The General and the Princess

Chapter 23 || Kiva

Every man, woman, and child was summoned to the center of Mevyl for Inver's announcement. The ill and paralyzed who could be transported were carried or ushered to the center, the children corralled and silenced, and the elderly brought to the front of the crowd so they could hear the proclamation. Kiva and the rest of the council members formed a perimeter around the group as a security precaution. The people of Lavri were wild, rebellious, and full of heart; they were free spirits. Inver's commands would initially not be taken well by many and there was no way to anticipate how Lavri would react.

"My dear Lavri Resistance," Inver's strong voice captured their attention instantly. He and Trysti stood at the head of the crowd, both armed and outfitted in leather armor. "The time has come to fight. Vinrys will not rest, and neither will we. Due to our increasing numbers, the time has come to enforce stricter regulations and to train ourselves for battle. Every one of you, unless under 12 years of age, ill, or elderly, will be taught by our finest warriors until every one of us is prepared to fight. We will additionally begin to regulate rations. Each person will be responsible for adding to our diminishing food stock in some way, whether through hunting, gathering or farming. We will also prepare for evacuation by conducting drills. While these measures may seem drastic, I am determined that when Vinrys comes, we will be ready."
Inver took a deep breath, the muscles in his face clenching tensely. Whispers ran rampant through the crowd, and Kiva gently touched her sword hilt as several of the men issued their complaints.

One man grew so brave as to yell, "We came here to be free from oppression, and now you are proving yourself the same as Vinrys."

"Why should we believe you?"

As dissonance spread through the crowd in a wave of discontented murmurs, Inver frowned and looked ready to respond harshly when Trysti motioned him to silence with a hand and stepped in front of the crowd. Kiva could see the nervous wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, but her voice was strong and firm.

"People of Lavri, I beg you to listen. Our leader is not asking you to become slaves. He is calling you to fight, to act upon your beliefs, and to stand against injustice. If you believe that Vinrys must be stopped, then you will fight. If you know as I do that we are on the side of justice and of good, that we are fighting for freedom for our loved ones and our children and the future of Zeina, then you will take up sword and bow and you will fight. We will not run and hide, we will stand and fight.

"For each of you mothers and fathers that are hugging your children to your chest, do you want them to live their lives in fear, constantly cowering? Or are you willing to arm yourselves and fight? We will teach every man and woman to fight Vinrys. No one will be unprepared. We will fight."

Inver touched Trysti's shoulder and stood beside her. "If you are not willing to fight, then you can leave. But for those of you with hale hearts and free spirits, this is your home. This is our ground. This is where we will stand, and this is where we will fight."

The crowd stood awestruck for a few moments. Kiva glanced to Justyn, who was smiling and gripping his sword. He caught her eye and winked and Kiva felt a smile growing.

Finally, a single haunting voice broke through the crowd. Wyn. She was standing apart from the rest of the crowd, her pale skin glowing luminescent and her hair scattered by the wind, rippling and snapping like fire. She was as beautiful as she was inhuman.

"Hail, Inver, hero. We will fight."

At Wyn's words, Justyn raised a war cry that sent a shiver down Kiva's backbone. Riyel, Inver, Raul, and several of the other warriors unsheathed their swords and thrust them in the air, echoing the war cry. Finally, the crowd of Savylians joined in until the earth seemed to shake with their cry. Kiva found herself grinning hungrily from ear to ear like a wolf preparing for its dinner.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Every member of the Resistance was assigned a training and food regimen, weapons were handed out, and was divided into groups. The children and sick or injured were ushered away by the elderly and each group was given a commander. Ivyl and Tal, in charge of evacuation, pulled a few of the warriors aside to begin preparations for the drills and tree home construction. Each group was designated a leader, resulting in about twenty groups. Even the members of the council themselves would train early in the morning before the daily training schedule of the day began. Each day would be divided into gathering supplies and weapons training with only a few hours for socializing and sleeping.

That afternoon, the council and several esteemed warriors worked to establish training grounds for each type of fighting. Using the map Raul and Justyn had delineated, the fields were stocked with weapons. The next day, the training regime would begin.

Later, Inver gathered the council together. Kiva could see wrinkles forming on his brow and his eyes darkening. For a moment, she empathized with him before her memories of their encounter on the fallen tree erupted in her mind.

"I am so proud of this council and this Resistance. I believe this will make us stronger than we have ever been. As part of this, I expect all of you to spend your free mornings and evenings training. Each of you should master every type of fighting. I know that his will be hard for many of the women and children who are used to different styles of living, but no one here is soft. We are all strong and hardened and we will be ready for whatever Vinrys brings."

As the council disbanded, many heading towards the training fields, Inver approached her. Kiva tried to shy away into the shadows, but he sought her out. A ways away, Riyel lingered from the rest of the group, keeping a subtle eye on both of them. For whatever reason, his gaze was reassuring rather than haunting.

"Kiva. I wanted to speak to you," she could read the apology in his eyes, but as the distance between them lessened, she realized no apology would be enough.

"You know I can't—"

"Kiva, I love you."

A moment passed, then two, then three. Kiva closed her eyes to evade his gaze and tried to calm her racing heart. She crossed her arms to hide the tremor in her hands. When she looked at him, she did not see Inver; she only saw he who haunted her dreams. A million thoughts swam through her head but they were a knot she could not unravel.

She opened her eyes briefly to see Inver's yearning,desperate expression. Riyel was moving towards her in the background, but she remembered her words to Trysti earlier. I can't keep expecting people to protect me.

By the time she spoke, her voice was brimming with a flash flood of anger. "How could I ever trust you, Inver, much less love you? You have never once actually considered me—what I want. After the festival, you did not care about me, you did not love me," she spat the word angrily, tasting only resentment, "I cannot trust you, Inver, and I could never love you. Not after that. Not ever."

For a moment Kiva paused, catching her breath. Her voice had risen in volume and gained the attention of several warriors around them. She could feel the anger seething through her veins, anger and resentment that she had held in for a long time from internalizing her lies for so long.

Perhaps Inver did not deserve all of her wrath, but he was not guiltless and she needed to defend herself.

"Kiva, I'm sorry. I drank too much mead and was far too excited by the party—"

"No," she finally whispered, her voice disappearing into the back of her throat. "Don't make excuses. You think you love me, but you're wrong. And I don't love you."

"Wait, no, Kiva!" He reached out instinctively and grabbed her arm.

Suddenly, she swung around and commanded, "Don't touch me. Ever. I need to go train." Shocked, he dropped her arm and watched her walk away. Kiva could feel the resentment burning through her bones, but it felt far better than the effervescent fear that had saturated her spirit in the past. She could feel Inver's sea blue eyes washing over her like a tidal current, but that would not—could not—change anything.  

~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this shorter chapter this week! I've been a little discouraged by the response to this story, but I'm going to post it to completion and hope for the best, so if you're reading this, thank you! I appreciate it more than you know. This work took me five years to complete and I know these characters almost as well as I know myself, and I love sharing them with you.

~ Hannah