Vesyon radiated fury, and she felt a prickling sense of infuriation at his attitude.
"It wasn't my idea to train her, Captain."
Camille blanched at Theo's tone but felt the words had been well deserved. It had been Vesyon's idea for them to train.
Vesyon didn't acknowledge Theo's jab as his eyes returned to their usual steel hue. "You were outside the main gates. Why?"
Taking an almost imperceptibly small step toward Charlie, Theo eyes never left Vesyon's face. "We were told it would be safe."
"By whom?" Vesyon challenged, his sharp stare flicking from Theo's flat, expressionless face to Charlie's downcast eyes.
"Charlie?" Theo said softly, taking another small step toward her.
She glanced up to her father, eyes pleading before they snapped to Vesyon's and finally landed on Theo. "Acher told me it'd be ok," Charlie squeaked out before shifting her line of sight to Vesyon. "He told me it would be the best place to train well outside the Asperian line of sight."
Theo snorted audibly; his icy irises bitterly sharp at the mention of Acher. "Remote and difficult to call for help, more like." His attention shifted over to Vesyon's grave expression. "How'd you know we needed back up?"
"The guard on duty rang the alarm. He'd received word of an incoming surge from our scouts along the Romeo border," Vesyon said.
"Wait a minute, back up. You said Acher, my First Lieutenant, told you to go outside the main gate and thus beyond our protection?" Phillip asked skeptically, glancing from Charlie to Theo.
Theo's eyes narrowed at Phillip. "Yes, he did. And if that's a surprise to you, sir, we have even bigger problems." His tone was clipped, challenging Phillip to admit what he knew.
"What are you implying, soldier?"
"A little convenient, don't you think? Acher saw us arrive with Camille, and less than two days later the King Regent is on our doorstep." Theo took several steps toward the General, his tone low and direct. "Was Acher's request that we train so far away in line with your orders?"
The implication was clear, and Phillip's hickory eyes widened from the impact of Theo's word before slicing into mere slits of cinnamon and fire. Camille could see his fists clenching at his sides, obviously more than perturbed with Theo's direct accusation. "I'd be careful who you accuse of treachery, soldier. I don't take slander lightly."
The room sparked with anger, wrapping a tight vice around its inhabitants, inducing a tremulous silence. Vesyon pushed his way between the quarreling men, breaking the tension with a wave of his arms. "At ease, both of you." He glanced once at Phillip before swinging around to stare at Theo. "We need to work together instead of slinging unfounded accusations back and forth. And we need to find the Lieutenant."
Theo nodded once but kept his attention on Phillip's face. "Where is the slimy bastard?"
"I'll give you one guess," Phillip replied gravely, his expression turning sour with absolute disgust. It was the only signal Camille needed as proof of Phillip's innocence. Acher had been running on his own, and the blatant misconduct of his position was apparently a knife in the General's gut.
"The vault," Theo and Vesyon echoed.
"If he doesn't show face, we have our traitor, Captain." Phillip moved from the room without another word, heading straight for a trio of soldiers to send word for his Second Lieutenant.
Turning away from the crowded room, Camille mindlessly watched the bustle within central control. The mad dash of a Village under imminent attack swelled like a bubble of worry in her chest. She shuddered inwardly as Metus's words slithered through the inner lining of her thoughts: you think you're the only reason I'm here?
"The King Regent isn't here for me," Camille said bluntly, the words bursting from her lips in sharp demand of attention. Vesyon, Theo, and Charlie whirled to face her. "He was quite surprised to see me."
Theo appeared sheepish for a moment, caught in the act of deception. Charlie's face went blank, but Vesyon's didn't; his expression remained cool and collected, his stern stature unwaveringly calm.
Camille's lips quirked upward in response, a humorless action bringing no light or laughter to her fierce glare. "Thought so," she said, confirming her suspicions. "He suggested I leave within the next two hours. That doesn't sound like someone who's actively seeking my capture," she growled, aiming her bitterness at Vesyon, fire practically spitting from her eyes.
"No, you're correct," he replied with stoic simplicity, crossing his arms defiantly across his chest.
"The High King didn't send his Royal Air Fleet to collect me. He didn't even know I was here! He's after something else. Why didn't you tell me last night?"
"When would he have time to tell you that Camille after I took you to your room?" Theo said in quick response.
"She was with me afterwards, Theo," Vesyon replied, causing Theo's eyes to widen in confusion.
"But I took her to her room after dinner, we...we said goodnight," he said, his voice becoming slightly sheepish in tone. They hadn't quite said goodnight, Camille thought, remembering the way they'd parte
d.
"What does it matter where I was and who I saw when? The point I am trying to get at is that you lied to me! Again!"
"You're damn right I did!" Vesyon shouted throwing his hands up in the air in obvious frustration. His cheeks blazed red as his eyes spit black Praetorian anger. Camille's body surged forward, hands balling into fists as she barreled into his personal space, readying herself for a fight. She felt the heat radiating off him, the black flushing through his stare in a stark show of warning. "I know what the High King sent his men here for because I fed the lies to his spies myself." His fingers clenched tightly at his sides as he glared at her. "He doesn't know you're here, and we'll be long gone before Metus has the chance to tell him otherwise. There is no way I am going to risk you getting swept up in a battle we've been planning the past seven years. The rebellion will happen, but you won't be a part of it. You weren't even supposed to be here!"
"Well, I sure as shiat didn't ask to come here! You made me, damn you!" They were inches apart from each other. Their collective anger almost burned her skin, but Camille held her stance. "Why?" she croaked, her voice low and breaking with frustration. "Why did you abandon me in the first place?"
His brows furrowed over slivered grey orbs in slight confusion. "I didn't abandon you in Sierra Village, I—"
"No," Camille snapped, cutting him off. "In Charlie Town."
He grunted tersely, a strange noise emitting from his throat conveying massive frustration. "I told you," he began again, but Camille wasn't willing to listen.
"Don't," she said, her voice curt and direct, raising her hand in command of silence. "I don't need to hear your lies. Tell me why you left me to rot in the hands of the High King and the King Regent for seven years. You knew I was there. You said yourself you were there when the King Regent took me after Charlie Town fell. You were the only one who knew where to find me. Yet you waited to rescue me—why?"
Theo shifted toward her, his hand outstretched as though to offer a comforting embrace. "No," she snapped at him, her tone locking his feet to the ground.
"Cam, he isn't trying to be an ass. The situation is—" Theo said, his eyes wide and pleading for her to listen to him.
She shook her head, vehemently cutting him off as she'd done to Vesyon. "No, this doesn't concern you, though I'm certain you've played your part," she said, a frowning line creasing heavily between her brow.
Theo's shoulders slumped in partial defeat as well as possible embarrassment. Vesyon wasn't alone in the game of secrets, it was more than evident by Theo's shifting stance and avoiding stare that he felt some of her words slung at Vesyon hit him square in the chest.
Her glance shifted from Vesyon to Theo and back again, the clarity of their difference so blatantly obvious she almost couldn't believe she'd never seen it before. Theo looked at her with empathy and understanding, while Vesyon stared her down with frustration and inner panic.
"Obviously, I had no choice in coming here, but I have a right to know what happened in my past. I am asking you to tell me the truth." The depth of her pleading spilled from her eyes in hopes he'd see reason, understanding her desperation to know what was happening and why. It went beyond his deceitful actions. She needed to know the truth of her surroundings and her history to keep from going insane. Every minute Praecollection controlled her, it was like an ax to the skull. It split her sanity in half, chopping her identity into pieces. "Please, Vesyon."
"I'm sorry," he said automatically with a shake of his head before putting several feet of distance between them. "I'm trying to keep you safe, and I know you won't understand, but I can't tell you all of the truth Camille. Not now."
He'd kept her in the dark purposefully, regardless of what she wanted or needed. Amazingly, she didn't hate Vesyon for his selfish, controlling actions but she did feel a rolling surge of anger building inside her chest. Despite a sliver of understanding for what he was doing, Camille didn't agree with his tactics.
Phillip's head popped through the doorway, his attention gliding over the occupants in the room to direct his message at Vesyon. "We just received word that the High King's Royal Air Fleet is descending. We have little time on our side. We have to move now with our plan, Captain."
Vesyon nodded once, pulling away from Camille and focusing his attention on Phillip.
"There's no possibility of waiting," Phillip continued, his eyes sliding over to Camille for the barest of seconds. "I'm going to sound the alarm to evacuate the villagers to White Wall. That should give us enough time to gather our troops for the invasion."
Vesyon grunted in acknowledgment before turning his attention back to Camille as Phillip exited the small quarters. "You're right; you didn't ask to be pulled into this."
"And these villagers? You're now demanding they leave their homes? What about them?"
"They may not have been prepped for a last-minute evacuation, but they knew what they signed up for remaining here after the rebellion began," he snapped back at her. "You're right; you don't have all the answers, Camille, and there's a reason for it."
"Not everything is up to you and what you think people should and shouldn't know! They have a right to understand what is happening just as much as I do! You just can't keep us all in the dark!" The burn in her chest fumed, sending fiery heat to every extremity as she closed the distance between her and Vesyon once again. He didn't shy away from her glare; he met her toe-to-toe, ready to take the flaming acid she was preparing to hurl at him.
"I made a promise, Camille," Vesyon said quickly, ripping the reigns of her anger out from underneath her, his tone soft and incredibly intimate. "I made a vow to keep you protected at all cost. You must believe me when I tell you that everything I have done has been to ensure your safety."
An alarm suddenly screamed through headquarters, and everyone in the room stood to attention. "That's the evacuation; we need to go," Theo said from the back of the room, his voice terse and hollow.
Vesyon extended a hand toward Camille but seemed to think twice of his actions and pulled it back to his side. He huffed once, looking almost uncertain and yet at the same time decided. "Understand me, Camille, everything I do, I do out of concern for those I care about. I didn't haphazardly pull you from Sierra Village. I decided it was the best option."
"That's my point exactly: you decided. I didn't have a choice!" Camille screamed with every ounce of energy she had pounding through her system.
He stared at her, his twin orbs a reflecting pool of icy grey. He didn't appear sorry nor did he seem regretful, only disappointed she didn't understand the depth of his devotion to her. "We don't get to choose the paths we're given, Camille. We can only decide on the direction our new path will take us."
It was then she saw it, the buried pain behind the protective wall he'd been hiding behind since she first met him. His expression didn't denote friendship or the compassion of a mentor; he looked at her with longing and undying devotion. The desperation spilling from every surface of his body begged for her to see the truth of it, to accept his actions as loving and not deceptive. It was apparent now that he didn't just want her to be safe; he wanted her to be with him.
"Vesyon, I—" Camille started but couldn't seem to finish the thought. Her body seized with a sense of urgency to tell him that as much as she was hurt and vexed by his deception, she also understood it. He was right. She may not have chosen to be standing where she was, but in the face of an oncoming attack she had a choice: fight or flee. She'd never abandon those in need, never leave someone to die to save herself. If she had a choice in the matter, she'd sacrifice everything to ensure the safety of even one Asperian soul.
"We need to move, the fleet is closing in," Phillip said from the doorway. "Captain, take the Rogues and head up top. We need to get our men in place before the ground attack passes the outer wall."
Without pause, Camille's focus flew to Vesyon's face, fierce determination spreading across her features. "What can I do?"
Vesyon smiled,
appearing proud of her.
"When this is over, I expect answers. I won't let this one lie, you understand?" Camille said with predetermination.
His smile grew, spreading across his features like the glowing mark of sunlight at dawn. The intoxicating radiance in the depths of his expression blossomed as his bare hand touched the side of her face, tender and warm. "You don't even realize it, but you look so much like her."
Theo coughed from the corner of the room, jolting both Camille and Vesyon out of the trance they'd fallen into. Vesyon jerked his hand back to his side as though her face were an open flame. He cleared his throat and took several steps away from her before turning his attention to Theo, the screen guarding his emotions dropped securely back in place.
"Take Camille and head down to the vault through the sanctuary. Acher will believe the product is located there. You'll need to detain him. There can be no chance of him getting back to the High King with his findings. Be quick in getting out, you won't have much time."
"How long?" Theo asked, clearly understanding more about what was to come than Camille.
"The plan will commence in two hours. It's all we can spare of our troops and weapons. Listen for the warning horn—once you hear its call, you'll have fifteen minutes to get out of the Romeo Village grounds."
Theo nodded once in understanding, his face a stone wall, eyes darkened with a flush of inky black.
Vesyon didn't look Camille in the eye as he headed toward the door. "Charlie? You coming?"
Charlie peered over at Vesyon, her face piqued with alarm, having not moved an inch from her silent perch. "Y-yes, just one sec..." She looked shaken and distraught turning toward Theo, chin trembling, and Camille turned away as Charlie wrapped her blood-soaked arms around Theo in a tight embrace. "Stay safe Theo, please."
Theo didn't verbally respond, but Camille heard the rustle of clothing as Theo's arms wrapped around Charlie's small form and hugged her back. A soft sound of lips brushing against skin pricked the inner lining of Camille's tender eardrums, and then Charlie strode from the small quarters, her head held high, a poster of authority and calm control.
