Scales and Swords ✓

45: We Will Join Cyr

"When?" I said.

"Tonight."

I stood, hiding the eruption of emotions beneath as best as I could. "I will inform my sister."

He nodded, standing as well. He walked me out and left me at the foot of the bridge. I nodded a goodbye, turning away, allowing myself to breathe. I was a walking bomb just waiting to explode. Every second with my back turned to him I knew he watched me, he studied me, he didn't get to this point without trusting everyone. But even more than that, the confidence in all he did. Self-assured and composed, he had calculated all his moves and was sure they'd work out.

Was it all a bluff or had he actually assembled a team strong enough to take down the heads of Kreatier's army? Was he testing me, tricking me into slipping up? Or had he actually planned it and was he actually going to do it? The answer didn't matter though, not yet, false or not, I didn't have the privilege of doubting such a man.

With stiff steps, I passed the bridge and entered the elevator. Was it just me or was the air up here thinner? I was struggling just to take a breath. The tree tops seemed so close though still a great distance away, just a little more and I'd be above the trees, up in the sky, touching the stars. The stars. They slowly grew brighter as the sky around them grew darker. And Philip, Rowan and Lucius still hadn't made it back yet, according to Mars who'd be the first to see them.

I rushed over to Brise immediately. She was sharpening her knives which were arrayed on our dining table when I arrived, slamming the door open. Without glancing my way she said, "you're not usually so inconsiderate, what is the matter?"

"Cyr is planning to attack the military heads," I let out in one breath.

Her gaze snapped my way.

"When did you hear this?" She placed the knife in her hand into the arrangement.

"Barely five minutes ago." I paced the miniature living room. "He wants us to join them, in the attack, tonight."

Brise remained silent for a moment, her gaze glued to her knives. Then she stood calmly, collected her knives and placed them into her baldric which she usually wore under her dress. I watched her quietly, waiting for her reply.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

She fixed the baldric over her shoulder and met my expectant gaze. "We listen to Cyr, we earn his trust."

"But we need to warn them, send a message."

Her eyes downcast she shook her head. "It'll never reach them in time. If not some then all. Have the others arrived yet?"

"Not yet." I let out a rough breath, flames erupting from my mouth without my will. "There must be some way to warn them. Something to bring a message across to them."

Brise sighed, raising her head, her steely gaze meeting mine. "Lock the doors and windows. Plug your ears and no matter what happens and what you see don't stop until I tell you to."

I got to work, securing the doors and windows shut. When I returned, Brise had gotten to her knees, holding in both her hands a crooked ebony dagger, which had been strapped across her heart.

"If ever you hear them," Brise said carefully, "do not take their whispers to heed, you hear me?"

I nodded, plugging my ears, having no clue of what she meant, trusting her blindly.

She spoke so softly, I could only watch her lips move. Her lips difficult to read. No, even if I could make out the words I never would have understood. As she continued to whisper, the room seemed to grow darker, heavier, suffocatingly tense. It was just her and I but it suddenly felt like there were a hundred more people occupying our already tight space. Shadows abound, surrounding her, though not passing a certain point that encircled her.