Spears of Uu'kata

Chapter 42 - Oaths and Loyalties

"What did you do?" Shodara demanded.

Ahnekk sniffed and leaned into her. "We can discuss this later," he said. "This is not the time or the place."

Shodara's face was a thunderhead and for a moment, he thought she might yell at him, make a scene, though he wasn't sure she could outdo the scene Charlotte had just made. He knew humans like to come down hard on anything they considered a threat, but what she'd done tonight...

She'd looked so sexy and powerful, but he'd seen her ensemble for what it was. Armor. The ennelath was her shield, and her song had been a declaration of war. She'd intended to make a point and she'd storming well made it. Her voice had been so powerful and sorrowful and angry that it had been a magic of its own, stabbing into everyone's chests and yanking them to exactly where she wanted them to be.

Storms and spears but if this was what human music was like when there was real passion behind it, it could be dangerous. Not dangerous in the way a sword or spear was dangerous. But dangerous as a whisper in the ears of the masses that persuades, guides, and subtly pushes until a crowd becomes a mob.

He'd seen it. Seen how her music had physically affected everyone in the room. They'd started jovial and excited. A new adventure to be had was on the horizon. When she'd left the room, he saw doubt in the eyes. He saw guilt.

Ahnekk swallowed, still holding Shodara's blazing gaze. Willing her to hold off, at least until they could be alone.

"Later," she finally said, "Tonight!" she practically hissed through her teeth.

Well, he thought, best to get it out of the way. 

The thought was whimsical, but he still felt a pit of dread in his belly.

I shouldn't have strangled her, he thought, and not for the first time. He'd acted like a big, stupid brute and he and his shelen were going to pay for it. Charlotte's performance made that fact painfully obvious.

They ate in awkward silence, despite the conversations that started to pop up around the room. When the feast concluded, and all the guests were shown to rooms, Ahnekk walked back to his room with his Shelen following somberly behind him. When he got to the door, he took a deep breath, then pushed his way inside.

The room was empty. He'd expected Charlotte to be waiting for him, ready to fight. The emptiness was somehow worse.

Shodara growled and stepped around him, grabbing him by the sleeve and tugging him in after her. Echnar and Gondroll followed them in.

"What did you do?" she demanded as Gondrol closed the door. Ahenkk vaguely noticed him staring at a spot beside the fireplace with a frown.

With a sigh, Ahnekk started by explaining why the Shadow Slicer was currently sitting on the landing pad. He told her and Gondrol about the pictures of the human base and that he'd brought Charlotte in to verify that it was, indeed, human.

"And?" Shodara demanded, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes.

"I... the human base is not actually a base. It's a farm, according to Charlotte. She says there are families there, children. And... we're going to destroy it."

Shodara's eyes widened in horror, her lips parting as she took a step back from him.

"W-why would you do that?" she asked faintly.

Gondroll, frowning hard, went to that spot beside the fireplace and looked down, then he quick-stepped over to the wardrobes and pulled one open.

"The farm supplies food to human troops," he explained.