Redemption [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

I didn't know what to do about my father's message.

Part of me wanted to run and find Dania and Raven to discuss what he'd said, but I couldn't endanger them and, not to mention, Dania wasn't exactly the best keeper of secrets. In fact, it could just worry them both.

No, I had to do this on my own. It wasn't a smart decision, because doing this on my own would make it ten times harder, but I didn't want to drag anyone else into hysteria. Especially not Ambrosius. Did he even know what his father was doing? From all the time we spent together, it didn't seem like it. It couldn't possibly be an act, and yet, something about it felt off. I wasn't sure. Maybe it was my own paranoia destroying my image of Ambrosius.

I just prayed that it was wrong.

My father had mentioned a spy, though, but whom? Surely I'd be able to detect that kind of abnormality in my realm. I had to be suspicious of everyone, and unfortunately, that included Ambrosius, and my heart ached with the thought that maybe he did know what was happening.

"Well," Remi said, sitting on my desk and swinging his legs back and forth, a frown on his face, "It has to be someone that arrived at the same time that Ambrosius and Hades did a few weeks ago." He was the only one I trusted with this information. Not that he had much of a choice, considering he was legally my slave, but he was my friend and that is why I told him everything. I sighed, raking a hand through my hair before lowering it to the desk.

"Yes, but that doesn't narrow it down by much. It could be one of the hundreds of soldiers Hades sent in, Xenon, Anita, maybe even one hiding amongst our own ranks. It could be one of the Sins. It could be..." My voice trailed before I could say Ambrosius, but Remi picked up on it right away with a frown.

"Boss, I like the kid too," He admitted, scowling when I raised an eyebrow at him, "He seems like a pretty good guy... But I wouldn't write him off just yet, no matter how you feel about him. He's the son of Hades. You saw how obedient he was towards ol' daddykins before. Even if he doesn't know about it, it'll scare him enough to run to daddy and ask if it's true. If that happens, Hades will know that we know and come charging in here, guns blazing. We don't have enough men to stand up to him considering half our troops are his." I nodded grimly, dragging a hand over my face in distress.

"All right," I said carefully, thinking aloud, "Let's just keep it between us, as planned. Just remain suspicious. Don't disappear back in the ring, Remi. Wander around and study each person. If you see anything suspicious, report it back to me immediately." Remi nodded, hopping off the desk, then paused to look at me, his arms folded over his chest.

"And you?"

"I'm going to watch Ambrosius."

"Totally." Remi deadpanned. I glared at him, but he waved a hand at me in dismissal and left my tent, so I was alone. I didn't want to be alone, though, so I set my things down and went outside to the warm morning sun that beat down on the soldiers that were milling around as they waited for their morning training session and to be properly assigned to their posts. I'd managed to get Remi to order some earpieces that would enable us to contact one another faster, and planned to hand the out at the morning training session. I just had to let Ambrosius know first, so I used that as an excuse to wander over to his tent. I slowed down, however, when I heard Ambrosius speaking.

"... please. I wouldn't ask you for anything else, you know that." He was saying. I waited to hear who he was speaking to, and a chill coursed down my spine when I heard Hades reply from what sounded like a video feed.

"You can ask me for whatever the fuck else you want," Hades snarled, "But you're not asking me for this. Haven't I given you enough? Besides, he's a man and Christian. I already told you how I felt about this kind of decision."