daughter of esmund

Nineteen

A/N: Hey all! I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you do please consider leaving a vote and comment with any feedback you may have. Again, I apologize for this chapter being so late. I'll try to do better next time. Anyways, for now, enjoy! Oh! And don't forget the question of the chapter at the end!

- Joya

Word Count: 2128

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Annie's POV

The color in his face drains almost immediately. He takes a quick glance at the rest of the group, before leaning a bit closer, his voice coming out as a whisper, "U-uhm...how did you find out?"

"It doesn't matter how I found out all that matters is that I didn't find out from you," Unlike him, my voice comes out at a louder volume, which causes him to shoosh me.

"Not so loud, unless you wanna get everyone else involved," he speaks at a volume just above a whisper but quiet enough to where I can barely hear him, "Let's just talk about this when we're alone, not when there's a group of people surrounding us. Please?"

I give an angry huff, but nod, turning my eyes away from him. I feel as if I should clear something up. I'm not mad that he's a shadow knight. Sure, it makes me uneasy and I have a good reason to be, but it wouldn't have made me angry in any other circumstance. I'm upset that he didn't tell me. I mean, it seems like common sense that eventually I would've found out in some way. So as we continue to walk I try to contain my feelings so I don't start yelling with other people around, which with prior experience, I know could be a very real possibility. I've never been great about hiding how I feel, but I've never been good at expressing those emotions either. It's another good five minutes before we're back within the crumbling outer gate of Phoenix Drop. It's here that Laurence and I drift away from the group and into an area filled with the overgrown landscape.

It seems like it used to be a house of some sort, you can still see patches of rough cobblestone from underneath the red and green ivy. A tree has seemed to branch into the wooden roof, or at least what is left of the roof. Consequently, the ground inside the demolished building is littered with debris, from leaves to smaller branches that were broken off. After a few moments of scouring, Laurence finds a ledge large enough for the both of us to sit on and brushes off the leaves and dirt resting on the top of it. After sitting, he pats the empty space next to him, eyes locked not on me but the cobblestone somewhat resembling a wall behind me. With a beat of hesitance, I take the empty seat next to him. He sighs, "What do you want to know?"

I shake my head, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to get freaked out, I-I was just scared, okay?" His shoulders are hunched, eyes locked on a broken piece of the roof peeking out from a pile of leaves.

I rub my face, "Were you ever going to tell me? You know I would've found out eventually, right?"

"I-I mean, yeah I guess. I knew I had to tell you eventually, I-I just wanted it to be at the right time, I wanted to be sure you wouldn't be upset," He rubs his face a bit harshly, "I-I'm sorry, I just...wanted to be ready."

His eyebrows are twisted, almost angrily, downward. I can't tell what the expression is towards as nothing in his words display the anger in his face, but I still take it into account as I think about what to say to him. I mean, did he really assume I would be upset? I mean, sure, maybe I would've been, but I have a reason to get uneasy. I haven't had a particularly good record with shadow knights, that's easy to say. I don't voice that concern though, "I-I just thought we were being completely honest with one another."

He gives a scoff as he pushes himself off of the ledge, "You're saying that you've been completely honest with me? Annie, there is so much that I can see you hide from me. For example, why is this such a big deal in the first place? Why is that, huh?"