Waging War | The Amber Duology #1

29 | The Mysterious Message

Through the overlapping grunts of effort released by the trainees, two instructors stood at perfect attention. One held the same emotionless look on his face, keeping a cool on the outside to mask the panic that he held inside. 

He had always been good at internalizing, that was for sure, but the doubts didn't stop their crawl into the back of his mind, wondering whether or not someone had noticed his distress.

The other however, was itching to get out of there. 

Deeming the situation beneath him before his mind could even come up with a good reason. A yawn escaped his lips, he was too tired to even have the decency to cover it up if it wasn't for his partner giving him a nudge hard enough to jolt himself awake.

Kai Smith was exhausted for three different reasons.

Reason number 1: He was still tired from the drive back from the city.

Although he knew he should have long since recovered from it, having arrived at the camps days ago, the drive was too long and too loud that it haunted him in his sleep. There were traces of the catchy tunes his sister insisted on playing, that hummed in the back of his thoughts. 

Playing over and over again until it drove him restless.

In his defense, he probably should have never let Princess Harumi—of all people—carpool with them back to the camps. It was his mother that insisted they bring her along after the Princess found out her parents wanted her to ride the trucks back to the camps.

"Kai," His mother said and even if he was away for so long, Kai still recognized the meaning of the look on her face. "Maybe you can bring her with you."

He didn't need to know who she was talking about when she spoke. Almost the entire city heard Harumi's complaints and Kai didn't bother to give a damn. If only he hadn't owed his mother everything, he probably would have left the girl to complain.

Kai didn't believe that. Neither did his sister when they shared a look.

"Fine." He found himself giving into the look of his mother. "But just this once."

Nya had been happy with the decision, immediately running over to the girl before she created a bigger scene around herself. Leaving Kai to deal with his parents.

It had only been 24 hours and yet Kai felt normal again. Like his job didn't revolve around throwing himself into battles head on, a mere weapon to defend himself. He missed them, Kai just didn't have the courage to say it.

"You take care, okay? I want you and your sister home in one piece." His mother had gone on with her usual reminders but Kai didn't mind. He'd play them again and again if it meant hearing her voice. "And write, for goodness sake."

Kai let out a chuckle, squeezing her in a tight hug. "I promise."

His dad went next, giving him a firm pat on the back and ruffled up his perfectly gelled hair. No one ever dared to do that to Kai, it was a good way to lose a hand. "I'm proud of you, son." Ray smiled, his hands kept a firm grip on his shoulders. "But next time give me a heads up if you're going to surprise us so I can beat your mother on a bet."

They'd said goodbye to Nya right after him, it was the first time he'd ever seen his sister really appreciate their parents for who they were and what they had done in her life. Perhaps it took losing them for her to snap out of her dream-like state.

He had long since known that Harumi was the spoiled and entitled Princess who refused to do any of the work he'd thrown at her, but when she saw the way she bonded with his sister, Kai found no difference between them.