Chosen

Chapter Seventeen: Athena

Scarlett avoided leaving her room often after Addi had come to stay with us. I doubt Addi had ever even seen her. She would oftentimes be found sitting up on her bed, staring outside while running her hand through her hair and muttering things that nobody understood. I would often be found with her, sometimes reading, sometimes just cuddling.

After Julian had recovered and Addi had settled in, things went back to normal - as normal as things could be when you're a group of royals waiting for am ambush at any moment in time. Nobody seemed to get sufficient sleep except Addi. Sometimes, she slept through the day. We gladly allowed it.

Julian spent all his time hunting and cleaning, taking over the job that we started. Every other day he would go out to see what was going on, only to come back with no news. Either he couldn't find anything, or nothing really happened.

It was on the fourth day that I got bored, annoyed, and decided to ask her about the knife.

When I walked downstairs, Addi hardly looked up from the leftover dinner from earlier that night. It was 2 in the morning, and Julian was out and Scarlett was asleep. I sat down at the end opposite of Addi and frowned at her. She still ignored me.

"Addi," I said. She finally looked up, still eating, and cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow.

"We need to talk."

"Okay, so talk," Addi replied, shoving more meat into her mouth. She ate too much. We were running out of food much to quickly.

"The knife. What did you give it to your brother for?"

Addi frowned. "Who said I gave it to my brother? He probably-"

"Your brother," I said, "told us he got it from his sister before she died. Before he thought you died, that is. He told me you gave it to him to kill someone."

"Yes," Addi said. "I had been asked to kill someone."

"Who?"

"I will not say," Addi said calmly. "I was ordered not to-"

"You will tell me what innocent you were ordered to kill, and by who-" I growled.

"She isn't innocent," Addi hissed. "According to her - er, my source - she is the most moronic idiot prone to disaster. She has deserved more than death for her recent actions-"

"Who sent you to muder who?!" I shrieked. "Tell me!"

"It was the girl's parents! But who it is, however, remains classified!"

Horrible thoughts came to mind. What if Addi was sent to kill Scarlett? But of course, if she was, surely she already would have?

I growled at Addi one last time just as Julian walked in. He glared at me and I silently stalked away back upstairs angrily.

<><><>

"What where you yelling at her for?!" Julian demanded. "I thought we agreed to just leave her alone!"

"She can't be trusted, Jules-"

"Don't, Athena," Julian said coldly. "You agreed that we would leave her alone, that we would trust her-"

"She gave her brother the knife that nearly killed you," I whispered. "I was only trying to know why, and now I know, she could have meant to kill-"

"Leave her alone, Athena. I don't want to hear any more about it."

"I was only trying to save a life," I muttered angrily as I stormed upstairs. Scarlett was walking toward the stairs quickly.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Scarlett asked. I shook my head.

"Julian and I had a fight. It doesn't matter. You need to stay hidden from Addi...I don't trust her."

"I don't either," Scarlett said. "She's always given me a bad feeling, especially since she looms just like the boy who...tried to kill Julian. Anyway, you mean for me to hide in my room, yes? With the door locked? I can do that."

I nodded. "Just for a little bit." I didn't tell her about the conversation that Addi and I had.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, Scarlett and I in her room, Julain cleaning, and Addi sleeping or eating. She never helped anyone. She also wandered the halls late at night, which scared me. What - or who - was she looking for?

It was dinnertime, and I had just finished cooking a whole deer - the extra for Addi, as Julian insisted, because apparently she needed all the food she could get - for what, I don't know.

I was taking two plates of food upstairs so Scarlett and I could eat together. Addi was walking downstairs, actually up for dinner for once.

"There's a third here?" Addison said, raising an eyebrow. "I had assumed she had died. Why hasn't she come out? Or are you keeping all the food to yourself?"

You're one to talk, I thought bitterly.

"It doesn't matter," I said, and attempted to walk past her. She blocked my way.

"I would like to meet her. How rude of a guest I've been-"

"She's ill, and asleep," I snapped. "Dinner is ready, you really should go."

"Ill from what? I'm good at healing, maybe I could-" 

"She's too ill!" I snapped. "She doesn't need visitors; she doesn't want visitors! Please, leave; this racket must be bothering her."

Julian was starting to head up the stairs so I quickly hurried into the room and locked the door.

We didn't leave the bedroom.

<><><>

Someone was trying to get in. The doorhandle was wiggling and someone was shaking the door. I growled. Scarlett was already sitting up, breathing heavily, staring at the wall like she'd seen a ghost.

"It's not Jules, he would have said something," Scarlett whispered.

My hands started glowing, turning warm. Scarlett took one if them and squeezed, and closed her eyes.

We sat there, sure whoever was trying to get in wouldn't. And sure enough, whoever it was seemed to leave. We sighed in relief and went back to bed.

It wasn't long, though, before I woke up again. Addi was above Scarlett, a knife to her throat. I yelled out.