Unconditional Dominance

Pants Are More Practical

Dawson looked at me, and I could see that he was reluctant to let me go. His eyes lingered on mine, stormy and dark, before he nodded his head once, addressing Ivar without taking his eyes off me.

"Alright. Let's talk."

The women approached me, smiling kindly as if worried I was in danger and hoping to comfort me. I mustered a weak smile in return and allowed them to take me back to their camp, where I was tempted to stay.

* * *

Dawson's POV

I watched the women take Keeley into one of the cabins that backed up to the river. It made me nervous that I couldn't see her, but I knew that she wasn't in harm's way here—not with her people.

Ivar sat us down at the fire in the center of the clearing where we had entered the day before. After tending to the flames and stoking them higher, he leaned forward on his knees and clasped his hands. He sighed.

"I have a proposition," he began. "What if I were to supply a handful of my men to run ahead to the other camps, and let them know what has occurred here; let them know what you have told me. Then, you could leave Keeley with us, because you wouldn't need her anymore."

"I'm not sure one of your men would have the same effect as Keeley," I argued patiently. "It's the principle of the thing. A young girl, sharing a camp with thirty-something men... Anyone would be able to tell if a girl is being mistreated. No matter what she says, they would see the fear in her, she would be withdrawn, uncomfortable. Having Keeley beside us speaks volumes."

Ivar nodded, his head bowed, his eyes fixed on the fire. "I understand."

"It's difficult to change your mind in one night after years of determinedly fighting a cause that you believed in," I told him. "Between you and me, I wouldn't be so easily convinced either."

Ivar looked up, his eyes focused on the cabin where Keeley had disappeared inside.

"I'm tired. This war has taken its toll on us. I wanted out months ago. It's Keeley that I'm most worried about. I knew her parents. They were just about to move her out of these hills and into the city so that she could have a proper education. When they died, I tried to bring her here with me and my family, but Liam insisted that her parents wanted her to stay there. And it was the clan she had spent her life in, it probably was better for her. But..." he trailed off, shaking his head quietly to himself.

"But?" I pressed.

"Liam really wasn't so kind to her. She deserved better. I want her to have that. If she stayed here with me and my family, she could have that. But..." he continued. "I think she wants to go with you. It pleases her to be a part of something bigger, and more impacting. In which case," he took a deep breath, and straightened in his seat. "I am put in the position to trust that you are telling me the truth."

I carefully nodded along, realizing that this was so much bigger than me, and the cause that I was fighting for. A girl who was very loved was involved, and at that moment, her life felt more important than mine and all of the Berkelium and Ruthenium's combined. If I could hold it in my hand, it would weigh more than anything else in this world.

"She's made an impact on me," I told Ivar. "I will guard her life better than I'll guard mine."

"That's the most I can ask of you."

With that, Ivar stood. I followed suit. He extended a hand, rough and dry from work, and clasped mine. We had an understanding, and we had come to an agreement.

"If she wants to return by the end of your journey," he said. "Please bring her back here."

I nodded once, and he dropped my hand and stepped away from the fire. He walked away, and I sat back down, leaned forward and hands clasped, my eyes glued to the fire. Grayson stepped forward from where he had been standing guard a few yards away.