Three Days

Three Days

POV: Talon

Three days. The words echoed through Fort Velmoor like a countdown to execution. Three days until the full moon. Three days until Magnus Blackclaw returned with his full force to claim what he believed was his.
Three days until everything fell apart. The fort had transformed into a hive of frantic preparation. Soldiers worked around the clock reinforcing walls, stockpiling arrows, sharpening weapons. The eastern wall, damaged in the last attack, was being patched with whatever materials we could scrounge. It wouldn't hold against a sustained assault, but it was better than nothing.
I threw myself into the work. Anything to keep busy. Anything to avoid thinking about Seth.
About her. The knowledge sat in my chest like a stone, heavy and uncomfortable. I'd known for days now. Known that Seth was a woman hiding in plain sight. Known that Magnus was hunting her specifically. Known that she was probably nobility, given Magnus's obsession and the formal betrothal.
And I'd said nothing.
Why?
I hefted another crate of arrows, carrying it up to the ramparts where archers were setting up defensive positions. My muscles burned from hours of labor. Good. Physical pain was easier to deal with than the moral quandary twisting through my mind.
"Talon." Lieutenant Carrick appeared beside me. "When you're done there, report to the armory. We need someone to inventory the spare swords."
"Yes, sir."
I finished distributing the arrows and headed down to the armory. The underground storage room was cool and dim, lit by a handful of torches. Racks of weapons lined the walls. Swords, spears, axes. Everything we might need to hold off an army.
Everything except enough soldiers to use them.
Aelis was already there, checking crossbow mechanisms. She looked up when I entered, her sharp eyes assessing.
"Talon. Here to help or hide?"
"Both, probably." I grabbed a clipboard and started counting swords. "You?"
"Same." She set down a crossbow and picked up another. "This waiting is worse than fighting. At least in battle you don't have time to think."
"Thinking is overrated."
"Agreed." She was quiet for a moment, then asked casually, "If you knew someone was lying about who they were, would you expose them?"
The question made me freeze. I kept my eyes on the clipboard, counting the same swords twice. "Depends. Why are they lying?"
"That's what I'm asking you." Aelis raised an eyebrow. "Context matters, doesn't it? Are they lying to hurt people or protect themselves?"
I thought about Seth. About the terror in her eyes when Magnus's name was mentioned. About the binding cloth hidden in her trunk. About the desperate way she'd been running for months.
"Protect," I said quietly. "Definitely to protect themselves."
"Then I'd mind my own business." Aelis went back to her crossbow inspection. "People lie for all kinds of reasons. If they're not hurting anyone, if they're just trying to survive, then their secrets are their own."
Relief flooded through me. I'd been carrying the weight of this knowledge alone, unsure what to do with it. But Aelis was right. Seth wasn't hurting anyone. She was just trying to survive.
"This is about Seth, isn't it?" Aelis asked.
My silence was answer enough. She sighed, setting down the crossbow with a soft click. "Look, Talon. I don't know what Seth's hiding and honestly? I don't care. What I do know is he's fought beside us. Bled for us. Saved lives during that convoy attack and again during the siege."
"I know."
"That earns loyalty." Her voice was firm. "Whatever secrets Seth's carrying, whatever reasons he has for hiding, they're not my business unless he makes them my business. And they shouldn't be yours either."
"Even if keeping quiet puts the fort at risk?"
"Does it?" Aelis challenged. "Or does exposing him put one person at terrible risk while changing nothing about our strategic situation?"
I hadn't thought about it that way. Magnus was coming regardless of whether we handed over Seth. The attacks would continue. The danger would remain. All exposing her would do is destroy one person's life.
"You're right," I admitted.
"I usually am." Aelis picked up another crossbow. "Besides, I suspect several people in this fort are lying about who they are. Seth's just more obvious about it."
I turned to stare at her. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Talon. You're not that naive." She met my eyes. "Half the soldiers here are running from something. Failed merchants. Disgraced nobles. People who couldn't make it in civilian life. The military doesn't ask too many questions as long as you can fight."
"That's different than.."
"Is it?" She interrupted. "Everyone's got secrets. Everyone's hiding something. Seth's might be bigger than most, but the principle is the same. We're all just trying to survive in a world that doesn't give second chances."
She walked past me toward the door, then paused. "One more thing. Whatever you decide to do about Seth, make sure it's because you think it's right. Not because you're scared or because authority tells you to. Your conscience is your own. Don't let anyone else dictate it."
Then she was gone, leaving me alone in the armory with my thoughts.
++++
That night, I couldn't sleep. I lay on my bunk, staring at the ceiling, while my roommates snored around me. My mind kept churning through the same questions. What was the right thing to do? Protect Seth and risk being labeled a conspirator? Or expose her and live with the guilt?
Aelis had made it sound simple. But nothing about this situation was simple. Eventually, I gave up on sleep. I pulled on my boots and jacket and slipped out into the corridor. Maybe a walk would clear my head. Maybe the cold night air would settle the restless energy crawling under my skin.
I wandered through the fort without direction. Past the mess hall. Through the training yard. Along the walls where sentries kept their vigilant watch. And somehow, without meaning to, I found myself outside the cadet barracks. Seth's barracks.
I stopped, staring at the door. What was I doing here? What did I hope to accomplish?
Inside, everyone would be sleeping. Seth included. I couldn't exactly knock and demand answers. Couldn't force a conversation she clearly wasn't ready to have. But I couldn't seem to make myself leave either.
"Can't sleep?"
I spun around. Kieran stood a few feet away, arms crossed. He looked as exhausted as I felt. Dark circles under his eyes. Tension in every line of his body.
"Just walking," I said carefully.
"Outside Seth's barracks. At midnight." Kieran's expression was knowing. "Right."
We stood in silence, two soldiers who'd both figured out the same secret. Both protecting the same person for reasons we probably couldn't articulate.
"You know," Kieran said finally.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"A while. You?"
"Same." He moved to stand beside me, both of us staring at that closed door. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing." The word came out firm, certain. "What are you going to do?"
"Protect her." No hesitation. "Whatever it takes."
I nodded slowly. That was the right answer. The only answer that made sense. "Then we're on the same side."
"Good." Kieran turned to face me. "Because when Magnus comes in three days, she's going to need all the friends she can get. And I suspect you, me, and Elias aren't going to be enough."
"What are you suggesting?"
"That we find more allies. People we trust. People who'll stand with us when things go bad." His jaw tightened. "Because things are going to go very bad, very quickly."
He was right. I could feel it. That instinct that had kept me alive through dozens of battles. The storm was coming. And we were nowhere near ready for it.
"I'm in," I said quietly. "Whatever you need. Count me in."
Kieran nodded. Relief flickered across his face. "Three days, Talon. We've got three days to figure out how to save her life."
"Then we'd better get started."
We turned and walked away from the barracks together, two unlikely allies united by a single purpose. Behind us, behind that closed door, Seth slept. Unaware that her secrets were no longer hers alone. Unaware that people were choosing to stand with her instead of against her.
Three days until Magnus ar
rived. Three days to prepare. Three days until everything changed.