Chapter 41

It was a quiet morning, Christopher shaking me awake. It took me a second to try and figure out why that felt wrong but then it dawned on me that I hadn’t been woken for a night watch. I still had food in the bag from the previous day which I snack on while we watered the horses. The mood was a bit lighter than the previous day and I thought that perhaps the decent enough night’s sleep had lifted it a bit, but Sarah didn’t look like she had slept a wink.

“If we ride hard the rest of the way, we should make it back around early afternoon,” Hector told us, getting his horse. It looked tired, shaking its head as he flicked the reins, but it started forward. The rest of us hurried to get on our horses. I felt proud that I had figured it out, getting my leg over with only a couple tries.

“But Captain,” Sarah spoke up, “the horses—”

“Are you questioning an order, recruit?” The words were calm and deadly, and Sarah said nothing. “Now, keep up,” he ordered as his horse broke into a gallop.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to the others. We only stopped once an hour so that our leader could shift from one horse to the other, maximizing efficiency. It was even tiring after the previous day of doing the same and I felt both physically and mentally worn out by the time we arrived back at the military base in the early afternoon.

A pair of military mages I didn’t recognize took our horses to the stables. “Go on in and rest,” Hector told the three of us. “Dinner will be in a little while.”

I nodded, my body wanting to rest, but the rest of me wanting to do anything but. “Christopher,” I said as we were about halfway between the captain and the compound, “do you have another leaf to spare?”

He looked back and forth, checking that no one was looking before quickly handing me one. “Be discreet with these,” he cautioned. “And good luck, from the both of us.”

“I will, and thank you.” I chewed it, wanting to gag at the taste but barely keeping a straight face. Rose, you there?

“Where else would I be?”

Yep, ever the charmer. A few days ago that would have stung bitterly, not that she meant it in that way. But I took her humour where she could give it.

“Oh shush, you’ve clearly been waiting to get the Soulspeak. It looks like early afternoon, and you’re back already?”

Yeah, I confirmed. Hector had us push them hard to rush back. He didn’t say why; perhaps he just didn’t want to be away too long, I speculated.

Rose was silent but I could feel her thinking, unspoken thoughts that she couldn’t yet voice of abstract potentials. “And did you talk to the others?”

I will, there’s just something I want to do first. Specifically because of the Soulspeak. I want you to be able to talk to father.

An uneasy wave of emotion stirred my gut, and I didn’t know if it was from my or her reaction to that thought. “…Ok.” It was almost a whisper, uneasy but anticipatory.

If the instructions had changed, the mage on guard duty hadn’t been told, letting me pass by without a word. I stepped down the passageway, mulling over what to say. I had had some practise translating for Rose with the other two, even seeing how Christopher did it for Johnathon. But the thought of telling my father how Rose felt gave me a sense of anxiety that the most selfish part of myself wanted to use as motivation to turn around right there. Rose must have felt my hesitation, and I felt her mana move, shifting inside of me. It was all of her own will, perhaps only possible because she was conscious, but it was comforting.

“Hello, father,” we both said, even if only one of us could be heard.

Jard looked up from his slumped spot against the back of the cell wall. He looked better than when I had left him a few days ago, but he looked tired. “Ren,” he whispered, weary relief in his voice. “I’m so glad you're safe.”

“Yes, I’m safe,” I reassured him. “And, it’s a bit of a long story, but I took something so that I can talk to Rose while awake. She can hear and see what I see.”

Even in his weary state his eyes still noticeably lit up. “Rose? My precious flower.”

He spoke softly but those words hit harder than I had ever felt. Ripples of emotion surged from her and through me: love, frustration, longing, relief, embarrassment, joy, nostalgia, sorrow; beautiful and ugly feelings in their purest form that beat raw in her soul. I teared up, feeling just a bit of it myself. “Just… tell him I’m alright,” she eventually said.

“She says she’s alright… and she misses you.”

“You ass!” she snapped, but didn’t feel the least bit angry; if anything just a little embarrassed.

I didn’t say that you said that, I argued, and was met with a mental grumble.

Our father chuckled and I realized the internal exchange was likely showing on my face. “Rose, Ren, come here,” he requested. He shuffled forward, dragging the circular weights with his waist, arms pulled behind him, but despite the discomfort of the position, he sighed as he rested his head against the bars. I leaned forward, doing the same. I could feel the warmth of his skin, even in the dank prison. Rose could feel it too, and it warmed me as much inside as outside.

I don’t know how long I spent in that quiet moment before I finally pulled away. “I’m sure you’ll be out tomorrow.”

He shuffled back, a small sigh escaping as his arms slid back into a better position. “I’m sure,” he agreed, but I didn’t like the uncertain tone that he failed to keep from his voice. He didn’t give me a chance to address it though. “And Rose,” he continued, looking at my chest, voice threatening to crack, “I know I never said it enough, but I love you.”

“No,” she protested, a soft whimper in my ear. “You said it lots.”

“And I know that you’re probably arguing about that,” he chuckled before I could speak for her, “but I want you to know it. I want you two to know that I love you both.”

“D-don’t get all sentimental on us,” I mumbled, chuckling a bit. “The captain said he’d set you free.”

He smiled, eyes closing for a long second as he leaned against the wall. “That sounds good. Now let these tired bones rest a bit, alright?” he asked with a chuckle, which we both returned. “I’ll make you the best stew once I can. Better than the food they serve here.”