Chapter 18

I felt better after that, but Selene stayed silent through our meeting, neither ignoring me nor trying to engage, until Karim said,

“Altea could send a letter to rally the other rulers. Her word still carries a lot of weight.”

“No, it is too dangerous. If the imperium learns about Rina, they will go after her”, Selene interrupted.

I looked at her, surprised by her reaction.

“No, do it, Karim”, I said, ignoring her.

I would not run away again. I’d promised myself.

“Rina..”, she said quietly, and our gaze met, but I turned away.

“The Imperium will soon know the truth, Selene”, Uruk said, leaning over the table. “They have spies, and we cannot keep it a secret for much longer.”

She looked down and said nothing, and so it was decided.

“Where shall we go first, then?”

I looked at the map, and Karim closed his eyes, thinking for a few moments.

“If we go East, Queen Lumeria will welcome us with open arms”, he said hesitantly.

“But…?”

“It will give us nothing. She made her choice a long time ago and will fight for us no matter what.”, Uruk explained.

“What is the other option?”, I frowned.

“Kingdom of Marbug”, Karim said. “But this path will be dangerous and difficult.”

“But if we succeed, we will gain a powerful ally and our victory will bring others to your banner”, Uruk pointed out.

“So…where is the problem?”

“The King of Marbug fell at Tarnis, and his ageing father took back the throne. He is no longer favourable to our cause”, Karim explained.

“And the Imperium does everything they can to make him name their puppet as successor”, Uruk added.

I sighed. Karim looked at me and tried to smile.

“We don’t need to choose now. Let’s rest and think. We still have time, let’s use it rightly.”

I nodded slowly. Even if I knew what choice I should make, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to say it out loud.

“How is Aki?”, I asked instead.

For the first time, Selene smiled and looked at me.

“She is doing well. Priests saved her life.”

“She will sleep for a while after such healing, but she will be fine when she wakes up”, Karim explained. “Thank you for saving her, Rina.”

I could see surprise on Selene’s face when she heard his gratitude, but she didn’t comment. Uruk must have seen it too because he leaned over, trying to break the tension,

“She will be starving when she wakes up”, he chuckled, and Karim continued,

“So, let’s try out the food. We need to know if it will be to her liking.”

They got up and headed to the door, and I pushed my chair back and got up, and my eyes fell on Selene. She still sat on her chair, deep in her thoughts. I sighed. It felt wrong to leave, even if all my instincts told me to do so. She must have noticed my gaze because she looked up at me, and her eyes were filled with sadness. I sighed, glancing at the door to make sure that the others were gone before turning back to her.

“Selene… I am sorry, okay?”

She looked at me.

“Rina..”

She got up and walked over to me.

“I am sorry..”, she said quietly, and I blinked.

“For what…? It’s me who made a mess.”

She shook her head.

“I am not without a fault, either… Too many times, I saw you only for who you are not, forgetting all the things that you are.”

We stood in silence, looking at each other, until suddenly the door opened and Karim walked in, grabbing some papers from the table. He gave us a look but only said,

“Are you coming soon?”

I nodded without thinking.

“Yeah, let’s eat”

Selene nodded, and we followed Karim to the dining room.

As we finished dinner, I pushed my plate away and said,

“We should go to Marbug, it’s the obvious choice”

Karim only looked at me, but didn’t question it, and Uruk nodded with approval, while Selene… I wish I could read what she thought about it, but she just gave me a quick nod before reaching for a glass of water.

“So it’s decided”, Karim said. “Tomorrow we’ll start to prepare. I am sure the King and Queen will support our decision.”

“How much time do we have?”

“At least a few days”, Uruk said.

“We should rest well, it will be a long journey”, Selene added.

“No”, I shook my head. “I won’t rest. Tell me what I need to know, I don’t want to drag behind you clueless again.”

Karim smiled and gave me an approving look.

“I can show you how to make people bleed with your blade,” Uruk said, giving me a grim smile. “You seem to have a good attitude for it”

I shrugged.

“I used to beat people up. My world is not a friendly one either, but most of the time, your fists are enough.”

“Your world. “ Karim looked at me curiously. “What’s it like?”

I sighed.

“ Where do I even start… It is so different.”

In the end, I spent a big part of the evening trying to explain it to them. I don’t think they fully understood it, but they seemed happy to listen to me and have a break from planning and worrying. Karim then began to explain a few things to me about this world, and when I finally left for my chamber, I was tired and overloaded, but at least I didn’t feel completely useless any more.