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Xavier,
We are closing in on the people and resources needed. The training continues to follow schedule, and we’ve secured the supposed savior. Grayson and Levi draw closer to finding the prophecy remnant, though the idea of a savior from the First City is still unbelievable to me.
In your next letter, send the guard schedule along with names, ranks, and training. A weaker entry point will allow us to infiltrate the city. Not sure yet how I will raise a useless girl to the rank of a badass savior, but it is a task I must fulfill.
Your brother in spirit,
Bastian
I sink into the chair at the desk, running his words on repeat through my head.
Useless girl.
Tell me what you really think of me, Bastian Hale.
And yet, he includes me in his stupid family crest, or symbol, or whatever the hell it is. He seems to have some hope in my abilities.
I exit Bastian’s room, feeling more irritated than anything. Why I wasted space in my brain and heart for this man is beyond comprehension. Sure, he’s kind and patient at times. But he’s mostly annoyed he’s tasked with training me—like it’s something I chose.
Evie’s room contains more feminine touches: flowing curtains, a shag rug, and a white bedspread with a pale blue coverlet at the foot. I open her trunk, removing a pair of woolen leggings and a tunic. A dark blue cloak hangs on a hook by the door. Unsure of how she’ll react to having the newbie touching her stuff, I stare at it for a minute before tossing it over the other clothes on my arm.
I breeze past Levi to our bedroom to change. He must wonder why I spent so much time rummaging through Evie’s things, and I’m not ready for the questions.
As I dress, I process Bastian’s letter. Xavier must hold a position in Avren’s guard to know the answer to the commander’s questions. It also sounds like they plan to attack sooner rather than later. If I’m one of the prophesied saviors and they have no clue who the other one is, they’re bound to fail.
Why the rush? I’m not a military strategist, but unless there’s an outside influence pressing them to move forward, I’d think they’d have everything lined up before their tiny militia took on the full force of Avren’s soldiers.
When I come out of the bedroom, Levi doesn’t say a word about my extra time upstairs. Maybe he doesn’t care.
“I made each of us a lunch of bacon, bread, and fruit.” He lifts a backpack to his shoulders before helping me shrug mine on. It feels awkward over the bulky cloak, but it will keep me warm. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” My instinct is to remain in the safety of the cabin, which reminds me of my apartment in Avren. But after reading Bastian’s letter, I want to leave the useless girl behind. From this day forward, I’m determined to fill the role of the savior others claim I am.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Astrange ache fills my heart as we walk away from the cabin. It’s like I’m losing Bastian, Grayson, and Evie all over again. But it’s mixed with the excitement of an adventure to a strange place.
Levi stops beside the garden and picks a delicate white flower. He places it in my hair, letting his hand linger beside my face. “My beautiful travel companion.”
I purse my lips, feeling my cheeks flush. “You’re not too bad yourself.”
He takes the familiar path through the woods leading to the field where I train with Bastian. It’s empty except for a robin looking for its breakfast. Not expecting trouble, I only carry a dagger inside my cloak, leaving my arrows behind in the weapons cabinet.
There’s a group of men throwing axes at a makeshift target in the Grove, laughing and slapping each other on the back when one of them splits the wood. We skirt around the perimeter and pass between two cottages into the primary thoroughfare of the village. A woman lumbers down the dirt path carrying a laundry basket. Beside her, two toddlers struggle to keep up, sometimes tripping on the ruts in the road. An older man holds a board up beside a window, nailing it to the side of the house. The smell of smoke fills the air, rising from the chimneys of the cottages, along with the sound of a lonely rooster announcing the beginning of a new day.
“They are all Redeemed,” Levi signs to me as we pass a man chopping wood outside his cottage. “Born to the wilderness, they hold no loyalty to Avren.”
A woman exits the cottage, and the man with the ax lays it down. He snatches the woman’s waist, causing her to giggle, and pulls her into a kiss. Her stomach bulges to an abnormal size. I try not to stare.
“Good morning, Levi,” she calls waving.
Levi walks over to the couple and shakes hands with the man. “Agnes… Cooper. This is the newest member of our family, Mari Windsong.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Agnes holds out her hand to shake mine, but I can’t take my eyes from her stomach. It is the first time I’ve seen a pregnant woman. “I’m putting on a few pounds,” she laughs.
“Mari came from Avren.” Levi wraps an arm around my shoulder and squeezes. “There’s a lot of new things in our world.”
Agnes steps closer to us. Wisps of her dark curly hair, tied back in a flowered kerchief, catch the early morning light. “Give me your hand.”
