The Crown Of Fire

Alex IV

Now and again, he'd glance over his shoulder to look at the two kids. Octavia was chatting Eddie's ear off, even though the boy didn't seem to be interested in whatever it was that she was saying.

He stayed in step with Aria. He knew that she didn't trust Eddie. He didn't know why. He was strange, but he was in a strange situation. But when he looked at Eddie, all he saw was a kid that wanted to get home.

He knew that watching the boy was pointless. So, he just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and on keeping up with Aria.

"Octavia mentioned something to me," Alex started, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the two kids weren't eavesdropping, but they weren't. Octavia was still chatting away. "She said that Eddie wanted us to go to the three hills."

"Don't worry about it," she told him. "The three hills are north. Months north."

"Yeah, but why did he want us to go there?" he asked. "I know that you think there's something wrong with him. And yeah, I defended him at first. But now, I'm beginning to think that there's more than what meets the eye."

It had been true. The circumstances in which Octavia found him were strange. And the way he talked, like he hated them was strange. But he'd never thought of it. Fear does strange things to people. But then Octavia told him about the three hills only days earlier, and it began to bother him.

Why did Eddie want them to go so far north? He'd heard Aria say that going back meant death. He knew the risks, and why would he tell Octavia out of all of them?

Perhaps that was the real question. Why Octavia? Why her when there were two older people with better judgment than a kid?

"He's a child," Aria reasoned with a shrug. "Children have wild imaginations."

"But if he thinks that there's something there, why hasn't he mentioned it to either of us?" Alex questioned, keeping his tone low enough to avoid the detection of the two kids. "Why did he only mention it to Octavia?"

"Maybe he doesn't trust us," Aria spoke. "Children are intuitive, and he likely senses that I don't trust him. And likely that you don't either."

"But there is something strange surrounding him, isn't there?" he pushed. "The way he speaks, even to Octavia, it's like he doesn't want to be here. It's like he hates us all. And the way she found him, just sitting under a tree on a hill. What was he doing there, especially since he said that he woke up on a river."

"As much as I'd like to, I don't have all the answers," she stated. "For now, the most we can do is wait and be ready. If he is not all that he seems, then we will dispose of him. But for now, we must wait, Alexander."

He glanced over his shoulder. "But you agree with me, don't you?"

She sighed, also glancing over her shoulder. Eddie made direct eye contact with her. And what seemed to be pure hatred flashed in them. She turned her head forward again and trudged forward. "Yes, I do."

Alex stopped in his steps as she kept moving.

"What were you and Aria talking about?" Octavia asked as she stopped next to them with Eddie next to her. Alex feigned a smile, making it as real as possible.

"Nothing, Tavia," he told her. "Come on, let's keep moving."

They started walking forward again. But something was telling him to stop turning his back to Eddie.

The phrase 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' rang in his head as he followed after Aria.

~

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