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FERRIN FELT LIKE HE might vomit, though it would only be dates and water. After passing the ruins and overhearing Otsana, Ylid and Evynria discussing the travesty of the refugees there, he didn’t know what to do with himself.
He could be someone who did something about it. He had power, influence, and money. He had the resources to help these people. He even knew these people had been living here, and instead had set his sights and energy on trying to prevent the prophecy... on his own people, who may or may not be harmed by the War Of All, but not to help those who’d already been harmed.
The weight of his error in judgment felt like mountains crushing his spirit to its knees.
When the sun finally began to set, they all dismounted to set up camp. Ferrin did so mindlessly and silently, his thoughts stuck in the downward spiral of guilt over his lack of action.
He held up a pole, as requested and stared listlessly at the sand. The setting sun painted the gold grains into a deep orange, contrasted against the black shadows, altogether like a dying fire in a hearth.
Someone put a hand on his shoulder and he flinched in surprise. Ferrin looked over to see Otsana cocking her head and smiling a little at him, though her eyes conveyed her confusion.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?” he asked.
She chuckled. “I was trying to pass you the tarp to put on the pole you’re holding.”
He rubbed at his shoulder, grimacing behind his mask. “I’m sorry. I think the... sun got to me, or something.”
“It was brutal,” she agreed with a smile back.
His heart lurched in his chest at her glowing expression, only to drift and fall like an autumn leaf from a branch, knowing it was time to let go no matter how much it hurt.
He took the tarp from her and helped set up the rest of the tent. The end result became a tunnel of tents with three separate “rooms” inside and opened with flaps on the sides. They decided to make the center room a gathering and eating room, should the conditions outside be too difficult to endure, and the other two would be to sleep and dress. As extreme as the heat had been during the day, he knew the nights were just as cold, so Otsana and Enloris began to set up the fire.
Evynria went to create a magical circumference around their campsite to prevent scorpions and snakes from entering. He wondered why they hadn’t had a spell like that last time, so he wouldn’t have had to wake up to one on his chest. Arnes and Arrius took care of the camels, tying them to some nearby palms and giving them water and food. Ylid had dug a hole earlier and was now calling forth water into it with their abilities. They’d agreed to use them for the night, since they could replenish their energy and magic while they slept.
Ferrin felt rather helpless, which seemed to be a recurring theme in his life.
He’d gathered all of these powerful and majestic beings to help him with his cause, but what, if anything, did he have to give them in return besides the pain, misery, and fear they’d endured on the journey thus far? He felt useless, selfish.
His heart plummeted to his feet as he watched Otsana helping Enloris build the fire. Ferrin needed to do something about the refugees at the very least. As soon as they got to South Galvany, he’d be able to gather his advisors and scribes to get started on researching the situation more thoroughly. But also, the closer they got to his homeland, the sooner he’d have to reveal the truth.
Someone elbowed him in the arm and he jumped in surprise again, before looking down to see Evynria standing beside him this time.
“Feeling left out?” she asked with a tilted smile.
He chuckled, though it came out cynically. “Burden on you all, more like.”
She shook her head. “Not every task requires everyone,” she said, and then shrugged. “But I know what you mean. It’s how I felt at the inn, and while waiting for you all to rescue Otsana earlier today.”
Ferrin raised a brow. “You were the one who did the most work at the inn, and you helped us find her, not to mention heal my wound.”
“The inn was an accident,” she said, pointing her index finger for emphasis. “At first, all I did was point out a monster, while I helplessly went to bed and hoped you wouldn’t need my healing abilities.”
“Well, we did need them, just not for us, I suppose,” he added. Then he smiled ruefully. “You and I are starting to seem too similar. Which divinity put us up to this?”
Evynria laughed. “Oh, if I knew. I’d give them quite the talking to.”
Ferrin laughed too, this time feeling more natural and light than before. She was right. Not all tasks required everyone to be involved, and there were moments when each of them would be at the sidelines in turn. In the meantime, he’d keep his promise to himself to help the Displaced, one way or another, and ensure the War Of All didn’t happen.
By the time the camp was fully set up, the sun beamed weakly just at the horizon line, and the heat of the day seemed to have seeped from the air into some other realm. Otsana and Enloris had cooked up the spiced rice, toasted the long rippable bread, and brought out the larger pieces of salted meats, so they all gathered around the fire to eat.
“I hate to ask,” Otsana said as she dug her bread into the rice. “But did we find out who it was?”
Ferrin and Ylid looked at one another, mirroring each other’s worry over the subject, before he turned to look over at Evynria. She merely tore pieces of her bread into chunks, unable to make eye contact with anyone.
“Some rebel supremacists from South Galvany,” Arnes answered.
Enloris’ face had gone stony, staring into the fire, and a shiver went down Ferrin’s spine. Though he helped get the answers, he still hadn’t talked with him about how he felt about Evynria being involved. From the look on his face now, and how protective the knight usually was, he could guess not happy was an understatement.
“South Galvany?” Arrius repeated.
“Are they the ones who planted the amulet?” Otsana asked.
Evyn’s head swiveled up to look at her. “You knew about that?”
Otsana paused, before looking down at her plate for a moment, and then looking back up at their healer. “Well, it had only been a theory. We weren’t sure.”
She nodded slowly, before looking back at her plate again. “I see.”
Ferrin’s heart clenched a little from guilt. He hadn’t realized how much she’d been left out of this whole time. When they first theorized about someone tampering with their journey, she’d been trapped in the amulet, and since then no one had filled her in.
Arnes cleared his throat. “Yes, it seems they were. They weren’t hired by the government, at least not officially, so it wasn’t on the king’s orders to interfere. But the soldier we questioned didn’t know who specifically had hired them, only the mission itself.”
“What would make anyone want to stop us?” Otsana asked. “You’d think more people would want to help... other than the skeptics that don’t think it will happen at all.”
“Apparently, there’s a ridiculous assumption that this war will finally decide a victor between the brothers,” Ylid shared. “And each country has its loyalists that want the other half of their country returned to them.”
“I’d like to wipe them both off the map at this point,” Arrius interjected. “They’re behaving like spoiled children.”
Otsana nodded. “They make it very difficult to want to save them, that’s for sure.”
Ferrin shifted in his seat. He partially agreed with them, but he knew there were others, particularly those who weren’t in power in his home country, that deserved protection. It was just hard to say so.
“Well, we shouldn’t punish the many for the actions of the few,” Evynria said, still looking down at her plate, but all eyes fell on her anyway. “If anything, stopping this war could also hopefully quiet the rebels down, too.”
Her words were met with silence, at first, but then Otsana nodded. “Right you are, Ev.”
She looked up then, finding all their attention on her and abruptly stood up. “I’m... going to bed.”
After putting her dish in the wash basin, she walked off to the tent, and Enloris quickly followed her.
“Roan.” Otsana looked at Ferrin with a brow lifted. “Is she alright?”
Ferrin shook his head.
“She’s had a long day. We all have,” Ylid said diplomatically.
Ferrin looked over at them, and they gave him a pointed look, but he frowned. Otsana should know what happened, but he and Ylid both knew she had a righteous temper.
“What?” the Faunomancer demanded anyway, just as they’d both expected.
Ylid sighed and looked over at Arnes this time. “Care to explain what happened while she was unconscious?”
“What happened?” Arrius demanded, as well.
Arnes set his plate down in the sand, and then put his hands together in front of his mouth, as though he were thinking what to say. Ferrin’s rage wanted to fill in the space with words of his own, but he found himself curious as to how Arnes would explain himself to her.
“The soldier I mentioned,” he began. “We took him as a hostage when we found you.”
Otsana looked confused at first, and then her eyes widened. “No.”
“What?” Arrius asked, seeming confused as to why she was so upset. “What’s happening?”
Ylid hung their head, unable to look anyone in the eye.
Arnes opened his hands. “We needed answers, Otsana. You were taken from us, and we needed to know who and why. And you may not be as familiar with that business as the rest of us, but force is sometimes necessary to get those answers.”
“Did she see?” she asked, jaw set and eyes blazing.
He hesitated. “I asked her to heal him, to keep him conscious so that we could get the information we needed.
Otsana launched to her feet. “You involved her?”
He bowed his head. “I thought it the best way to get our answers in the most timely manner. I didn’t know if they had others hiding in wait.” He looked back up, pleadingly. “You must understand, all of you. We are on a delicate time schedule, and sometimes unsavory decisions must be made in order to stay on that schedule and prevent this war.”
She remained standing, but crossed her arms. “I understand that, but there had to have been a better way to get the answers that didn’t involve her.”
That had been Ferrin’s exact reasoning earlier when he’d argued with Arnes on the subject.
Ylid looked up at her. “To be honest, Otsana, as much as I also disagreed with how everything happened, her involvement was what got us the answers we needed.”
Arnes nodded. “She came in just the once to heal them, and appealed to them with sympathy. He cried from guilt and told us everything we needed to know.”
She smiled and sat back down. “That’s my girl.”
“Perhaps she should be the one doing the questioning from now on then,” Arrius said, folding his arms. “Win them over with wine, not coax them with chains.”
Arnes nodded. “Perhaps that’s why the Divine guided us to her.”
“I believe that to be true. She’s too gentle a person for me to believe she’s meant to be corrupted by violence,” Ferrin agreed. “We’re trying to prevent a war, after all, not start one.”
Arnes looked deep into the fire. “Perhaps...”