After their decisive victory over Orinovo, Lys-Akkaria's army crosses the border to take back territory that used to be theirs. With the combined forces of a lightweaver and shadowforger, Orinovo doesn't stand a chance.
In spite of their newfound a...
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The ambush had been a disaster. Even though most of the Orinovan soldiers had clearly been sent to kill Fennrin and Ainreth, thirty soldier had died, so far their worst casualties after a single battle.
They had managed to fall back and regroup, kill the Orinovan soldiers, but it was too late. And since the incident, he and Ain had not spoken, aside from a few curt orders Fennrin had received from Ainreth as a general, not as his lover.
So to say that Fennrin was tense would be an understatement. He was sure Ainreth was angry with him, but he was angry with Ainreth, if that was the case.
It wasn't his fault that Enlin had taken an arrow for him.
But thinking about these things just made him irritated ahead of time, and that was about the last thing either of them needed. So Fennrin opted for standing rigidly in their tent, waiting for Ainreth to return from his meeting with the other generals.
He just sat on the ground, trying to keep his mind completely blank until Ainreth came marching in with a scowl on his face.
Fennrin got up, immediately knowing this was going to go downhill quickly.
"We sustained so many loses but they don't want to go home," Ain said, pulling at his hair, making Fennrin frown. That wasn't what he'd expected him to say at all. "Say it's worth it."
Fennrin watched Ainreth huff and pace around the tent, not sure what to say.
"We don't have a choice. We cannot go back home. The queen—"
"I don't care what the queen is doing, Fenn!" Ainreth snapped, throwing his arms out. "Good soldiers died. More were injured. Enlin got hurt badly. We shouldn't be here."
And there it was. At least Ain wasn't blaming Fennrin for it. Not yet, anyway.
"We have no choice. Orinovo—"
"Yeah, everyone keeps telling me," Ainreth cut him off. "We have to do this, we have no choice, Orinovo will destroy us. I'm sick of it."
"War is never pretty, Ain." Fennrin wanted to continue but Ainreth immediately jumped on that.
"You're going to explain war to me? You?"
Fennrin had less experience with warfare compared to Ainreth, it was true, but he'd learned a lot these past few months. And the tone Ain had used made him grind his teeth.
He made him sound as though Fennrin was a child. And he wouldn't stand for that.
"You've barely been in wars, either!"
Ainreth stared at him in shock, apparently not having expected Fennrin to fight back, but his shock was quickly replaced by more anger.
"At least I have much more experience with being a soldier. You're not even one of those!"
