The Zodiacs

35. Hate Nonetheless

She turned around, looking over the group of relatively calm Zodiacs as they ate their fruit from their places on the ground. Some were sitting along logs on the floor while others found comfort in the short stone benches Tau had created for them a while before.

Gulping the rising lump of guilt in her throat, the ex-solder rose from the log and turned toward the others just as Layla and Aaron finished giving out the last bit of fruit and grabbed their own. "There's something I need to tell everybody," she raised her voice slightly to make sure it carried all around the closed cave.

Everyone turned to her curiously, continuing to eat their fruit while patiently waiting for the girl to announce what she had on her mind.

Lotus, Chione, and Seth were sitting on what used to be Aaron's recovery bed; now, it played the role of a casual lounging sofa of rock. Aaron and Layla were standing near the cave's edge beside each other, while Asarte, Keket, Odion, and Aharon sat on the logs near the extinguished fire pit in the cave's center. The rest, who she'd already spoken to in regard to the news, lingered behind her.

"There's been a new... development with the Zodiac search that went into effect a couple days ago," she remembered when Master Omari had rode over to bestow the sudden news on her. It felt so long ago now. "I tried to deal with it on my own, but it didn't work out, so I thought it would be best that you guys be made aware."

Pulling in a deep breath, Zahra forced the words from her mouth before she could delay the announcement any longer. "The Pharaoh's decided to capture all members of your nuclear family or those you lived with prior to escaping for him."

Layla stopped chewing on her fig, holding it in her mouth as the thought of her grandmother's arrest suddenly overwhelmed her. Keket and Seth's eyebrows furrowed in worry, their gazes unfocusing for a moment just like Asarte's did. The twins glanced at each other as Aharon shot up from his spot beside Asarte. "What the hell? Since when?"

Besides the few she'd already told, it was Chione, Odion, and Lotus who didn't react with as much worry and emotion as the others. When she'd first told her, Suma also seemed unaffected by the possibility of her family being arrested; she never spoke about her family.

"It's been a few days-," Zahra answered his question, but her response didn't formulate enough before he interrupted her again.

"And you decided to tell us just now?" Aharon narrowed his eyes at her with evident displeasure toward her decision.

Zahra nodded, knowing that it probably wasn't the best time. In fact, she should have informed the Zodiacs of such a thing as soon as she knew, but she'd been too enveloped in the idea of killing the Pharaoh off and putting an end to his plan on her own.

"I was trying to solve it on my own so you wouldn't have to worry, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. By what I was told, everyone's family has been arrested except a few of us," she tried to remember what Master Omari had told her days before when he'd informed her of the news. "Asarte, Suma, Chione --clearly --and Lotus. Odion and I as well considering we're both already here."

Aharon snorted, redirecting everybody's attention to his when he turned to glare toward the girl sitting between Chione and Seth: Lotus. "Of course it's the traitor whose family's left completely untouched while the rest of ours are thrown in prison because of what she did," he spat. The momentary compromise they'd silently come to in the palace gone once again.

Lotus turned to face him, narrowing her eyes as the same dislike that he was watching her with built into her own expression. She didn't offer any response, rolling her eyes and moving her attention back onto Zahra. She was getting tired of being victimized by the fire sign.