The Keepers of Azera ( Book 1 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 26

One of the things that surprise me the most about living in the Training Base is how fast the days fly, even though the weeks are basically on repeat, us doing the same thing on the same day as last week. It barely seems long at all that Poppa arrived, but one week later, he's announcing over dinner that he'll be returning home tomorrow morning. "But I will get that picture of you before I leave," he adds.

"What?" I explode, spilling food all over my lap.

"Listen, I told Momma and Artie I would bring home a picture of you and James. I haven't forced the issue, because every time I brought it up, you would try to avoid a picture, but I really would like-"

"No, how could you be leaving so quickly?"

"It's not quickly; I've been here for a week. Besides, I did everything that I needed to do. I made sure the twins were settled in, I talked to the older Keepers, I talked to...other people-" his eyes flicker to where Matilda sits with the other Trainers- "there's nothing else for me to do."

"Right," I mumble, playing with my soup.

Poppa lays a hand on my shoulder. "Listen, I know you don't want me to go, but I don't have a choice in that matter."

"What about the-" Alexa begins, but Amacus throws her a dirty look.

"That matter has already been taken care of," Poppa says.

After dinner, instead of going to the gym, James drags me to the dorm and has me sit on the couch with him. It takes ten mess-ups before Poppa manages to get a decent shot. By this time, Amacus is waiting outside the dorm, and both he and I are feeling pretty antsy. "Can we go now?" I ask once the picture is taken.

"Not yet," Poppa says. "James, I need your help with something. Amacus, could you stay here with Callie?"

"Of course," Amacus says. I've noticed over the week that he's been losing the harsh growl in his voice. The gravelliness is still there-it's probably a part of his accent- but it's more gentle. James follows Poppa out of the dorm.

"Okay, so what's going on?" I ask him the second the door shuts.

"I do not understand what you're asking," he says, wandering over to a shelf filled with framed photos.

"You shut up Alexa during dinner. Why?" I join him by the shelf.

"She was about to spill information about the alliance between the Turamese and the Azerans. Information we only knew about because of our place in the royal family." He picks up a picture of James holding a toddler me in front of the capitol building. I'm laughing and hugging James, one of my pigtails tickling his cheek. I had forgotten my hair was ever shorter than my shoulders.

"Oh yeah. I forgot you and Alexa are prince and princess."

"What?" he looks at me and puts the picture back down. "I have no idea what that means."

"Well, your father is the king, so-" I stop, because I realize the concept would probably just go over his head. "Do you have any siblings besides Alexa?" I ask, trying to change the subject. I'll respect military secrets if it's for a good reason.

"I have a younger brother, and he is horrible," he looks over at me with a grin. "I cannot believe the amount of gifts my parents will get him. What about you?"

"I have a younger sister, but I never met her," I say.

He raises an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I never got the chance to. She was a baby when the war started; the Training Base was shut down to outside visitors once it did."

"Mmm." He pulls down another picture. "Who's that?" he asks.

I look at the photo. He's pointing to a woman with long straight hair. She sits on a couch next to James, who's taking a drink out of a plastic cup. "That's James's sister. May, I think her name was." I blush when I realize Amacus is staring at me. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just trying to figure something out. You have so many pictures."

"James loves cameras," I say with a shrug. "What were you trying to figure out?"

"Something," he says evasively.

I open my mouth to ask him to elaborate, but then the door swings open. "Are we going to training or no?" James asks, poking his head in.

"I don't know, James; you told us to stay here," I point out. "Of course we're going to training!"

"Okay, good." He opens the door for me and I follow him out into the hallway. Amacus starts to follow us, but Poppa tells him, "I need to talk to you." 

The annoyance of putting off training is almost palpable as Amacus asks, "About what?"

Poppa glances at me. Amacus flushes. "I- it is nothing, I swear-"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Poppa says, "but perhaps you can clear it up for me?"

Amacus's face turns an even deeper shade of red. Poppa puts a hand on his shoulder and leads him into the dorm. James looks at me. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," I say with a shrug. "I don't think he really wants to be missing practice, though."

"No, we may have to cut it a little short today. It won't kill us though."

"It might kill him," I say, glancing back at the dorm.