54

Tiv

Thursday 1st October, Year 828

It took what felt like an eternity to find an Umbrith, the creature hiding deep in the shadows of Ajegra Forest. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I finally caught a glimpse of a grey, sleek creature before it disappeared again. With determination, I followed, earth and debris kicking up behind me while my breath tore from my lungs in ragged heaves. Hot on my heels, the bastard who'd pursued me from Alayna's bedroom followed. He kept asking me to stop. Kept telling me he was Alayna’s friend–that he would help me–however I wasn’t stupid enough to believe help would come from a soldier of Ben Jameson.

It didn’t take long for the Umbrith I had found to return. The second it spotted us, it went for the guy stalking me. He quickly turned on his heels allowing me to hurtle away. I continued sprinting for twenty minutes before I stopped for breath, my leg burning. Eventually, when I was confident I was alone, I made my way back to the library.

Xander greeted me with a scowl that could curdle milk before his nostril flared and his face dropped. “Oh shit.”

“What?” I snapped.

He ignored me, his next words steeped in sarcasm, “How was your eight-hour walk?”

The image of Alayna flitted through my mind as Xander's lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk.

Stupid familiar.

His smirk widened to a beam that lit his face.

“Did you tell Marco where I was?” I asked.

“No, but he is going mental. I’ve never seen him so angry. He thinks you have bolted,” replied Xander.

“Why didn’t you tell him where I’d gone?”

“Why didn’t you kill the girl?” he challenged.

Instead of answering him, I thought over the events of the night, paying close attention to Ben and Aaron informing Alayna of their counterattack. Xander swore yet seemed happy. His need for a fight alluded me.

“When you’ve been alive this long, a good old fight is what the soul needs to stay alive,” he beamed.

I sidestepped his probing gaze, well aware Alayna had ripped all the buttons from my shirt, and I pushed past him into the building. He followed and Kale intercepted me just as I breached the library’s entrance–his grip firm–ushering me into one of the smaller rooms to my right, Amelia on his heels. The door groaned as Kale closed it and immediately began their interrogation.

“Where did you go? Are you alright?” Kale said hurriedly.

“We thought you had left!” Amelia squealed, “I’m so sorry.”

She threw herself at me and I embraced her awkwardly. For all my worrying about Alayna killing me, my concern should have been what would happen if Amelia found out where I had been.

I exhaled heavily, “I simply went for a walk to calm down. I didn’t realise I was back home and that I would know half the people I was supposed to kill. Don’t worry about me; I am fine.”

Scepticism covered both their faces. Amelia stepped back slightly to take me in more fully.

“What happened to your shirt?” she asked blankly.

Kale stepped in between us. "Amelia, give me a moment with Tiv." The treacherous bastard didn’t try to hide the smirk on his face.

Her expression shifted instantly from concern to realisation and hurt. “You went to the whore,” her voice barely above a whisper.

The woman deserved an award for her acting; if we were alone she’d most definitely have drawn blood.

Swearing under my breath, I ran my hands through my hair in frustration, “Just. Get. Out.”

My words barely left my lips when she stormed out of the room. Xander waved after her retreating figure while Kale blew air through pursed lips in exasperation.

The creeping realisation came over me; I felt no fear of what Amelia thought or did—she wouldn’t attack me in front of people. No. Instead, guilt seeped into my chest like a stain for entirely different reasons. For years, Alayna had been known as the whore when she had in fact done nothing to deserve such hatred. Before I could let my thoughts spiral, Kale’s words sliced through the room.

His smirk had grown to a wide beam edged with mockery. “You couldn’t keep it in your pants for even a day? Amelia will go straight to Marco. You must know that.”

“Crap,” I moaned.

The grin faded from Kale’s face as he leaned forward, his voice tinged with genuine concern. "Tiv, what is going on? Marco is going mad."

“We’ve attacked the wrong group. They’re coming for us. We need to leave,” I admitted quickly.

“Is it the wrong group because of her?” he said seriously.

“It’s the wrong group because her brother is the leader of the Harroworth Rebels and he’s a psychopath. They’re five thousand strong and we are eight. He knows where we are and he won’t stop coming for us.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Oh good." His voice was dry as dust.

“So, just bear with me here… But what if we joined them?” Xander said carefully.

I stared at Xander, his suggestion hanging in the air like a thick fog. Defecting to the Harroworth Rebels was madness, yet a part of me saw the bitter truth in it. Every fight we took part in had a purpose, but the endless bloodshed dictated by my father served only to tighten Lambent’s grip on power over Vakosian slaves.

“What if we defect to Vakoso’s side?” Xander repeated, his words weighed with careful deliberation. “Lambent only wants to dominate and destroy anyone they see as a threat.”

Kale frowned, his eyes narrowing as he considered the proposition. “You’re suggesting we switch sides because war is unfair?”

Xander shrugged slightly, “I like being on the right side of war. You’ve seen the people here—they must be desperate to keep fighting rather than just give up and go back to how it used to be.”

I could see Kale weighing our options, his mouth twisting as he considered Xander’s words. “Tala would probably leave,” he muttered, almost to himself. “She hates this war more than I do. But Amelia? She’d never desert her family, and we both know that any move we make would be reported straight back to Marco. I hardly see him switching.”

“Marco won’t stay here,” Xander confirmed carefully, before glancing back at me. “He won’t leave Freesia or your sisters. He thinks Anthony Hawes is more dangerous than five thousand rebels and wants to protect them from that.”

I swallowed hard at whatever Xander had seen in my brother’s head to make such an assumption. Marco would not leave Beau. Good. As for Meredith, good riddance. I did not take much deep thought to know I would not be returning to Lambent. Defecting would keep me close to Alayna—if Ben allowed me to live—yet the thought of dragging Kale and Tala into my mess felt like an unbearable weight pressing on my chest.

Kale paused, searching for the right words. His furrowed brow betrayed his internal conflict. “Even if Tala wanted to defect, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“And if she goes anyway?” I asked softly, knowing the answer but needing him to say it aloud.

Kale’s eyes met mine with a grim nod, his voice barely above a whisper, “I’d go too.” His shoulders slumped slightly as if the admission had taken something from him.

"We'd be seen as traitors to Lambent," I pointed out quietly. “And there’s no way Ben would ever forgive us for what happened yesterday.”

Kale nodded slowly, resignation etched across his features. "We’ve murdered too many of them to ever be trusted. Not just yesterday."

I looked over at Xander; his expression remained inscrutable. He tilted his head slightly, "Well then, at least it's something we’ve put out there."

I couldn’t tell if Xander was genuinely nonchalant or simply biding his time for when things inevitably became more dire. But for now, our decision had been made.

"I’ll get you a new shirt, shall I?" Kale sighed, glancing me up and down.

As he left to retrieve my new shirt, I stopped Xander in his tracks before he had time to return to the entrance.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I said, cocking an eyebrow.

“About twenty thousand things,” he smirked.

“Why did you come to Vakoso?” I pressed.

He rolled his shoulder, brushing a hand along the back of his neck. “If I could get a Hawes to defect over here, that would definitely help them, maybe make others defect too. Marco’s a lost cause but you’re not.”

He was using me because of my last name. I almost laughed. Almost.

“I'm starting to second-guess you as a friend,” I muttered.

He simply smiled a plastic flash of teeth that did not light his face the way most of his grins did. “A long time ago, I was a scab in Droyed. I think I’ve still got family here.”

My eyes shot down to his wrist yet there was no barcode there. No scar of one or covered mark like Alayna, simply smooth skin.

“A long time ago,” Xander repeated, leaving to return to his post.

He left me alone with my chaotic thoughts. While I had a thousand questions for Xander and his no doubt interesting century of life, there were more pressing issues for now. Like Ben bloody Jameson and how many Vakosian would die if reinforcements arrived. Despite my Father's inevitable protests, I had to make Marco call off backup. Though I still wanted to pull my brother limb from limb for years of misinformation I’d been fed. Yet that would not help my cause. I needed to stop people coming for Harroworth. If not for Alayna then for Michael. There would be no way to undo my actions, but I could still try and help his people. My people.

My chest constricted around my racing heart as I straightened out my pants and traded my torn shirt for the one Kale handed me along with my phone. A single missed call from my Father and several from Meredith. The phone felt like a brick in my hand as I read her numerous messages.

Tiv, come home.

Darling, answer your phone. Where are you?

Marco says he cannot account for you. Please do not do anything irrational.

Call me, please. I love you.

I stopped reading after that and simply replied, I never want to see you again.

Immediately the phone buzzed in my hand. Meredith's name glowed on the screen. Without hesitation, I rejected the call and blocked the number, a deep sense of finality settling over me. She was dead to me now. The moment I could free myself from Marco, so was he. Regardless of what my friends decided, I would not be returning to Lambent. My fingers felt cold as I slipped the phone back into my pocket.

I took a deep breath; for now, I needed Marco. I paced, trying to find the words that might convince him to see reason. Mind racing with thoughts of Ben–cold, calculating, and utterly ruthless—made the air in the small room grow thick. With a final breath, I left to find Marco.

My brother's shadow materialised through the frosted glass of the door leading to the main library. I steadied myself before swinging it open. Marco’s face storm-cloud dark with anger. Amelia stood by his side and I held back the vicious urge to spew venom at her; she’d been whispering poison in his ear, no doubt painting me a traitor in every possible hue.

"You betrayed us," Marco's accusation struck like a viper's bite. "You went to her–after everything they have done to our family."

I stepped forward, hands raised in a gesture of peace.

"Marco, listen to me. You have to understand—"

"I understand perfectly," Marco cut me off, his black eyes ablaze with golden fury. "She's using you! She's nothing but a manipulative scab and you've fallen for it! Again! She deserves nothing but death."

Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed hard against it.

"It's not about Alayna." Urgency thrummed through my voice. "We're in danger from Ben. He has an army at his command." I drew a shaky breath before continuing with a lie that scorched my tongue, "We can always come back to strike at them later–when they least expect it–to avenge our Mother."

Marco sneered, but something flickered behind his gaze. A pause gave way to deliberation as he considered my words. I clenched my jaw, gathering courage that seemed to pathetically tremble within me. It felt like a conversation with Father.

"I swear to you, if we don't leave now, we will all die here."

There was a moment where everything hung in silence. Gradually, Marco's once rigid stance began to thaw; tension seeped from his shoulders.

"You have lost your mind," he muttered. "We will leave. Now. But the reinforcements will come as planned. Now we know who their leader is and exactly where to find them, thanks to you. Ben Jameson is going to die."