Rhys was good at staying calm when someone else was agitated, but it was hard to find the right words to help someone he didn’t know well.

After Ariana had stormed off, he was left alone with Dorothea. She had lost her home and her sense of safety. She had to feel attacked from all sides at this point, and Ariana was only making things worse even if she had a right to how she—very understandably—felt.

Well, Rhys wanted to at least try to help. “Care for a boring story, Dorothea?” he asked.

She jumped as if not having expected him to speak. “Um, sure.”

“One time, during the Concord’s Bounty festival… You’ve heard of it?” He was under the impression that Sirpoans held both Sacerian and Ghurian festivals. In Sacer, there were five festivals throughout the year in dedication to each of the Gods.

She nodded, looking curious.

“So you know it gets rowdy, and there’s a ton of food and drink. On the day in question, some of the soldiers got so drunk they climbed onto the roof of the Creed house and started throwing eggs. They threw them at anyone who walked by, so you can imagine how many targets they had with the chapel being so close. Well, Iree and I happened to be out walking at the time, so you can imagine what happened.” He smiled as Dorothea let out a chuckle. “I got nailed in the face, so she had the reasonable reaction of catching one of the eggs, breaking the top off, putting one of her seeds in it, and throwing it back. Exploded at least a dozen eggs right in front of them.”

“No!” Dorothea covered her mouth with her hands to smother a laugh.

“Yep. She was a little drunk too, we all were, so that just kinda kept going. And you know what? Word spread that it was just fireworks, so hardly anyone’s the wiser as to what really happened to this day.”

Dorothea was smiling with genuine amusement. “I won’t tell.”

“Many thanks.” He put his hands in his pockets, able to relax now that she seemed happier.

“Hey…” She looked away again. “Will you pretend you didn’t hear what Ariana and I were talking about?”

It wasn’t something he could just forget, but… “If that’s what you want, sure.”

“Thank you.” She glanced at him, then studied her feet. “Where did Sharkie and Cerid go?”

“Beats me. Sorry, but we’re stuck waiting here.”

“Well, the company could be worse.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She laughed. “It was one.” There was a pause before she added, very softly, “Thank you.”

“What for?” He hadn’t done anything worth noting.

She laughed as if it should have been obvious. “For cheering me up. I know it’s hard to talk to a stranger, so…”

“Are we strangers?”

“Oh. Well, I suppose not at this point. I guess we’re…” She looked to him to finish.

“Comrades,” Rhys supplied. “Which means we’ve got each other’s backs, so small stuff like this is nothing to sweat.”

“Comrades.” She smiled, clearly pleased. “Thank you. That sounds nice.”

He wanted to let it end there on a high note, but he was just too concerned about the implications of what he’d heard her say to Ariana. “Dorothea, I just want you to know that…” But what could he possibly say? What did he really want to say, and why was this bothering him so much?

She responded to the change in his tone, looking more guarded. “Yes?”

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“Theaaa!” Shark’s call made them both flinch, and the tension dissipated as the moment was lost. “Oof, sorry we took a while. Did you have a good…” They frowned at her somewhat strained expression. “A tolerable lunch?”

Dorothea smiled. “It was nice.” She turned to Cerid. “So… Should we get settled in at the house?”

“Of course.” He nodded to Rhys. “Captain Tamlin, I am happy to take it from here so you may address your other tasks.”

“I’ll see you all later, then.” Part of Rhys was relieved. He found Dorothea’s presence strangely oppressive, and he couldn’t pinpoint why so he could confront it.

No. The feeling had a name, and he knew what it was. He just wasn’t brave enough to acknowledge its shadows within himself.

*

For having had to put things in motion so quickly, Iree felt pretty good about how everything was moving along.

She and Rhys had spent a long, slow evening discussing the potential moves they might make next. Within the past minute, he’d wiped his hands on his shirt twice and on his pants leg three times. That meant he was antsy and ready to leave, burnt out as introverts tended to get with so much social stimulation, so she needed to make her move immediately.

Rhys was a patient, obedient person, and he was smarter than he looked. That made him the perfect person to read Iree’s targets so they wouldn’t even know they were being read. Rhys not even knowing what he was up to himself made it perfectly clean.

His assessment of Atlin after their private tour the day she’d first arrived was that she was a bit spacey and a kind girl who was fairly easy to please. Iree interpreted that differently. Atlin was amiable, naive, and easily mollified. Her responses to everything were exactly as Iree had predicted so far. Her sympathy had been elicited within moments, her anger easily used against her.

The chance had landed in her lap and she’d successfully seized it. Now, it was just her and Rhys. She’d said a few days before that she wanted to talk to him after the contract was done with, and it technically was now that they’d gotten Atlin’s allegiance. So she smoothed her hair and mentally rehearsed what she wanted to say yet again.

The many candles in her office had been lit to make a relaxing space good for thinking, and the ambience suited her purposes. It was mellow, serene… Romantic.

Because of the promise of Atlin’s magic, Iree was free to fantasize about what a future without war would hold. The foremost question on her mind was this: How did Rhys Tamlin see her? She’d made her interest obvious, but he barely reacted when she even went as far as to ask him what kind of lingerie she should buy. He gave everyone the same smile, the same quiet support. She was the person closest to him, but he still felt distant. He’d been this way for years now, and she didn’t know what had happened to drive this sudden wedge between them.

“Iree? Did you hear me?”

She jumped, blushing. “What? Sorry.”

He smiled. “Can I talk to you about something?”

Iree’s heart skipped a beat, and she found herself short of breath. “Yes?”

“It’s about Dorothea.”

Oh. “What about her?” Iree spoke too cheerfully. She felt like an idiot, getting excited over nothing.

“You’ll try to safeguard her life through this?”

“What, you think I won’t?”

“No, I know you’ll work hard as always. I didn’t phrase that right.” He crossed his arms and smiled sheepishly. “Maybe I just wanted you to reassure me.”

“Rhys, it’s not like I want her to die. Of course I’m going to save every life I can.” It was true; Iree really didn’t want anything bad to happen to Atlin. It was just that Sacer’s people took priority over the life of one person.

He looked relieved. “I admire you for that.”

Her heart fluttered once more, and she hated it. There was no use in overanalyzing the potential meaning of every little thing. Being admired didn’t mean she was loved. But the end of the war was not just attainable now, it was damn well here with Atlin behind them, and that made Iree braver than usual.

“Rhys?”

“Yeah?”

“Zeal’s Web is coming up soon.” Of the festivals spread throughout the calendar year in dedication to the Gods, Zeal’s Web was Iree’s favorite. It was the favorite of all those, young and old, with ambitions or lost moments in love held close to their hearts.

“Oh. So it is.”

“Any plans?”

“Pending any attacks from Ghuria,” he said dryly, “it will just be a regular day.” He paused, thinking. “Maybe I’ll remember her at the chapel. Just for a little while.”

Iree was surprised he’d given voice to it. Rhys wasn’t referring to a familial love here; Iree’s mother had taken him in twelve years ago after Rhys’ parents had died of illness, and he’d been especially close to her. He’d come to see Sharee Nobelis as his own mother.

And Iree as a sister, which was part of what made her feelings so frustrating. She saw Rhys’ hand in his pocket from time to time, petting the pin he’d once given to Sharee that now served as his final memento of his foster parent. It was there now, idle as they both thought of her.

Iree’s hand went to the golden clover pinned to the cuff of her sleeve without thought, and the rush of emotions made the words tumble from her mouth. “Rhys, I love you. How do you feel about me?”

He froze, looking like a mouse in the sights of a swooping owl. “O…Okay,” he said, words seeming to creak with painful force from his throat.

“Okay? What’s that supposed to mean?” But anything other than a yes was clearly a no. Iree stopped herself before she could get even angrier. “Leave. This discussion never happened.” Good for both of their sakes, he departed without another word.

Yeah, Iree was stupid. But she couldn’t stop wondering why it just had to be her. Why did she always feel so alone in the end? Why did everyone have to drift away no matter how hard she worked?

Laughing softly and helplessly, she dropped her face into her hands. “Oh, Momma… I could really use the sound of your voice right about now…”