Yaaaaaaay the long-awaited Chapter 11 is up! This is only half of what was originally going to be Chapter 11. That would have been a doozy. But anyway so Chapter 12 will have even more of this emotional crap, though perhaps with less attempted seduction. And I really mean that ‘perhaps’. Man, I should put a warning on these chapters.

Four new cameos in this chapter! Marcus is perhaps a little OOC for who he is in his own universe, but since he has a different position in this universe, hopefully he fits in while retaining some semblance of who he is? Apparently I got Lu spot on, which is always nice!

I guess this is FiDaNoMo? Finish that Dang Novel Month? Yeah?

(Chapter 10)

Chapter 11

He ignored the bell and kept kissing her where she lay in the middle of the floor. This was one of the things that he did to her, usually shortly after he looked at her with pity. She could never fight him, was never prepared, was never desensitized to it all. It was bewildering to her. She didn’t know whether to rouse herself to fight or if lying still would make him go away. Whichever she did, she just didn’t know how to respond, didn’t know if this was supposed to be pleasant or unpleasant.
She shuddered as he murmured her name, his lips brushing against her jaw, running down her neck to the hollow of her throat. She flinched as he caressed her waist, drawing her ever closer to him. He had never assaulted her, but she feared it was only time until he did.
He growled into her chest as the harsh sounds of battle drifted up to the window and filtered through the door. She wanted to suggest he get off her and defend his home, but… she was too afraid to say anything. And also he might get hurt or killed. There was that, too.
He snarled again as the door slammed open, whirling around with a feral light in his eyes – and started back.
Standing in the doorway, dual-wielded swords drawn, magic flaring around him, was a rather short elf with teal hair. Behind him were two more, an elf-maid with long brown hair and a bow, and a tall elf-man with black hair in a bun and a long lance. They were not of the keep, whoever they were, dressed in white tunics and lacquered green armour.
“Stay right there!” commanded the teal-haired elf, moving swiftly into the room. His two companions fanned out around him, watching the corners.
Michael slowly removed himself from Illinia. “Who in all the hells are you?”
The elf looked at Illinia, almost doll-like where she lay on the floor, limbs cast every which way, hair strewn around her. “My lady, I am Lusiel Kilpimin, Commander of the 2nd Moonchild Regiment, and we are here to destroy this place. May we assist you?”
“First to get rid of this scum,” said the archer, nocking an arrow to her string.
“Wait!” Illinia cried, galvanized into motion. She scrambled up and in front of her captor. “Don’t kill him!”
“Why not?” asked the other girl. “He was assaulting you! He’s clearly one of the higher-ups in this place! He must die.”
“Please don’t. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be dead.”
“And we should let him live when – goodness, girl, he was pinning you to the floor! If someone like that so much as touched me-“
“All right, Siasara,” Lusiel said calmingly. “Perhaps they’re in love.”
Illinia flushed. “Well… ah…”
“Come on, we’ll take them both with us!”
“Don’t I get any say in this?” muttered Michael to himself. As Illinia turned to him, he gave her a bitter smile. “And now our positions will be reversed, hmm? Except that you don’t…”
She looked at him gently, well aware that her mouth was still blushing with his kisses and that every word she said would feel false to him. “Come with me, Michael. Please. I don’t want you to die.”
There was something dark and terrible in his eyes. “How can you say these things?”
She shrugged. “I still trust you…”
“What’s all this about trust?” demanded the girl, Siasara. “How can you trust a shapeshifter? They’re evil!”
“I don’t think so!” Illinia argued. “I think that if everyone distrusts them, they have no choice! It’s hard to fight against universal prejudice!”
Lusiel nodded thoughtfully. “That seems reasonable to me.”
“Lu, have you lost your mind?” asked the dark-haired elf. “This is the craziest thing you’ve ever done.”
“Give it up, Jaye,” Siasara said. “Once he’s made up his lost mind, he’s not going back on it.”
“That’s right!” Lusiel said cheerfully. “This way, my lady. Your lover can come next. Jaye, I think you’ll have to stay between my wife and this fellow…”
“There’s more than one way to read what you just said, you know, Lu,” answered Jaye, the faintest ghost of a smile around his lips.
“Don’t care! Ah, sir, if you are a shapeshifter, you might want to take the form of an elf while we escape.” Lusiel peered into the corridor. “Follow me, quickly!”
He ran lightly down the corridor; the sound of fighting drew louder. Illinia, hastily swathed in the black cloak, stumbled on suddenly numb feet, and Michael, now tall and blonde and delicate-featured, steadied her. Noticing her feet, he paused briefly and hoisted her over his shoulder.
This time through the castle, they passed through the courtyard on their way to the gate. Illinia held her breath as well as she could; the stink of blood was strong. The snow was red everywhere she looked, and she tried not to look at the fighting – or the bodies. She seemed to have lost every sense of stoicism she had ever gained on her travels, and she was both relieved and horrified at the thought and the sights.
Lusiel stopped by the gates, and shouted orders into the cold winter air. More elves from outside the keep ran up.
“Take these two home,” he said. “Jaye, go with them, please. Sia, with me!”
“Yes, dear!”
The couple turned and ran back into the keep. Illinia stifled a cry – they didn’t need her distraction, and surely Jaye would explain everything.
She saw the dark-haired elf looking at her.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice deep and measured. “Lusiel and Siasara have come back from worse fights than this. They will be fine. Let us go!”
They ran down the northern side of the mountain, the side Illinia had never been able to get to. Dark forest stretched up to meet them, and Illinia took in deep breaths of pine-scented air.
And then she screamed as an arrow hissed from behind a tree and struck an elf in the head.
Michael dove to the ground on top of her as dark-clad figures leaped from behind trees, glittering swords in their hands. Their little guard was outnumbered, but they had reckoned without Jaye. The dark-haired elf exploded into motion, and every move was carefully calculated to conserve energy. None of his movements were wasted.
Still, they were outnumbered.
“Give me a weapon!” Illinia cried.
“So you’ll save me, but not-“
“Not the time!”
He looked around; a dead elf had dropped a sword. She wriggled out from under his protective hold and seized it. Her arms and legs would hardly move – although her kindred were naturally resistant to temperatures, it was just too cold out even for her.
She couldn’t dance. This was foolishness. She was going to be slaughtered while Jaye was distracted with the other six enemy warriors.
But she was in the forest. She closed her eyes and reached out around herself, taking in magic along with the scent of the trees, and pulled.
Vines burst from the ground – big ones, little ones, green ones, brown ones. It was the biggest spell she had ever cast. She couldn’t see it yet, but she could feel it. She heard the shouts of consternation around her as their enemies were ensnared.
And then one heart-piercing screech.
Her eyes flew open to see a dark-robed figure right in front of her, lance drawn back to strike – but he was going limp already, his face and throat bloody.
There was another hoarse scream, and a swift flutter, and her hawk swooped around to land on her shoulder, talons and beak also bloody.
“Forestfeather!” she cried, not even caring.
“Illinia…” Michael grumbled from near the ground. “Are you always this ignorant of your surroundings when you fight?”
She looked around. The elven guards were finishing off the Drow, and Jaye was fighting with the one who had escaped the vines. She tried not to look at all the bodies as she picked up the black cloak from the ground and wrapped it tightly around herself again.
Jaye turned to her, not even breathing hard. “Are you all right, my…”
“Ehhh? What is it?” she asked, frightened and surprised as he trailed off.
“You are the one who called the vines!”
“Er… yes…?”
He genuflected quickly and rose again. “My lady, you are the one we have been waiting for.”
“What!? What are you talking about?”
“Come, quickly! Even with your power it is not safe here.” The remaining guards formed up around them and they hurried through the trees. When Illinia’s cold stiff legs protested, Jaye scooped her up and ran. Illinia caught sight of a black look on Michael’s face, and wondered to herself what she could do about him. What she would have to do about him.
While the elves still believed that they were lovers, Michael would be safe. But she was in love with another, and how long would it be before the shapeshifter cracked under that strain? Despite his occasional far too intimate attentions to her, she was sure he wasn’t in love with her. Yet he still had the potential to be a good person, and it wouldn’t be fair to either of them to pretend anything. She would tell them the truth, and protect him against them. At least she wouldn’t need to protect herself nearly as much among elves, strange though they might be. They weren’t out to kill her.
They slowed after a while, although Jaye kept carrying Illinia. “I’m afraid we have no spare footwear, my lady, so please allow me to take care of you.”
Illinia glanced at Michael, but he was looking the other way. “Thank you. I don’t want to be a burden…”
“You are no burden, lady. You’re very light.”
They travelled the rest of the day and camped in a relatively dry area deep under the dark trees. They lit no fire, and Illinia shivered under the black cloak, until Michael came and sat next to her. He was very quiet, and so was she – the day had been far too exciting. But he was a warm body and she needed warmth.
Halfway through the night, when she was still awake and Jaye was on watch, she saw him stiffen and look around.
She heard it too – breathing in the dark.
Very softly, Jaye picked up his lance and crept to the edge of the camp.
With a wild warcry, a small figure flew out of the darkness and tackled Jaye, knocking him backwards. All the elves in the camp sprang into wakefulness, but then the small figure sat up and laughed.
“Hahahaha! I got you that time!”
“Yes, thank you, Lu,” grunted Jaye. “And disturbed all my surviving fighters. We need our rest! And so do you. Where’s Sia?”
“Right here,” whispered the girl, creeping into camp. “I told him not to, but you know how he is.”
Lusiel might have winked. It was hard to tell. “Right. Well, we destroyed the keep and slew its mistress with minimal losses. While tracking you, we noticed you ran into a little trouble…”
“True, but we were saved by Lady Illinia,” Jaye said, and then lowered his voice so she couldn’t hear. But Lusiel and Siasara’s faces lit up, and she felt a pang. She would have to tell them she wasn’t a hero.
She was grateful that they never brought it up over the next three days as they journeyed to the elven country.
They came to a small fortress, on the edge of the mountains, carved into the caves and walls of the mountain itself. Lusiel brought her, and Michael, and Jaye and Siasara straight to the office of the commander.
The commander was tall, blonde, and handsome, although his air suggested that he knew it. He looked curiously at Illinia, hovering a little bit behind Lusiel. “Who’s the pretty girl, Lusiel?”
“Commander Marcus, may I present Lady Illinia, who is the Twice-Born heroine we’ve been looking for-“
“Wait!” Illinia cried. “No! Please, no, Lusiel. I’m not a fighter. I’m not anyone! I thought you were going to leave that alone…”
The commander stood and walked around his desk to her. “Please, pretty lady, don’t be upset. I am Commander Marcus of the Moonchild Castle; I’m in charge here. What was your name?” His voice was low and soothing; his smile was charming, but she was somehow not at ease.
“I-I’m Illinia. Lusiel, Jaye, Siasara, they have it wrong. Someone said I’m… I’m the Twice-Born, but that’s not right…”
“Whyever not, Lady Illinia?” He leaned over her, smiling confidently.
“You should see her vine spell,” Jaye said quietly. “It was far greater than any of our mages could do.”
“Th-that can’t be right,” Illinia stammered. “I- That’s a thing I’ve been able to do since… since a few months ago. Tharash taught me…”
“Th-Tharash?” Lusiel exclaimed. “You know Tharash?”
“You know Tharash too?” Illinia echoed.
“Yes, we’ve met once or twice. Strange guy. Anyway, go on. What were you saying?”
“Er… I don’t know. I only have a little magic, and I’m an archer, and I can use a sword… not very well… Ah… If you… If you really want me to help, I can try… I don’t think I’ll be any good…”
‘What am I doing?’ she thought to herself. ‘I don’t want to help them. That is, I do, but – I want to look for my husband. But they did save me…’
“Lovely Lady Illinia, do join us,” said Marcus. “I would rather serve under so sweet and beautiful a lady than any other…” He reached out to stroke her face-
-and found his hand slapped away by a hard-faced Michael.
“Don’t touch her,” hissed her protector.
Marcus’s face twisted into an expression of barely-controlled rage. “Who is this?”
“This is… um, her lover,” Lusiel explained. “We rescued him, too.”
“Ah…” Illinia said, hesitating as to whether or not she should tell the truth right then and there.
“Her lover?” the commander sneered. “What a little brat he is. Some nobody, locked in a Drow castle…”
“Whoever I am, keep away from her,” Michael gritted. “I can see what you want.”
Marcus’s face grew even darker, before all unpleasantness was washed away and he smiled again. “Well, welcome to Moonchild Castle, my lady. Lusiel, do we have apartments for her and her… companion?”
“Yes, I’ll show them the way there. Come along!” Lusiel turned and led them away.
“What was that all about?” Siasara demanded of her husband a short way down the hall. “He’s usually moodier than that around pretty girls, after getting rejected…”
“I don’t know,” Lusiel replied. He turned to Illinia, still walking. “I’m sorry that happened. He’s not usually that bad. That thing he did at the end was weird though. Don’t worry. He won’t bother you or Michael any more. He’s a good person at heart, and he’s a good commander.”
“Here we are!” Siasara said. “Now, I’m sure you would both like a bath. As would we, but you are the guests – or at least new, here. Illinia, I’ll take you and help you get cleaned up.”
“And I’ll help you,” Lusiel said to Michael. “Jaye, we’ll see you later.”
“Later,” murmured Jaye, and marched away.
“I don’t need help,” Illinia heard Michael muttering as Siasara led her into a white-tiled room with a large, steaming bath.
“Here you go!” Siasara said. “We sent word ahead that we had guests, so we had time to fix this up for you. Let me help you with…”
The black cloak fell from Illinia’s shoulders, followed by her long-sleeved midriff-baring green top, and Siasara gasped. “What happened to you?”
Illinia’s arms were covered in parallel horizontal scars. There were hundreds, some a few months old and white as milk, and some clearly new and still burning red. There were far more than she had been given by that one guard. But how to tell her?
“Wow, someone really tortured you, poor thing!” Siasara cried. “Are your legs the same way?”
Illinia nodded mutely, withdrawing into herself and looking away.
“Oh, don’t be ashamed.” She felt the other girl’s hand on her cheek and looked around into sympathetic brown eyes. “How could you help it, being in that horrible place?”
She continued to ramble, looking away as Illinia finished stripping and stepped into the blissfully warm water. “Oh, dear. I think we have some healers who can deal with that. That looks awful! Couldn’t that… boy protect you?”
When Illinia didn’t answer and only looked worried, peering over the edge of the tub, Siasara’s eyes narrowed. “Wait… don’t tell me he was the one who did that to you?”
“N-no! That is… He saved me from the guard who-“
“Illinia,” Siasara waggled a finger at her. “I’m not stupid. This was not a one-time thing.” She gritted her teeth. “He did, didn’t he. Don’t bother trying to protect him! Oh, I’ll kill him…”
“No!” Illinia squeaked, splashing out of the tub and hurriedly wrapping herself in a towel. She caught Siasara’s hand as she was about to leave the room. “No, don’t! Please! I think he can be a good person, if only we give him a chance.”
Siasara looked confused, and angry. “Illinia, he’s a shapeshifter! And he tortured you! And you don’t know what he’ll do here! I know you’re in love with him but if it turns out we’ve brought in – invited in – a guy who can just kill us all without getting caught…”
“Siasara!” Illinia said. “Please, don’t go until you hear everything.”
So she told her almost everything – how she was searching for her husband, and how she had fallen in with Torrigan and Mira and Kellan, and how Michael had ‘helped’ them, and how she had helped him, and how she had left the others and then how Michael journeyed with her and tried to betray her and about her imprisonment. When she thought about it, her heart sank, because it felt like his bad actions outweighed his good ones.
“But I think he can be a good person, if only we let him. How can someone be good if no one trusts them? I want to show him I can trust him, no matter what. I can forgive him for what he’s done to me, because I don’t believe he really wanted to do that. He was only trying to fit into the society that he was raised in, which he had no choice to be raised in because our society cast his kind out.”
Siasara sighed heavily. “Illinia, you talk persuasively, but you’re clearly not from around here and you don’t know the actual people who live here. Who they are, and what they’re capable of. He’s in love with you, but we can’t trust him not to kill the rest of us.”
“What? He’s… in love…”
“With you, silly goose!” Siasara chuckled a little. “You couldn’t tell? And we found him… kissing you… You’re married, and you can’t tell when a guy loves you?”
“I-I-I thought he was just still trying to break me! Or trying to comfort me entirely inappropriately! Or he was just being self-centred! No, I can’t tell when someone loves me! Do you know how long my husband courted me before I figured out what he was doing?”
“Nope, but it sounds like it was far too long,” Siasara said, grinning. Then she sobered again. “Illinia, I’ll talk to Lu, but I don’t know if we can let this guy walk around freely.”
“You’re giving me an apartment, right?” Illinia said. “I have to protect him from the other people here anyway, because as soon as they find out they will want to kill him. So let him stay there. …It will be like when I stayed with him, which is unfortunate, but there won’t be any torture and I won’t let him do that to me again…”
“That’s only torture of a different kind,” Siasara said, and sighed again. “Illinia, I am so sorry for you. Your life is far too complicated, from a girl’s point of view… You’re going out on a very thin limb to ‘save’ this guy; don’t be unnecessarily cruel to him.”
Illinia sat still as she considered this.

She was dressed, in warm white robes, and wandering around the fortress an hour later. Siasara was talking with Lusiel, Michael was in the apartment by himself, and where Jaye might be, Illinia did not know. She hoped she came across him. He didn’t talk a lot, but he had a dry humour underneath. Also she hoped he would be able to introduce her to the fiancée he’d told her about.
Eventually, she ran into an elf. She didn’t know him, but he saluted her. “My lady!” he said. “Lord Lusiel would like to talk to you.”
“Ah, yes… of course. Please take me to him?”
“That is indeed my job,” he said, smiling.
She followed him to an ornate door of green and blue, and he ushered her in. Lusiel bounded up from his chair to greet her, taking her hand. “Illinia! Thanks for coming. Sorry for disturbing you, but we have things to talk about!”
“I-it’s no problem,” she stuttered. There also was Siasara, Marcus, and a couple other people she didn’t know. “Wh-what kind of things?”
“Well…” His face fell as he showed her to a seat and then sat down again himself. “We’re pretty sure you’re going to be our saviour. So we really have to ask you to stay and help us win this war.”
“Ahhhhh… war?”
“You don’t know?” Marcus asked, leaning back in his seat and putting his feet up on another chair. “We’ve been at war with Lord Terinor for five years. Recently he’s been gaining the upper hand. We’ve even found traces of his foul work interfering with the humans. A few heroes have been going around, helping us get rid of him…”
“Even if they don’t know about our war,” Lusiel put in.
“Right.” Marcus took a sip from some kind of amber-coloured drink.
Illinia looked at him, tall, cocky, fully comfortable in his commander’s uniform. Her heart sank. They wanted her to help him fight a war? How could she possibly help this warrior?
“Anyway,” Marcus continued, having savoured his drink long enough, “so we need the Twice-Born’s help. They’re supposed to be able to help us win this war once and for all. It’s some kind of prophecy.” He smirked. “Not that I believe too much in prophecies, but hey, it gives the kids something to look forward to.”
“So!” Lusiel said, leaning forward. “I have a proposal for you, Illinia. Since you’re the Twice-Born, we really shouldn’t hamper your talents. So we’re going to put you in charge of the castle.”
Illinia did her best impression of a fish out of water.
“Ah! I mean, if you’re willing,” he quickly amended. “You would be willing, right? Please?”
Illinia looked at his earnest, smiling violet eyes. How could she say no?
Siasara snickered very, very softly.
Illinia nodded. “I… I will try. If you really insist…”
“Of course we do!” Marcus said loudly. “Who knew the Twice-Born was such a hottie?”
“Hush!” Siasara scolded. “Don’t frighten her!”
Illinia flushed. While Marcus looked on the verge of laughing, she saw Lusiel give him a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye.

After that, she returned to wandering the castle, this time with a bit more purpose. If they were putting her in charge, she should know the layout, and maybe a few people around.
But everywhere she went, there were too many people, people who saluted her. It made her feel uncomfortable. And worse, she could hear them. They called her Lady and Twice-Born to her face, which was bad enough, but then she could hear them calling to each other to tell the others that the Lady was there.
At length, she turned around to find she had quite a crowd following her.
“She’s so pale!” some whispered. “But so beautiful. Ooh, she’s blushing! That’s adorable. And they say she’s a wonderful fighter! They say she defeated an entire unit of Drow with only Captain Jaye for help.”
They pressed closer, and Illinia squeaked and dove into a nearby door, shutting it behind her. She heard a disappointed groan trickle through the thick wood.
She took stock of her surroundings curiously, and realized with slight alarm she was in Marcus’s office. Then she quelled it. What did she have to fear from him? He was an elf, and the commander. If anything, she should be relieved. He could help her. She was just a little intimidated by him.
Marcus was there, looking up from the things on his desk. “Hello, Lady Illinia! How can I help you?” He grinned and raised an eyebrow.
She smiled back shyly. “I was only… ah… escaping from the crowd. May I ask what you are working on?”
“Nothing important,” he said, shoving paper away from him. “Maps and crap. Trying to figure out our next attack.”
“Oh. I don’t know anything about that. Would you show me?”
“Why bother?” he asked, standing and walking towards her. “I’ll take care of that for you. All you have to do, Lady Twice-Born, is assist us with your power. Anyway, perhaps we might talk?”
“Er… well, what about?”
“Now, Siasara said you’re questing for your husband. Which is all very well and good, but… well…”
Illinia grew suspicious suddenly. “You’re not…”
“Oh, I am.” His grin turned into a leer and he locked the door. “Surely you need a little affection after being lonely for – what, twenty years? – and then being a prisoner! I heard you have amazing scars. Can I see?”
Suddenly a hot knot of irritation welled up in her chest. “Go away!” she cried shrilly. “I put up with all kinds of people trying to seduce me, and I’m tired of it!”
“Consider it… a perk of your new job?” he suggested, trapping her in a corner. “I’m still going to make wonderful sweet love to you… You’ll like it, you really will…”
“I said stop!” and just as he reached out to take her in his arms, she kicked hard.
He grunted and curled up. She stepped away, trembling, wondering what to do. She couldn’t unlock the door…
He turned to her with fire in his eyes. “You little vixen…”
“Stop!” she said. “I’ll help you and your people, but you can’t do this. I survived my imprisonment; you can’t break me. Please don’t try… please?”
He was advancing on her again. “You just need some tenderness,” he said, his face changing again, and he reached out to stroke her cheek.
She hesitated for a second, and his hand was gentle on her face. But then he tried to embrace her again, and she batted the hand away and stepped back. His face twisted in anger again, and she dodged his reach.
“Come back here!” he said.
“No! Go away!” she said. “I will hurt you in self-defence! I’m not going to live in fear of my allies.”
But he kept chasing her, and then at last he caught her. They fell to the floor, and she cried out in surprise and alarm.
She fought. She wasn’t putting up with this anymore. No one else was going to touch her except for her husband!
“Hey…” someone was knocking on the door. “Everything all right in there?”
Illinia took in a breath to call for help, but Marcus dove in and kissed her hard. Somehow she retained hold of her senses and slapped him across the face. He yowled.
“Hey!” the knocking turned to banging. Then there was a pause, and a click in the lock.
Jaye flung the door open, narrowly missing hitting Illinia’s legs. “Stars and trees, what are you doing, Commander!?”
“She wants it,” Marcus said, still rubbing his cheek.
“No, I don’t!” Illinia cried. “Help, Jaye!” She shoved at Marcus as she spoke; taken by surprise, he toppled off her.
“Commander!” Jaye said sternly. “This is our saviour! How can you treat her so disrespectfully?”
Marcus snarled wordlessly, gathered himself up, and fled from the room.
Illinia sat up, somewhat breathless. “Wh-what – why would he do that?”
Jaye shook his head and helped her up. “I don’t know. He has never been that way before. Perhaps he is jealous of your new position as our leader.”
“Well, I… I don’t even want to be a leader! It’s only to help you as I can…”
“Lady Illinia,” Jaye said, kneeling in front of her, “you are the Twice-Born. There is no doubt about that, from what you told Siasara. I’m sorry to make a big deal out of it, but you will help us win. You must be our leader. The entire elven race – except, perhaps, for Marcus – begs you.”
Illinia’s eyes grew round. “I-It’s a big responsibility. I will do my best, if that is how it is. But I don’t know anything!”
Jaye smiled at her then, just a little. “Don’t worry. We will help you. Lu and Sia and I are always at your call.”
Illinia looked around uncomfortably. “All right… Where do I start?”
“Well, I was coming to tell the commander about the scouts, but I think I will just tell you instead. Although, hold one moment. I must ascertain Marcus’s location; he is unpredictable right now. We’ll put him in custody until he can explain himself. And I must tell Lusiel. …It was a good thing I have a key to the commander’s office! As his aide, of course.”
“Yes… I’m very grateful to you,” she said as he went to the door and called. He gave quick orders, and then returned to her.
“Now, let’s get you filled in on the situation.” He picked up the largest map on the desk. “This is our location…”

Chapter 12