Death Comes To All (Book 1) (53 page)

“
No!
We have to do something! We have to go help them!”

“
You
will need an army at your back before you can be of any use to your
people. Nor is it only the ferals that the mages have been doing this
to. They have been increasing taxes on everyone, and have been
increasing their military at the same time. They are preparing for a
war, a war with the entire world. To the best of my knowledge, which
is extensive, the mages do not know for certain where this war will
start or which race will strike back first, so they are preparing to
attack anywhere or everywhere should they need to.

“
You
couldn’t hope to fight the mages all on your own, even with the
battle mage by your side. Right now, you’re not in any
condition to be fighting anyway, and we both know that. To win this
war you will need to do things correctly, and running off into danger
before you are prepared for it will not help anyone.”

“
I
have to do something! I can't allow my people to get slaughtered if I
can do something about it!”

“
Something
will be done, young lady, I can assure you of that. However, there is
more than enough time before there’s any danger of that
happening. The mages are getting ready, but they are far from being
fully prepared yet. Before you can do anything to help the ferals,
you have to be prepared. If you try to go to them now you will not be
helping them. The only thing you would accomplish would be to join
them in a fate that I’m sure you would rather prevent.”

“
So
what do you propose we should do then?” Drom asked quickly
before Raine could reply.

The
bree ruler was right, he knew. They needed to think in a level head
in this situation, and Raine was not doing that. He could not blame
her. If he had just heard that the entire sorvinian race was in
danger of being wiped out, he would likely feel the same way she did
at that moment.

Or
was that a danger?
he wondered fearfully.
He had just said
that the entire world was in danger in this war. Surely that would
include the sorvinian homelands as well.

“
First,
you will have to wait for you friend Raiste to return. Once the three
of you are active again, the eyes of the mages will be pointed
directly at you. The three of you, at that point, should begin to
inflame the hearts and minds of the rest of the populace. The mages
have been oppressing them for so long that it should not take much to
motivate them. What you are starting here is a war, make no mistake
about it, and it needs to be treated as such. Wars are fought with
men. The three of you alone will not be enough.”

“
I
never wanted a war,” Drom said solemnly. “Couldn’t
there be another way? Surely the mages don’t want a war either,
even if they are preparing for one. Perhaps if we talked with them we
might be able to avoid this outcome.”

“
Some
of the ruling mages may listen to reason. There are even some that
may come to the aid of your cause. These men will likely come to you.
However, I advise caution. There are others that may attempt to trick
you by using that same ploy. Until you are certain you can trust
them, you should not. I may be able to help you at that time. As I
said before, my bree have access to information that most people
never could.”

“
So
you’re suggesting we just wait here?! If that’s the case,
than you shouldn’t have come! Why would you tell me about this,
only to tell me not to try to do anything?!” Raine was shaking
hard under Drom's hand. He understood how she was feeling, but didn’t
know what he could do to comfort her.

“
For
now, the battle mage needs to continue his training, and you need to
rest while you can. Your friend will be here soon enough. Then it
will be time for you to act. It will be some time before this war
begins in earnest. By then you will be fit to fight again. In the
meantime, I will continue to have my bree doing what they do best,
watching, and listening. Now I must get back to my people. I will
return to you when I am needed, or when I have more information that
you need. It was a pleasure meeting you, battle mage. Study hard,
young Drom, and learn well.”

“
Wait!”
Drom said quickly before the small king could disappear. “What
did you mean when you said that Raine wasn’t in any condition
to fight? Is there something wrong with her? Is there anything I can
do to help her?”

The
small man chuckled lightly. “She will be just fine,” he
replied. “My bree learn many secrets. Not all of those secrets,
however, are mine to tell. Do not worry yourself over it. Instead,
you need to focus on your training. You are strong, battle mage, but
you have the potential to become much stronger. You will need all of
that strength to survive what is coming. Learn to control your power
battle mage, but be cautious. If you are not careful, that power may
come to control you instead.”

Before
Drom could reply or ask any further questions the miniature king
vanished, returning to wherever it was he had come from. The
messenger, who had named himself Bree, though Drom now understood
that it wasn’t truly a name, remained.

“
Bree
should go back with Bree now, battle mage. Thank you for meeting with
Bree. If you need Bree for anything, just call for Bree. There’s
always a chance that Bree might hear you, and if Bree does, Bree will
come right away. Goodbye, battle mage. Goodbye, pretty feral lady.
Bree hopes to see you again sometime soon.”

That
said the small messenger disappeared as well, leaving Drom and Raine
staring blankly at the empty space he had occupied only a heartbeat
before. Raine still shook underneath his strong hand. Now that they
were alone he bent down and held her in his arms until the shaking
subsided. At first she stiffened, and he thought that she might even
push him away, but instead she slowly relaxed and melted into his
embrace.

“
So
those two were certainly strange,” he commented once she had
regained control of herself.

“
I
thought that the messenger was extremely annoying,” she
replied. “I couldn’t understand half of what he said. It
makes me wonder if their ruler sent that one on purpose, just to
annoy me.”

“
I
don’t think so. I got the impression that all of the bree are
like that, with the exception of their leader. Thankfully, he can
speak normally. I’m not sure if I could have followed that
conversation if he was talking in the third person the entire time,
like his messenger was.”

Raine
didn’t reply, though Drom was certain that she agreed. She had
already said that she had found the messenger’s method of
communication annoying, and Drom believed that to be an
understatement. He didn’t think it necessary to tell her that
he thought the same thing.

After
all, who wouldn’t?

Several
minutes went by, with Drom just holding her, before the smell of
burning meat caught their attention.

The
food!

In
everything that had happened they had completely forgotten that their
dinner was already on the fire! Drom jumped up quickly and leaped to
the fire, where Raine's meal was just beginning to scorch on one
side.

He
deftly flipped it over with the tips of his fingers, nearly burning
them on the sizzling grease. Luckily the slab of meat wasn’t
completely ruined. It was slightly blackened, but wasn’t burned
through completely. He turned back to the pot that his stew was
simmering in, to discover that Raine was already attending to it. His
stew wouldn’t have burned, he knew. They had been talking to
the bree for a fairly long period of time, but not long enough to
harm the boiling vegetables.

Raine
removed the pot from the fire, apparently satisfied that the stew had
cooked for long enough. The thick slab of meat took a little longer
to finish, but in short order the two retired to the living room to
eat their meals.

Drom
remained silent for the first part of the meal, the vague words of
the bree leader foremost in his mind. He had said that Raine was not
in any condition to fight. When he suggested that Drom continue his
training until Raiste returned, he had told Raine to relax during
that time instead.

Was
something wrong with Raine?

“
What
did the bree leader mean when he said that you were not in any
condition to fight?” Drom asked, failing in his attempt to
sound nonchalant. “Is everything alright with you?”

“
I'm
fine,” Raine answered, just a little too quickly in Drom's
opinion.

Drom
was far from being convinced. Had she been fine, she wouldn't have
stopped trying to capture the bree messenger when he told her to,
Drom knew. If anything, it only would have inflamed her more.

“
Just
drop it, OK?”

Drom
tried, not wanting to anger the volatile feral woman. Still, the
question continued to bother him. If there was something going on
that would keep her out of a fight, it was something that he needed
to know in the unlikely event that there was one. Of course, he had
other reasons as well. After several minutes in complete silence, the
question began to sit too heavy on his mind.

“
Look
Raine, I'm not entirely sure what it is that's going on between us,
but whatever it is, I can say that, for my part, I care about you
more than just as a friend. The bree said I should concentrate on my
practice, but how am I supposed to concentrate when someone I care
about might be in danger? I understand that you have your secrets,
and if there’s something that you don’t want to talk
about I understand, but if there's something wrong with you, I need
to know about it. You should know you can talk to me about anything.”

“
I
told you, there’s nothing wrong with me, so you can stop your
worrying. I’ll be fine.”

“
If
there’s nothing wrong with you, than why did you sit down when
that bree messenger told you to? We both know that it’s not
really in your character to listen to someone you know, let alone
someone you don’t. Please, just tell me what's going on with
you? We can figure whatever it is out together.”

“
There’s
nothing to figure out. Look Drom, I like you too, but this is
something I just have to deal with on my own. If we were in one of
the port cities I would have taken care of it already. It’s
probably too late for that now. I’m not even sure if I would
want to really. It doesn’t matter. I’ll talk about it
when I’m ready, alright? I just have to figure this out first.”

“
You
don’t have to do it all on your own Raine,” Drom said,
almost pleading with the feral woman. He couldn’t rest until he
knew what it was that was troubling her. He certainly wouldn’t
be able to concentrate on his practicing. “You know, no matter
what it is, I’ll be there for you. I’m sure that Raiste
will say the same thing once he gets here. Just tell me what I can do
and I’ll do it, if there’s anything I can do to help. If
not, at least tell me what it is. I can’t stand waiting any
longer.”

“
The
only thing that telling you about this would do would be to worry you
further. I understand how you feel, but this isn’t something
that you, or anyone else, can really help me with right now. I have
to do this on my own.”

“
Please,
could you at least tell me what it is? I care about you more than
I’ve ever cared about anyone else in my life. I might even love
you. The only thing I know for sure is that, no matter how bad it
might be, it can’t be worse than not knowing. Please, just talk
to me.”

“
You
might even love me? Really?” Raine repeated softly, then
paused, as if digesting this information. She seemed on the verge of
making some sort of decision, though Drom didn’t know what she
might have been thinking.

“
Well,
we’ve been spending nearly every waking minute together, even
sleeping in the same bed, for most of the winter. I wouldn’t
want to change any of that for a minute. I know that we were only
supposed to be spending time together like this as friends. That was
what we agreed it was when we first started this. I’m not even
sure if what I feel is love. I’ve never felt like this before
anyway, that much is certain. I can’t think of what I would do
if you weren’t here with me. I’m sorry if that’s
not how you wanted it to be.”

“
No,
I mean, that’s alright. I haven’t wanted to say anything
because I didn’t want to ruin what we have together, but I
think I love you too. Let me ask you a question. If you had the
choice, I mean if it wasn’t just the two of us here, and you
could be with someone else if you wanted, would you still want to be
with me like this? Would you still want the two of us to be
together?”

“
Of
course,” he answered automatically, almost without thinking. He
had been thinking similar things himself for quite some time, but
like her hadn’t said anything, not wanting to ruin what they
had.

“
What
about more than that? I mean, what about things like getting married,
having children together; the things that normal couples do?”
she pressed.

This
was a bit more than he had thought about, and the question was enough
to give him pause.

Is
that really what I want?