***
Zanek
***
Ana stirred softly in my arms. I sighed, adjusting them so she could move, and she turned around to nuzzle against me. I made a sound of agreement as she settled herself into my chest. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep again, but it seemed we had already slept through the night. I had't realized how tired I was.
"Morning?" she muttered.
"Mmm."
"... One more day...."
I sighed again, trying to wake up more. "Today if you would like."
"Okay...." She nuzzled her cheek up to mine, giving me a small kiss. "How will we be going?"
My eyes opened to look at her, though hers were still closed. "I think running will be easier for you now, if you want to do it that way. If not, I know the horses will be good at least to Dunbirth. After that it might be too harsh for them."
Her beautiful eyes then fluttered open as well. A smile was brought to my face as I looked at them. The clearest blue I had ever seen, paired with the most beautiful creature.
"Would the horses stay in Dunbirth?" she asked, drawing my attention back into the small conversation.
"I could easily arrange for them to. Or we could send them back here. That is, if you want to return on foot. Jade is a smart horse. He will be able to handle himself awhile," I said somewhat jokingly.
"We'll take them," she sighed. "I'll talk to Jason about it, I guess."
"Whatever will be best for you, my love," I told her.
Her eyes looked up to me again and she smiled. "I'm glad you are going to help them, Zanek."
"What do you mean?"
She dropped her eyes then, scooting subtly away from me as if she were ashamed. She flipped to her back. "Erin wasn't so... supportive...."
Furrowing my brow, I propped myself up on my elbow. "Did he not want you to go?"
"No, he just.... I don't know. He acted like he had no idea why I wanted to help them. As if even the thought of fighting grimmer in Kail was just a waste of time."
I looked down, slightly ashamed, myself, for Erin's attitude. "I promised myself a long time ago I would help them. And if I hadn't, still I would support you in anything you do. I can speak with Erin, if you would like."
"No," she said. "I don't want Erin to be any way that he isn't. He showed me what he thought about them. I can't change that, and really I don't feel that bad about it.... I wasn't expecting anything from him, necessarily."
"... You were expecting your brother to support you."
"Well, yes, but I mean... he doesn't know them the way I do. We grew up in two separate worlds."
I ran my fingers through my hair and looked up at her instead of down at the bed. "He doesn't have the experience. No matter how strong one may seem, the end comes down to their experiences."
She nodded in agreement. "Let's not talk about it anymore. I want to get ready to go. Winter won't wait for us."
I jerked my head in a nod. For having even fewer experiences than her brother, she at least could recognize the importance of a view beyond her present stature.
I moved over to her, planting my lips on hers before rolling us over to the edge of the bed, holding her on my lap to kiss her. She giggled in our touch, which made me smile. Her form moved with me beautifully until I sensed the coming presence, and someone knocked on the door.
"I'm going to change," she whispered as I stood to answer it.
"You won't wait for me?"
She turned and stuck her tongue out. I chuckled at the reaction and walked from the room.
Ian was standing at the door with Shayn behind him. I inclined my head in greeting and Shayn straightened himself up, whereas my brother only stood with his arms crossed. I nearly rolled my eyes at the way it made his arms look bigger in muscle than they were.
"Do you always try to look so intimidating?"
"I'm serious, Zanek," he warned me.
"Oh, are you? I thought this was another morning check-up. Ensuring my belongings were in order and all."
Shayn smiled at me from over Ian's shoulder and I winked. "What do you need?"
Ian's jaw flexed under his skin as he stared at me. "You're leaving me to handle Tailin again?"
I half-smiled at the tone in his voice for something as small as Tailin. "Yes, I'm afraid you're going to have to watch her once more."
He looked down his nose in annoyance. "I could help with the humans, you know."
My look grew serious. "I know you could. And I might take you up on that. But as we travel the grimmer won't be a problem. Gail has changed his sights, and it would be easiest for us to move alone."
"Will you be running?"
"It looks like it."
Ian pursed his lips in thought. "And you will be fine as far as provisions?"
I nodded. "We'll be taking our winter route."
Ian's eyes lit up a bit at the sound of the route we took often. We had used it a couple times when going to Dunbirth, and then once when we had gone together to Rozzen. "Four weeks then?"
"At your pace," I snickered.
Ian sneered, dropping his crossed arms. "Alright then, smart ass. When will you make it?"
I shrugged, glancing at Shayn who was close to laughing. "I don't know what Ana's long-distance pace is. We'll just see then."
It seemed like just as I said her name she came from behind me. "Hey Ian," she said, coming through the door and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. She came back to stand by me in the same moment, leaving Ian to scowl as it had happened too quickly.
"Hey Shayn," she added with a small wave, seeing him standing there as well.
I hugged her to me, glad that she was happy to see him. I knew she wasn't as giddy as she usually was, but I understood that she was stressed then.
"Tell Tami I love the fletchings she gave me. The colors are beautiful," Ana told him. She half-smiled.
"I will," Ian said. He nodded at us then turned back to walk away. "When are you to leave?"
Ana looked up at me in question. I want to leave as soon as we can, she said.
I nodded at her and turned to Ian. "We have some things to get together and then we'll leave. How early is it?"
"The sun has barely risen."
I looked down at Ana as she glanced up. Midday? I asked.
"By midday," she confirmed for them.
Ian groaned, turning away from us and mumbling something about 'stupid infatuated couples'.
Ana heard and snapped her head toward him as he retreated. "I'm telling Tami!"
"Go ahead!" he yelled back.
With a small smile on her face, Ana turned back into the room, eyes downcast.
I was about to follow, try to reassure her, but I saw Shayn still standing there. "Did you need something, Shayn?"
He nodded at me, blonde hair falling into his eyes. "I wanted to know what your orders would be for us once you left."
I scowled at the ground a moment. "Alright, gather the others and I will meet you soon."
I turned back inside to see Ana sitting at the table, leaning her head on her palm.
"Are you alright?" I asked, moving to crouch by her head.
She turned to me and half-smiled. "I'm fine... I just feel weird."
"Weird how?"
After a soft sigh, she lifted her head off her hand. "I feel like I should be somewhere.... I feel like I should be fighting."
When her tired eyes turned to me I forgot about Shayn and orders and everything else. She was worried about something and I wanted to take care of it for her.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. The camps are well enough prepared to hold their ground awhile."
Her eyes averted my gaze. "I know...." She sucked in a deep breath and tried to steady herself.
Soon I felt like I should've been moving, myself. I brushed her cheek with my knuckles and leaned to kiss her forehead. "I'm going to speak with some men and I will be back, I promise. It will be quick. And then we can leave."
Her blue eyes met mine again and she put on a smile. "I'll start getting things together."
***
Cenna
***
I hated being a major. Hated it. How in the world Ana got off so easy with the others was just so far beyond me that it made my head ache. She was the one that was good with people, not me.
Well... most people.
I grumbled to myself as I walked toward Command. Eritt had summoned me for who-knows-what, and I had to respond. I swear he and Trent were up to something. They seemed to like singling me out despite the progress I'd made among my men.
They weren't the only ones singling me out, either.... It seemed like the second everyone caught on to Ana's leaving, the women had not hardly left me alone. They were great, I supposed, but these women wanted things that I wouldn't give. And when they constantly had attention from the men, refusal was not something they accepted quickly. After they learned I was no longer accompanied, I couldn't even walk around the Medic's tent without one of the four on my tail. Most men would have loved it, aye. I found it incredibly annoying. There was work to be done; I didn't care what physical attention was yearned for in the back of my mind. Besides, there were three-hundred other men in that rotten camp.
I huffed to myself, irritated. This war has been going on too long. I'm ready for a real home, with a real family, and real meals, and real sleep.
I skirted around the Medic's tent in order to reach Command from behind. The last thing I needed was one of those women on me.
Grumbling again, I looked up toward the Commander after sweeping away the flaps. As I'd expected, Trent was standing there. I sighed again -- definitely not looking forward to whatever this was.
"Good morning, Major," murmured Eritt in a rather dull tone. As if his mornings were ever 'good'.
"Commander."
I glanced at Trent. His eyes were aggravated, because of no fault of mine, though I knew that soon I would be dealing with whatever consequences.
I really wasn't expecting what I'd heard; it soon made me wish I had actually done something wrong.
"News from your northern friends, Cenna," Trent murmured, as if an uttered name would bite him. "The Grimmer have declared war on the Elves."
Elves. Elves like Ana.
"And? Are they fighting? Will they join us? Will we retreat? Have we made allegiance? Why have the Grimmer changed sights?"
The questions were passing my lips and swishing even quicker in my head. Without realizing it, the grip I had on my pommel tightened until my knuckles were white. The Grimmer wouldn't stand a chance against the Elves, but still we stood between them.
"It is winter and our forces are down. Camps have fallen; posts have yet to reply. There are no men for the king to send. My question to you, Cenna, is how are we going to fix this?"
Suddenly I'm having to find a way to stop them? What do I look like, the Commander?
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
"He's the commander," I said, jerking my head toward Eritt, "Why am I the one to find a solution?"
Eritt kept his head down while Trent blew up his head with power. "You have the best relationship with that elf girl. You will be able to draw their aid to us."
I scoffed before he finished his words. "That Elf Girl; is that what she is now?" I growled.
Eritt's head barely rose at our exchange.
"Yes, as far as I'm concerned, it is. She made her decision when she left for them. You will contact her and you will tell her that if the elves are in this war, they better come and take it from us."
"She was your equal, you arrogant son-of–"
"Silence, both of you," Eritt barked. His voice drew both our attentions. "You do not make such orders or implications without bringing them to me, Major. Each of you hold your own titles, and those titles claim you to be of the same power. Your only commander is me, do you understand?"
He was staring at Trent, and so I held my tongue. I could practically feel the anger rolling off the gruff major. Instead of making his acceptation, Trent started up again. "If the Grimmer want this war so badly then they better go straight to them. If not, the Elves must come to take the war from us because apparently we are no longer their focus. Should the Elves not claim the war, they will be fighting us."
I rolled my eyes. "I must have missed your coronation, Trent. You sure speak as king."
His snarls ripped from his clenched teeth. "I'll show you what power I ha--"
"Enough!"
Trent had stepped toward me enough so that when he growled I felt the breath on my face. I was taller than the man by a couple inches, yet still he hunched toward me with a raised fist. "We aren't done with this," he murmured in what I assumed was his 'menacing' voice. Really the man was just an idiot.
"Cenna," the commander called. At his voice, Trent stepped off. "What I need you to do is travel between the nearest posts. We must have confirmation that they still stand. While you are at a post you can borrow one of their messengers and use that way to contact Major Ana. As it is now, we don't have the riders to spare. Another move is to come soon if we have any wish of maintaining our supplies which, as you know, have dropped greatly in the last couple seasons."
In the last weeks Ana's been gone, he means.
I crossed my arms over my chest, looking at the map he held under his arms on the desk. "There are four?"
Eritt nodded his worn head. The tired bags under his eyes would not leave for anything, and in recent days he hadn't even been seen out of this tent. "Four posts," he confirmed. His grey eyes looked back up to Trent. "You are dismissed."
As the highly aggravated beast of a man passed me his lip raised in a snarl. I almost laughed.
Eritt motioned for me to move closer to his desk and removed his arms from the map that only showed the southern Kailin camps. Around the dot that was ours lie four smaller dots, all of roughly equal distance between each other, and the post east of our camp was halfway from the next camp over. Eritt connected the circle with his finger. "We need someone reliable and sturdy to accomplish this. It must be done as quickly as possible. It must be efficient. If those posts are gone, Kail will have a serious problem come hard winter when the Grimmer drive through. Will you be able to do it?"
I sighed. There were plenty of reliable men in the camp and he wanted me to go?
"Who will take my responsibilities if I leave? Moving between the camps would take a week at least, should the weather and the knights be alright."
Still the commander did not look at me. His tired form hunched slightly, with his unshaven face turned down. Eritt was nearing the end of his commanding days and we both knew it. He had been going strong until Ana left; until the truth came out of his relations with the elves and what secrets he'd kept about her. In quiet he had told me of what her mother was long ago, but not whom she was.
"I will send hunting parties out when you leave. The other majors will step in for your rounds. Leave your captains with orders, and I will be sure they are training and caring for the others properly. I need you to leave soon. We will plan on tomorrow at dawn."
I couldn't help but groan, and Eritt allowed the action to go freely.
His voice lowered when next he spoke. "While you may not listen to Trent, I do need you to contact my daughter. Ask a messenger to send a letter to Dunbirth. They will know in what part of Dugrai she is now."
"How?"
He glanced up at my question. You don't question a commander, you just do as he says. That's what you were supposed to do, anyway.
"The King has made sure to keep the commander in contact with the elves. It is the largest city with the best attitude toward the Dugrains, and it goes into a history with them."
"... But how will messaging Ana make any difference in an Elven approach?" She could have made friends, but not enough to create a movement.
"She has relations now much closer to a monarch than you would think, Major." He left it at that.
After a moment of looking at him, I stepped back from his desk. I wasn't looking forward to leaving and I wasn't looking forward to contacting Ana, though she wouldn't even get a message for months. Hesitantly I nodded. "Tomorrow... dawn."
"Good. I will have your provisions set."
"How long is this expected to be? Just the week?"
A horn sounded that froze the words in my throat. Grimmer.
I twisted around just as shouts rang from the front area of the camp. The Commander's chair thunked backwards on the ground as he leapt from it, yanking a drawer out from his desk to grab a key. I glanced at him jumping to a chest and yanking out his famous silver sword, then without staying to take his ordering look I ran out the flaps of the tent.
Only to see the black line of beasts that awaited us on the horizon, and hope relief would soon come....