Burning Castles | ✓

Chapter 16 - Influence

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∞ | Chapter 16 - Influence | ∞

Streets, Sage Cliffs

"Darius," Adrastea breathed out as she caught sight of the man she had deemed as a traitor in her mind.

"What the fuck are you doing here, you stupid girl?" he hissed, a familiar scowl adorning his features as he rapidly made his way to her. Without her explaining her problem, he began hauling the bricks off her leg and all she could do was simply gape at him.

In no time, her leg was free and she got to her feet shakily. "You've been shot?" he asked roughly, eyes on the bandage on her arm.

Without waiting for her answer, he tugged her by her other arm and began dragging her away from the ruins. "Where are we going?" she asked warily but continued to allow him to lead her away.

"Unless you want to die, let me know so I can leave you behind," he snarked as he continued leading her into a building.

Reluctantly, she followed after him, pain shooting from her wound in her arm but she ignored it. It could wait. "Up here," he instructed roughly as he gestured to the opening on the third floor. Warily, she entered to see that it was a passageway. "Where does this lead to?"

"Somewhere away from the army that is fast approaching," Darius snapped in annoyance and she glared at him before following him. The sound of the approaching army increasing and she entered.

The passageway was dark and if she hadn't been holding onto Darius' arm, she was sure she would have been lost. Surprisingly, it wasn't damp but the walls were rough, she had already scraped her palms on the stony jagged surface and she knew that they were bleeding a little.

"Would you care to explain what the fuck you're doing here when Rhydderch told you to stay away?"

Adrastea was definitely not going to mention the paper she had found nor her suspicions that he was a spy. Not when they were alone and he could snap her neck.

Truthfully, she didn't really know if Darius was the spy any longer. The man had rescued her instead of leaving her to die. Surely it would be easier to get rid of the rebellion if you removed the leader and the members of the inner circle of the equation.

But, there was an alarming amount of evidence stacked against him and she had to consider it. No longer could she trust anyone just because she thought that they were innocent, that had been a lesson and she had learned from it.

"Rhydderch's in danger," she finally said and in front, Darius scoffed. "Of course he is. He's the rebellion leader. Obviously, he's going to have a target painted on his back," he scorned and she ignored him.

"Have you seen him?"

"Yes, he's most probably heading to the citadel. Most of us got split up."

She stared at him mulishly. "Where does this passageway lead?" she questioned and Darius glared at her - not that she could see it but she could definitely feel it.

"To the west side of the city square. It's where most of our fighters are. If everything turns out well, Jarek would be with Rhydderch now."

She blinked, that was the most she had heard Darius speak without animosity. Perhaps it was because of her display of experimenting on a man a few days ago. "Why aren't you with him then? Aren't you Rhydderch's right-hand man?" she questioned.

"Well, would you trust someone inadequate like your brother to be in charge of the contingency plan or the large group of our fighters?"

At the mention of her brother, her face fell. "No," she replied coldly, wanting the subject of her brother to be dropped.