“In some ways, she is,” Solar said, catching a distorted reflection of himself in his coffee.
“In the important ways, she’s not.”
Solar cleared his throat again. The question was sticking in his throat like tree sap, but he had to ask it. He had to know the answer. “Does she know?”
Keiko barked out a laugh. “No. You’ve done quite the job hiding your feelings there. That girl’s clueless. She thinks she bothers you.”
“She does.”
“I don’t mean hot and bothered, Sol.”
“Fair enough.”
Keiko filled two more mugs with coffee, took the sandwich out of Solar’s hand and shoved it straight into his mouth. “Finish your sandwich, take the extra coffee to Javi and O, and think about what I said.”
She gave his cheek a sharp, if not loving, slap and turned back to the fire. Solar recognized himself as dismissed.
CHAPTER SIX
Their weekly meeting had been a frustrating one. And depressing. After their attack on King Dalyer four years ago, when they rescued Zara, the king had gone into hiding. No one knew where to find him. Even the Oracle. Dalyer being in hiding wouldn’t be such big deal if he weren’t still in control of his million-man army. If he weren’t still terrorizing the dragon realm. Pillaging and burning as he went. And if he weren’t still bringing down swift and deadly retribution upon anyone who spoke up against him.
Hence, the jungle camp. Nearly 500 miles away from where they suspected him of hiding. Their guess was that he was deep in the Shina Mountain range. But they couldn’t say for sure. The Oracle was frustratingly stymied. For some reason he had some sort of block on the king. One he never had before.
Javi, mid-forties, with salt and pepper hair and a soldier’s mind, was always spoiling for a fight. And lately, he had had enough. He wanted to hunt some royalty. His vote, every meeting, was to stop hiding and go find a fight. Solar’s vote was simply to have a plan. He had no interest in free-wheeling across the realm, searching for someone who didn’t want to be found. And it meant that they stayed where they were. Moving camp now and again. For four years.
The Oracle, inevitably, waffled back and forth between the two viewpoints. He argued one side and then the other. Offering advice that was always wrapped up in prophecy, real or not, it was always hard to tell. If he hadn’t known O for so long, he might have thought that the bastard was just fucking with them. Trying to stall the revolution from the inside. But as it was, Solar knew that the future was viscous, ever-changing, like the direction of a lava flow down the side of a volcano. The Oracle might know how things would end up, but he wouldn’t always know how to get there. Or conversely, he knew exactly what to do next, but not where their actions would ultimately lead. There was no sense in putting too much pressure on the Oracle’s gift. He was the revolution’s ultimate weapon, and they needed him sharp.
After their meeting, Solar thought about trying to seek out Zara, just to see if she was alright, but he remembered Keiko’s words from earlier. Instead, he chose to walk along the river and remain discreet. Doing something about it, as Keiko had ordered him to do, was just not an option. Maybe she was right. Maybe his… thing for Zara was distracting him from being the kind of leader he needed to be. But doing something about it was never going to happen.
Solar heard footsteps behind him and whirled. It was just the Oracle, sauntering after him, one hand in the pocket of his worn and ratty cargo pants, the other flipping the dagger that he always favored.
“Whatcha thinkin’ bout?” he called to Solar as he approached.
“Don’t you already know?” Solar raised an eyebrow.
“Of course. That’s why I came.”
Solar’s eyebrows raised even further but his heart sank. The Oracle was finally going to make him talk about the real reason why he wouldn’t court Zara. “You came to talk to me about the prophecy. My prophecy.”
“Well, more specifically, I came to talk to you about the reasons you won’t let yourself have what you want so badly.”
“And we both know that the answer to that is the prophecy you gave me three years ago.” The memory of that day still made Solar’s blood run cold. It was a burden to know certain information about your future. And it was one that Solar never would have chosen for himself if he hadn’t had the lives of all the Surgere in his hands. And by extension, the lives of all the dragon shifters in the realm who lived under the tyranny of a power-hungry, vindictive king.
He’d made the Oracle give him a prophecy about his future. And it had been bitter. A very hard pill to swallow. And one that would keep Solar from getting too close to anyone.