Page 77 of A Monarch's Fall

I smiled in return.

“Thank you.”

Chapter seventeen

Old Friends and New Enemies.

Percy Flores

Alight knocking on the bedroom door awoke me. I groaned and rolled over.

“I can’t do another day!” I said, loud enough that Kat would hear.

For the past three days, I had been awoken long before dawn by Kat and forced to run around the base; incidentally, it corresponded with my right leg healing.

I had been at the base for a total of ten days, if I counted the days I was unconscious, and I hadn’t learned anything useful that Arvid wanted to know. All I had gained was a dread of the inevitable stitch I would gain from Kat’s conditioning classes.

The women on the squad were friendly enough, but they were the only people I had interacted with, and while I had tried tolearn more about Flores and Witching Command from them, tactfully and less tactfully so, they hadn’t given me anything, or maybe they just didn’t know anything.

I was beginning to think that I would be trapped on the base, being chased by Kat, forever. And despite being exhausted, I could barely sleep, no more than a few hours per night. The emptiness in my chest became somehow loud when I was alone at night in my room; it was all I could feel, and I was kept awake by memories of Selene. It had only been ten days, but I worried I was forgetting her face, the shade of her silver eyes, the shape of her lips, the curve of her brows. I would inevitably succumb to a quiet panic and spend hours trying to remember everything I could about her, because what if my fears were real? What if I never got to see her again and I had to live with the emptiness within me forever? And I didn’t know whether the enchantments Jack had spoken about were protecting me or adding to my torture. At the very least, I had learned something about the soul match bond — separation would not kill us.

The knocking continued.

“No, Kat,” I said louder.

I couldn’t do it again, not today. Was there no such thing as a rest day here?

“Percy, dear,” I heard Lady Flores call softly through the door, and I sat up quickly.

I hadn’t seen or spoken with Lady Flores since I had first awoken. Kat had informed me that she was busy running The New Foundation and that I shouldn’t take it personally that she hadn’t asked me to come by when I asked if I could see her again. It wasn’t that I necessarily wanted to spend time with the woman; it was that I had quickly become frustrated with my squadmates' unwillingness or lack of knowledge to talk about anything that might be a Witching Command need-to-knowthing, and had decided I would probably have more luck going straight to the source.

“Yeah?” I called as I got out of bed and quickly got dressed.

“I was wondering if we might spend some time together?” she asked on the other side of the door.

I took a moment to ready myself. I wasn’t the completely clueless girl I had been when we first met, and I wasn’t as angry either. When I first awoke and found myself on the base, separated from Selene, I had been angry, maybe too angry to be useful to myself. If Kat’s training had done anything for me, it had given me a physical outlet for my anger. I was clearer-headed. I had a task to complete: find out what Witching Command was keeping from Arvid, tell him, and go home. Selene would be doing everything within her power to bring me home. I knew she would. I had to do everything I could, too. I couldn’t sit around and wait to be rescued.

I was ready now. Ready to play the role of the long-lost granddaughter who’s been coming around to The New Foundation. I needed Lady Flores to trust me, to view me as belonging, or if nothing else, as a willing tool she could use, and might let her guard down around.

A steady breath, and then I opened the door.

“Good morning, Lady Flores. I didn’t know it was you. I’m sorry, I thought you were Kat. Her training has been intense,” I said, hoping I seemed friendly and still subordinate.

Lady Flores smiled warmly.

“Don’t worry, Percy. I understand that adjusting to life here can be challenging, but I’ve heard good things about how you are settling in, and I would like to ask you to breakfast with me,” she said.

I smiled. Genuinely smiled. This was exactly what I wanted: an opportunity to speak with Lady Flores alone, to build favour and trust.

“Yes, please,” I agreed.

“Wonderful. We can walk to my private quarters together,” she said, and I stepped out of my room, closing the door behind me.

As I stepped out in the hallway, I noticed two soldiers also in the hallway with us, with large machine guns across their chests.

“Don’t mind them, they are my personal guard, here to protect us,” Lady Flores explained.

“Protect us within Witching Command? I thought we were safe here?” I asked. I had become accustomed to being followed around by guards during my time with Selene, and of course, I was surrounded by troops on the base, but it still seemed odd that Lady Flores would need protection while surrounded by those of Flores and Flores' descendants.