If I thought Jovan’s reaction was extreme, it puts my brother’s to shame. Olandon falls over, staggering to one knee. I suppose it’s a bigger shock to someone who has known me their whole life. So much time passes while he stares at me in horror that I feel tears burning my eyes.
“Say something, you fool! You’re upsetting her,” Jovan demands. Olandon wrenches his gaze from mine and stares at the King instead.
“Y-you knew? How?” Olandon asks the King. I blink rapidly while the attention is off me and reach for my band to put the veil back on. A hand closes over my own.
“Leave it off, for now,” Jovan says in a soft voice. I look up to him and quickly step back when my nose brushes his cheek.
“Your eyes are blue,” Olandon chokes.
I clear my throat and harden my resolve. “Yes. I think mother dearest slept with a Bruma on a peace year. My age doesn’t match up with a delegation, but I think this was a cover. I believe I’m anywhere from six months to a year older. At least that’s the closest delegation to my birth. I have clear memories of you as a baby, so I don’t believe it was the delegation before, or I would be younger than you. ” The pitiful amount I’ve figured out about my birth is explained in a few breaths.
“So you’re really twenty or so?” he says slowly. I think he’s still in shock. I give him a quick nod.
“How long have you known?” he asks.
“I would have told you if I knew on Osolis. I’ve known for a Rotation,” I say.
“You’ve had more than enough time to tell me before now!” he glares at me.
Jovan steps in front of me. “There is an army on the way to kill my people. We do not have time for your petty hurts. Be grateful she told you at all after the way you sit and sneer at the Bruma around you.”
The two men glare at each other.
“I have a plan to stop our army from making it to Glacium,” I say, stepping up beside the King.
“What!” Olandon says, getting to his feet. “You’re going to help Glacium?”
His accusing words make me furious, though I’m honest enough to know some of my anger is defensive, too. Has my attitude toward the Bruma softened that much?
I keep my voice as calm as possible. “I would help both worlds, Olandon.” Suddenly, I remember my conversation with Satum Jerin so long ago. He spoke of how the Tatum had stores to last Osolis several revolutions. My mouth dries as I realize how long she must have been planning this. We’ve all been fooled. “Mother has been planning this war under everyone’s noses.”
I meet my brother’s brown eyes. “Prince Kedrick was killed on our world. Yet you do not see Glacium bringing war to our doorstep. We have all been played. The Tatum is not interested in compromising. She has drawn King Jovan along while winning over the villagers and assembling our forces. With her latest message she attempted to trick him into relaxing while she sends our army in for a sneak attack.” I’m disgusted to be her daughter.
“Perhaps the flying boy is mistaken. And you trust this Bruma King has told you the truth about the communications between our worlds? He could be trying to placate us while assembling his own army.”
The question startles me. Do I trust Jovan? He is sometimes overbearing and has a tendency to lash out when people are hurt, but he’s only lied once, and that was to protect my feelings.
“Yes, I do,” I say shortly, ignoring the way my face warms. I change the subject. “You seem against the idea of peace, brother.”
His reply is spluttering, “Of course I want peace. Who doesn’t?”
“I only ask because it’s one thing to say you do, and another to actively pursue it. So I’ll ask you straight. Do you want peace?”
His gaze becomes stony. “Yes, Tatuma.”
“What would your reaction be to Glacium’s Army sneaking through the Oscala to us in our sleep?” I ask. I turn from him and stare up at Jovan with unfocused eyes as I wait for his reply.
“What Mother is doing is beyond dishonorable. I am disgusted to be her son,” he says. I let out a breath and turn back to him.
I press my point. “Then when I say I want to stop the Solati from launching an attack, it is not because I’ve switched sides,” I snap. “I may have blue eyes, but I still love my people and I have the honor our mother lacks. I want what is best for both worlds and that is not another thirty revolution siege.” I pace a few steps away from him, trying to contain my anger.
“You said you have a plan. What is it?” Jovan speaks for the first time. “And I can show you the messages from your mother anytime you wish to see them,” he says.
I let out a slow breath and turn to him, ignoring his last comment, though when I return, I will take him up on his offer, as well as ask to study their archives. His eyes are heated as our eyes meet. My face warms. Is he thinking of our night together?
“I have a plan. An excellent plan. But…I can’t tell you the details. It would betray an oath I made,” I say. “I know it is hard, but I hope you can understand.”
“You cannot tell him?” Olandon asks, sounding pleased.
“Or you,” I add. His eyebrows furrow. I look at Jovan and we hold each other’s gaze.
“Bullshit,” Jovan says. “You’ll tell me now.”
I sigh. “Well, then we’ll have to think of another plan, because I can’t betray what I know.” I’m not going to, of course. My plan is the only way to stop the army getting to Glacium. I’ll wait until dark and retrieve the Soar.
“Hold on!” Olandon says. “You’re going to run.”
My eyes widen. “W-what?” How did he know that?
“Were you?” Jovan asks. I try to mask my guilty expression. He turns to my brother.
“How can you tell?” he asks.
“She always looks at the exits a few times when she’s thinking of it,” my brother says. I glare at him as I jam the veil and band onto my head.
“And why does she always run away?” I gasp at Jovan’s question.
Olandon shrugs. “She just always has. I probably would too if I’d been locked—”
“Landon!” I say sharply. He cuts off.
I avoid Jovan’s questioning gaze. Finally I throw my hands in the air. “Fine! I run away sometimes. But I always have a good reason!”
“You do it when you feel like you have no other option. When you feel trapped,” Jovan says. I know he isn’t just speaking about now. He is talking about me running from him after the ball.
“Yes. If you must know, I was going to run.” I say in a hot whisper. “But only because this is the only way to stop them from reaching Glacium. Sometimes running is the best option for our worlds.” I say to Jovan. His head lifts with my last comment. He knows I’m speaking of that night.
He walks over to me and lifts my veil. His expression takes me by surprise. It is wary, hopeful and desperate all at the same time. He loves his people, too. I gaze up at him, willing him to understand.
“You realize how this looks?” he asks. It looks terrible. My mother is launching an attack and I am asking him to let me go. For all he knows I could be running to tell the army he’s aware of their advance. I nod.
“Do you trust me?” I ask with a dry smile. Will he remember the words he said to me before we slept together?
“You frustrate me more than anyone I’ve ever met, but you’ve never intentionally done anything dishonorable or immoral. Yes, I trust you—and your ability to keep yourself safe,” he says. I blink up at him. Did he really just say that?
He continues. “However, I’m concerned you might not have considered the other angles. You sometimes have trouble foreseeing the consequences of your actions. What if you are caught, for instance?”
He is being reasonable for the second time since meeting him, so I respect him by reflecting on his words. I know I tend to charge into things headfirst and, yes, he is speaking truth when he talks about unforeseen consequences. Would I have run to the Outer Rings if I’d thought about how it would affect my friends? Mother will kill me if I’m caught, there’s no doubt, and then she will blame Jovan and the war we are desperate to avoid will ensue anyway.
“I have weighed the consequences, and it still needs to be done.” I place a hand on his arm. “It is the only way,” I say.
His blue eyes burn into mine. They aren’t Kedrick’s eyes anymore. They’re Jovan’s. “Will you be harmed?”
“I’ll try my best not to be. Despite what you think, I don’t enjoy getting beaten up.”
He winces. “I regretted those words as soon as they left my mouth. You have my sincere apology they were ever uttered,” he says. I smile at him and pry my veil from his fingers.
“Then I suppose I should apologize for hitting you, too,” I say. A cough reminds me Olandon is watching. I step further away from Jovan, my hand tingling from where it touched his.
“How do you get to the roof?” I ask.