FireSweet

Red Tips and Yellow Irises

Jumé came through the door to Mají’s quarters not long after the story was over.

            “I had hoped I would not interrupt anything,” he said.  “I know how difficult it must have been for you to tell her.”

            “Easier than expected,” Mají said softly.  “Did you take care of everything?”

            Jumé nodded.  “The men know to watch out for Rhapson and Steel.  I did not count Forcan with the others.  I did not judge him to be a threat; I hoped you would not mind.”

            “I trust your judgment,” Mají said.  “You haven’t led me wrong yet.”

            “I intend to maintain that immaculate record,” Jumé said, glancing quickly at me.  “If it pleases you my king… and queen, I have an idea for the camp.”

            Jumé walked over to a desk I had missed in my initial scan of the room, pulling out a rolled paper from one of the square openings where envelopes are normally kept.  He spread the paper in the middle of the table, using the goblets to weigh down the corners of the paper.  Mají climbed to his feet, grabbing my hand to pull me up with him.  He led me over to the table and leaned Jumé’s shoulder to look at the paper. 

            It was a map of the game. 

            The detail was amazing.  I could make out the natural trails through the trees and the various clearing that dotted the forest.  The camps were placed in a ragged circle around the giant field, the word “Common” written through the grass in looping letters.  The compound was in the common, closer to the northern edge of the trees than anything else.  Storm’s camp held the eastern point, the fort-like structure’s back wall edging the sandy beach.  Moving up and to the left around the circle, slightly northwest of Storm’s camp, was the rocky area I had woken up in when I first arrived in the game.  Then it was Vinyé’s camp, marked by a tree with monstrous roots, holding the northern point of the map.  The rogues held a stretch of forest in the west, a huge area dotted with triangles I guessed signified places they had set up camp at some point. 

            Logically our camp should have been in the south, but we were in the southwest, and it was Carnie’s camp who held the south point, though they were so far back from the common that they didn’t seem to count.  It was easy to see how we had defended them all this time; our camp was the only one even remotely close to their location. 

            “We need defense,” Jumé said quietly.  “Storm has his walls and moat, Vinyé has only one known entrance, and that one is so small that only two men can enter at a time.  The rogues move so much that half the trouble is finding them and Carnie, though she claims to want independence, still hides behind us.  We have nothing.  Should Karius return with the rogues, or the combined crew, I begin to worry how many of us would survive the ensuing battle.”

            Mají nodded, his fingers tracing over each camp as Jumé mentioned it.  He tapped our ship, glancing up at Jumé as he waited for him to continue.  Jumé squeezed his eyes tight, growling softly before looking at me.  I resisted the urge to laugh, Jumé-falio, who was usually so in control of himself, had an expression of exasperated prayer on his face, as if he hoped the Griffon himself would burst through the door and spare Jumé from having to talk to me.

            “Do you understand?” he asked, trying to keep his tone light.

            I nodded, forcing myself to maintain a neutral expression.

            “Good,” he sighed.  “We will need your help with this.”

            Now I laughed, moving my hand too late to stop the sound from bursting from my throat.