by J. E. Swift
“I will not give them Texas or Chicago. Texas has been a large recruiting area for us.”
“They will not accept if we give them other lands.”
Caitlyn interrupted. “Why don’t you give them half of Texas? Derrick, does the Cine Tofa have access to the maps in front of me?”
His brow furrowed. “Not most of them. Those I brought with me.”
“Well,” She lifted up the map of the recruiting history and placed it on the countertop in front of them. “Texas seems quite unique. To the outside observer, it is a boon for recruiting. However, if I am reading this map correctly, it is fairly deceiving. Austin, Houston, and El Paso used to be meccas for potentials, however, over the past two decades, those numbers have dwindled significantly, and instead, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Arlington numbers have all been on the rise. On this map-”
Caitlyn grabbed another map from the floor. “It shows the current potentials. While we would lose some in the Houston and Austin areas, it’s not a significant number. Besides, you need to look at the larger picture.”
Declan was interested in where she was going with this. “The bigger picture?”
“Yes. In several years, these recruiting treaties are going to be obsolete anyways. When there are so many people waking, the Cine Tofa is going to go public at that point and the Trust will need to as well. And then the Potentials will be able to make up their own minds, if they choose sides at all.”
Derrick chewed methodically before looking at Declan. “She has a very valid point.”
Declan frowned. “I still don’t like it. What if the treaty upholds somehow through it? Then we permanently lose that land. But… what other choices do we have?”
They stayed up into the wee hours of the night discussing alternative options, weighing the pros and cons. Caitlyn was impressed at how thorough the both of them were and how dedicated they were. Finally, they glanced at the clock, seeing it was two am in the morning.
Derrick stretched his arms and yawned loudly. “Well kids, I think it is time to go to bed.”
Caitlyn agreed. She said goodnight to them both and walked in her room. She changed and climbed into bed, closing her eyes, willing sleep to come. It would not. Finally, after an hour of tossing and turning, she tossed the blankets back and padded softly out to the living room, hoping that maybe a cup of tea from the kitchen would calm her.
She observed that she was not the only one who could not sleep. Declan’s figure, now clad in flannel pajama bottoms and a gray shirt, shone in the moonlight staring out the window.
“Can’t sleep either, huh?” His voice sounded almost far away in her head.
She walked over next to him, watching the moonlight casting its glow on the land outside. “No. I tried, but just found myself tossing and turning.”
He turned to her. “I can never sleep the night before. I always try, and it always alludes me. I think its nerves, and I cannot get my mind to shut off.”
She sat down at the window bench, pulling her legs against her chest and he followed, sitting next to her. “What were you thinking of?”
“I think of my mom most of the time. But tonight, I was actually thinking of you.”
Caitlyn couldn’t help but be intrigued. “Me? What about?”
He furrowed his brow. “I was going back and forth in my mind if I did the right thing when I persuaded my father to switch mentors for you.”
Caitlyn copied his facial movement. “Why now? Do you regret teaching me?”
He reached out to grab her hand to give it a squeeze. “Regret teaching you? Never. I was worried that you maybe resented me for taking you away from Garrett so much. I know that you and Garrett have not been seeing each other nearly as much. It’s not fair to a new relationship. It’s not fair to you.”
She scooted over closer to him, till her body was almost touching his. “What gave you that impression? Declan, I don’t resent you. I am grateful that you took me under you wing; that you saw the potential you did in me. I am excelling and beating everyone’s expectations because of you.”
“But what about Garrett?”
Caitlyn bit her lip. “It’s true that I don’t see Garrett nearly as much. I miss him. But I don’t blame you for that. I am just as equally motivated to work into all hours of the night as you are. It doesn’t help that his line of work is sending him away more frequently on business. But, if we are meant to be, then we will find a way to make it work.”
Declan pulled her a little tighter into him. “Do you love him?”
Caitlyn was surprised at the line of questioning. Declan and she talked about anything and everything, with the exception of Caitlyn’s relationship. It had always somehow been off the table between the two of them, a taboo subject. She had never even openly disclosed to him her relationship with Garrett, although she knew that he was very much aware of it.
She stared out into the night, trying to think of how to answer the question. It was a loaded question for sure. “I care for him a great deal. I think I love him. It’s hard to know.”
Declan looked down at her. “I feel guilt at coming between the two of you sometimes.”
“You shouldn’t.”
Declan kissed the top of her forehead as she suppressed a yawn. Perhaps she did not need tea after all. “You should try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a really big day and I want to make sure my star pupil absorb as much as possible.”
Caitlyn yawned again, both of them rising to stand. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. You should try as well. Declan, for what it’s worth, I am really glad I made the change. You are a terrific mentor and you have become one of my closest friends. I have no regrets.”
He pulled away from her slightly. He caught her eyes, whispering out loud. “None?”
She shook her head. “None.”
Declan pressed his lips together as the back of his hand raised to brush her cheek. She could not pull away from his gaze, her feet planted firmly in its spot, refusing to move. His eyes trailed to her lips, his thumb lightly tracing them, coaxing them into parting for him.
The room was deathly quiet, the only sound being her heart, thumping wildly at the intimateness of the moment.
Finally, it was as if his eyes awoke and he pulled away abruptly. “You should really get some sleep, Caitlyn.”
She took a deep intake of breath and nodded, turning away from him. “Goodnight, Declan.”
He walked into his room, closing the door slightly behind him. “Night, Caitlyn.”
Caitlyn put up her block as her mind raced with what had happened back in the living room. She and Declan almost crossed a line that should not have been crossed. She groaned into her pillow loudly. She and Declan were friends and she knew that was all she had felt for him. But something in his gaze made her catch her breath and she was unsettled with how that made her feel.
She continued to rustle in her sheets, tossing back and forth. Caitlyn took a steadying breath. They had their argument in the arbitration tomorrow. She cleared her mind as Declan had taught her to do over the past few weeks and after a while, fell into a fitful sleep.
The next morning she woke up, not surprised to see Declan and Derrick already working out their arguments and their concessions. As she stepped out the door, she saw Declan glance up quickly at her, before hurriedly looking back down at the map.
As she poured herself a cup of coffee, Derrick greeted her with a quick. “Good Morning. Sleep well?”
She took a sip. “I slept alright. Strange bed and all.”
“Well, we are hoping to get this wrapped up this morning. I spoke to several members of the Tribunal this morning in regards to the offers we are proposing. They agreed, so now it is a matter of convincing Monroe.”
When they walked into the meeting precisely at noon, they were surprised to see that Henry and Sierra were not there. They sat down expectantly. Monroe greeted them with his easy smile. “Good afternoon.”
Derrick raised his eyebrows. “Good Afterno
on. Where are Henry and Sierra?”
Monroe pushed some papers towards the three of them. “I had requested of them not to be here. I wanted to have two closed sessions with each party. Yesterday… well, let’s just say that there were some interesting requests that were not exactly reasonable and they did it more so to get under your skin. If they are not going to treat the proceedings with the respect that it deserves just to goad the Trust, then I’ll proceed with how I see fit. I met with Henry and Sierra already once this morning to hear their arguments in greater detail, and will call them in later this evening or tomorrow once my final decision has been made.”
Monroe asked them to outline their plan. He was not surprised when they obviously did not agree to the last two requests, but he listened with keen interest at their offer.
They did offer part of Texas along with Oklahoma for recruiting. But furthermore, the Trust agreed to open talks regarding international lands, something that the European and Asian factions of the Trust had been reluctant to do until recently. Those lands had never been dictated by treaties, and the Cine Tofa, primarily an American ideal until the past decade, did not have as much of a presence as they would like abroad.
Monroe was surprised by this offer, but he seemed to agree that the terms were acceptable, but wanted specifics on the new geography regarding the recruiting. After a couple of hours hashing out the exact border agreements and the terms of the international talks, Monroe stated that this was a reasonable agreement and advised calling the Cine Tofa contingent in to give his resolution and decision.
Derrick and Declan thanked him for his time and a few minutes later, Henry and Sierra walked in, obviously surprised by how quickly they were called back. Declan glanced briefly at Caitlyn before turning his attention to Monroe.
“Thank you all for joining me back here. After talking to both parties, I believe that we have a resolution that is agreeable to both sides. The ruling is, the Trust will move the recruiting borders as follows-” Monroe produced a map in the air. “They will give up approximately half of Texas and they will allow the Cine Tofa full recruiting rights in Oklahoma, beginning immediately.”
Henry’s eyes narrowed. “What about Illinois?”
Monroe’s face calm on the outside, but his voice held an even but dangerous tone to it. “Illinois is still within the Trust’s recruiting area. You forget Henry, that it is my job to study very closely the recruiting lines, and if they were to relinquish Illinois, the balance would be tilted in your favor. Unless the Trust had readily offered it, I was never going to agree to that term.”
“But-”
Caitlyn noticed that Declan squeezed his folded hands together. Monroe turned his attention to Sierra, who had kept quiet. “Sierra, since Henry obviously cannot respect my role, perhaps you would like to explain to him the guidelines surrounding an arbitration?”
Sierra just shot Henry a severe look and Henry, while still defiant, pressed his lips shut.
Monroe gave an audible sigh. “As I was saying, since the Trust will not be giving up Illinois, they have offered as an alternative to open up International talks in regards to setting up open Cine Tofa recruiting areas.”
Caitlyn could tell that this caught Sierra by surprise. Derrick had explained to Caitlyn that this was something that they had been pushing for in their Treaty agreements, but the Trust would never budge. He explained that the Tribunal actually approved for this to be an offer as they were going to use it as a negotiating piece in the future and the Trust deemed it inevitable anyways.
Monroe continued. “I’ll set up the time and place for the talks. They will be held in Europe, and I’ll advise both parties with ample time, of time and place so you may prepare. The Cine Tofa, in return, will agree to release both prisoners immediately into the hands of the Trust. If the prisoners’ are in anyway irreparably harmed, then the terms of this arbitration are henceforth null and void. Are these terms acceptable to both parties?”
Derrick nodded. “Yes, the terms are acceptable.”
Sierra did likewise. “Yes.”
Monroe placed his notes into his attaché case, clicking it shut. “Good. I’ll be drafting up the agreement to be signed shortly and then I can thereby announce that the arbitration is officially over. We shall break and then reconvene in one-hour time to sign the final documents. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
They all stood. Declan smiled at Caitlyn as they walked out the door, Caitlyn distracted with thoughts of the night before. When they were not within hearing distance of the Cine Tofa, he turned to her concerned. “What’s wrong?”
She could not very well tell him what was bothering her. “I guess I somehow expected a bit more drama.”
Declan laughed. “Caitlyn, trust me, there will be drama in the future. There is always drama with the Cine Tofa. They must have been having an off day.”
Chapter 20
Declan just wanted to shut off his mind at the moment from the world. He felt like he needed a stiff drink. At least he had been with Caitlyn and Derrick and not on his own for this round with the Cine Tofa. It made the proceedings a bit more bearable. Her easy laugh had soothed him when he could feel himself tensing up during some particularly rough spots. It was nice not to be alone in the talks. Declan was pleased that Caitlyn admitted that she learned a lot from the experience. This was different from all the other training they had prior to that point. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she was exceptional at this as well. Her ability to debate her side and push for what she felt was needed, gave her the building blocks that would make her a terrific negotiator.
His father would be proud when he reported back to him on her progress. With the Council’s permission, he would like to make her a permanent fixture with the continuing discussions with the Cine Tofa. Monroe and the others seemed to respect her, if not necessarily like her, and that was a hard feat to accomplish. He knew that most of them thought he was a bastard, with the exception of Monroe.
Declan was settling into his office he hardly ever visited anymore, ready to complete some overdue reports, when he felt the presence of an angry man come crashing through the door. Declan did not even look up from his desk at his unexpected guest. “Garrett,” he stated quietly, “to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Oh, I think you know.”
Declan ripped his eyes away from the information he was preparing for the Council, the latest Intel that he had gathered from his various contracts within the Cine Tofa and the results of the always tedious treaty discussions. He sighed. He really did not want to talk to anyone at the moment. “No, Garrett. I really don’t. I am guessing since our paths do not pass all that often that this is about Caitlyn.” He could not imagine that Caitlyn would have told him what almost transpired, but then again, he couldn’t be positive she had not either.
Garrett’s face was stoic as he hissed. “Oh, believe me, it is. What the hell were you thinking, bringing her out into the field already?”
“I was thinking that she was ready for some true interaction with the Cine Tofa. She needs to know the enemy, not just hear stories.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? You are still mentoring her! She has not even taken the Threshold yet!”
Declan stood. He did not like the way Garrett was looking at him. “That is right. I am her mentor. And as I am her mentor now, not you, I’ll decide what is best for her development. As for the Threshold, she is almost ready to the take the test, my version of the test. Not that she couldn’t take it now and pass with flying colors. Hell, you were going to have her take it months ago and she was a quarter as strong as she is now. Once she passes it, you know she would be eligible for any mission that the Trust thinks her fit for. At least I am making her more ready for the real world than you did.”
Garrett banged his fist on Declan’s desk obviously annoyed at the truth of that comment. “All you care about is getting another one of your little soldiers in this fight against the Cine Tofa.”
The tension in the air was thick. Declan was tired of hearing Garrett under estimate Caitlyn. “That is not true. She’s not a fragile flower, Garrett. The sooner you get that through your head, the better. Caitlyn is a lot stronger than you have ever given her credit for. She learns faster than I ever did, ever will. I won’t deny that she will be an incredible asset to the Trust, but I have never once encouraged her, tried to persuade her to get involved beyond what she was comfortable with. She wants to take part. As her mentor, it’s my job to open her to all available options.”
“You would send her to her death if it meant helping your cause.”
Declan was tired of this. Declan stood up, bringing himself to full height, his palms flat, securely on the desk. “I would never hurt Caitlyn. Ever.”
Garrett snorted at that. Declan continued. “Garrett, you need to stop looking at her from the boyfriend perspective. Why do you think that Caitlyn accepted another mentor so readily? It’s true that I could naturally teach her more because of my abilities, but there were underlying reasons beyond that. You did not even try to push her, try to make her think outside the box. Our minds are a puzzle that none of us have even begun to understand. You taught her the definite, ‘You can do this, you can’t do that.’ But somewhere in Caitlyn’s newly transformed brain, she understood that she needed to be pushed, needed to question what was really possible. It’s not that I think I am necessarily stronger or more talented than others, but my mentor taught me to look beyond, don’t let others dictate what I think I am truly capable of. I am giving Caitlyn that gift. You did not want to because you were afraid that by doing so, she would grow beyond your abilities and then you could not protect her. Well, guess what? Caitlyn does not need anyone’s protection.”
