Stronger Together chapter 194

I could see why Emperor Qin's statement had shocked everyone, and why  the bastard had roped me into it. Granted I was still pissed about it,  but one thing at a time. I was more than a little worried about what  this trial would entail, because honestly at my current level some kind  of willpower test would be a harder fight for me against Drakul than a  straight brawl would be. Soulgazes were notoriously weird and off the  wall, and taking part on a test based on one did not fill me with  confidence.

After  the big to-do the rest of the first night of the conclave was  relatively mundane. The Arbitration was set for tomorrow at dusk. Mab  wanted to do it at midnight but I really had no desire to start  something like that so late. Who knew how long it would take and getting  out of some terrible soul coma at four in the morning sounded deeply  unpleasant. Still, accepting without being forced apparently bought me  some good will because she agreed to nightfall.

Aside  from a good meal this night had pretty much been a full on cluster  fuck, I was tempted to bitch at Odin, be he didn't seem like the type to  respond well to complaints. When we got to the car and got off the  Raith estate though I turned to Raven "Ok, any input on that mess? What  was everyone feeling? Or could you not sense their emotions, I wasn't  sure how well it would work on things of that level?"

On  top of her knowledge of sorcery one of the biggest reasons for bringing  Raven was her empathy. Huge meetings like this were hotbeds of  duplicity and scheming. Knowing what someone was feeling instead of just  what they were saying was a pretty big deal. Raven watched the road as  we drove home, her face twisted into a contemplative frown. "I...I don't  know. I felt some things, but they didn't seem right exactly, and I  couldn't read everyone." Rather than upset she seemed more...confused.

I  knew Raven well enough not to interrupt when she was thinking out loud,  so I just waited for her to finish her thought. "There were a few  things throwing me off. First of all, lying  and deception is second  nature to some of those things it didn't even register emotionally with  some of them. Second because of their ages and their nature their  emotional reactions to things are...different. It can be hard to sort  out why they're feeling things or what they're even feeling. Which was  the third issue, some of their emotions were so alien I couldn't  actually match them to something I would feel."

I  cursed internally. That essentially meant all her reads had to be  treated as suspect, which was as good as not having any information at  all. No real use in gathering intel if it's a language you don't speak,  and building a profile for each of the lords would take a shit load of  time and resources we didn't have, and that was assuming they didn't  catch us spying. It had been a decent idea but oh well, win some lose  some. I supposed I would be flying blind into all this nonsense, which  didn't fill me joy, but hell, what did these days.

Raven  obviously picked up my tangle of emotions because she reached over to  grip my hand, keeping her eyes on the road but offering a small smile.  That smile was my favorite of all her smiles. That soft private smile  that told me how much she loved me and that she never gave anyone else,  even Barb. I squeezed her delicate fingers lightly and brought them up  to my lips for a kiss, which got a soft giggle from my girlfriend. I  heard a low chuckle from the back seat and looked in the mirror to see  Cinder watching us with a smile of her own.

I  raised an eyebrow and she chuckled again before explaining. "It's nice.  Seeing how you two care for each other. You would think I'd be jealous  of one or both of you, but seeing that you're still so in love despite  the fact that Barbara and I are involved in the relationship gives me  hope for what we could be like someday." Her eyes widened a bit, as if  she'd surprised herself "Well. I wasn't expecting to admit that out  loud. But there it is. I hope that isn't odd." She looked self conscious  at her own vulnerability, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

I  really wanted to climb back there and cuddle with her, but Raven was  weirdly strict about car etiquette despite the fact that we were all  functionally car crash proof. Regardless I blew her a kiss and got a shy  smile in return before turning back to my sorceress. "So information  gathering through empathy is out, but we can still use it as a metric  for how bad things are, what were they feeling when Qin brought up the  Arbitration?" I didn't have context to know how bad it really was even  if I was pretty sure it was bad.

Raven's  face twisted back into it's previous frown. "It varied, mostly fear,  with a bit of shadenfreude and vindictive glee when they found out  Drakul was going to be sucked into it. Most of them really don't like  him. Everything else was too alien or confusing for me to work out, but  my overall read of the situation was a mix between relief it wasn't them  and reveling in the suffering of others. Which seems like a bad thing."  It did, an extremely bad thing. It also made me want to punch all the  accorded nations representatives in their ancient faces, but that wasn't  really productive thinking right now.

Everyone  was awake and waiting when we got home of course. I'd expected they  would be given how anxious they'd all been. Kara and Inari especially  seemed like they were waiting on the edge of their seats for us to tell  them what happened. Barb was sitting next to Yang, both of them seeming  pretty relaxed, and my master was perched in a chair sipping a mug of  tea and staring peacefully off into the middle distance as everyone  chattered nervously.

When we opened  the door all eyes flicked to us as they registered out presence and  then they were all off the couch and surrounding us. Kara was first of  course, but Barb was right behind her, followed by Yang with Inari  hanging back. The girls tackled me in a hug and Kara's voice cut through  the worried babble the three of them were layering on top of each  other. The Kryptonian looked relieved "What happened? I tried to listen  in but as soon as you entered the caves everything went silent, they  must have some kind of sound containment magic."

Ah,  that explained her agitation. I probably should have expected Kara to  try to use her super senses to keep track of us in case we needed help,  she must have been terrified when we vanished from her perception like  that. I pulled her into a hug "Sorry Kara, I didn't realize they would  have precautions. I should have guessed that. We're fine don't worry.  Things got a bit complicated but nothing I couldn't handle." I felt even  worse for leaving her behind now than I had before, but she would have  been vulnerable before.

Inari  stepped forward to catch her girlfriend's hand and pull her back. She  gave us a sad smile "She's been beside herself since you three vanished.  I'm glad you're all ok. Sorry if I went a bit overboard with the prep  work. I realized after you left that I might have been a tad harsh and I  felt awful." She pulled me into a hug "I'm glad you're all ok. But  maybe we should all sit down and you can tell us what happened, I think  everyone would feel a lot better if we were caught up." I nodded and we  all headed to the couch to sit down.

My  master was sipping his tea lazily but when I came closer his eyes fixed  on me. "Still alive then, boy. Good. It would be a shame to have wasted  all that time teaching you and working on that armor only for you to be  killed and lose it." His words were biting but his tone was soft and I  could tell he really was happy to see me. Speaking of the Archangel  Armor I really owed him for the stuff. Having it on me made all the  difference in how felt. Even wearing it under my suit had me more than  relieved. I doubt I could have functioned half as well without it.

I  laughed and then filled them all in on what happened, making sure to  downplay exactly how dangerous the whole situation had been so as not to  worry them, not that I expected that to work. After spending fifteen  minutes or so giving them a brief summary Barb waited for me to stop  talking and just glared. "You're an idiot. You said yes to the  Arbitration just because they wanted you to say no? Are you five? This  is what happens when we let you make tactical decisions. Doing crazy  things because no one expects them isn't a plan Cameron!"

I  winced, because that was kind of fair, but I did think it through more  than that. I held up my hands in placation "That was a bit of it, but  not the majority. My main reason was because Qin obviously had a plan.  If I'd turned it down I'm betting he would have used some loophole in  the rules to either punish me or force me into it anyway. His reaction  told me all I needed to know about whether I was right or not. Mab  seemed to think it was a good call too." I wasn't an idiot, I did have  reasons for doing things.

Barb  threw her hands up in frustration, standing up and starting to pace  back and forth agitatedly "Oh well if Mab is on board then clearly it  was a masterstroke. Mab is a sociopath Cameron! She literally does not  care if you live or die. She was probably just glad she got to cut the  stupid conclave short after Drakul ate you entire soul like it was  candy!" She looked like she was about to strangle me, but she finally  forced down her obvious rage. She closed her eyes and took a series of  deep breaths.

Once  she had her anger leashed she opened them again. "I'm sorry. I see the  logic, as illogical as it is, and you were on the spot. This isn't on  you, it's on Qin, you did the best you could. I just really wish you  didn't agree to this trial. The stakes are incredibly high. Not to  mention even if you win you will have basically declared full on war on  the Black Court, though I suppose they already hate us enough that it  doesn't matter much." She slumped back down on the couch. I stood up and  walked over to flop down next to me pulling her into my side. Her  breathing was fast and erratic and she was clearly upset, but she still  snuggled against me.

I ran a hand  through her hair as I reassured her. "Hey. It's going to be fine. Like  you said they already hate me, and without Drakul they're basically  toothless anyway at the level we're at. I know what I'm doing, and I'm  going to win this." I did not, in fact know what I was doing, but I was  going to win because I had no other choice. I hoped she didn't ask me  for a plan because I didn't have one. Luckily she didn't just leaning  against me, and hey, this night may have sucked but it didn't end too  badly.