Mantle of the Gods

I woke up in my bed.

Not my bed at the Dorm in the Cathedral, but back at the room that Tres had provided for us. It was dark in the room, but I could make out a few things in the ambient light. I could also tell that there were two women sleeping with their heads on my chest. Ether’s white hair was hard to miss, especially at night. At first I thought that the other one was Gesai, but the hair was much too dark.

I did my best to slide out from under them without waking them up. I'm not quite sure how I managed it, but I made it out somehow. I turned back to look at the bed and both women were now cuddling with the same pillow in between them. I shook my head and smelled my shirt. It was the same one that I’d worn all day. My armor had been taken off, but I was still in the same shirt and shorts from the day before. I had no idea how either woman had been able to sleep next to me without me cleaning up first. I’d just have to remember to ask about that in the morning.

I pulled a pair of pants out of the crystal band on my wrist. The display lit up the room a little and I saw that the other woman in my bed was Oz, with Ren sleeping on the floor on the side away from the bathroom. I had no idea what happened, but I wanted some answers. I walked into the hall as quietly as I could and headed for Trent’s door. I was about to open it when I heard someone on my right.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

I jumped and turned to find myself almost face-to-face with RIx.

“What are you doing up?” I whispered as loud as I thought was safe.

“I don’t sleep much.” Rix motioned for me to follow her. She led me through the kitchen part to a door that led to the balcony that wrapped around the entire floor.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I waved off the look she gave me. Of course she knew. “What did they do to Fray?”

“As far as I can tell?” The redhead shrugged. "Nothing?” She looked out at the dark water with the two Lighthouses rotating back and forth across the harbor, keeping a light in between them at all times.

“Did anyone tell you what happened?” I hated that she was acting so emotionless right now.

“New girl got mouthy, Fray got scared, and Gesai got rough.” She looked at me. "Oz showed off which made Fray panic. She tried to prove she was as good as Oz and everyone did risky things to cover for the person who covered for the last person.” She shook her head. "Oz is going to be better than Fray for a while at least. She was trained by Adventurers from birth, not to mention the last month of training we’ve had.” The red-haired woman looked over at me. "Doesn’t mean she’s getting kicked off the team. Or Gesai.” She let out an exasperated chuckle. "We’ve been collecting strays, not turning them out.”

“Did they say what happened?” I waved my hand over my shoulder at the room behind us. “With everything?”

“Like?” She looked over at me.

“Who’s staying, who are we dropping off at the Cathedral, how long are we staying here?” I swallowed. "What happened between Fray and Gesai after they knocked me out?”

“Trent is planning on taking me to the bosses with Jovena tomorrow. He wants her to at least have the first three floors unlocked before he hands her over to Warder.” She nodded. "You can imagine Aelin had a good piece to say about Mitchel staying, but…” Rix turned around so she could look inside while she leaned on the railing. "Jovena needs a little more ‘military discipline’.” She made air quotes. “Than Trent feels like he provides. The environment around here is kind of…” The redhead looked over at me. "Chaotic?”

She wasn’t wrong. “What about Gesai and Fray?”

“Gesai’s in the RV for the rest of our stay.” She chuckled. "If I’d known that was a punishment…”

“Rix.” I touched her arm. "Please.”

She shrugged. “Compared to how the others described them, they both seemed fine. You on the other hand…” She looked up at the floor above us. "You seem off.”

“I’m just worried about people.” I stared out at the water. "I never realized how broken things are.”

“You can’t fix everything.” Rix turned sideways so she was facing me. "You heard what happened to Dee. She had Trent and Tres in her corner and still got Desolated. That’s two of the most powerful forces in this Ward.” She sighed. "You need to stop worrying about what’s coming and focus instead of what you can do here.” She gave me a playful nudge. "Like catching up to me.”

“It’s not that simple.” I pulled away. "People get hurt.” I looked back at the empty dark room. "People I want to protect.”

“You can’t stop people from getting hurt.” Rix moved in between me and the window so I was looking at her. "But you can be there to bandage them afterwards and help them pick up the pieces.” She tapped my shoulder. "Come on, I know what you need.”

I watched her walk over to the east side and tie a rope on the railing. She waved at me. "Come on.”