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“An argument more valid than preventing our extinction?”
“It’s not about more or less. When you choose a stand likepreventing our extinction, you twist every action you take into a moral one, and dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as a traitor. That kind of black-and-white thinking is why they’re shouting outside the gates instead of sitting down with someone who is at least willing to listen.
“None of those people down there want the demigod race wiped from existence, and I’m pretty sure you know that. So what’s the harm in trying to listen and understand where they’re coming from? Even if you disagree in the end, you’d probably be a lot less angry if you accepted that just because a mother wants her son to come back from war, it doesn’t mean she devalues the sacrifices of your mother’s son.
“We’re not fighting a war just to survive. It was never about that,” I said. “We’re fighting for children sleeping safe in their beds. Couples falling in love. Families laughing and eating around the table. We fight for everything that makes a war worth fighting. And the Children of Eirene are too. They’re just doing it in a different way. Jackass.” No, I couldn’t have left that last insult out, but I didn’t think that’s why I was getting the looks I was.
Not only were Alexander, Castor, and Jason staring at me, but my twenty-odd-man guard escort all gave me assessing looks.
“Jason,” Alexander said, eyes narrowing. “How long did you say it would take to get information back on Aella Galanis?”
“No more than a week.”
“Send that on as soon as you get it.”
Jason nodded at him, but looked at me. I didn’t understand what I said that turned all of their expressions suspicious, but I had a feeling the main point did not get through.
“What?” I finally snapped. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You dress—and curse—like a peasant, but you speak like a noble,” Alexander said. “How does a girl from a small village trapped between the sea and stone string together such an articulate response?”
Heat burned the back of my neck. “My people aren’t stupid. Neither is anypeasantI’ve met.”
“Not stupid, no,” Jason said in that deep, unhurried baritone. “But schooling is only free in Olympia up to the age of thirteen. To take additional classes you must pay. To attend university, you must pay more. The average family from Port Delphin can’t afford it.”
I turned away. “The line’s moving. We can go.”
“Just another one of your secrets, eh, Aella?” Gods, that smirk always came bounding back like a dog who caught a stick.
“Sir,” one of the guards said. “What do we do if she is a runaway noble?”
Alexander spurred the horses on. “We tell her family they can have her back in four years.”
It seemed to take an eternity for our time to come. I didn’t want inside that academy, but I definitely wanted out of this cart. My butt, hands, and legs went numb ages ago.
It was Alexander who unchained me, shoved my bag in my hands, and grasped my elbow in a firm grip.
“You’re done after we walk through the gates,” he told them. “Jason, I’m the first one you contact after that information on her comes through. Castor, you’re dismissed from imperial service.”
“What!” He nearly fell climbing out of the cart. “Why?!”
“I don’t like spies. If we cross paths again, you’ll discover the boundless depths of that hatred.” He hauled me around, leaving Castor’s gaping shock in our wake. “Pick up your feet, Aella. Wouldn’t want to be late on your first day.”
I couldn’t stop a glance back. “You didn’t have to do that,” I said softly.
“No? Are you saying you would be kinder to the woman who told the watchers she saw you heading into Calliope’s Forest that morning?”
“Depends. Was she following orders she had no choice but to obey?” I bore a hole in his head. “Shouldn’t such a strong supporter of the army understand the chain of command? Or do you believe every now and then, there’s room for rebellion?”
He blew out a sigh. “Gods, I miss the days you sat mute on a horse’s ass, counting dandelions.”
I blinked. He knew that’s what I was doing? Just how often did he peek at me while pretending I didn’t exist?
“All I’m saying is give that man his job back, or admit you’re a hypocrite.”
“All I’m saying is there’s a hole in your pants. Everyone can see your milky-pale ass.”
My eyes bugged. “What!” I snapped around, craning my head to see. My feet tangled and down I went. “Ahh!”
