Betrayal and Trust Part II (different writer) - AU fanfic

The Road.

***

He was going.

Cassandra had given him until sunset to make up his mind, but he'd made his choice long before that. He was gonna go with her. How could he refuse?

The road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began

 Varian closed the caravan door after he'd picked up some supplies. He had a long way to go. As he let go of the handle, the wooden owl on its sill caught his eye once more. He  gazed through the window for the last time, outside looking in. The owl seemed to smile at him, a sad and understanding smile. He returned it, feeling as if Cassandra had carved it that way just to remind everyone of her absence. As if she'd known...

How long had she planned to betray Rapunzel? Dit she act on impulse, or did she mean to do this all along? He hoped he could find out, because somehow, it mattered to him. He needed to know Cass's motives, and see if they matched his. 

Forcing himself to look away, Varian took off. He had to make haste, before the others found out he'd left them.

Now far ahead the road has gone

And I must follow, if I can

He scrambled down the rocky slope of the hill, staying out of sight as much as possible. Luckily, it hadn't rained in the past few days. Otherwise he surely would have slipped on the steep and narrow path. He knew the way. After all, he'd walked it twice already. Still, the path was unpaved and hard to see in the last light of the setting sun.
Upon seeing the orange semicircle on the horizon, quickly transforming into a thin red line, Varian doubled his pace. He couldn't be late. Sunset, that had been their agreement.

Pursuing it with eager feet

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet

Just as the last beam of sunlight flickered and disappeared behind the hills, Varian reached the stream. He stumbled forward from the edge of the forest, and just barely avoided stepping in the black circle. 

There stood Cassandra, in the middle of the circle, as if to mock the terrible magic that had made it. She gave him a bored look. "I knew you'd come. You can say a lot about humans, but they sure are predictable. You just need to say the right things to them."

Varian grimaced. "Don't flatter yourself."

She lazily glanced down at the black dirt around her. Her words were laced with sarcasm. "Now why would I? It wasn't hard. You may think you're oh so stubborn, but you too saw reason."

Now who's stubborn and unreasonable here? Varian thought. But he knew better than to say it out loud. Cassandra wasn't paying attention to him anyway. She just turned and left, without so much of a command for him to follow. She didn't need to. He looked up the hill, where in the distance he could see a flickering light behind the trees. He could still go back, and pretend this never happened...

Then another light appeared, and another. It wasn't a campfire, the light came from torches! They were looking for him!

But they wouldn't find him. He clenched his fists and followed Cassandra into the forest.

And whither then, I cannot say

Roads go ever ever on

Over rock and under tree

By caves where never sun has shone

By streams that never find the sea