INFERNAL - 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

TEN

"There it is! That's the mountain!"

Xian poured on a burst of speed, zipping away into the clouds.

Ndete watched her go, shaking her head slowly. "Where does she get so much energy?"

Beside her, Fayal laughed. "It's only been two days. It'd take a lot more than that to wear her out."

Ndete wished she could say the same. Her wings, sodden with moisture from the cloudy-heavy sky, felt like stone. Her muscles groaned each time she had to lift them again. Thankfully, the thermals over the mountains were plentiful, and they'd been able to glide more often than not during this last leg of the journey.

"So tell me," Fayal's voice was soft and thoughtful. "Is there more to this courtship that I should know about?"

They were alone for the first time, Xian still far ahead, streaking over and under cloud banks. She needed to use this opportunity to tell him all of the things that had been left unsaid so far. Still, she hesitated. Could she truly trust him?

She stole a glance, but his violet eyes still looked ahead, following the trail of vapor his sister left in her wake.

"You know about my brother, Pina." Her voice sounded tentative, even to her. "He was the Pencep. The Pendragon's firstborn son. He was destined to stand atop the raised rock and lead our kind, but after he died... Okmok plotted to put his son Puyu on the throne instead."

"They were the ones who trapped you in the cavern."

Ndete looked up sharply at the hard tone of his voice. His eyes were locked on her. He held them for a moment, then turned back to recapture sight of Xian.

Ndete swallowed hard. "Yes."

"Okmok tried to force you to take his son as a mate?"

"Yes," the word grated against her throat, "but I refused."

"Why?" His tone was softer, but the word resonated with deeper meaning, weighted with all of the questions he had about her and why she had chosen him so quickly.

"Puyu is a bully and a snake." Ndete felt the slow burn of her anger simmer in her belly just speaking of him. "He hurts others to make himself feel stronger. He enjoys torturing anyone smaller or weaker. He laughs at their pain. I would never let that monster set foot on my father's dais."

In the silence after her words, she tried to swallow down the bitter acid that had filled her. How easily Puyu drew her ire.

"What did he do to you?" Fayal's voice was so soft, so tender it was like a caress.

Ndete felt a shiver work from her head down to the tip of her tail. "Nothing," she answered, but the hoarseness in her voice betrayed her. "It was long ago. I'm fully healed."

It was mostly true.

"So you chose me... to get away from him?"

Ah. There it was. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, but mostly there was only concern.

"Puyu may be a bully, but his kind are weak where it matters, at their heart." She shook her head. "No, I did not choose you to escape him. I would have just as gladly stayed and watched as he saw his scheming come to nothing."

"Why then?"

She glanced at him again, and although his eyes were still following Xian, she thought that perhaps he was forcing himself not to look at her, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to his question.

"It was because of Xian."

Now he did glance her way, his face pulled into a confused frown that slowly eased. "She is a special girl," he said thoughtfully.

"Yes," Ndete agreed. "And the way that you care for her is just as special."

From the corner of her eye she saw his head turn, but this time it was she who kept her eyes forward.

"I could tell who you were from the way you were with her, and from how much she loves you." She turned, meeting his startled eyes. "It told me much about your heart."

She saw his throat work as he swallowed, and a ripple of tingles washed over her.

"There was more to it, though."

He quirked one spiked brow. "I suspected."

This was the moment of truth.

"And I suspected that you didn't just come to take part in the preliminaries." She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "When we go back," she said, holding her voice steady and firm, "I want to bring the cure back with us."

The silence stretched out for several long moments following her announcement.

When at last Fayal spoke, his words filled her with emotion. "I think that is an incredibly good idea."

"It's the real reason you came, isn't it?" She didn't try to keep her eyes averted now. She wanted to see his eyes as he answered.

"No," he said, shaking his head firmly back and forth. "It was a factor, but it was not the reason."

Oh.

Now it was Ndete who was speechless.

"You realize, of course, that someone will have to approach the humans? Possibly even stay with them long enough to learn how this cure is made?" His face was inscrutable. "It could be dangerous for whoever goes."

Did he already know? He must suspect.

She forced herself to say the words aloud "It should be me."

The look in his eyes was such a mixture of emotions that she was at a loss to interpret them.

"Are you sure, Ndete?" He didn't question her motives, or her integrity. She sensed that he needed to be sure that this was something she wanted, and not that she was being forced to do it.

Lolo was right.

She had made a wise choice.

"I'm sure." She took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill her lungs. "I am the Pendragon's daughter."

"If it is duty that drives you, there are other ways to fulfill—"

"I want to."

He looked at her, eyes searching.

Ndete's chest shook with the pounding of her heart. This was more than her duty, it was her dream. To walk among the humans. To be one of them, even if it was only for a while.

"I want to hear them sing." This last was a mere whisper, her breath stolen away by the force of her desire.

Fayal's eyes glowed. He gave a shallow nod.

"Then you will."

Ahead of them, Xian disappeared over the snow-capped peak of the mountain. Fayal and Ndete followed, breaking through the clouds into the crisp, thin air at the summit.

Any air she had left was stripped away.

She turned to Fayal in astonishment. He grinned.

"Welcome to the Northern Reaches, Quincess."