The In-Between

Chapter 7 - Blame

Colin showed me the front gardens, the library, the gallery. We had only spoken in clipped conversations throughout the tour. I would ask about something and he would answer quickly. We had entered a rose garden tucked away in the back of the estate when I dared to ask a more intimate question about Calden. "Does he hate me?"

Colin looked at my curiously. "Why would he hate you?" He asked, while his face asked, why would you care?

Truthfully, I was not entirely sure why I cared. Some part of me wanted another reason to be mad at him. Why would he hate me? I sided against him sure, but he had won and taken everything I had. If anything, he should feel indifferent towards me, but he reacted so angrily when he'd realized I wanted to die. When he realized that I'd hoped he would sentence me to marry a Lord in the lowest, coldest, and most desolate corners of the continent his hands curled into fists.

I laughed. "There was a war you know."

"Ah." Colin said. "He doesn't blame you for that."

My brows knitted together in confusion. He didn't blame me. What did that mean? He had just gotten over a war that led to the death of his best friend. I had fought him on the battlefield. I had killed hundreds of his soldiers, and he didn't blame me? I had thought he had no reason to hate me, but there was certainly grounds for blame, distrust, and I already knew he feared me.

"I haven't known you long, Adelaide, but I've come to know that look on your face." Colin remarked. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not that."

"Then what is it, Colin." I gritted my teeth. "Because right now I'm thinking Calden has not shared the details of the war with you."

"Oh, he has. My father was an Iotian foot soldier, and he also told me about the war. You fought him once...my father that is." I looked at Colin, if I fought him, he would not have been alive afterward to tell Colin about it. "Well, not exactly. You were on the same field once. He described you as a war goddess. He talks in awe when he describes you with only a sword in your hand, your black leather armor spotless as you made your way into the heart of the Iotian army. You annihilated everyone and everything in your path. My father was quick to retreat when he saw you coming."

"That does not sound like a brave soldier to me." I remarked.

Colin laughed, his was genuine unlike mine had been earlier. "I thought so too when I first heard that story. Then he told me that we had captured your...friend."

"My bonded." I corrected.

"Right... Anyway, he said he felt your power before he ever even saw you. That was when he knew that if he fought you, he would not win. He reported back to his commander and convinced them to combine all the forces-"

"Your father is Branden?"

Colin nodded. "You've heard of him?"

"He's the reason we lost the war." I murmured. "You do not ignore those who led to your downfall." 

"After the war and the King and Queen passed away, Calden appointed my father commander of his armies."

"And how do you fit in?" I asked after a moment.

Colin gave a slight shrug. "Calden befriended me. After his parents...it was bad. It was bad for a while. I swore my blood oath to him not long after."

Calden loved his parents. He'd always spoke so fondly of them. When word reached Rivendall that his parents had passed away in their sleep, a piece of my heart ached for him. That part quickly hardened as I remembered he had taken something similar from me, and I hoped he'd felt that loss for the rest of his life.