A Dance Of Blades and Hearts

can you hear my silence?

I look down carefully at the map, watching zern fe place the wooden pieces on each region that represents the nations and finally placing the last one on reu, the center.

I breathe out heavily, looking up at him,

his face is carefully schooled but his eyes show his excitement, the other naiteu wokeos stand quietly, but I know they all feel the excitement in the room.

"you've all done so well" I say looking at them, nothing but pride churning in my chest.

"it took three years but we've finally gotten to a stable position with all the nations. And I couldn't have done all that without you men, without your loyalty, we are so close to the peace we've been fighting for since the day I met and recruited each and every one of you, and I am so proud " I say honestly, gazing at them proudly

Zern fes eyes are intense and he goes on one knee, the others following suit

"a pack, is only as good as its alpha your highness, you're the genesis of the new age, and we'll always be loyal" he says eyes gleaming and echos resound through the room, the men repeating his last statement.

I watch them and something very close to accomplishment and pride settles in my chest.

The war will end before the next full moon. It is still a carefully guarded secret, only known by the leaders of the cities and the rois of the nations

everything was in place and over a century of blood shed would be put to an end. The burden in my chest felt lighter at the thought.

Looking down at these men who had been lost in one way or another, looking for redemption when I met them, I felt immense pride, they've done so much good, so many things I couldn't do because of perias position in the war,

and I'll always be grateful for having fought along side them.

***********
"your brother is going to give me an earful "

"no he won't " she replies and i eye the sword in her hand

"I'm pretty sure he will when you go back missing an arm " I say matter of factly and she snots

"but you promiseddd" sunan whines and I snicker

The girl had stuck to me like glue for the past week, dragging me everywhere and I didn't mind cuz she was easily lovable, and constantly being on my feet was a welcome distraction from everything else.

I hadn't seen the emperor since I nursed him, only asked about his health from the general who had given me a knowing look before replying.

The emperor himself was scarce,

seemingly busy with work, but hopefully not pushing himself so hard again.

I miss him

I realized that a week into my avoid him agenda and the thought made my head dizzy and my heart hurt.

Staying away from him is hard when we've grown so close already, but what else could I do?

I've been pushing every thought away, but I'll have to make a decision soon, do what I was sent here for or never go home

And seeing how my entire body shook at the thought

I knew the first isn't an option.

If I never go back, the elders would probably think I died trying, but I can't just stay in the palace either and keep lying to everyone

it occurred to me that they might just decide to send someone else.

My stomach dropped at the thought,