Lᴏɴᴇʟʏ Fᴀʟʟs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tᴡᴏ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ || ᴀɴ ᴀᴡᴋᴡᴀʀᴅ ᴍɪs-sʜɪᴘ

Lizzie

We'd barely been walking for twenty minutes before Tazi elbowed me in the ribs, hard enough that I nearly stumbled. I looked up, irritated, but curious.

His eyes were bright with mischief and he tilted his head slightly towards the pair behind us.

I shot a discreet glance over my shoulder and turned back to him, smirking.

"Won't be long now." Tazi whispered, giggling.

I wanted to glance back again, but didn't, for fear of being noticed. Oh well. The picture of Navia and Sabien walking extra close together and both blushing like fools was already seared into my brain, anyway. "We are so gonna tease them." I said, grinning mischievously.

"What are you two conspiring about?" Lucia looked over her shoulder at us, arching a brow.

"Just the two lovebirds behind us." Tazi giggled in response.

Lucia, being taller than both of us, looked over our heads at Navia and Sabien. "Did they kiss?" She asked excitedly.

Tazi shushed her as I shook my head. "Not that we've seen yet."

Lucia groaned. "The tension is killing me. They just need to get it over with."

Tazi and I exchanged amused glances.

"You're not being very discreet, you know."

All three of us turned back towards the voice, all looking very guilty.

Sabien looked mortified, but Navia was frowning. "Can't you all mind your own business?"

I was taken aback. Navia had only ever been kind to me. Tazi and Lucia, however, wore expressions of scolded children. I wondered if Navia did that often.

A few paces ahead of Lucia, Zay looked over her shoulder.

Navia made a face. "You too?"

"Hmm?" Zay scowled. Her eyes scanned the underbrush, but she seemed wholly unaware of the spectacle behind her.

"Maybe stop interfering with me and Sabien and worry about something more interesting, like how Zay was pulling her punches on the captain." Navia snapped finally, but there was very little venom behind the words, and she looked rather upset once they'd been uttered.

Lucia, however, was like a cat with a mouse. She jumped on the new morsel of information, tilting her head at Zay. "Zay? Pulling her punches? Who would've guessed?"

"Maybe she knew him." Tazi put in unhelpfully.

Zay, who had now become aware of the conversation, wore an even darker scowl than before.

"Well?" Lucia prodded. "Did you know him?"

Zay paused. "Yes." She said finally, her expression unreadable.

Lucia gasped excitedly. "Ooooh, a past boyfriend perhaps? Or maybe not past?"

"No." Zay responded sharply— too sharply.

I studied her, curious.

"No?" Lucia said, her tone lilting towards singsong. "Come on, Zay, don't lie—"

"I'm not lying." She spat. "He's nothing like that."

An uneasy silence reigned. I had a strange urge to hold my breath.

Finally, Zay swallowed hard. "That's my twin brother."

An audible intake of breath.

"Zay..." Tazi started. To do what? Apologize? I shot him a sidelong glance. His gaze was pained. How empathetic.

"Or at least he was." She said it quickly, brusquely. "I barely even recognize him anymore." Zay shook her head and pushed onward. "Come on. We're losing daylight."

"Zay, wait." Navia called out. "I didn't mean to say it."

Zay didn't glance back again, but the edge was noticeably gone from her tone when she responded. "I know."

"Her brother is a Conqueror?" Lucia whispered once Zay had drawn out of earshot. "How do we know she isn't a Conqueror? How can we ever trust her?"

A thrill went down my spine. There could be a mole, I thought, my eyes on Zay's retreating back.

"We already knew she was from Stetriol." Tazi said uncomfortably. "Besides, she's saved our lives more than once by now. I think she at least deserves a fair shot."

Lucia still looked unconvinced.

"Hey, you guys are letting me stay, and I was definitely a Conqueror." I said before I could think better of it. "We'll just keep a close eye on Zay and I'm sure everything will be fine."

Lucia withdrew slightly, as if just remembering that she didn't entirely trust me. "Right. I don't like it, though. What if she's sending messages to her brother?"

"What if she wants you to stop whispering about her?" A new voice joined them. Sasha had pushed his way forward and in beside Tazi. His eyes were lit with fire. "We have every reason not to trust anyone. But we're not talking about it because trust is all we have right now. And you—" he jabbed a finger in Lucia's chest— "are only making things worse."

Lucia stepped back as if struck.

"Yeah." I added, as if just realizing what he'd said. "Only a Conqueror would be trying to divide us like you are."

Lucia gaped. "Seriously? Me?"

"Seems more likely to me than Zay right now." Sasha growled, reminiscent of his jaguar.

Lucia folded her arms and turned her back, but I saw the flash of hurt on her face before she stalked away.

A pulse of pity answered the expression, but I turned back to Sasha.

He was studying me, half-irritated, half-impressed.

Tazi pushed between us again. "That was mean." He said worriedly. "What if Lucia tells Tyler?"

"What if she is a Conqueror?" Sasha countered. "Then we'll have a lot more to worry about than Tyler." He returned his gaze to me. "You're alright." He said abruptly. "But I'm watching you."

I raised my hands, as if to prove I was unarmed. "Noted."

Sasha retreated again.

Tazi twisted his hands together as we kept walking. "I don't like the way any of that went." He admitted quietly. "Now we're never going to trust each other." He added miserably.

"Aw, Tazi." I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry. You can always trust me."

Hiiiii. Yeah, I know, it's been a while. But I have an excuse! I was away and had no service for three days. Anyway, a lot happened in this chapter. One ship is sailing! ;) The others will come soon too, don't worry!

edit: 29/05/23
everyone say happy birthday Tazi!!
ahahaha the ForeShadowing hehe
pls enjoy and see y'all later :)