nala

cassandra

Torra

Nala sobbed quietly, grabbing each of my arms tightly. It hurt to see anyone this way, but it was different now. Nala was never like this. She survived a stab, 'escaped' the infirmary boundaries, then continued to kill three Napoli. Now she was crying? It's just strange.

Nala pulled out of out hug, collecting herself. "We need to prepare to march. Elliot will be dead by dusk tomorrow." Nala said quickly before storming out of the door.

"What the hell is going on?" Sasha mumbled before following Nala. I followed her, turning down the maze that is the compound.

I heard Nala mumbling to herself "Where is she?" over and over, losing her sanity. She began walking in circles, running her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"Hey." I walked over to Nala, holding her face tightly. "I'd bet Andi's safe." I tried to comfort her.

"I don't bet. It's illogical." Nala mumbled.

"Of course you don't. But I do." I hugged Nala and reassured. "Come one. We can send out search parties." I comforted.

"No. She's here. Elliot was knocked out when we sent him back on his horse. There weren't any Napoli left. There had to be a spy, and there isn't a single way they could get rid of Andi." Nala began pacing, bugging out as she began thinking about where Andi was.

"You're right-"

"I know. We should start at temporary residences.." Nala said quickly before walking towards an exit.

"Is she always like this?" Sasha asked.

"Only with Andi." I answered.

"And you." Sasha added.

"You think?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sasha asked sarcastically. "She loves you." Sasha answered blandly.

Shit.

I hadn't even thought about love. The way she looked at me when Sasha bowed, when Sasha and I came with Elliot last night, even this morning with her early wake-up. The way she looked at me was different from the way she would Aden or Jordan, and I'm glad.

I couldn't quite describe whatever I was feeling, but I knew it wasn't just fondness, companionship, or attraction. It was something different than attraction, it was as if we were meant to be this way, impossible without each other.

Love?

Love.

"Torra! Come on!" Nala yelled and began pulling me to the throne room. "Some maids have started waking up the generals." Nala held tightly onto my hand, waving Sasha on behind me. Nala led us down a random staircase to the hall where she was last night, turning into the throne room. Some guards had assembled, a general standing off to the side eating a pastry.

A team of servants carried in a table with rolls of maps. "Thanks." Nala said quickly before unrolling maps and weighting them down.

"Whoa!" A servant said quickly.

"What?" Nala asked. She pulled out a marking utensil and began drawing lines around the map.

"You said thanks!" Another one piped up.

"Yes." Nala confirmed, in total sarcasm. The servants all lost their minds in surprise. The previous employers must have been awful if the servants get excited over proper manners.

The servants ran out of the room like a bunch of children. "Okay. What's the plan?" I asked Nala, though she was deep in thought.

"We get Andi back and kill Elliot." Nala said like it was common knowledge.