A week passed before Iree’s next verdict was delivered. It came to Dorothea over breakfast, where the atmosphere was one much different than usual. Rather, it seemed that some positions had been flipped.

Ariana was acting in a way that was almost… pleasant. Not once had she rolled her eyes or muttered some snarky comment or other. Cerid in turn was acting as Ariana usually did. Well, no, that wasn’t completely true. He was willing to talk to Dorothea and was as courteous as always. He was dead-set, however, on not giving Shark the time of day. Seeing him of all people give off such frosty anger was disconcerting.

Dorothea was watching Shark lean across the table, legs dangling in the air while their stomach was pressed flat to it, in an effort to get Cerid’s attention when Ariana’s low voice pierced into her ear.

“I wanted to apologize to you.”

Even after Dorothea made sense of the words, double-checking that she knew their definitions and hadn’t misheard, she still pinched herself since the whole scene had to be a dream at that point. But it wasn’t so.

“Um, thank you.” The apology had to be compelled, ordered by Iree or someone else above Ariana. Dorothea hadn’t felt the sparks of hatred that warmed her as they flashed from Ariana’s eyes dwindling at all.

Ariana didn’t leave it at that. “I’ll be clear. I don’t like you, and I don’t think I ever will. But there are more important things, and I’m going to put my energy into those instead.”

Meaning Dorothea wasn’t even worth the effort it took to despise. Fair point. “I admire that. It’s a good resolution,” she said, offering an honest compliment to try and help seal their truce. It was very mature of Ariana, wasn’t it?

Ariana bit back an angry retort; it was easy to tell, as she took a breath and exhaled softly to calm herself. “We don’t have to get along, and you don’t have to like me either. But let’s at least make this work.”

“Of course.” Dorothea met Ariana’s eyes, only noticing now how often she’d avoided them up to this point. “I never hated you, you know.”

The eyes yielded nothing, no shift in emotion or sign of change. “Yeah. I know.” Ariana nodded and seemed content to let the subject drop, as she didn’t say anything else.

Feeling decidedly unoptimistic about the ceasefire, Dorothea checked on Shark with a glance and found them sitting next to Cerid now, frowning a stubborn frown as Cerid flushed red with anger alongside a sense of humiliation she didn’t understand.

Goodness, did she and Shark need to talk about some things. It seemed that every time they tried to take a moment, someone would swoop in with some new task for one of them. Dorothea, useless as she was in terms of helping with general soldierly duties, had been asked to assist with the general upkeep of the barracks and lend a hand to Hollyhock in the kitchen. Shark had been sent on patrol after patrol throughout the fort and, while they didn’t complain, Dorothea could see they were starting to get annoyed. Rhys was also often pulled away though he was meant to be her new guard, and he always came running back to her looking just a little more frazzled each time. Cerid still joined them for meals when he could, but he was busy with the press as well as with efforts to efficiently organize Springen’s exploded population. In short, she’d spent a lot of time alone with Ariana and Hollyhock.

Before she could get Shark’s attention away from Cerid, a pair approached the table. Iree and Rhys didn’t sit as Dorothea expected them to; rather, they hovered, Iree wearing a grin and standing in her usual pose, hands on hips and legs shoulder-width apart, while Rhys slouched, hands visibly twitching from their place cloaked in his jacket pockets.

Foreboding flooded Dorothea, a wave that chilled her in its passage. “What’s happening?” she asked, voice tight.

Iree laughed. “Good morning to you too! Atlin, come with us. Morning, Creed, Olyen. Kingfisher.”

As always, it wasn’t a request. With a glance at Shark, whose face betrayed that ze shared her nervousness, Dorothea followed them outside.

“Do you want to explain, Rhys, or should I?” Iree asked once they hovered near the barracks entrance. It almost felt like she was goading him, such was the laughter in her eyes.

Rhys’ words dripped with exhaustion and reluctance. “We’ll be taking back Sunmer.”

“Okay?” Dorothea looked between them, confusion helping her swallow her fear. What was she missing here?

Rhys looked pained. “Just the two of us. You and I, Dorothea.”

Her breath caught in her throat, and she coughed. “I-I’m sorry? Did your council order this?” No, that didn’t make sense either. She and Rhys were the ones who had bungled things in the first place, so there was no way anyone would want them in charge.

“They don’t know about it, actually,” Iree informed her, chipper.

“Then why… Then how…”

“The two of you need to prove your loyalty to Sacer,” Iree stated. “And this is how you’re going to do it. The story we’ll tell the council is that you set off on your own to redeem yourselves. Do a good job at this and the worst you’ll both get is a scolding. Fail, though… Well, you’ll be fine, Atlin. Probably. Rhys, though… Not so much. We don’t take kindly to enemy sympathizers.” It wasn’t a quiet threat; all was laid bare, Rhys’ potential fate clear to them.

“I don’t—” Rhys began to protest.

“That’s not going to stop people from talking shit!” Iree snapped. “Silence all doubt about who you’re fighting for, Rhys, or you’re not the only one who’ll suffer. Your family will get caught in the crossfire.”

The shack flashed in Dorothea’s mind, two angry people with nowhere to go. Ah, so this was Iree’s intent: to save her former captain from falling any further. Dorothea couldn’t even say she was wrong. Action would go much further to silence doubt than words. Even so, her frantic, terrified thoughts insisted that this was nothing less than a suicide mission.

As she scrambled to form a protest of her own, Iree’s final words to send them off sealed the deal. “You told me you’d fight, Rhys. So do it.” It was a dare, a demand, and it wouldn’t be ignored.

Dorothea turned to him, but he avoided her eyes. “We’ll…succeed. Without a doubt,” she reassured Iree in as confident a tone as she could muster.

“Good luck, you two!” Iree winked before zooming off. Dorothea couldn’t help but wonder why she always felt the need to make such hasty departures. It wasn’t as if either of them could have said anything against her.

If Rhys shared her anxieties, he didn’t show it. “Nothing to do but set off,” he said, launching at a pace she knew he knew she couldn’t keep up with.

“Wait just a second!” Dorothea seized his sleeve after speed-shuffling to his side. “This doesn’t seem insane to you at all? Because to me, it’s just, well, insane!” She stumbled as he kept going without any heed for her tugging at him.

“Just wait,” he whispered.

Oh. So he wasn’t upset with her, at least. But why wait, and for what?

His answer came when they had escaped Springen’s bounds and travelled some ways. “We’re going to be watched on this mission,” he informed her quietly. “I don’t know at what point, but I think I know who. We need to be aware of that. I’m sorry for acting aloof back there, but…” He frowned. “This whole thing’s got me a little paranoid, I admit.”

“I think I understand.” If it was Iree’s intention for them to prove themselves, it made morbid sense she would want to be sure the deed was done. “But… What does that mean for the people in Sunmer?” What if the Ghurians had already moved civilians in?

“No survivors. The terms are clear.” Rhys nodded in sympathy, or maybe empathy, as she paled. “We can hope to only find soldiers there, but that’s about it. They wouldn’t leave the fort unprotected, and they must be anticipating some sort of counterattack.”

“Hopefully they’ve waited.” She hesitated, knowing it was useless to push it. “Is there really no other way?”

“Look where trying that’s gotten us,” he muttered. “Listen, Dorothea. I want you to be careful of Ariana.”

“Why?” Despite everything, she’d never gotten the impression that Ariana would try to hurt her seriously.

“Just… Ugh. I can’t really base it on anything right now, but… And don’t you think it’s weird just how busy I’ve been lately? Shark too. We’re barely getting breaks, and nothing’s even happening right now. I don’t really… I can’t explain, but…” He gave up, obviously knowing as well as she did that the longer he went on the less sense he made.

“I’ll be careful.” She trusted him and his judgement.

He smiled some, and it made her feel safer to see it. It faded in an instant, though. “Thank you.”

He looked so, so tired. How could she protect him from the council, from Iree, from the violence itself and its impacts on him? “Um… How are we going to go about this, exactly?” They were outnumbered, guaranteed. The least they could do was form a strategy, not that Dorothea even knew where to start in regards to that.

“All you need to do is stay close to me, and I’ll handle the rest.”

“Is that really all?” It couldn’t be.

“It is. I know I haven’t given you any reason to believe this, but I can handle myself.”

That wasn’t what she was worried about. “Um, Rhys, you… Do you think you’ll be able to…”

He stopped walking and bent, turning sharply, for his eyes to be level with hers. “I’ll protect you. I promise.”

“That’s not it!” Was he truly so dense?

He jumped and stood at full height. “Then… What?”

“I’m worried about you. About whether or not you’ll be okay!”

“Oh…” He laughed, smothering it against a fist. “That didn’t occur to me, honestly. It should have.”

Dorothea’s fear at the task ahead was blending with a growing impatience. “Rhys, what did you and Iree agree on?” She’d said he’d told her he’d fight. Under what conditions?

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Rhys.”

“Okay, okay.” He looked about, restless. “The deal we made is that I’ll fight like I used to in return for me trading places with Cerid. Look. I won’t lie and say it has nothing to do with you, but your choices are independent of mine. Dorothea, I…” A short, soft sigh blew out from his lips. “I’m going to see where this path goes. The very best I can do right now is to think moment by moment.”

“I understand. And I’ll protect you, too.” Why did he look so surprised that she thought he was worth that level of care? “Remember that we’re in this together.” Judging from the state he’d been in at the end of the last battle, he wasn’t going to end the day and still be alright. She wanted to be there in whatever capacity he needed, even if the things she could do to help were only miniscule.

“Thanks.” He took a shaky breath and unlocked his hands, them having been clenched together so tight it looked painful. “We should hurry.”

“Right.” The trek continued, the two sticking close and keeping their voices hushed in the now rare moments they spoke. Dorothea looked at the trees ahead of them and waited for an enemy to leap out, flinching at the shadows of swooping birds and the gentle rustling of leaves.

Too soon, the fort wall was in sight with flashes peeping through the treeline. “Maybe they haven’t moved civilians in yet…” Dorothea whispered, almost begging. Please, please let that be the case.

“Just stay close, no matter what,” Rhys murmured as they snuck on. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s posted in the watchtower… But there are some patrolling on the wall. Likely, there’s a pair or group stationed at every point. Though I don’t suppose it matters where we go in.”

Dorothea could see them too, small figures bobbing along with no idea that death had come hunting them. Or, as soldiers, were they always aware of that hunt, the ever-shifting roles of predator and prey? “Then maybe…” She faltered and looked around when Rhys held a finger to his lips.

He had become aware of multiple sets of footsteps before her. Now that she noticed, the sound of soft shuffling floated closer to inspire a disproportionate terror. Dorothea held her breath and huddled against a tree, digging her fingers into pale flakes of bluish-white lichens, while Rhys stood as a barrier between her and whatever threat approached them.