A young doctor unexpectedly finds herself forced to indoctrinate into a paramilitary organization, where a stoic hero silently falls in love. Slowly, he earns her trust. The love between them burns away the darkness of the past and acts as a beacon...
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"I'm fine." I returned, adding more kindling.
I felt Arthur hoovering over me and dutifully ignored him.
"Hey, seriously, Ryn, are you good?" He questioned awkwardly.
"Yes," I said dismissively. Rising to my feet to prepare the rice and water.
"Hey Ric," Arthur muttered, greeting his brother.
I returned to the growing fire, placing the food to cook.
"Everything okay?" Aldric asked, picking up on the shift in the atmosphere.
An awkward silence settled around us, and Arthur and I glanced at each other, unsure of what to say.
Fortunately, the moment was interrupted by Solan and the evaluator entering our area.
Although things were tense when Solan left, things were noticeably worse. His eyes settled on mine in question. I looked back indifferently before dropping my eyes back to the rice.
We ate in tired silence, huddled around the small fire we would soon need to snuff. The meal improved our spirits, but thoughts of my father still weighed on me heavily.
As the snow fell around us, Solan ran through his plan. The low timber of his voice comforted me more than the warm food.
We were set to disembark for our mission around midnight. I glanced at my watch. It was already pushing nine.
We will leave in about three hours, and I am the first in rotation to keep watch. Solan was second, followed by Aldric and Arthur. But we worked 90-minute shifts, so Solan's shift will be the last tonight.
I snuffed the fire, and Arthur gave me a weighted look that I ignored.
Unhappy, he ducked into the shelter, Aldric on his heel. I rolled my eyes, sure that Arthur was filling his brother in on all the drama that unfolded.
Great.
I turned my back to the shelter and focused on the perimeter.
I'm on watch, right? So, I'm watching.
Solan stilled beside me, formulating how he would approach the topic I had no desire to discuss. I shifted my weight uncomfortably, dreading whatever would come out of his mouth.
I felt his eyes on me but refused to meet them, keeping my focus on the perimeter.
Suddenly, Solan bent at the waist, drawing my attention. He let his arms drop, then flapped them dramatically up and down.
A smile split across my face. I covered my mouth, silencing a soft giggle at his unexpected action.
Solan flapped even more dramatically, then stood, gazing at me with a smile that tilted his lips upward after seeing the expression on my face.
