I was summoned to Mají’s cabin two days after the Conclave. According to Jumé-falio, Mají wanted a chance to “explain himself”. The captain was pacing in his cabin, back and forth in front of the rum cabinet I now knew concealed the entrance to the hall where Narasia was being kept once more.
“I know you’re upset and I’m sorry,” he rushed out as soon as the door clicked shut.
I froze, trying to figure out what he was apologizing for, and then remembered about Vinyé. I wasn’t still angry still about it honestly… but he didn’t have to know that.
“Apologizing won’t fix it,” I said. “But I’ll forgive you…. If it never happens again.”
“You know that’s not possible!” he complained. “It’s not something I can back out of this far in the year!”
“So as the year progresses you’re forced to tell me one thing and then go do another?” I snapped, getting more irritated by the second.
“It’s the magic of the Conclave!” he protested. “You’re a girl; you should know how binding it is! If I had known at the beginning of the year I never would have bothered with her!”
My next retort died on my lips, disbelief stunning me to silence. “You think this is about the Conclave?” I asked.
“How could it not be?” he countered. “I have Saldré there, and I know how that must look to you. But I swear Gittoran; I’d dismiss her if I could.”
I couldn’t help myself, I burst out laughing, shaking to the point where I slid to the floor so I wouldn’t double over from the force of it all.
“THAT’S what you thought I was pissed about?” I gasped through my laughter. “You thought I was jealous over Saldré?”
“You mean you’re not?” he asked.
I shook my head, clutching my sides as I continued to laugh.
“The look on your face,” I said. “It’s priceless… but yeah, I’m not upset about her. I get it, hell I even talked to the girl, heard about how you shoved her away at the Conclave. How could I possibly be upset about that?”
“I never thought about it that way,” he admitted. “Never really pictured you girls as talking about that sort of thing.”
I nodded, finally getting ahold of myself and climbing to my feet.
“Go ahead and dance with her,” I said. “It’s only dancing after all, it doesn’t hurt anybody.”
He nodded, scrunching his eyebrows up in thought.
“What were you upset about then?” he asked. “If it wasn’t about the Conclave and Saldré, what was it?”
“Vinyé,” I muttered. “You left me behind when you went to him. You know I want to help you find the blood diamond.”
“You were busy,” he explained, staring at the floor. “And I was impatient.”
“It had nothing to do with not wanting me to get hurt?” I said, narrowing my eyes.
His eyes snapped up and met mine. “Maybe it did,” he snapped. “But I was in the right about that wasn’t I? Not that it helped. You still managed to go out and get yourself injured. Who did that to you anyway? You never told me.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, trying to think of a way around the situation. “I handled it.”
“I want to handle it,” he countered. “Men need to know they’ll have me to deal with if they so much as think about attacking you. I know it was bad, the boy, your student; he hasn’t even spoken since that happened to you. Not even at the Conclave…. Talk to me Gittoran.”
YOU ARE READING
FireSweet
Fantasy"My name changed before my eyes, the paper before me read "Welcome Gittoran Scarlet", I felt a searing pain in my left shoulder and the world spun around me. I dropped to the floor, and blacked out." Gittoran was your average party-girl with attit...
