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brooklynn

Brook shivered, clutching her jacket tighter as she scooted nearer the fire, wishing she’d dressed war that she’d been more prepared Instead, not only was she unprepared for the weather, but she had no idea what she was doing She’d never led a search party before For all she knew, she was leading her soldiers into some sort of trap

After that first fruitless hour, Brook had h decision to break her soldiers into three separate groups She hoped that by splitting up, theyCharlie

She’d sent one group, a traveling party made up of ten of her best riders, back to the palace, with news of what had happened at the depot It was entirely possible that Charlie had decided to head south, too, and that Brook’s riders would intercept the queen on her journey hoe to Max would be entirely unnecessary, and her riders would siroup of ten had been ordered to re They’d already scoured buildings and questioned everyone they’d co why it was so iirl" for whom they searched But they’d come up e,every inch of the Scablands if necessary Turn every hons of their lost queen For this, Brook had sent ten of her most resilient and well-trained men and women Survivors Those whose instincts and skills

She would keepnorth, theif not predictable Tenacious She’d --not even a little hiccup like losing an entire army to back her up--would stop her

Brook just hoped that wherever Charlie was, Zafir was as well

She cupped her hands around her ers

"You shouldn’t be so stubborn This ar her a dented, silver flask

Across froht, you know?" His lips curled, the promise of a smile "I mean that you’re stubborn, of course"

"I don’t see you drinking any of it," she shot back to Aron, lifting her hand to ward away the flask She knew Sebastian orried, they all were, but she needed some space Needed to think "No thanks That’s what the fire’s for"

Aron reached for another log and threw it on the already blazing campfire The red coals beneath the flames flickered, and ard sparks shot into the chilled air, turning black and then drifting aith the smoke

Brook worried about that too, the fire Ittheir location in the yawning blackness that engulfed theht chance by But they’d had to stop They’d ridden hard, her band of thirty-odd soldiers Well, thirty-odd soldiers plus Sebastian who tended the horses, and Aron as practically useless They’d stayed as close as they could to the rail lines, following the tracks as far as possible, until even the ht to let them find their way

Finally, when they’d realized they couldn’t keep going, Brook had ordered the fire, and she’d set up watch shifts, taking the first one herself and giving some of her soldiers a chance to sleep

They ell into the second watch now, and as far as she could tell, neither Sebastian nor Aron had slept yet either

"You should turn in," she said vaguely to the both of the into Sebastian’s dark eyes, which reflected the fire’s light, and spoke again "I need you refreshed in theDon’t ue, but then closed it again when he caught her deter a co it reassuringly "The same could be said of you, Commander You need to sleep"

Hadn’t Aron said the exact saht before? Why did it sound sofrom Sebastian, Brook wondered Why, when he spoke, didn’t it sound like he was laughing at her? Taunting her?

He pressed the flask into her hand "Just in case," he said, and then she watched as he gathered his jacket tighter against the chill and went off toward the ca as e fro town Another reason they’d have to sleep in shifts

"’Night, Sebastian," she called after hi back

"What about me?" Aron asked when it was just the two of them Somehow he made even that simple statement feel like a joke "Don’t you want e of her nose "Not unless you’ve learned to wield a mean sword or shoot like an expert marksman over the past few months Otherwise, you can water the horses for Sebastian" She peeked up at him, over the top of the fire "You know, like a stable hand"

Aron laughed then, and Brook caught a gliht cast froht after Charlie had taken the throne, those same scars had been impossible to miss, a daily reminder of what Aron had done for Brooklynn, of how he’d refused to give Queen Sabara the information she’d wanted Even when she’d tortured him for it Of course, he hadn’t realized it had been Brook he’d been protecting; he hadn’t realized that it was she who’d been part of the underground movement Sabara was so desperate to locate All he’d knoas that he had no intention of turning on one of his friendsTraitor or not