An Unbroken Promise

Chapter 4: Warmth

Adria didn’t feel like she had slept. Not really. She spent the night tossing and turning, listening for the alarm. Cassie cuddled up to her side every time she settled, and it felt good, and it hurt too. Her closeness was a constant reminder to Adria that she had very nearly caused her friend a lot of problems by being careless. She stopped and revised. Careless and weak. How else could she explain wanting- needing, to be cuddled in the morning like a child and neglecting her duty to her friend, nearly getting her in trouble. Those thoughts left her wide awake before the alarm went off. Cassie sprawled out with her legs half over her, her body twisted in a way only she could manage, and she was snoring. 

Adria loved the sound of Cassie’s soft breathing, and the weight of her legs made her feel a bit calmer. It didn’t matter what happened the day before. The point was, Cassie was fine and had chosen to come back to her. It didn't matter that Selene had to intervene. Sometimes, Cassie needed a hero, and right now, Adria couldn’t be that for her without getting her in trouble. 

A sharp pain went through her at that thought, and her hand went up to her face on instinct. Her fingers touched the almost invisible scars that young Cassie had given her over her new friend Megan back when they were young. She wondered if what she felt for Selene had been what Cassie felt for Megan- if that same pain in her stomach had made Cassie lash out all those years ago.

Cassie moved, groaning with the effort of waking up. She rolled over with a smile and settled on opening her eyes lazily. 

Adria quickly put her hand down. She didn’t want to remind Cassie of her scars. Even though Cassie would never apologize, Adria knew she felt bad for striking her. She knew because of the way Cassie had fussed about the wound for weeks, making sure it was bandaged and cleaned, and hissing slightly at herself when she muttered how close it had been to Adria’s eye.  As much as Cassie hated that time, Adria remembers it as the time she realized Cassie cared. She cared in a way that she couldn’t express openly.

Cassie glanced at the clock, then back at Adria. “Did you sleep at all?”

Adria was sure she had to have slept because she kept having nightmares about being late, but she didn't feel rested. Never show weakness. “Yeah. Did you?”

Cassie started stretching in that lythe way only she could do, arching her back and popping all her joints in quick succession. 

Adria watched with rapt attention.

“I slept just fine with a tossing and turning blonde girl waking me up every few minutes.” Despite her words, she smiled. She stopped stretching and moved to Adria’s side, poking her with her nails in the stomach.

Adria couldn’t help but smile as she flinched. “Sorry. I’m nervous.”

“About the alarm or the next big Camp win you’re going to plan?”

Adria blinked, not wanting to admit either. She instead started to get out of bed.

Cassie whined. “You could at least stay here until the alarm goes off. Kind of cruel of you to get me addicted to your warmth just to take it away.”

Addicted to warmth. That turn of phrase turned over in Adria’s head. It sounded like something Commander Shade would say. It didn’t make her want to lay back down. She didn’t want to be weak.  She stood up instead.

Cassie didn’t react, except her tail beat on the mattress in protest.

“I’ve got a lot of things to do this morning. If Lord Herman approved my plans- then I don’t have a lot of time to prepare.”

Cassie rolled over on her back, put her hands above her head, and stretched out. “You’re going to prepare for an attack before you even know if it’s been approved? Damn Adria, you really are a loser.”

Adria looked back to give a comeback, but her attention was arrested by how Cassie looked on the bed, spread out like that. It looked like an invitation, but to what she wasn’t sure. She tried to regain her brain, drag it back to a witty comeback to play along- to counterpoint the verbal banter that both of them used to avoid anything real, but her stomach betrayed her. It growled long and hard.

Cassie sat up, her ears alert. “Are you ok?”

Adria put a hand over her stomach. “I just need to go get breakfast before things get started.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes at Adria. “Did you skip meals yesterday?”

Adria turned away to start putting on her boots.

“The f**k, Adria? You know how that messes you up. It’s not like they let you make up for it. They call them ration bars for a reason. They get rationed!”

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.” Her stomach betrayed her again by making a louder noise.

“Do you remember the last time you skipped meals? You passed out during training, and I had to drag your ass back to the barracks and steal food for you until you got better.” 

Adria avoided Cassie’s eyes as she buckled her boots and stood up.

Cassie was out of the bed and glaring.  “We watch out for each other, right?”

Adria nodded.

“Well, right now, I can’t be around you during the day, so I need you to take care of yourself. I need you to eat.” Her tail flicked back and forth erratically. “You and your stupid self-sacrificial bullshit.” She turned on Adria with her brows furrowed. She poked a nail into Adria’s chest, but her words stung more. “You’ve got to be selfish for me. You’ve got to take what you need and tell everyone else to screw it.”

Adria looked away, grabbing her jacket.

“I mean it. I need you to survive long enough for us to-”

Adria stopped cold, hanging on to those words. Maybe her face looked hopeful, or scared, or a mix of both.

Cassie turned away, frustrated, before finishing, “We’ve got to survive this place so we can rule the world, right?”

Adria nodded.

“Then make sure you eat and sleep.” Cassie watched Adria put on her Squad Captain badge and felt a sudden pain at it before she added, “Or else they're all going to see that you’re not at your peak, and they’re going to chew you up and spit you out.”

That also sounded like something Commander Shade would say. It made Adria’s stomach feel sick. She set her jaw and looked Cassie in the eye. “I’m not weak.”

“I know.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I know.”

Her stomach growled again. “I’m going to get breakfast.”

Cassie folded her arms. “You’d better.”

Just then, the alarm went off, and Adria hit it hard to quiet it. She didn’t want to say anything else. She didn’t want to betray any other feelings or weaknesses or admit how tired and hungry she was. She left her room without another word.

Cassie followed and slapped Adria in the back before sprinting down the hall to get to the barracks in time.

Adria righted herself from the playful hit and watched Cassie leave with an ache she ascribed to hunger, even though she felt it in her chest.

Her stomach hunger got worse when she was back in line for breakfast, holding an empty tray and her mouth-watering for even the brown ration bars.

She was startled when she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder. The air crackled, and she didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

“Lord Herman has summoned you, Squad Captain,” Commander Shade said, her voice dripping with pride.

Adria stared at her, and for a moment, held on to her tray with Cassie’s words from that morning echoing in her head. She needed to be selfish and tell people to what? Screw it? She couldn’t tell Commander Shade to tell Lord Herman to screw it.

“Well? What are you waiting for? You have an audience with Lord Herman himself.”

Adria never took her eyes off Commander Shade as she, against her stomach’s wishes, put the tray down and followed Commander Shade out of the cafeteria. There would be plenty of time for eating later. Destiny awaited.

She regretted it when she was standing in front of Lord Herman for the first time, stomach empty and feeling faint.

He didn’t look at her, which was preferable. He instead sat on his throne and looked at her paperwork. “Commander Shade tells me you think you can take Scriver in a day.” He flipped through some of the papers.

Adria had to reach deep into her memory, past the hunger, the tiredness, to remember why in the world she thought that. “Our scouts have reported no buildings, no weapons, and no standing guards or soldiers. It seems they are confident in their Princess’s ability to protect them. That pride will be their undoing.”

He did look up at that. Adria straightened her back.

Commander Shade moved forward, gathering his attention. “As you can see in the plan, the whole operation hinges on a fast strike to overwhelm the princess, separate her from her people, and divide her attention. Really, a brilliant strategy.”

He closed the papers. “I don't care about strategy. I care about progress.” He tapped his finger on his throne. “I’ll authorize it, but it needs to be enacted immediately. I don’t want to give them time to realize what we’re doing. A decisive strike to get to the heart of Scriver.”

“And take the Blossom runestone for our own.”

At that, he sighed. “I still fail to see how gaining hold of a runestone we can’t control will help.”

Adria wished, more than anything, that instead of being there listening to a strange fight she had no context for, she was back in the cafeteria eating. Her stomach gave a small growl, and she was suddenly happy that they were talking too loud to hear her.

Commander Shade continued. “I can learn to tap it the same way I’ve learned to tap the Black Garnet, doubling our magic potential.”

Lord Herman stood up and threw the papers on the ground at Adria’s feet. “I grow tired of this conversation. Just move.” He turned toward the darker side of his room.

Adria bent down to grab up the papers, quickly re-arranging them back into the folder before Commander Shade touched her shoulder and led her out. 

Once they were out of the room and the door shut, Commander Shade turned to Adria. “You have done well. You heard Lord Herman- speed is of the essence. You are to deliver the orders to martial and enact this plan today.”

“Yes, Commander Shade.” Adria’s brain was churning at high speed with everything that needed to happen. She felt overwhelmed. She pushed that down and ran to start delivering orders. Breakfast and lunch would have to wait.