Page 37 of A Simple Truth (the Freckled Fate #2)

36

GIDEON

I welcomed the warm feeling of the returning fire magic running through my veins. Its minor, but still quite noticeable absence always reminded me what hid beyond those infinite flames.

A reminder I didn’t need.

I had never seen the elves, but it wasn’t them that drew my attention. It was the large, angry-looking animals they were mounted on. As big as an elephant, they were wide in build with three large horns on their noses. Hairless, their body reminded me of armor, thick and layered. Their giant feet and large horns appeared ready to trample over us at the command of their master.

I lowered my eyes only for a second to see both of my swords shamefully scattered on the ground, too far for me to reach. I should be truly embarrassed . I let a minor eye roll slip before returning my eyes to the elves with a threatening glare. A simple warning to the feral looking faces staring at us, their sharp spears mere inches away from Finnleah.

The elves exchanged words I couldn’t understand, my body tensed as I tried to decipher their intensions. Finnleah was frozen near me, but even in the grim darkness of the night, I could bet my life her ears devoured every bit of information she could get, her emerald eyes scanning the crowd for something.

The large animal huffed next to me, letting out foul-smelling breath.

“Finnleah…” I covertly uttered.

“No,” she whispered before I could finish, her voice quiet but direct, almost commanding.

“They’ll kill us if we don’t,” I insisted.

“ No,” she replied sternly. A little shiver ran through my body, because it wasn’t just a suggestion. No, it was an order .

An order she gave me.

An order I now obeyed.

It dawned on me in that moment that she’d rather die here than see another elf die from the Destroyer’s scorching fire, and my heart ached at the thought.

“No fire then,” I murmured understandingly, the blood within me slithering with adrenaline, awaiting its call.

“Do you want two wars on your hands?” she seethed through her teeth, her eyes still on the elves darting between them.

“Finnleah…” I reasoned. But then she turned to me, nothing but determination written across her mesmerizing face.

“Do you trust me?” she asked. A simple question. Yet, one I didn’t expect.

A question I hadn’t considered before.

“Do you trust me, Gideon?” she impatiently repeated, shooting me an urgent look.

“You are about to do something truly imprudent that will get us both killed, aren’t you?” I alleged.

She didn’t even attempt to lie as she said, “Yes.”

“Yes, Finnleah, I trust you,” I replied, because there wasn’t a single moment of hesitation within me. And perhaps I was foolish not to realize it sooner; until spears were pointed straight at our necks.

She nodded with appreciation and turned her eyes back to the elves.

I took a long breath, letting it out cautiously.

It was never a question if I could trust her. Because I did.

The thing that I wasn’t sure about now, was how much I could trust myself to simply watch the woman that captured my heart put herself in danger.

For me.

For my people.

And for those wicked fucking elves.