Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 48 - Guilt

Maddox POV:

There was a storm brewing inside of him. One he hadn't felt in years as Maddox watched the fires spread to the nearby buildings. 

The moment he got a look at Wolf Brook's unmasked face, he felt the itch to kill something. But he knew that the real culprit was out of reach, so taking a torch to the dungeon was the next best thing, especially knowing how fast the fires would spread. There would be casualties and chaos. Hopefully enough to distract the whole capital from Lord Brook's escape. 

Standing back, keeping his face hidden beneath the hood of his cape, he watched as guards rushed to get buckets of water from the nearby fountains. Civilians were screaming, and rushing to collect valuables from their burning shops. 

This did not seem to satisfy his rage. The more he watched, the angrier he felt, and he could not understand why.

Lord Brooks had been captured and tortured beyond recognition by these people. Would a fire be enough after that? 

Glancing up towards the palace, where the wretched Emperor's family lived, his anger grew unchecked. Despite his precarious position, he found himself drawing his sword and pointing towards the structure. He let his magic flow into the blade, and in one startling blast, unleashed his rage. 

Everyone ducked from the explosion, covering their heads and looking around wildly for where it came from. 

"You!" A guard pointing accusingly at Maddox. "Stay right there and put down the weapon!"

Wordlessly, the villain turned the blade upon the woman. She froze, knowing the power that it possessed, but did not run under the scrutiny of the villains glowing eyes.  

He made sure to keep eye contact with her as he backed down into a nearby alleyway. She watched, wordlessly so as not to antagonize him into turning his wrath upon more innocents, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished. 

Cain POV: 

Cain felt wretched. His body was shivering uncontrollably as waves of nausea washed over him. His face broke out in a cold sweat, and suddenly he sat up and dry-heaved over the side of the bed. After five agonizing minutes of nothing coming up, he laid back down and gasped for air.

This wasn't his home, nor the dungeons. Where was he?

The last thing he remembered was Catalina walking him down an alleyway. A stranger was wearing a green cape and hood, but he had no idea what relevance that had or who he was.

"Master Cain!" Someone drew him from his thoughts, and he turned to find what looked like a guard approaching him.

Cain immediately struggled to sit back up and away but was still too weak to react as the man held his hands up.

He was young, with a strong build and tousled strawberry hair. His slender nose and square jawline were prominent, as were his emerald green eyes. He was dressed in armor from the capital and wore the emperor's insignia.

"Who are you?" Cain demanded, finally taking in his surroundings.

The two men were currently held up in a barn, with a makeshift bed built just for him in the far corner, away from the animals. There was hay covering the floor, and lanterns hanging from the walls to keep the space illuminated.

"Shhh!" The guard put a finger to his lips. "Please, let me explain. I used to be one of the servants in the Duclair household. I didn't work directly under you, but I heard many things about you. Right up until you were accused of killing Master William that is. Oh! But none of us believed that! Most of us knew you were gone when it happened, and Gideon refused to let anyone talk about it after you'd disappeared. Then Master Andrew let go of half the staff, including me and my sister, and I've been training to become a guard ever since."