Nereyda

Chapter 14 || Black Intentions

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Chapter 14 || Black Intentions

Braeden

My entire being ached, only soothed where her warm body came in contact with mine. I felt her shift against me as if to get up. I tightened my hold, pulling her closer and burying my face in her hair.

"Braeden," came her soft whisper in my ear.

I groaned in response, not wanting to break the perfect moment we had created in the tent together.

"Shh leelah," I said softly, my voice husky with the gravel of sleep.

It was quiet for a few more moments, only the sound of our synchronised breathing punctuating the silence.

She shifted again and spoke the last words I wanted to hear at that moment: "I need to go."

I forced my heavy eyelids open and my brain to snap out of the grappling strands of sleep, because if she was about to leave I needed to be awake for the last few moments I could spend with her.

Her hair fell like a waterfall in heaven, the white strands illuminating everything that they touched.

I pushed myself onto my elbows so I could softly press my lips to her red ones.

She stilled in her movements and sighed against me, her faint scent of marigold teasing my senses.

"See me later," she whispered. "By the lake at midday."

I nodded whilst holding her against my chest, glad that I wasn't the only one of us who hated the thought of being separated from the other for long.

"Rest," she said against my lips. "I love you," were her final words before she swept out of the tent and into the dawn.

I fell back against my pillow, bringing my fingers up to touch my lips. How by the gods did an orphan fuckup like me get paired with the most beautiful and purest female in all the land? A few minutes passed and I found myself drifting back off into unconsciousness when a shadow became silhouetted against the side of the tent.

"Braeden," Asher's harsh voice came from the shadow. "Get your sorry ass over to centre tent now."

He didn't explain further but the sound of his footsteps padding away demanded that I follow.

Sighing, I gingerly escaped the cloth shelter, trying my best not to put pressure on my injuries from yesterday. I couldn't believe I had lost - in fact, I was doing everything I could not to think about it.

Unsurprisingly, most people were already seated when I arrived, chatting easily amongst themselves as they waited for the meeting to begin. Some of them gave me pitying glances as I entered, no doubt because of my less than wonderful performance yesterday. It wasn't the first time I had lost a fight, but it was the first time I had done so without good reason. I should probably be more concerned about this than I was, but Nereyda being with me throughout the ordeal really softened the severity of the blow.

Asher nodded at me as I took my place but didn't say anything further. I wouldn't call him a verbose character but he did usually speak more with me than he did with others. He was obviously still angry with me.

The meeting commenced, starting predictably with a run down of inventory. This was all rather boring for me, seeing as I was the one in charge of inventory and nothing he said was anything new.

It was only when he began to speak of attack plans that the meeting really began to draw my interest and when I was addressed directly, I had no choice but to listen closely.