"No, no, no." Wallace shook his head. "I'm taking the down bunker."
"No." Ronan refused. "I'm a noble, I get to choose."
"If you're noble, shouldn't you be at the top?" Wallace wiggled his eyebrows.
Judah gave a tired crooked grin, trying his best to analyse the situation, but I suppose he was way too exhausted for this shit.
We were given two rooms. We could choose however we wanted to divide ourselves into, to stay the night. And we thought it'd be a great choice for men to take one room and women to take the other.
They were nobles, but they were kids behind the screens. Judah was the only respectable one here, from my opinion.
"Hey," Judah sighed. "Can you please cut it out? Ronan, you can have my bunker."
"No, brother. I want this one." Ronan grumbled, shooting fucking knives at Wallace.
"Then how about Wallace, you can have my bunker." Judah pointed to his bed and looked expectantly at Wallace.
"I don't want something rejected by a noble." Wallace cringed.
I know, Judah was trying his best, but this was getting out of hand. Ronan and Wallace both had their own egos and self respect high up their heads. But I understand, I want a down bunker too. But it doesn't seem possible right now and I'm absolutely okay with it.
And this sword, I placed it on the floor next to me and started stretching out, trying to keep myself busy while the others bickered.
"Look," Judah rubbed his forehead. "The youngest present here is Quinn. Why don't we let him decide?"
My ears perked up at my name, and my arms stopped mid air. "Huh?"
"What?" Ronan scowled. "It doesn't work that way, brother."
"It does, it does." Judah shrugged Ronan off, and looked at me instead. "Say, Quinn, where would you like to sleep?"
"Whoa, um," I scratched my head. "Am I really the youngest here?"
"Yes." Judah nodded. "We're in our twenties now."
"Hey, I'm not." Wallace butt in. "I'm eighteen, don't mix me up with you old men."
They were all young, to be honest. For all of us to be fighting a war this young, it had to be the worst case scenarios.
"I'm not that old, either." Ronan huffed. "You're the only one, brother."
So were Ronan and Wallace both in their eighteens?
Judah laughed, or attempted to, but it immediately died down when both Ronan and Wallace looked least interested in his humour.
I wonder, how hard it must have been for Judah to look after both Ronan and Eden all this time. Bet, they always want to bite each other's head off.
"I- I'll take the top bunker." I said.
"And since, I'm the oldest one here, I'll choose next." Judah just chuckled at the others' faces at his words. "I'll take the other top bunker. Deal?"
Ronan and Wallace shared looks.
My gaze was constantly shifting between the nobles and Wallace, it felt like I was in a room filled with tension in the atmosphere.
"Deal." Ronan mumbled. "But I'm taking the bunked brother takes."
"I don't want to share a bunker with nobles anyway." Wallace rolled his eyes. "Quinn, go to sleep."
I was startled for a second when he called for me out of nowhere, but I nodded, slowly making my way to the top bunker, and in the meantime, Judah wished everyone a goodnight and switched off the lights.
The things you have to do, when you have siblings, is incredible. And Judah probably is a genius at it.
It wasn't a big bunker or room, it was just enough.
A few minutes passed. I could hear shuffling and grumbling, but in the darkness I could only use my ears to guess who was it. It didn't matter, though. Whoever it was, would probably fall asleep sooner or later.
A few more minutes passed. My eyes were used to the darkness now.
"Hey, Quinn, are you sleep?"
Wallace? Why, though? Why was he.. talking to me out of everyone present here?
"Yeah." I answered.
"I heard you have a sister. And she's a noble?"
I could see Judah and Ronan shift, and that seemed like they were interested in listening to what ever I had to say.
"How do you know that?" I asked, holding my breath so that I could listen in carefully.
"Everybody knows that." Judah explained. He looked wide awake.
"What? How does everyone know?" I sat up, cautiously trying to look at all three of them.
"When Vadon decided to retreat, he was in Mora. He made sure that everyone knew this wasn't the end, and he'll come back for the only surviving noble child still in search and other survivors." Judah tried to reach out from the opposite side of the room towards me. The gap between the bunkers was ignorable. "But it's okay. We're all here to stop him and save her, aren't we?"
I need to calm down. What was wrong with me? I want to go back home, everyone knows, they know about Aenor. I should be there, right?
"Don't panic all the time, twat." Wallace kicked my bunker from below then popping his head out of his bunker so that he could look at me, while Ronan just stayed quiet and facing the wall.
"We lost many of our people, we know the pain. We don't want anyone else going through it." Judah said, taking back his hand.
Trust no one.
So could I trust these guys?
"And, we don't know how long until Vadon attacks again. So, I'm not sorry for asking any personal questions right after we met." Wallace shrugged, going back in.
But there was something growing in me. Was it fear? Or was it that father only warned me about the danger but never told me that Vadon was especially searching for Aenor.
Why?
Wait, what did Judah just say?
"What do you mean the noble child still in search?" I asked, looking at Judah, I could see him from where I was and he didn't look happy about that question.
"Didn't you adopt your sister right after her birth? She was the noble who went missing. Many were asked to search for her, but she was never found. Or more like she wasn't meant to be found."
Okay, that makes sense. Our family always hid the fact that we were connected to the nobles. And maybe that's why no one found her by asking around.
"Did you really not know?"
I looked at Judah with an unknown smile. "I don't know a lot of things."