Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Forty Nine

The paper fell from the general's hand and quietly floated to the floor. He had not known the messenger that had delivered this letter to him... and now he understood why he didn't recognize the lanky man. He also understood why the man had bolted off as soon as it was delivered. This letter was from Erodyne Maug-Rin: the master of the Tokens. This had been delivered from Garhemia.

This was not how Zayn had expected to begin this day.

It was only the third day in Wallfront. Before receiving the letter, he had planned to stay a week here... but now, now he wasn't so sure. He had not guessed that the Tokenmaster would go for the emperor. It made sense, yes. The general's eyes were wide with both surprise and a little fear. Erodyne was right, he was in no position to go to Oraborn. But... there was a chance to save the emperor from the fortress.

If he made it there in time, that is. He wasn't sure how long he had before the emperor was killed.

Now the general moved, bending down to pick up the letter. He glanced over it again, rereading the Tokenmaster's message quickly. Another thing he did not anticipate was the demeanor of the man's words. All this time, he had pinned the Tokenmaster to be a savage hard-ass who cared nothing more than murdering innocents.

Now, Zayn didn't know what to think. Erodyne was... peculiar. At least, his words were. As delicate and serene as they were, Zayn wondered just who was leading this merciless army. After all, any normal general wouldn't have written those words. Any normal general would not even think to send a casual, even friendly, sounding letter to the enemy. Given, the words were passive-aggressive... but still. Something was wrong.

"Damn it all," Zayn groaned, "What do I do?"

With a glance outside, he knew it was still morning. Maybe, if he told the group now to prepare to leave, then they could be completely ready by nightfall. Normally, he wouldn't do something like that. After all, he promised them a good rest before they headed out on the road again... but there wasn't much else he could do.

Their emperor was in danger.

He folded the paper and shoved it into his pouch. Then, he left the inn room. His steps were quick as he made his way downstairs. As he walked, he wondered if anyone was up yet. He figured Gwen --well Iris-- would be. She usually seemed to be up before he was. Either way, he would know soon enough.

Once he stepped into the main lobby, he did see her. She was sitting on one of the chairs with a book in hand. He stopped, seeing no one else but her. Not yet. He was not surprised at all that she was the only one. He, however, did not expect her expression. Sure, she had the book in her hands, but she did not appear to be looking at it. No, she was looking past it. Her eyes were distant -- sad, as if her mind were far from the room.

Zayn knew why.

Kayde was no longer with the group. He had disappeared three days ago. The general knew, even without being there with them all of the time, that he was her friend. After all, why else would the guardian have come to save her? Zayn wondered why he chose to leave them so early. Even though Kayde was never a true part of the scouting group, he might as well have been.

"Ingred?" he asked, mind flying back to the letter he had gotten. This made the rogue look up. General Zayn was taken aback at the sadness that shined within her eyes. He did not like seeing her like this.

"General," she responded brusquely, closing the book and standing up, "I did not expect you here this early."

He was quiet.