Page 35 of The Pactbound Angel (The Soul Mirror Duet #1)

War and Peace

“Ugh! Not. This. Shit. Again!” Raewyn shrieked, shaking the mud off her new boots.

After finalizing supplies, including a new tent for me, we left Elancia. A day into our march, we found ourselves in a marshland as far as the eye could see. I consulted the map again, looking at the sun’s path, and put the map back in my pouch. “We head due east.”

The soft ground squelched underneath our feet but thankfully did not swallow them. I took my place at the back again while Georgina and M.A.L.C.O.L.M. took the front with Raewyn behind. Ramiren walked in front of me, and, as usual, my thoughts began to wander.

I still struggled with the idea that I had nearly demanded to dissolve the pact. All my discipline disappeared in his arms, it seemed, and that frightened me, despite Ramiren’s reassurances.

He had said he would stop everything, and I whole-heartedly agreed with that. I was certainly stronger in my more lucid moments with him, so the sirenic temptation could be easily resisted when I was not heated from his touch or tongue.

His soft black hair came into view again, and I sighed .

Or just looking at him.

Would he even want me, anyway? He was a person too, with agency, and he could make his own decision regarding his desires. My cravings are nothing if he does not have them, too.

Something told me Ramiren would be proud of me at that thought.

My face warmed when my besotted brain reminded me, yet again, of his praise and pride in me.

If he called me a good girl, my stomach flipped.

If he whispered affirmations or told me how well I was doing, I throbbed.

And now, a new praise had surfaced, invoking something deeper and almost primal in me, though he hadn’t said it very often.

Angel.

It’s what my father technically was but not me. I was merely a celestial, descended from an actual angel.

Ramiren had said it when he probably didn’t even mean to, mere moments from release. No doubt simple passion had something to do with it, which meant I must’ve been doing something right.

When close to completion, I nearly cried out for him to take me. To dissolve our pact, and he understood, empathized even.

But it doesn’t mean I meant it.

Does it?

A well-known Mineun saying stated bliss shows our truth , like imbibing too much wine.

Perhaps that’s why so many of them drink to excess.

I never really understood that saying until Ramiren. I suppose it’s harder to hide things when you’re naked and sweaty.

Not that it meant anything. Despite a needling infatuation, that would go away eventually, we still had an agreement. He is your instructor. He took your necklace as payment, and you are receiving lessons. He sees you as nothing more than that. A student. A novice.

Oh? Why did he call me angel then? And why in the Dark Drop am I arguing with myself? Isn’t this a sign of madness ?

My mind went blank with no reply.

So, now you shut up? Put doubts in my head but not answers? Thanks. Appreciate the assistance.

Still, no reply.

Gods, my brain is an asshole.

“I hear yelling,” Georgina cautioned. “Up ahead.”

Doubling my pace to get in front of Georgina and M.A.L.C.O.L.M. as I slipped my shield from my back, I continued forward at the head of our group.

When we crested the hill, we saw a small village spread out into the distance.

A loud commotion at the center in a clearing, like a town square, was muffled by our distance.

The smoke from a large bonfire curled into the air, hazing the air with the acrid smell of half-rotted marshwood.

Ramiren squinted. “Frogs. This is a frog village.”

“Beware the frog and toad, for they are at war,” Raewyn whispered, reminiscent of the jeweled seer snake who warned us when we first arrived, then giggled.

“Maybe we don’t get involved? Skirt around?” Georgina asked from her perch on the automaton.

“They sound riled,” I said. “If they’re planning a warband, it could spell trouble for our travels through this area. We might want to go down there and see if we can quell the fighting, at least for a time. They have no quarrel with us.”

“A wise idea, Lady Nathalia, though I would advise caution. We get involved in any capacity, and they may turn on us,” Ramiren said, craning his neck to look around.

More praise. My expression did its best to stay neutral while my insides did a backflip.

We headed down into the village, walking by large grass huts and a few frogs who warily watched our passing but did not stop us. The yelling got louder as we approached. It sounded like an angry mob to my ears .

As we entered the clearing, there was no mistaking the violence in their clamor.

A toad had been lashed to a crude board. His coloring, a mottled gray and green rather than deep umber, and smaller size were different from everyone else present. He was crying in distress and squirming. And far too close to the bonfire for my liking.

Burns were both the most painful and the hardest to heal. They’d better not…

My fears were confirmed when the words hidden within the screams from the frogs became clear.

“Throw him in!”

“Burn him!”

“Crispy toad!”

A few frogs grabbed the toad’s board to lift him up. The toad struggled fiercely, screaming in fear.

No! Nonono!

“Wait!” I yelled as loud as I could and held my hands up.

The frogs suddenly quieted. Even those holding the toad looked my way.

A large frog, walking upright with a large staff topped with antlers, stepped forward. “I am the Elder. What do you want, stranger?” Two others behind him held a trembling frog who wept with her whole body.

“For this to stop. This is horrific,” I said, indicating the bonfire.

The Elder shook his head and croaked. “You do not know our ways, stranger. Move along.” He turned away from me.

Think of something! Keep them talking!

I followed for a few steps, my voice earnest. “But. Really. Is this truly necessary? What did he do to deserve such punishment?”

The Elder wheeled around and screeched, “He tried to take my daughter!”

The immobilized toad cried out in reply, “I tried to wed his daughter!”

I blinked, looked back at my companions, then looked at the assembled. Oh. Motioning to the frog being held, I asked calmly, “Is that your daughter?”

The elder frog croaked again and bristled. “On your way, stranger. This is none of your concern.”

“Because she is clearly upset about t-”

The Elder interrupted me angrily, “I said, on your way!”

“This is beyond us,” Georgina said under her breath, still sitting on M.A.L.C.O.L.M.’s shoulders.

The Elder continued, “We are at war!”

“But I am not!” the daughter screamed. “I love him!”

A few in the mob cried out to burn her, too.

“Abomination!”

“Heretic!”

“Traitor!”

“Silence!” the Elder boomed over the din. The mob quieted again.

His word carries weight. If we can convince him, we can convince the rest of them.

A sentiment Ramiren seemed to understand as well, as he came to my side. “Why do you not wish for them to wed?”

“We fight, devilspawn, not marry our blood enemies.” His gaze flicked to me, then back to Ramiren. “You travel with an angelspawn, by the look of her. The offspring of devils and angels do not belong together, either.”

The daughter hung her head, wracked with sobbing and held up only by those holding her.

A strange look passed over Ramiren’s face as he glanced my way. I wished I could interpret it.

Ramiren said, “Our blood does not determine who we are, Elder. I am no devil.”

Just as I am no angel, Ramiren.

Ramiren continued, “Our ancestors’ feuds do not define us or our… friendship. Our amity. Their war does not affect us, just as we wish war to not affect our children. ”

The frog struck his antlered staff against the dirt. I had a hope that the Elder was considering Ramiren’s wise words because he paused for a moment before speaking again, “Frogs and toads cannot reproduce. It’s an abomination for us to bind ourselves to toads.”

Ramiren frowned. “Is that your only objection? But this could end the frog and toad war. This union.”

“War is life!” someone in the mob shouted.

“Love is life!” Raewyn replied, equally as loud.

The Elder went on, “And the peace would end with their death, no children could carry on that legacy. We would be soft when the war started again. Unprepared.”

Ramiren raised an eyebrow. “But it would last until then.”

The elder frog scoffed, “And what then? More frogs and more toads join together? It’ll lead to our extinction!”

Ramiren shook his head. “Doubtful. Most would stick with their own kind, I’m sure. But some… some frogs might decide to join with toads, and toads with frogs. Extending the peace with their affection. Nothing is so sweet as peace, when the bitterness of war is all you know.”

The mob grumbled at Ramiren’s words, but the mood was no longer murderous. Without consciously thinking about it, my hand had taken hold of my sword in a tight grip.

The Elder looked long and hard at Ramiren and finally raised his hand, “Let him go.”

A frog holding the Elder’s daughter protested, “But Elder…”

The Elder croaked, louder, “I said let him go!”

Immediately, the bonds holding the toad down to the board were cut. The toad tried to go to his love but was stopped by many hands.

Or was it feet?

They did not grapple him, but they did keep him from advancing toward her.

The toad looked at the Elder, his great dark eyes pleading to him.

The Elder matched his gaze and said quietly, “Take him back to his village. And take him out of my sight. I will see no more of him.”

Those holding the toad pushed and pulled him towards us and tossed him to the ground at our feet. The toad let out a tired sob and was slow to rise.

The Elder’s daughter collapsed. “Father, please…”

Her anguish hurt my heart. I wished I could do more.

But for the folly of fathers.

“Take him away. And do not return.” The Elder’s shoulders sagged as he waved his hand, as though wishing to be done with the whole affair.

When I picked the toad up from the ground, he sank into my hands, as though he had no bones in him.

“Come. Let’s take you home,” I said softly.

All he could do was nod.

“What is your name?” I asked, still calmly.

He whispered, as though he didn’t have the strength to talk fully, “Jeffron.”

Once we were out of earshot of the village, M.A.L.C.O.L.M., who had been thankfully quiet this entire time, beeped. “FROGS AND TOADS DO HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS.”

Raewyn threw another stick into the water angrily. I carried Jeffron in my arms, as he had collapsed again after exiting the village, and watched her.

“Raewyn? Are you alright?” I asked, concerned.

She threw another stick. “No.”

“What is wrong?”

She wheeled around at me. “They love each other, and they are not allowed to be together! Stupid people! Because of some stupid notion of racial purity? It’s insane!”

Ramiren sighed, stopping because Raewyn stopped. “I agree with you, Raewyn, but there’s nothing more we could have done. A years-long war is not ended with two peoples’ love and a few words. This toad is alive and safe. I call that a victory.”

“Well, why not ended? It should be!” Raewyn raised her voice at Ramiren, who quirked an eyebrow at her outburst.

Raewyn continued, riled up, “And what was it with him bringing you and Nat into it? You two are friends! You are a prime example of how it could work.”

I adjusted Jeffron in my arms and prayed my face stayed its normal color.

Raewyn threw her hands up. “Abomination, indeed. Paqua’s cock! You two should marry and flaunt it in front of that Elder. Broodlings and celestials can’t produce children together either. Then he’d shut right up!”

Oh. Goodness. What an interesting, sludge-covered toadstool that is making me face away from absolutely everyone right now.