Fading So Brightly- Book 2

3

Every time the door opened he hoped it was her.

Jasper cringed at how quickly his gaze flicked toward the creaking sound of the meeting room door. Every. Single. Time. His eyes longed to see a flash of silver, of piercing green eyes. He knew it was futile, knew that she would be training with Matthew until well into the evening.

He knew, but he still couldn't help himself from hoping to see her. Every moment of every day, he just wanted to see her, be near her. Stars above, he sounded like a stalker even in his own head.

Running a hand over his face, Jasper tugged his attention back to the meeting happening around him. Frederick Devereaux had the floor.

"It seems that though our friend Chira has given her blessing as ambassador for the Feiwyns to aid us in our cause, her people themselves need a bit more convincing." Frederick sounded tired. Near defeated. Jasper noted the bags under the older man's eyes, vivid against pale white skin, his normally trimmed beard now unkempt. "We're sending a delegation back with Chira. We have nothing to offer but words in exchange for their help, but maybe some of our supporters can be the small push that's needed."

Finished, Frederick nodded to the young woman seated next to him. Chira stood, her deep brown skin practically glowing in the torchlit room. With her dark curls held away from her face by a leather band, Jasper couldn't help but again notice the pointed tips of her ears.

"My people will come to your aid, I'm sure of it." Chira's steady gaze sent a calm over the room, strength and assurance layering her words. "But they are afraid, as they rightly should be. We have everything to lose in this would be war. So, do we risk it all to help a ragtag group of insurgents? Or do we wait for the battle to arrive at our doorstep, as it inevitably will?"

Chira let her eyes settle on each of the twenty or so people in the room, allowing her words to sink in.

"That's what I need you to help me accomplish. We need someone to give my people the push, the desire to help your sorry lot. I can give you my support, my backing but I won't do the talking for you. One of you needs to show just how worth fighting for you might be."

With those last words, Chira settled her gaze on Jasper, her dark eyes boring into his own. It was unnerving, her ability to pick out the person in a crowd who most needed to hear what she was saying. He felt his chest tighten. The thought of leading the delegation back to the Feiwyns homeland hadn't crossed his mind. Surely there were others more qualified.

Still, Chira held his gaze. And Jasper, blast it all, couldn't pull away. He had experience leading men. And the stars above knew that he would give his last breath to help Zephyr. To help her cause, her people. His people.

Jasper cleared his throat. Flames lit his cheeks as every eye in the room turned toward him. Frederick raised an eyebrow, the look he gave both questioning and knowing. As if he were asking are you sure?

"I can do it," Jasper said, his voice a bit wobbly. "If you need someone to lead the delegation to the Great Forest, I can do it."

Frederick waited a beat before glancing toward Elin, another of the senior counsel who had been unusually quiet until then. The older woman released a deep breath through her nose.

"You do have command experience, Mr. Ende." Elin's voice was always sharp, terse, but thick with intelligence. "Are you sure you can provide our potential allies with reason enough to help us?"

Was he sure? Jasper hadn't the faintest idea what he could say, what he could do, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could find a way for her.

"I can." He didn't feel the need to elaborate just then, and desperately hoped Elin or Frederick wouldn't ask him to.

"Well, then," Frederick said, pulling everyone's attention back to himself and blessedly away from Jasper. "We'll need several more volunteers to go and assist in the efforts to win us some support. Start spreading word throughout your circles to try and find any interest. Jasper, if there's anyone you'd specifically like to accompany you just let me or Elin know. We'll need you to head out in the next few days, so begin preparations as soon as possible."

As if on cue, everyone in the torchlit room began to disperse, a few sticking around to speak with Elin or Frederick, most heading for the exit. Jasper needed air. He didn't let his mind dwell on what kind of air, just that he needed out from under an entire mountain's worth of rock.

He'd just slipped out the door into one of a multitude of dark, damp tunnels when a hand wrapped around his arm. He turned to see Chira, almost standing eye to eye with him.

"Thank you," she said, her features softening with brilliant sincerity. "I think you made the right choice. I think that you made the right choice, that this will do you some good."

Jasper gave the girl a questioning look, but she only turned and pulled him down the tunnel.

"And where exactly are you taking me?" Jasper managed to sputter as he was dragged along.

"Don't you think you should be the one to tell her you're leaving?"

Ah, yes. That. Jasper had been purposely keeping that thought out of his mind for several minutes. How if he did go on this mission then he wouldn't see Zephyr for quite some time. Part of him rebelled against the idea, the very thought of leaving her side repulsive to him. But another part of him, a small, quiet part, whispered to his mind that maybe this was for the best. Maybe he needed some space, some distance. A distraction. The stars knew Zephyr had plenty of those herself.

He didn't want to resent her for her distractions, for her responsibilities. No, he knew that wouldn't be fair, that he had promised her time to figure things out. He knew she would never purposely hurt him again, but he'd become attached too quickly. He'd always been that way. So maybe some time apart would help him, and maybe her as well.

Jasper had a sneaking suspicion that Chira had already figured as much out for him as she continued to drag him through the tunnels.

~

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, twilight in its final stages, when Jasper and Chira stepped out into one of the long forgotten makeshift courtyards nestled into the maze of mountain ridges. The air was beyond chilly, light flurries of snow drifting down and beginning to accumulate on the rocky surfaces around them.

Chira immediately stuck her tongue out, twirling with her arms out as she attempted to catch the flakes in her mouth. Jasper laughed, leaving her to her own devices as he continued forward. Torches had been set up along the perimeter, providing enough light to see by but not much more. The firelight glinted off the mountain faces, glinting off the blood iron veins running through the rock.

Two figures stood spaced apart at the other end of the courtyard. Jasper spied the flash of silver he'd been waiting for all day, just as the other figure launched a massive boulder in her direction.