Gold as the Crown

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(/Cal/)

I sat at the round table in a large meeting room, my finger slowly tapping on the polished black granite table top. Mare stood behind me, looking at one the many maps on the wall. I kept my eyes on the door, waiting for it to open and for Colonel Farley to walk in finally. We had demanded a meeting with him the day after we had settled into our quarters. It had taken a week to finally get it, but we had gotten it, and now we were simply waiting for it to begin.

I heard Mare sigh, and glancing at her over my shoulder I asked softly, "What is it?"

She hugged her elbows to her chest and then whispered to the map she was looking at, "Have you ever thought about how massive the continent is... how massive the world is?"

A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips, and I reached out to brush my fingers along her lower back, drawing her attention to me. She turned slowly and then said, "I mean the world is huge, there are so many place we know nothing about..."

Reaching up slowly, I slipped my fingers in hers, and then brought her hand to my lips. I pressed a light kiss against her knuckles and then whispered against them, "I would explore every corner with you, you know that."

She smiled softly, but something haunted those gorgeous deep brown eyes. I felt my smile fall as I saw that, and then pulling her a little closer, I looked up and said, "What's wrong, what's really wrong?"

"Cal-" She began, but the door opened suddenly, letting in an explosion of sound from the corridor outside that stopped her from speaking. We both looked over to see Colonel Farley closing the door behind him. Dressed in his military uniform, which seemed to be the usual, he looked even more haggard than before. He looked us over for a second, those perceptive blue irises that he shared with his daughter scanning us like a vulture would a carcass. His lip curling slightly as he took in my casual stance. It was no secret that he did not like me, Julian, Sara, and Evangeline, no matter what we had done for the Guard so far. We have nothing to prove to any of them, Julian had whispered to Sara as we were led into the mess hall by Joan yesterday. There was always something to prove though. You had to prove your intentions were the same, that your dreams matched the others, that you were just as gritty and resilient as the Reds that you worked among; in order to demonstrate that you were with them, and not against them. It was an exhausting process, and two years ago, I had worked through it. I didn't want to think about having to do it again.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Colonel growled as he gestured to us and the room with a sweeping hand. Mare rested her hands on my shoulders and squeezing softly, she said, "This is a meeting to prove your good faith."

"My good faith?" The Colonel sputtered as he stepped up to the table, his eyes like ice as he jabbed his finger on top of the table and hissed, "I have given you all the good faith you should need. I brought you into this compound, I could have very easily kept you out. I could have thrown your little Silver friends into the bushes to fend for themselves, instead I choose to let them stay."

"Because Command gave you an order to let us come in together." I replied, trying to feign calm. He had inadvertently threatened the group that we had come with, and demonstrated his intentions within the first few seconds of this conversation. I stiffened as I thought about his words though. The only thing standing between us and him, was a loose order from Command that the Silvers were to stay with the Reds. It so easily could be revoked, and we could just as easily be removed. Evangeline, that was the first name that came to mind, we would have to find a place for her to stay, a place for her to give birth. Command would likely not let go of Shade, not now that they knew he was a New Blood, and how much information he had. Evangeline would give birth alone, in a barn probably, and then we would have to find a place to hide her and the child. It was terrifying how much hinged on us remaining here.