Kael paced the perimeter of his temporary camp, the cool night air doing little to calm the storm inside him. His men had set up tents a short distance from the clearing where he had met Elyra, but Kael had no intention of resting. Not tonight.
The meeting replayed in his mind like an unfinished battle, every word exchanged, every flicker of emotion on Elyra's face burned into his memory. He had known she wouldn't accept his offer—not outright. He had prepared for her defiance. And yet, seeing her determination, the fire in her eyes, had stirred something he hadn't anticipated: doubt.
"You seem troubled, Commander," a voice drawled from behind him.
Kael turned sharply to see Coren, his second-in-command, leaning against a tree. The man's sharp, wolfish grin was as unrelenting as always, though his eyes gleamed with something more dangerous—curiosity.
"Not troubled," Kael replied curtly, resuming his pacing.
"Is that so?" Coren pushed off the tree, taking a step closer. "Because you've been stalking this camp like a caged beast ever since you got back."
Kael didn't answer, his jaw tightening.
Coren's grin widened. "Let me guess. The infamous Elyra proved more... complicated than you expected?"
Kael shot him a warning glance, but Coren didn't back down.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Kael," Coren said, his tone shifting to something harder. "Meeting her alone, offering her deals. It's not like you to take such... risks."
"She's the leader of the rebellion," Kael said evenly. "If we want to end this war quickly, she's the key."
"Is that what this is about?" Coren asked, his voice low. "Ending the war? Or is it about her?"
Kael froze, the accusation hanging in the air like a blade.
"You're out of line," he said quietly, his voice like steel.
Coren took another step closer, his grin fading. "Am I? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you're starting to care about what happens to her. And if the Council catches wind of that..." He let the implication linger.
Kael turned slowly, his dark eyes locking onto Coren's. "You think you know me?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm. "You don't. If you ever question my loyalty to the Council again, you'll regret it."
For a moment, the two men stood in tense silence, the crackling of the distant campfire the only sound between them. Then Coren raised his hands in mock surrender, stepping back.
"Just looking out for you, Commander," he said with a smirk. "Wouldn't want your... distractions to get in the way."
Kael watched him retreat into the shadows, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. He knew Coren was dangerous, but for now, the man was loyal—at least as long as it served his interests.
Kael exhaled slowly, forcing himself to calm. Coren's words, as infuriating as they were, hit uncomfortably close to the truth. He was distracted. Elyra had been a thorn in his side for months, but she had also become something more—something he couldn't afford to name.
He thought of her standing in the clearing, her face pale but resolute, her voice steady despite the storm raging around her. She was nothing like the other rebels he had faced. She was... unyielding. Relentless. And somehow, impossibly, she had gotten under his skin.
Kael shook his head, trying to dispel the thought. He couldn't afford to let her distract him. Not now. Not when the Council was watching his every move, waiting for any sign of weakness.
The Council.
The very thought of them sent a cold chill down his spine. He knew what they were capable of, what they would do if they discovered his plan. He had seen their ruthlessness firsthand, had carried out their orders without question for years. But now, standing on the precipice of their next bloody campaign, he found himself questioning everything.
Kael's hand brushed against the scar on his jaw, a reminder of his loyalty, of the price he had paid for his place among the Council's elite. And yet, despite everything, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was standing on the wrong side of this war.
He thought of Elyra again, her fierce defiance, her unwavering conviction. She was everything he had once believed himself to be, before the Council had shaped him into their weapon.
Kael turned his gaze to the distant horizon, where the rebel camp lay hidden in the forest. He had given Elyra a choice, but he wasn't foolish enough to believe she would surrender. She would fight, as she always had, and when the time came, he would have to make a choice of his own.
For now, he could only hope that the path he was carving—fragile and dangerous as it was—would lead to something other than destruction.
But hope, he reminded himself, was a dangerous thing.