and
looked at her.
“Blake,” Shale greeted.
“Princess.”
“Shale. Kale.” Blake gestured
toward the rest of the warriors. “I see you’ve managed to alienate
yourselves quite nicely.”
Kale scoffed, either missing,
or ignoring Blake’s teasing tone. “We’ve already been scolded by Melaina
and Aris, we don’t need to hear it again.”
“Good, because I’m not here
for that,” Blake replied easily. “But I do want to know what happened.”
“Why?” Kale asked.
“She doesn’t need a reason,
Kale, she’s the princess.” Shale reminded her point blank of whom she was
talking to. Kale needed to give Blake the respect she deserved.
“Well it’s not like she can
do anything,” Kale mumbled.
“Do anything about what?”
Blake asked.
Kale stared stubbornly at the
ground.
“Shale?” Blake switched the
query to her when she realised Kale wasn’t going to answer.
“We just had a difference of
opinion.”
“So I gathered. You refused
to carry out Melaina’s order. That’s a serious offence.”
“I thought you said you
weren’t here to scold us?” Kale said.
Shale sighed. “Be quiet,
Kale.”
“You’d be wise to listen,
Kale,” Blake said firmly. She searched Shale’s face intently. “I know you
had to have a reason. I just want to understand.” Blake’s tone was softer
now, and directed solely at Shale. “Talk to me.” A request, not a demand.
Shale held her gaze for a
moment, then nodded. “Basically, a tree was going to fall, and Melaina
wanted me to attach a rope to it so we could make sure it didn’t dam the
river.”
Blake frowned. “What was so
wrong with that?”
“She wanted me to go
underneath the tree to do it.”
Her frown grew stronger, and
Blake asked the obvious question, “Couldn’t you have got to it any other
way?”
“Yes, but time was of the
essence, and Melaina wasn’t willing to give me any,” Shale said. “The tree
fell a few moments later. If I had followed her command...well, I wouldn’t
be talking to you now.”
“It was pointless anyway. The
tree didn’t block the river. And even if it had, we could’ve pulled it
free without risking anyone’s life,” Kale said.
“It was an unnecessary risk,”
Shale finished.
“But apparently acceptable as
there are two of us,” Kale added sarcastically. “I could easily take
Shale’s place.”
Blake wasn’t amused. “I don’t
find that funny, Kale.”
“Neither did I.”
Blake’s voice went up a pitch.
“Melaina said that?”
“She doesn’t like us,” Shale
said simply.
Kale broke into laughter.
“That’s putting it nicely.”
Blake turned, intending to go
and confront Melaina. Shale lightly gripped her wrist. “No, Blake, don’t
do anything.”
“Don’t do anything? I’m not
having her put your lives at risk because she doesn’t like you. You can’t
ask me to do that.”
“I’m not. I’m asking you to
trust me. No one will believe us over Melaina anyway, and I give you my
word that we’ll be careful.” Shale’s mouth quirked. “Though we might need
your help if we disobey another order.”
“If it’s anything like
today’s, you’ll have it.” Blake glanced at Kale. “Both of you.” Though
Kale didn’t smile, she did nod. It was a start.
“Except for how she’s
treating us, Melaina’s a brilliant second, I can see why Aris chose her,”
Shale said.
Blake was surprised by how
fair Shale was being. Under the circumstances, it was more than Melaina
deserved.
“I agree. Though that’ll make
it a lot harder for us,” Kale said. “She’s also careful not to treat us
unfairly around others. Melaina knows what she’s doing.”
“All this because you beat
her in a fight?” Blake asked in astonishment. “You warriors must have big
egos.”
Shale grinned. “We do. But in
this case, I think it’s more than that. I’m not sure
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