Of Blood and Duty

Chapter Two • A Stranger

**Long Chapter** 

- A Stranger - 

"You are back." He heard Mae greet the person who was the reason she had bolted out of the room in which he was kept. Like he was a dirty secret she did not want this person to know about. "That went quicker than usual. We expected you-"

"Explain yourself. Now." The one she had addressed interrupted her with a grim and sharp tone. A man. Demanding an explanation he could tell involved him... and why he was here. Whoever it was, he spoke with a rough voice. As if he had gravel stuck in his throat.

Short and straight to the point. Not wasting any words that are not needed. He thought while listening for what was happening on the other side of the door.

"Explain...?" She asked casually in return, not rushing into what sounded like the start of an interrogation. Mae was not playing a fool, simply asking what exactly she was supposed to explain. 

"Don't." He warned her the second she had spoken. "Hagan already told me some of the things that has been going on around here while I was away." Signalling that the two of them were not alone, this Hagan was also present. 

"So fucking gutless you are, Hagan..." Mae groaned at this third person who was the one that had ratted her out. The tone in her voice similar to the one she had had when there had been a third person in his room. The one cursing her out for not listening to him. 

Is Hagan the one who fears soldiers?  He wondered with his eyes fixed on the door, light from the other room shone in under the door and its poorly constructed frame. 

"If you already know what happened, then what do you want me to explain to you?" She asked, talking over a retaliation spilling out of this Hagan after calling him gutless. Cutting him off before he had even gotten half of his first word past his lips. "I guess that depends on for how long his yapper was running until you called on me." 

"Put that disrespectful attitude away before I do it for you." The dark voice warned her. It sent a cold shiver down his spine. "Answer me now before I go in there and make all your scheming and hiding for nothing." The threat was delivered extremely calmly yet so darkly, revealing that this man was used to Mae getting herself into trouble by speaking her mind bluntly, and showing her colors frequently. No doubt delivering them without the slightest hint of fear or remorse. Unfolding a pattern which he had to keep in control lest she get herself hurt or killed in the process. All this demanding that he kept her accountable for whatever she did. 

"He would have died out there." Mae spat out all of a sudden. Seeming to have decided that this was her best defense and argument. Taking a dive into the confrontation and meeting whatever was to come, head on. Despite this, her words were delivered with ease and calmness.

"You brought one of them to our hideout! Have you lost you wits?" The person named Hagan exclaimed, jumping on her the first chance he got, and most likely flaying his arms in the air as well by the sound of his voice. At least he seemed frustrated enough to do this. 

"Hold your tongue, Hagan. You have done enough already." The dark voice growled its accusation, as if this whole ordeal was something he would rather be free of. That he had other pressing matters to tend to than listen to a tattle tale and deal with a rebel. "What was the purpose of this, Mae? What did you want to achieve by saving him?" 

She saved me? He thought when thinking back to a couple of minutes prior, when this woman had held a knife to his throat. He could still feel where it had doubtlessly scraped the top layer of his skin off.