They were alone in her room, warmed by the feel of one another's skin and surrounded by the gentle glow of candlelight. But despite having tried to loosen it for the last hour, Odessa Silverberg could still feel the tension lingering on Flik like a coat of sweat, his bare body radiating heat beneath hers. He lay on his stomach and she on his back, and even with his head resting on his folded arms, his gaze facing away from hers, Odessa knew his eyes were open and his thoughts were restless. She couldn't remember ever having been unable to put his mind at ease before, but tonight he was unusually troubled.
Her coppery mane rained over his shoulder as Odessa leaned forward and trailed kisses along Flik's leanly muscled spine. Her lips tasted new scars that hadn't been there when their journey first began. Was she responsible for them? No, she reassured herself; the blame laid with this accursed war—with the damned Empire.
The Liberation Army's doyenne heaved a breathy sigh and abandoned her plot to seduce her vice commander from his sense of duty. Maybe in the beginning he had joined the rebellion for her sake alone, but it had come to be a cause he believed in just as strongly as she did.
So, while the rest of her council had long since retired for the night, Lady Odessa Silverberg opened the floor for one last debate this evening.
"You're angry I let them go," she surmised. Grady, the military commander of Rockland, had strung up the leaders of the Mt. Seifu bandits, Varkas and Sydonia, and left them to starve to death. Odessa had sent a small group of newcomers to enact a rescue operation in the dusty little town to the east. And not everyone approved of her decision—including her lover.
"I'm not angry," Flik grumbled, his chin resting on his hands and muffling his speech. "Not with you, anyway."
"But it was my decision," she reminded him. She added, "I had my reasons. The bandits oppose corruption the same as we do, and they only attack in retaliation to the Empire's senseless brutality. Besides, Tir volunteered to help them, since he was responsible for their capture."
"Exactly!" snorted Flik.
"But he didn't know what would happen, that they would be condemned to die without a fair trial. He's trying to make up for his mistake. He has a good heart. And Viktor's with him."
"That's not helping," Flik muttered to himself. "Viktor isn't a reason," he growled. "Just because he likes someone doesn't mean we can trust them."
"Don't you trust me?" she countered.
Flik lifted his head and unfolded his arms, giving Odessa a moment to adjust her position as he rolled over beneath her. He resettled on his back, her bare chest pressed tightly to his. He could feel the beating of her heart. "Of course I trust you, Odessa."
She cupped his face, staring deep into his azure eyes as she pleaded, "Then trust me."
Her words were not lost on him. Yet Flik was unable to shake the sense of foreboding that had arisen like a chill along his spine the moment they had realized that the boy their agent Viktor had brought into the Liberation Army's own headquarters was none other than Tir McDohl, whose father, General Teo McDohl, was doggedly loyal to the corrupted Empire they were trying to take down.
"It's not you I don't trust, Odessa," Flik argued, "but your judgment." He took hold of her wrists, drawing her hands from his face. They both knew how persuasive those hands could be, and he wanted a clear head to clear the air between them. "We already suspect we have a spy in our ranks, considering how many of our hideouts have been compromised, how many supplies and good men we've lost as of late. We can't afford to recruit total strangers into our innermost ranks—not even strangers, but the son of the Empire's favorite lapdog?!" When she tried to press a finger to his lips and shush him, Flik's eyes flashed and his grip on her wrists tightened. "I'm serious, Odessa. You could be killed! Where would that leave us? Where would that leave me?"
"Still waging a war of humanity against the Scarlet Moon Empire, I should hope," Odessa answered unflinchingly. "The liberation must succeed, with or without me. I may indeed die…if that is my destiny. I won't shirk my responsibilities for fear of death; death is the price of war, and a blood price is what I have sworn to pay, if only it will liberate the people from the tyranny that plagues us all now." Her eyes took on a faraway look, as if she could somehow see into her own future. "I have a feeling our little rebellion is just now beginning to take shape. It's like…somehow…this was meant to be."
Flik's eyes shone in the candlelight. "Don't talk that way." He meant to demand she cease this morbid train of thought, but his words came out in a whispered plea. They had all lost things and people they cared for, forsaken everything for the good of their country, but Odessa was the one person he didn't think he could stand to lose. Without Odessa, what was the point of going on? Was their world worth saving, if Odessa wouldn't be there to share it?
"I sense the winds changing," Odessa confessed, her eyes glittering as they refocused their attention on Flik's gaze. "We could all die in this fight. But isn't it worth the risk?" She smiled down at her lover. "Have faith. Believe in our cause. And…if something were to happen to me… Promise me you'll continue this fight. Swear it!" Suddenly she seemed desperate.
Flik sighed. "Odessa… It's pointless to argue with you; you always win. And you have a good heart, too." He at last relented. "I trust you, and I'll put a little faith in the McDohl kid. As for the rest…" He swallowed back the lump forming in his throat and promised, "I swear to keep up the fight, no matter what happens to you or me or anyone. But…" he added quietly.
Releasing Odessa's wrists, Flik raised himself onto an elbow, his arm clinging to her body as he reached for the sword resting at the side of their bed. He lifted the blade to the candlelight, the glint of fire flashing on the metal, and spoke solemnly. "I, Flik, make this sacred vow. I will cherish only you, Odessa, till the end of my days. I hereby christen my sword in your name, to honor our love."
"Oh, Flik…" The tears springing to Odessa's eyes were ones of hope. It was known that the men of Warrior's Village each named their sword after the woman they loved when they came of age, and Flik had certainly matured since she had first met him. But now he spoke words she had never even imagined she would hear.
He took her into his arms again, and there she remained for the rest of the sleepless night.