Warlord Conquering (The Great Insurrection Book 3) by David Beers (bill gates book recommendations TXT) 📕

it sat on her tongue before washing down her throat. She'd looked at him, eyes alight. "That's not bad."

His face said he begged to differ, and he shook his head. "No way. It’s awful."

She mock-grabbed for his cup. "Gimme yours, then!"

He caught her hand and pulled her close. "I love you, Servia." He leaned in and kissed her lips.

When they pulled apart, she said, "I love you too, Appius."

They drank the bottle of wine together, slowly getting tipsy, then quickly getting drunk. They ended up on their backs, shoulder to shoulder, staring at the massive planet their little orb circled.

"Do you miss your parents?" Appius asked her.

"Yeah, I think so. It's been so long since I've seen them that I sorta forget about 'em." She turned her head to the side so she could see him. "What about you?"

He nodded. "I do. It's been a long time for me, too. They've given their lives to this movement, and I sometimes wonder if it's worth it."

Servia's face screwed up at that. "What do you mean, ‘Worth it?’"

He was quiet for a moment. When he answered, he sounded more emotional than she'd ever heard him. "I'm not being facetious when I say they've given their whole lives to the movement. Everything, Servia. Even their son. I'm expected to follow in their footsteps, as I'm sure you are. Their son, though I'm not sure I'm that, outside of from a biological standpoint. I don't even know them."

Servia wasn't sure what to say. She'd never heard anyone talk like this. You gave your life to the movement because in the end, freedom was more important than any individual.

Appius chuckled, more than tipsy. "It's the same thing as the damned Commonwealth, Servia. The individual is sacrificed for the collective. We trick ourselves into thinking we're different or better."

He turned to look at her, seeing the concern on her face. "Oh, I'm just talking, babe. Don't listen to me. I drank too much of that wine."

Servia turned her head and stared at the planet. She was drunk, yes, but she didn't agree with him. The AllMother was good. The AllMother's choices allowed individuals to once again flourish. In her current state, she could only feel those things. She couldn't put them into words.

Tears came to her eyes. She'd never thought her parents had sacrificed her for this movement. She didn't want to consider it.

"Come here," Appius said and pulled her closer to him. She let herself be enveloped in his arms. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm drunk, and I'm angry at them, I guess. That's all. I wish I was closer to them."

Servia fell asleep in his arms that night, and when they woke, they had to rush to make it to their dorms without getting caught. She had something she'd only heard about, a hangover, and much of what Appius had told her was forgotten. Getting through the day became the name of the game, and the words they'd exchanged the previous night had nothing to do with that.

About six months later, she finally remembered what had been said.

The attack on the moon came two hours before dawn. There was no warning. Later they would know it had been an inside job. Someone in their movement had revealed the base's coordinates because, without them, the Commonwealth wouldn't have been able to find them. The moon was too big and their footprint too small.

Titans fell like rain. They came with their MechPulses and their Whips. Young or old, they cared not. They killed indiscriminately, and Servia had woken to screams. The Titans were in her building.

She jumped out of bed as the other girls in her dorm room screamed in fear. Servia had known she was different from the girls she lived with. She quickly hushed them and made it known fear wouldn't be tolerated.

"If we want to live, we have to keep our wits."

She'd slowly opened the door to their room. The lights on her side of the hall were off, while those farther down were flickering. She didn't see anything dangerous. She looked back into the dark room. "Come on. We've got to hurry."

Servia was terrified, but she couldn't let it consume her. She'd known they were at war almost since she'd been able to walk. She had trained her whole life for this, and now it had come. She knew her duty. Get to safety. Help people if she could, but get to safety.

She and her family were valuable to the AllMother in ways the others here weren't. She didn't know why, only that the AllMother thought so, and she believed it.

Appius was the same. He was to get to safety.

Both of them knew where to go if something like this happened. Everyone on the moon did, but not everyone on the moon was prepared to get there. Many of them were like the girls Servia roomed with.

The group followed her into the corridor. She moved quickly, her bare feet making almost no noise on the floor. She took the far stairs, heading down toward the nearest exit.

Her mind kept going to Appius as her feet carried her down level after level. Was he okay? Would he make it to an escape pod? She didn't consider that he would come looking for her. They both understood what was expected and what must be done. This was war. They were at war. There were rules and a code to follow.

Yet when she reached the bottom floor, she understood why she'd made it so far. The Titans wouldn't leave a staircase unattended for the very reason Servia was now demonstrating—someone might escape.

The Titan lay dead, half inside the building, half out. Appius stood in the corner, the weapon he’d used in his hands. Servia stopped and stared at the Titan. She saw how Appius had done it, and she couldn't imagine the fear he must have felt. How the hell he'd managed, she didn't know.

Her eyes went to him and the weapon. It