Curse Breaker (2)

13

In all my scheming, I'd forgotten how cautious Casimir was when it came to risk mitigation.

The afternoon sun beats down on us as we sit side by side in the forest, the stubborn set of his jaw unmoving as we stare one another down. We've been out here for over an hour, ever since Casimir finished up at the 'confidential' meeting during breakfast I wasn't allowed to attend.

He found me straight away, in one of the side tunnels studying the map I snatched from Killian's bag, and dragged me outside to talk. It's definitely more of an argument.

"We should leave tonight," I bargain.

"Too early." He shakes his head. "Not enough time to plan."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"Next week at the earliest."

"Next week?" I shake my head. "Cas, the longer we leave this the harder its going to be. He'll never be as unguarded as he is now. It'll only be a matter of days before word gets to Sanaa that I've escaped. They know I'll go back for Samu."

"What's to say she doesn't already know?"

He makes a valid point. It took me, Lei, and Killian a day and a half to reach the spot where Elex found me, but we stopped to rest twice, and the first 12 hours was slow due to the fact that Killian accounted for me following them on foot. It's been about 12 hours since I escaped. I don't know what they would've done when they realised I was gone. Whether or not they continued with the plan and went to see Myers, or went back to camp to report my escape to Sanaa.

I've tried not to think too much about it. I've tried not to think about Killian for too long, because my head is a crazed mess. Picturing that look on his face before he let me go, thinking about what he did, trying to understand why--they're thoughts that lead me down a path I'm not sure I want to entertain.

"I still think we should leave tonight."

"You need to slow down, Frey," he says. "I barely just got you back and you already want to run off and risk your life again?"

"I'm not risking my life, Cas. They're not going to hurt me."

"Right," he says. "They'll just lock you away again and forbid you from leaving. Like that's any better."

He has a point, but I ignore him. "What did Trina say this morning? When you told her the plan?" He shifts, something flickering across his face. I frown. "You didn't tell her the plan?"

"Elex and I were talking last night--"

I nudge his side. "I'm aware, your whispers kept me awake for hours." He nudges me in the ribs, hard. "Okay, okay, sorry. What were you talking about?"

"We don't think we should tell Trina what we're doing."

I pause, sitting up straight to stare at him. "If I wanted to get Samu out of there on my own, I wouldn't have left him there in the first place."

"You won't be alone. You'll have me and Elex."

"But compared to a deserter army?" I say. "Cas, we need the deserters help. I don't know that we'll be able to break into their camp without it."

"Look," he says, "Trina doesn't believe anything that you've said. She doesn't believe that the Torinnian shifters are any different to Ereon. She doesn't believe that the cloud is something worth worrying about. And she certainly doesn't believe there's any benefit in trying to get Samu."

"And what do you believe?"

He sighs. "It's complicated."

"No, tell me. Do you think I'm lying, too?"