The Annex

Chapter 23

We rested well past sunrise. When I woke, the others were awake already and the sun was high up in the sky. I rubbed my eyes groggily as Atlas patted my arm.

"We figured you could use the extra rest," he said. I was grateful for it too. Mimi was handing everyone berries and dried jerky. When she got to me, she opened her mouth as if to say something but quickly shut it before handing me my share and moving on. I remembered what the Commander had told me about the Resistance and the unlikeliness of their role in the murder.

"Mimi, wait," I said as I stood up. "I need to talk to you." I pulled her to the side as everyone readied themselves to continue on our journey. I made sure that we were still close enough to see, in case anyone were to attack. "The Commander told me that it wasn't the Resistance. You can stop feeling like you murdered someone."

"Oh," she said softly. "But I still betrayed you." Her face fell and she couldn't meet my eyes once again.

"I know. And I'm not ready to forgive you for that yet," I replied. "I just don't want you to blame yourself for the murder." I didn't want to say anymore. Her woeful expression tugged at my heart strings but I still wasn't ready to forgive her. She had still promised to spy on me for the Resistance. I had thought that our years of friendship would have stopped her.

"She told me what she did," Tomas came up beside me, his face stony. "I can't forgive her either." His words shocked me and I looked past his shoulders at Mimi, who seemed as if she would burst into tears at any moment. I could feel her pain, she had lost the trust of the man she loved and her best friend, both in one day.

"I can't forgive her now, but I would like to try. She is my friend and she looks miserable," I murmured, averting my gaze.

"Friends don't betray each other like that," Tomas said. "I don't know that I can trust her."

"Let's get going," Dorian said. He had loaded all of our packs onto the horse to make our lives easier. "Oh, and here, I thought you might want your weapons back." Dorian handed me my daggers and bow. The relief settled in as my fingers wrapped around the bow and the dagger belt. The feeling of being unarmed and sought after was unsettling to say the least. The Commander came up beside me and deposited something into my palm.

"My necklace, how did you get it," I exclaimed. The silver rose pendant laid pristine in my hand. The Commander walked away before I could thank him. "Atlas, can you help me put it back on." I turned to Atlas who nodded. He carefully clasped the necklace and sighed.

"Those bruises look bad. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to save you."

"I'll be fine, I've endured worse," I laughed, thinking of the dagger retrieval training I had done under Grim.

"You don't always have to be so tough, Cara. Let me take care of you sometimes."

We all fell into pace as Dorian led the way, the reins of the horse in his hand. We trekked on in silence. According to the Commander, we only had a little further to go. Atlas came up beside me. His voice was so low I could barely hear it.

"I asked the Commander this morning. It was Killian." My footsteps halted as I let out a small gasp. Atlas' arms were around me before the first tear even fell in a fierce hug. I didn't even know how long Killian and Atlas had been friends, I didn't know how he could be so stoic. I brushed away the tears with my sleeve and put on a smile for Atlas.

"We'll find who is responsible for this, Cara. We'll make them pay," he said. The darkness in his voice was reassuring yet unsettling all at the same time. I thought back to a few weeks ago, when I had felt so confident that I was going to change the Kingdom. How foolish. Here I was, running for my life, so far from rescuing the kingdom. Who was I to think I could change anything? As we walked, Atlas stopped and fell to the ground, clutching his head.