“Thank you, Sergeant Xiver,” the captain barked, cutting him off before Xiver could say anything more. “Now if you’re done bragging about your piloting skills, let’s finish breakfast so we can get started with our day.”
“Yes sir.” Xiver saluted the captain, but it was almost a lazy gesture, and the smirk didn’t quite disappear from his face. The captain narrowed his eyes until Xiver finally turned back to his food, and the normal level of conversation resumed.
“I wonder who the mage is that’s helping them?” Annia muttered as she brought some dirty dishes over to me. “Seems kind of strange that any mage would join up with the Resistance.”
“Maybe they’re getting offered some kind of deal,” I suggested as I dunked my hands into the soapy water, fishing for the sponge I’d dropped. “Or they’ve got a bone to pick with the establishment.”
“I guess, but I can’t see the Resistance honoring any deal they make with a mage,” Annia said dubiously. “Ultimately their goal is to remove the mages from power, so they couldn’t have one amongst their ranks.”
She went back to her station, and I mulled over her words for a few moments as I scrubbed dishes. Annia was right – the Resistance might be temporarily allying themselves with a mage, but there was no way that relationship was going to last.
“Sunaya.” Fenris grabbed my attention again, his voice calm now, though ire still simmered beneath the surface. “I’ve been listening to the captain and the sergeant talking. They’re debating whether or not to execute the delegates.”
I stiffened. “What are they saying, exactly?” I turned my head to look toward the front table. Captain Milios and Sergeant Brun had their heads close together, and they seemed to be arguing fiercely. I cursed myself for not being close enough to hear them – the noise in the mess hall combined with the fact that I was all the way in the kitchen rendered my super-hearing useless. Thankfully Fenris was only one table away, and though he kept his head down and appeared to be focused solely on his food, he clearly had an ear cocked toward the conversation.
“The sergeant is arguing that the delegates are draining camp resources, specifically the food, drugs, and manpower required to keep an eye on them. He and a number of the other men think the delegates should just be killed since they have no value and are enemies of the Resistance. But the captain is saying they need to wait on orders from the Benefactor first.”
“The Benefactor!” The long stirring spoon I was holding slipped from my hands and clanged against the lip of the sink before disappearing beneath the soapy water. I fished it out and finished scrubbing it, then stuck it on the rapidly-filling drying rack. “I didn’t think that general members of the Resistance knew about the Benefactor.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because Rylan didn’t know, and he’s the same rank as Captain Milios.”
“Do you think it’s possible that Rylan might not have been telling the truth?” Fenris asked cautiously.
“I don’t see how. He was standing right in front of me when we had the conversation.” Due to our heightened senses as well as sensitivity to body language, it was extremely difficult to lie to a shifter. Besides, I couldn’t quite stomach the idea that Rylan and I had grown so far apart that he was comfortable lying to my face.
“Perhaps the Benefactor, whoever he is, has become less careful about spreading their name around, now that their plans are coming to fruition,” Fenris suggested, though he didn’t sound completely convinced. “In any case, we need to rescue the delegates sooner rather than later before the Resistance decides to execute them. Do you have any suggestions?”
I nearly shook my head, but remembered just in time that I wasn’t supposed to look like I was having a conversation. “They’re all heavily drugged, so they won’t be able to offer any assistance, and we don’t have the necessary manpower to go up against the whole camp. Not to mention that mage could be back soon, and we have no idea how powerful he is. For all we know, he could be as strong as Iannis.”
“Then our best option is to find Iannis fast, and bring him back here before it’s too late,” Fenris concluded. “Unfortunately, the only lead we have is that obnoxious pilot.”
Finished with the dishes, I turned around to look at Xiver, who was joking around with the soldiers at his table, a shit-eating grin on his face. That grin widened as he caught me looking at him, and a lascivious glint entered his eyes that sent a shiver running down my spine.
“We’ll take him tonight,” I told Fenris as I turned my back on the pilot. “Squeeze him for information and hope he gives us something useful.” He’d done something to Iannis, and when I got my hands on him I would make sure that grin was wiped from his face. Maybe even permanently.
14
Fenris might not have been much of a talker, but his keen eye and stellar observation skills were a huge help. During dinner service, he told me that he already knew which cabin Sergeant Xiver was staying in. The three of us hashed out a plan over dinner, one that I wasn’t entirely happy with, but was fairly confident would work.
After our kitchen duties were done for the day, Annia and I headed back to our cabin. The shadow of the mountains loomed over the camp, but behind them the sky was streaked with brilliant shades of gold, purple, and orange as the sun bade us farewell. Annia received lots of catcalls and whistles as we walked past the men, but though she smiled and waved at them, she didn’t stop to engage them in conversation. We had an agenda tonight, and the extra attention wouldn’t help us with our mission.