Chapter 3

    I watched some Winged load supplies on the back of peryton, rolling back and forth on the ball of my feet. Of course, I was excited, but my mind was also preoccupied with thoughts of Chase. I knew he had only accepted to come along because it made me happy, and I doubted that going alongside peryton would improve his mood.
    There was something about Peraz forest that was even more unpleasant to him than peryton, but I didn't know what. I didn't want to pester him about it - he would tell me when he was ready, and I was unable to get any information out of Aiden, though he clearly knew something. It was incredible how stubborn he could be sometimes.
    I was jarred out of my thoughts when I walked straight into someone.

    "Really?" An irritated voice said. "I know you're dumb, but you're not blind." Bree glared at me.

    "Sorry." I had neither an excuse nor a comeback at that moment. Would any of my friends fly in to save me? I looked around. No, apparently not. Anyway, only Aiden could have the final word with Bree.

    "I heard you're going to Peraz. You know, they have cockroaches there."

    I couldn't help a disgusted shiver.

    Bree noticed it. "Wow. You are aware cockroaches are the least of your worries in a place like that, right?"

    "Ooh, trees, I'm afraid." I tried to play it off, hoping she would leave me alone.

    She didn't bat an eye. "This is a serious matter, so no wonder it's above your intellectual capacities, but let me enlighten you. This time, you're not strolling around to Sperodyfis to have tea with the nice, friendly monks. You're going to a wild place, near a war zone, that is inhabited by often hostile fairies."

    I frowned. "Wow, you're making a big deal about a few little fairies. And, yes, I am obviously aware of where I'm going."

    She rolled her eyes. "Unlike your human culture might have taught you, fairies aren't butterfly-sized balls of glitter and happiness. Their relationship with Winged has always been... tense. Though, if you ask me, if more our fault than theirs."

    "Okay." I shrugged. I hadn't gotten to that part of Aeolus' history yet, and didn't want to admit that I had no clue what she was talking about.

    "You know, considering last time you almost got yourself and your friends killed, maybe you shouldn't go."

    "Right, and while I was doing that, you were sitting here staring stupidly at the half-burnt city. Looks like you did a much better job than me, congrats," I said sarcastically. If she thought I was too afraid to go to Peraz, she was dead wrong.

    "Well, that's certainly one way of putting it. I'm sure that's also how all the citizens who were saved, sheltered, and fed thanks to the intervention of my warriors see it. And don't try to change the subject. You'll probably take one look at Peraz forest, see a big, menacing bug, and run back to Sol to hide behind your grandpa."

    "Of course I won't do that! I'm going to find my mother." I was determined not to let her get to me.

    "I know you will." She smiled condescendingly. "Or rather, you'll ask your grandpa to use valuable manpower in a wild goose chase to find your mummy, because you'll be too scared to do it yourself."

    I gritted my teeth. "Shut up. Obviously that's not true. I'm going myself, and I'll find her." Fed up, I was about to insult her back when Chase landed gracefully next to us, the sunlight making his stray golden feathers glimmer.

    "Bree, isn't betting illegal in the Junior Troops?" He went straight to the point.

    "Yes. Or do you not remember the time Aiden got in trouble for it?"

    "As a matter of fact, I do. He was exhausted after all the laps he had to fly."

    "That's the standard punishment for doing stuff they shouldn't be doing." Bree gazed at him impassively. "Get to your point."

    "Carson told me you made a bet with him."

    "Carson's a moron." She made a face. "Did he tell you what it was about?"

    "Yeah, I bribed him with with lemon pie."

    "Figures. Well, since bribing is illegal also, let's just forget about this and move on."

    "That's not my point. I mean, how long have you been doing this kind of things?"

    She looked surprised. "Calm down. I have better things to do than bet on what you're going to do all the time. That one was just so disgustingly obvious that I knew I'd win. And by the way, I bet Carson told you I had cheated, and that's not true. Just ask Hailey, I did not help you guys in any way. Now, I got to go, I need to punch Carson in the face for not keeping his mouth shut."

    She flew off, and I turned to Chase. "Er, what?"

    He grabbed my hand. "These idiots betted on whether or not we would get together."

    "Really?" Had it been that obvious that I liked Chase?

    "Yeah. Bree betted a ridiculous amount of money that we would, and I just found out today, when Carson told me it was my fault he was broke. Anyway, I'm just glad to hear betting on my next move isn't a common occurrence. It's kind of disturbing for people to know what you're going to do before you do."

    "Yeah..." Bree probably had a great time betting on when would be the next time I messed up something.

    "Hey, guys!" Aiden yelled as he landed so fast I thought he would fall over. "I can't find Bree. She wants to talk to me, and, Chase, you told me to stay on her good side since I went against her orders and all."

    "You probably should," I agreed, even though I wasn't sure if that was even possible. "She must waiting for you to make a wrong move so she can yell at all of us, because it'll somehow also be my fault."

    "Don't exaggerate." Chase wrapped his arm around my shoulders and tucked a stray lock of brown hair behind my ear. "Actually, I need to talk to Bree, too. I forgot to tell her about the routine check of the armory. We have a bow missing."

    "Wasn't me, I promise," Aiden said. "Let's go!"

    I was going to excuse myself, but Chase smiled at me, and because I wanted him to be in the best possible mood before our trip, I decided to go with them.

    ***

    "Ah, Aiden." Bree waved him over to the side of the training grounds, more or less ignoring Chase and I. "There is something important I wanted to tell you about before you decided to leave for Peraz."

    "I'm your favorite person ever, and you'll miss me if I die?"

    She lifted her eyebrows. "No, not exactly... Be serious for a minute, will you? Or as serious as you can be, anyway. As you know, Luke is now old enough to join the Aeolian army. This leaves the Elite Archers without a leader. Willow and Ryan seem obvious candidates, as they are older and more experienced, but they're both leaving in a few months as well, so it's pointless. You and Lance are the most likely to replace Luke."

    "What about Cedrick? He's really good," Aiden suggested.

    "You're all really good, but I know what you mean. However, he's more of the silent type, and not really the kind of guy who enjoys going around giving orders. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're probably his only friend in the Elites, and that's only because you're friends with everyone."

    "He does have friends outside of our group, you know," Aiden supplied. "Even a girlfriend, actually."

    "I really don't care. Now, back to what I was saying. You and Lance. The next two weeks would be an assessment to figure out the best for the position. If you're not here... Well, you're not an eligible candidate anymore."

    "Oh." Aiden chewed his lip. "I'm sure we'll leave after two weeks, though."

    "Aiden, if you're leader of the Elites, you can't leave on a trip like this. You have to stay here with the rest of your group."

    "Also," Chase added, "the king told me that we were leaving in two days."

    Aiden was uncharacteristically silent.

    "Can't you pick a leader after we come back?" I asked Bree.

    "It's already hard enough running all of this." She showed me the training grounds with a swipe of her arm. People were running around in different directions, practicing with their weapon, or talking loudly. "It'd be better if I didn't have to run around to find every single elite archer every time I need to tell them where the next practice will be." She turned back to Aiden. "I'm sorry, I'm sure it's not an easy choice. You have two days to think on it."

    Aiden nodded. "Even if I leave to the forest, I'll still be part of the Elite Archers, though, right?"

    "Of course, but I'm afraid there's little chance of this opportunity rising up again. I don't know if you want to go in the Aeolian army, but being leader of the elite archer would give you an extra boost there."

    Aiden chewed his lower lip.

    "You know," I said, "it might be better if you stayed here. Of course, it wouldn't be as fun, and I'd miss you, but it would be selfish of me to ask you to come. After all, we all know you would kick Lance's butt."

    This last part made both Chase and Aiden smile.

    Then, Aiden looked up at us. "You know what? I'd much rather go on a trip with all my favorite, awesome friends than have an extra stripe on my badge. I'm coming with you. But thanks for telling me about it, Bree."

    "Well, if you're sure." She shrugged.

    "Don't ever tell anyone I said that, but Lance would be a better leader than me anyway. He has this thing called discipline that I don't seem to understand."

    Chase didn't seem convinced, but Bree cracked a smile. "Point taken. Plus, it's easier to joke around with your comrades than your leader, and I'm sure you'd be bored if no one made jokes with you anymore."

    "If I was leader, I'd order everyone to learn a bunch of jokes for me, so that problem would be solved." Aiden winked.

    "Thank goodness you're leaving, then," Bree muttered. "All right, Aiden, don't think I have forgotten about your punishment. Go back to the castle to help out. I don't want to see you out of there until you're leaving for Peraz."

    "Don't miss me too much!" Aiden waved as she walked away.

    "Hey, Bree, wait up!" Chase called out, but she didn't turn around. He kissed my cheek, and Aiden made a face. "I have to catch up with her. I'll see you two later."

    "You have spit on your cheek," Aiden said as soon as his best friend had left.

    "You have spit in your mouth," I retorted.

    "No I don't!" He replied immediately, before what I had said fully registered. "Oh. Maybe I do, actually. All right, Hailey, if anybody asks, the princess needed help... for something. So I'm helping you and performing my duties."

    "What?"

    "Come on. It's a win-win scenario. I get to avoid scrubbing dirty floors, and you get to enjoy my company."

    I laughed. "All right, deal."

    "Want to go play 'who can steal the most cookies'?" He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the kitchens.

Hey, look, it's Bree! Who's happy to see her? (And who isn't, I guess?)
What do you think of Aiden?

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