15. Chapter 14

Jasmine hurried after Freya down a different passage. She hadn’t been in this part of the Keep before, but Freya left her no time to study the surroundings. Her long legs carried her to the far end of the passage. Another entrance carved in the stone wall opened into the sunshine streaming from the east.

Freya smiled at Jasmine. The landscape beyond framed her statuesque figure. “Thank you for everything, Jasmine. I would never have done this if you hadn’t inspired me to act.”

Jasmine grasped her hand. “I should be thanking you, Freya. I had all but given up hope that anybody would do anything around here.”

Freya clasped her hand. “I’ll try to get back as soon as I can. Do your best to keep these men in order while I’m gone.”

Jasmine snorted. “I hope they don’t wring each other’s necks the moment your back is turned.”

Freya shook her head. “They won’t. They’ll follow my lead from now on.”

“How can you be sure of that? How can you be certain they’ll fall under your leadership when you didn’t actually win the challenge?”

“I did win it. I won it when Rocor refused to fight me.”

Footsteps coming down the passage interrupted their conversation. Callan and Rocor appeared on the launching platform. Freya stiffened. Rocor glanced at Callan, and Callan nodded to him. Rocor took a deep breath and stepped forward. “You’re determined to go, Freya. We don’t agree with your decision, but none of us wants to force you to turn aside. If you really must go, at least work with us to keep peace in our Clan. Share the leadership with us so we can bring our Clan the best possible outcome.”

Freya frowned. “Now you want to keep peace in our Clan? That’s new for you, Rocor. It’s new for all of you. That’s about as far as possible from what you’ve been doing these past few months.”

Rocor shrugged. “I won’t argue with you, and I won’t fight you. Let’s not have any more fighting.”

“Do you agree not to fight anymore?” She turned to Callan. “Do all of you agree to stop fighting?”

“We all agree.”

Freya surveyed both brothers. “Do you give me your solemn word you’ll work together while I’m gone? Do you give me your word you’ll put your differences aside to make our Clan strong again?”

The brothers nodded.

Freya sighed. “All right. I’m trusting you, and I’m putting Jasmine in charge to make sure you do it.”

Rocor shot a vicious glance at Jasmine. Jasmine turned pink, but Freya only laughed. She put out her hand to Rocor. “Take care of the Clan while I’m gone. As soon as I get back, we’ll know where we stand. We’ll hold a council, and we’ll decide what to do.”

Rocor shook her hand. Freya pressed Jasmine’s hands. “Good luck. I’ll see you soon.”

She turned away and launched herself into space. Freya hovered in mid-air for a suspended moment. Gravity caught her, and she started to fall. The sun flashed on her skin, and she vanished before their eyes.

The next thing Jasmine knew, the bright green dragon spread her wings to the sun and took off into the lavender sky. She soared around the Keep once before she headed south over the mountains.

Callan let out a deep sigh. “Well, there she goes.”

Jasmine heard his footsteps retreating up the passage behind her, but she didn’t turn around. She watched that flash of green dwindle into the distance. Her soul rejoiced in Freya’s triumph. Maybe, just maybe, the Krataks would stand a chance when the hammer came down.

No sound attracted her attention. She became aware of something else behind her. The second set of footsteps didn’t ring on the passage floor. Rocor was still here. He stood behind her in silence.

She turned around to find him leaning against the wall. He rested his forehead against the stone and covered his eyes. He didn’t see Freya disappear into the ether.

Jasmine studied him. “Rocor?”

He let out a shaky breath and stood up. When he looked at her, his skin hung off his face. His eyes sagged. His features looked sallow and hollow without his patterns. Red blood discolored his eyes, and bags darkened underneath them. He nodded into the southern sky. “She’s gone, and there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

“What’s wrong? Is it really such a big disaster?”

He tried to smile. “I guess it wouldn’t be if I wasn’t so tired. Two nights without sleep are catching up with me.”

She blushed. Two nights without sleep because of her. She put out her hand to touch his arm. “You better go get some sleep.”

He nodded, but he didn’t leave the bay. “I don’t think I could sleep now.”

“If you’re that tired, you won’t be good for much until you do.”

He caught her eye and jerked his head toward the passage. “Come inside with me. We’ll curl up together.”

Jasmine’s eyes popped out of their sockets. “What do you want to do that for?”

“I don’t think I could sleep without you there.”

“You wouldn’t sleep. You would come up with something else to do.”

He didn’t laugh. He shook his head and looked away. “I don’t think so. I don’t feel like it.”

She couldn’t believe her ears. He couldn’t really be saying this. He wanted to curl up with her and go to sleep, to rest in her arms. She never would have believed a sturdy man like him could crumple before her eyes. He needed her. He didn’t come right out and say so. He didn’t have to.

She put her arm around his shoulder. “Come on. Come to my room.”

He shook his head. “It’s too bright on that side of the Keep. Come to my room instead. It’s still shady on that side of the mountain at this time of the day.”

She smiled and guided him toward the passage. “All right. Whatever you say.”

He sighed and relaxed against her. His weight fell heavy on her shoulders. “I still don’t think making peace with the Ulasso is a good idea.”

She patted his arm. “The good news is you don’t have to make peace with them if you don’t want to. If Freya comes back and says it’s not happening, you’ll go back to the way things were before. Nothing is set in stone. You’re just talking about it.”

His head hung down. “Yeah.”

She peered at him. “This could be the best thing to happen to your people in a long time. If you didn’t fight the Ulasso all the time, you might be able to benefit from their advances.”

He nodded. “That’s the reason all the other Clans held them at a distance. No one wanted to admit they might be better than we were. I guess we were just jealous.”

“Freya is a natural leader. She’s willing to take a risk no one else was willing to take. She’s willing to put her life on the line for all your sakes. You should be proud of her.”

“I am.”

Jasmine’s head whipped around. “You are?”

He nodded. “Don’t tell the others I said so. I never expected her to stand up to me, but she did it. She didn’t do it out of any selfish ambition to gain power over our Clan. She did it to save us all from our own stupidity. She’s the best of us. She deserves to be leader. That’s another reason I don’t want to fight her.”

Jasmine hugged him. She never felt closer to him than right now. “You don’t have to fight her. She’s willing to work with all of you to make sure the Clan and Kratak moves forward into the future.”

He opened his mouth when a low drone echoed over the horizon. Jasmine didn’t think anything of it. She thought only of a comfortable bed in some shady room underground. She could close her eyes, and she didn’t have to worry about Rocor jumping out and grabbing her. They would both fall asleep. Maybe the future would look brighter when they woke up.

Rocor glanced over his shoulder and stopped. Jasmine tried to urge him forward, but he worked out of her arms and retreated to the launching platform. Jasmine came to his side. “Is anything wrong?”

He frowned at the horizon.

Jasmine followed his gaze. Something flashed in the sun out there. “Is Freya coming back?”

“I don’t recognize it.”

Jasmine shaded her eyes against the glare. Another blink of light danced on the far skyline—then another. “What is that?”

In front of their eyes, more and more flashes sparkled in the distance. They stretched out to cover Jasmine's line of sight. They poked up out of the mountains and got bigger. Jasmine stared in wonder as one after another, shiny objects crowded the edge of the world. They grew and came closer until she couldn’t mistake them for what they were. Hundreds and hundreds of ships descended over the planet in a silvery cloud.

The closer they came, the more space she noticed between them. They covered the sky and blocked out the sun. They hovered over the Keep until they dropped as one concerted body to land in front of the mountain.

Jasmine blinked. This couldn’t be happening. A door opened in each small craft. Tiny people emerged from the holes to swarm across the plain. They ran in all directions. They streamed up the mountainside toward Jasmine and Rocor standing transfixed to their spots.

Every one of those people wore an Allies uniform, and every one of them carried a weapon. Thousands of armed soldiers tumbled out of those craft to cover the planet in every direction. The invasion had begun.