Forged in Frost and Fire (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Kings trilogy)

Chapter Fourteen

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning against a tree as I watched my teammates applaud for Evren as she walked up to them. She was smirking, her eyes aglow with a devilish glint. Pride made her chest swell, and she practically beamed at the attention. I simply observed as members of the blue team clapped and chanted. I never felt more separate from them.

I was starting to feel nauseous from how into the game I had gotten. I had actually participated and...enjoyed myself. I had forgotten that my "teammates" were actually blood thirsty haters of the half-fae. They were racists, killing the people that shared half of their blood. I was supposed to be working against them, not with them. I understood that I was a spy, and I had to be a convincing eager soldier, but during capture the flag I hadn't been acting. I had let myself converge with them and pretend I walked among them. I'd never walk among them. I was still just a mere human in my mind. Nothing of importance. In fact, I'd probably turn back into a human before I reached my fae peak and then die a sad, lonely death. No one would remember me.

"Shouldn't you be celebrating?" I turned my head quickly to the voice that had appeared on my left. I winced at the pain that radiated from the movement. Foley was walking through the trees towards me. I had to force my eyes to stay at his face as I realized he had taken off his jacket and was now only wearing a sleeveless shirt.

"I'm celebrating vicariously," I said, bobbing my chin towards my team that had started some strange chant and were now jumping up and down to it. They had raised Evren into their arms and she was laughing, throwing her arms out into the air. Oh gods above, bitch.

"Ah, I see," Foley leaned against my tree, his shoulder brushing mine. I tried not to suck in a sharp breath and make my surprise known by the entire forest. I had never been pursued by a boy before. Back in Rame, I had always been too skinny and sickly to be attractive to any boy, not that they were any better off than I was. But regardless, I was not accustomed to flirting, to blushing. I had never done it before. But Foley...Foley made butterflies erupt in my stomach and my nerves turn on. I had never felt what Foley made me feel before. I wasn't sure if I liked that. Affection was a weakness.

"Are you injured?" Suddenly, his hand was grazing my cheekbone and pain was erupting over the left side of my face. I flinched away from him.

"Someone from the yellow team got a little bit too enthusiastic," I said, cupping the back of my neck. That hurt too. I had almost forgotten that that bitch had thrown a gods damned rock at me. The audacity.

"We should bring you to the infirmary," Foley said, his brows scrunching as his eyes scanned my face. I felt blue rise to my cheeks and I ducked my head down, wary under his blue gaze.

"That's not necessary. I'm fine," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. We both watched as the other soldiers started to move out of the forest. The people on my team were all grinning and laughing, while those from the other team were glaring and scowling. Yes, it was quite easy to tell the difference between the two teams despite the fact that we weren't wearing the different colors anymore.

"You're not fine. I saw you limping earlier," he said. I glanced up at him, drawing my lower lip between my teeth. I saw his eyes track the movement.

"I'm not getting out of going to the infirmary, am I?" I asked. He shook his head, already stepping forward. I followed after him, trying to keep my limp to a minimum.

He took us a different way than how we had come into the forest, leading us away from the other soldiers. I felt my ice stir inside of me at that. Why was he leading me away? Was he going to try and do something? Those thoughts sounded crazy even as thoughts. Of course he wouldn't. He was Foley, Ensign of the fae army. He was a professional. Also, I doubted he thought of me as anything other than another soldier to train.