Dawn upon Death and Destruction

Chapter 8

The longest night had followed. Maids had rushed silently in and out of her room, stuffing things in suitcases Amara was sure she had no need for. Clearly no one seemed to have any need of her either, she had gathered so when trying to help pack and the maids had just waved their hands in a shooing motion. So for hours into the late night, she had been sat around, on her bed, uselessly.

Amara reached over the side of her bed and grabbed the woolen cloak that lay there. The young women seemed to be doing perfectly fine without her, and as Amara got up to leave, their gazes travelled upwards and then back down to their work, dismissing her.

Stepping out of her room, Amara pulled on the cloak and walked through the now familiar corridors.

Slipping past what she knew was Claeg's office, she met the door of the training room. Amara found herself staring at the variety of swords and daggers perched on a wired rack clutching the wall. She reached up and grabbed a knife that had caught her eye.

She weighed it in her hand, the flat silver hilt hurt her palm and although would be easy to hide, it probably would've done more damage to her hand than whoever she used it on. She placed it back and felt out several others until she came to a pair of matching daggers.

They had an otherworldly aura, with silver dragonflies sitting on the bottom of the glassy blood-red hilts, latching onto the beginning of the blade. Either hilt was curved ever so slightly to mold into her palms. They balanced perfectly in them as if they were made just for her. Twirling the daggers in her hands, weaving them in and out of her fingers, she knew that if she threw them at that target, they'd hit with deadly precision.

She slipped the blades back into their sheaths and grabbed a leather strap from the basket. Slipping it round her thigh, she pulled on the black strap until it was tight enough then shoved both daggers into separate loops. She secured them and made her way out of the room, there would be no point of taking the weapons if she got caught, and she knew better than that.

Reaching her room, Amara became aware of the time. The maids had left and the clock handle was creeping up to the five. The room looked bare, stripped clean of its items as suitcases were neatly placed on the corner of her bed and the darkness outside was just breaking, red streaks giving way to the lighter blue. Amara knew there was no time left for sleep, she'd be leaving in a few hours. Yet before she knew it, her body fled to a sleep filled with uneasiness and apprehension. Maybe just a few minutes she'd give herself.

*______*

An incessant knocking sound brought Amara out of sleep and as she rubbed her eyes and brought her legs over to the side of the bed, she mentally cursed whoever was outside the door. Her eyes drifted towards to the curtains in which streams of sunlight shone down, basking the room in their warmth. Amara stood up ever so slowly as if hoping that the stubborn noise would stop and she could lay back down and wander back to that sweet darkness in her mind. It didn't. She walked towards to the door and swung it open, ready to give the person a piece of her mind only to be stopped short by the plate that was shoved into her face.

Amara stumbled back in surprise and the person holding the plate walked inside. It was Nikos. Instead of his customary stoic expression, his eyes held an amused glint to them and his lips were turned slightly upwards. Amara scowled, annoyed that he woke her up.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice came out harsher then she expected but it didn't bother her.

"I've brought you your breakfast." He gestured towards the plate held in his hands. Nikos put the plate on the bedside table and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and Amara would be lying if she said that he didn't look good standing like that.

"Well you've done your job so you can leave now."

He made a mocking expression and placed a hand on his chest as if he was hurt.

"You wound me, one would think that you despise me with the way you speak."

"What makes you think I don't?"

"Call it a gut instinct, and besides Claeg told me to sit with you while you eat so I can take you to his office."

"I know where his office is."

"Boss' orders."

Amara rolls her eyes and reaches to grab the plate of food that had been inviting her ever since the conversation started.

*______*

"You have done your job, you may leave now," Claeg's voice filled his unusually large office as he dismissed Nikos. Nikos seemed reluctant to leave, but he grit his teeth and bowed his head obediently, before stepping out the room and letting the door give a slight click behind him.

"Sit down." She slowly lowered herself into the armchair. He didn't speak and neither did she as she slouched back in the chair, patiently waiting for him to talk.

"Are you ready to go?"

"What makes you think I'm not?"

Claeg peered over the desk he sat behind, "Your shoulder is still healing."

"My shoulder," she gave him a pointed glare. "Is your fault. If you hadn't dragged me so violently, I would be fine."

"Would you have preferred if I left you in those mines?"

That one question made her head spin. She did not know who to trust but herself. She refused to put faith in the man that sat before her, the man that had inflicted pain upon so many of her friends, the reason her family was gone. Yet had he not helped her, gotten her out of that torturous place? But for what reason?

"Why did you do it?" Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. He knew exactly what she meant.

"We'd been planning it for years, something like that, it doesn't happen overnight. There were a group of us, about a year before you came, we wanted to ruin them from the inside. No one wanted to do it but, I can't exactly blame them either. So I took the position as overseer. We planned to get everyone through the main entrance and then set the place on fire." He paused, "I got out as many as I could."

And that was enough for Amara to know that something had gone terribly wrong in their plan. She knew Claeg wasn't the enemy here. Claeg cleared his throat and spoke with surprising seriousness.

"I need you to report back to me as much as you can, when you get there, you will meet one of my spies. You will know who she is when she comes up to you. When you have important information, you are to give it to her and she will send it to me. Understood?"

"Why can't I just send it to you myself?"

"If you want to get caught and die, then be my guest."

"Understood."

"Good."

He paused as if remembering something.

"I have something for you," Claeg pulled out a folded piece of paper from a drawer in his desk. "Open this on the last day of your journey, not a day sooner, not a day later. It has something very important in it that you must do. You are not to hesitate and if you don't follow the instructions then you could possibly die. Don't tell anyone outside this room what I've told you."

Amara grabbed the paper, a heavy weight settling on her mind. What could it be? As she got up to leave, Claeg spoke with a gentle tone, one Amara was not familiar with.

"Do not trust people who offer more then what they can give, Amara, they are the ones who end up betraying you."

A/N-Helooooo! Shorter chapter this time but it is what it is. Something suspicious is going on but of course we love drama here because (idk). Please vote and comment. Thank you and Enjoy! :)