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∞ | Chapter 19 - Siblings | ∞
Citadel Himmel, Sage Cliffs
Rhydderch opened his eyes, it was still dark. It really wasn't unusual for him to start his day this early but something in him made him want to start the day leisurely.
He took a glance to the left to see his little Medic sleeping peacefully curled into him, her hands gripping loosely but possessively onto his shirt. He would never have pegged her for a cuddler or anything like that, he mused.
Unknowingly, a smile lifted to the corner of his mouth and when he realised it, he quickly suppressed it.
He quickly got out of bed, ready to start the day. After all, there were pressing things that required his attention. Namely, Edmond Bones.
A grim expression settled onto his face.
The thought of that traitorous idiot made him want to hunt him down like the dog he was. But no, he was better than that. It wouldn't do for him to demand a one-on-one combat like fools who rush headfirst into battles.
It wasn't really his style anyway.
What better way to get a traitor was to make said traitor feel hunted every second of the day? Edmond wouldn't have the peace or rest he needed, not when there was a threat of his life hanging over his head like a dark cloud.
He took another glance at Adrastea and the peaceful innocent countenance on her face as she slept.
Yes, it was really appropriate after all.
* * *
"You're not that busy, are you?" He questioned, taking in the piles of journals on the desk in his room - their room. His mind corrected.
"Huh?" Adrastea looked up and to him, she never looked more endearing with ink smudged on her left cheek and on the bridge of her nose.
"Forget it. You seem busy," he remarked and she blinked furiously before setting down her pen.
"No, what is it?"
"It's nothing important," he began. "I just thought you would like to join us in a trial to be held later," he said nonchalantly.
Immediately like he had expected, a frown settled onto her face. "Rhydderch, I support you in almost everything except some of your questionable morals, but I told you I have no intentions of viewing trials."
"I just wanted to make sure you feel included," he said smoothly. "And I understand, I'll leave you be then to work on your formulas."
Adrastea blinked owlishly at him. "How did you know?"
He allowed a smirk to form on his face as a way to show that he wasn't upset or disappointed that she wasn't coming along with him to the trial and as a way to one-up her.
"Your journals are quite familiar to me, you know."
She shot him a scowl but he could tell it was fainthearted at best. "Okay, go to your trial," she ordered, mock irritation lacing her tone and he inclined his head before turning on his heel.
It was good that everything had gone according to plan, if not he would have a problem explaining a trial that wasn't even being held.
Yes, he had lied.
He had lied so that she would avoid him for the afternoon so that he was free to hunt for Edmond without her intervening.
Especially after she had told him not to interfere.
He knew he was going against her express wishes but, he had to and well, he wanted to.
Edmond Bones wasn't going to get away scot-free after leaving her to die. And he would risk Adrastea's wrath to give him the fate that he so deserved.
No one went after things that he thought of as his.
And as if fate was on his side, he spotted Bones turning a corner in front of him. Knowing the castle by heart, Rhydderch turned to a corridor on his left that would lead to him crossing paths with Bones.
"Bones, I would like a word," he called smoothly once he was in plain sight. Was that a passing look of panic on the man's face or was it just his imagination?
"Have you given thought on whether you would still be interested in being a spy in the Carvensland?"
That had been Edmond's idea before Adrastea came into his life. And after everything that he had seen and heard, there was no way Rhydderch was going to grant his request.
"Yes, I've thought about it and I would like to continue," the man admitted and Rhydderch raised a brow.
"You do know the risks, don't you? And not to mention, you wouldn't be seeing your sister for quite some time," he drawled.
Rhydderch had to give Bones some credit for trying to look sheepish. "I understand the risks and Adrastea and I had a... falling out. It's best to give her some time to cool off before we can reconcile," he said forlornly.
Looking at the seedy man in front of him, it was a wonder how this man was even related to his soul mate.
He resisted the skeptical glance that was wont to cross his face and maintained his composure. "I see, well, I'm sure you'll be fine going undercover. If I wasn't sure, I would have thought you're a spy."
Rhydderch took great pleasure as Bones blanched while staring at him. "Thomas?"
He smiled enigmatically, eyes gleaming knowingly. "I'll let you know once you can be posted there."
He turned and started to walk off, hands in pockets before stopping to face Bones once more.
"You ought to be careful Bones, I'm not sure whether buildings collapse there in the Carvenslands as they do here in the Sage Cliffs," he drawled lazily and satisfaction bloomed when a muscle ticked in his counterpart's jaw while his eyes widened.
"Thank you for your advice," Edmond bit out before quickly scurrying off.
Narrowing his eyes, Rhydderch watched his retreating form, a harrowing expression on his face.
* * *
"What are you doing?" He questioned inquisitively as he spotted her on the bed writing furiously into one of her thick journals.
It was late and he had been busy the whole day running things with the Astutes that had served Circe when she was Regnant and discussing the traitor in their midst with Darius.
However, due to recent events, he was getting a strong suspicion as to who it really was.
"Catching up on my notes," she spared him a quick glance and answered distractedly. Reaching for a sheet of paper out of the many that were strewn all over the bed, she began copying whatever it was down and Rhydderch furrowed his brows before reaching for one.
To his surprise, she didn't stop him except for a mere quirk of her brows.
He arched a brow in return, and she merely rolled her eyes at him and turned away, leaving him with the sight of her hair tied up with a plain red ribbon.
A satisfied smirk curved onto his face at the fact that she trusted him and his eyes scanned through the paper before they widened.
"Is this true? Can blood types really affect how long it takes for the poison to be removed from the body?" He questioned with a frown.
"It seems likely. This theory came up to me earlier today and it explains why Vyctor took quite some time to be fully recovered and why Jarek was fine after a few minutes back in Vonsworth," she answered absentmindedly, continuing to write furiously.
Rhydderch remained silent, more for her sake because he knew how much it annoyed him when people constantly interrupted him when he was in the middle of thinking or planning.
Darting his eyes from the paper he held to the many others on the bed they shared, he took another and began reading through. Although he didn't understand most of the medical jargon used, he knew that having knowledge was power and an advantage.
Once he was done, he placed the papers back to their original position on the bed before gathering all of them up and stacked them into a neat pile on the bedside table so that he could get into bed.
He was exhausted but not too exhausted.
"I'll be done in just a minute and you can go to sleep," Adrastea offered.
"Who says I wanted to sleep?"
Her pen stopped moving over the paper and she stared at him with a wry smile on her face. "Really?" She quirked up a smirk. "But I want to sleep," she replied teasingly.
He scoffed before lunging towards her and pinned her underneath him, one of her leather journals discarded onto the floor.
"You were saying?" He smirked wickedly.
Adrastea stared back at him with wide eyes as he ground his groin against hers. Shudders wracked throughout her body at the very sensation of his hardness meeting her softness.
Grey met blue and she parted her lips before pulling his head down so that their lips met.
* * *
It was much later in the night when he woke.
With a mild jerk, his eyes snapped open and he was met with total darkness. Slowly, his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness of the room and he realised that it was still nightfall.
Looking to his left, he frowned at her absence. The sheets felt cool to the touch and his frown deepened. But taking another quick glance to the desk, her dressing robe was gone.
Concluding that Adrastea had gone for a walk or something of that nature, he settled back into bed and if he were anyone else, he would have turned and gone back to sleep. But something felt...off.
Something was wrong.
Rhydderch didn't know what but there was an instinct that began ringing alarm bells in his mind. Call it the sixth-sense or whatever rot people came up with but that very instinct had kept him alive for the thirty years he had been alive.
He would be a tremendous fool to ignore it.
He could feel himself tense as he tried to pretend that he still appeared to be sleeping and surreptitiously, he scanned the room carefully to see if anything was amiss. Nothing was. The room was dark, the flames in the fireplace had died down and all that was left were ashes.
However, that niggling feeling didn't go away but grew stronger as the seconds passed. Slowly, he inched for the blade he kept under the pillow and once his hands gripped the handle securely, he began to slide it outwards, still mindful of his surroundings.
There.
There was a figure in the corner of the room that was almost hidden in the shadows. If he hadn't trained his eyes, he would have missed it. Already, he could tell the figure was inching closer towards him.
Taking a steady breath, his hand tightened its grip on the handle before pouncing into action. With the knife steady in his hands, he faced the approaching person in the room.
From what he could see, she was definitely female based on the lithe figure she had and how short she was. Well, Rhydderch wasn't above fighting women.
Without a word, the woman lunged towards him, the glint of a blade catching his eye made him twist to the side to avoid her before reaching out to grab her arm to throw her off balance.
And as he expected, the woman stumbled, crashing against the desk in the corner of the room, next to the fireplace.
However, he hadn't expected her to rebound so quickly and before he had a chance, she aimed her blade at him and with a well-practised throw, it flew towards his face. Had it not been for his fast reflexes that made him drop to the ground, he was pretty sure he would be dead by now.
The raucous noise that was caused by the skirmish resounded around the room and for a minute, Rhydderch allowed his thoughts to be distracted. Had Adrastea been in the room, no doubt the woman would have gone after her first, seeing that she didn't have as much experience in combat.
The sound of someone rushing towards him snapped him out of his thoughts but it was too late and he cursed himself for getting distracted as he was slammed down onto the ground.
His head landed head first onto the cool flooring and immediately, the impact caused black dots began circling in his vision. Forcing himself to focus, he realised with wide horrified eyes as a curved dagger was being swung into his direction.
Snapping into action, Rhydderch grabbed the hands holding onto the dagger and with all his might, slammed it harshly against the ground causing the woman to lose her grip on it.
Hearing the sound of bone snapping, he tossed her off his body and got to his feet, blinking away the effects of the mild concussion he was experiencing. It wouldn't be good for him to get distracted once more.
If the woman had been any regular Valiant or assassin, she would have crumpled to the ground in pain but not this one.
After landing on the ground, she quickly sprung back to her feet, though Rhydderch noted that the hand he had broken was tucked behind her back.
God, what the fuck did he have to do to get rid of her? Sod it. Wordlessly, he positioned himself on his feet, ready for her next move.
To his utter shock, the woman pulled out a pistol and without thinking, Rhydderch lunged at her, and the sound of the pistol being fired resounded thunderously throughout the room.
But that was the last thing Rhydderch was thinking off due to the fact that he had his hands around her throat.
Hands were scratching at his arms in efforts for him to let go but he didn't care. He didn't feel the pain nor was he going to kill her. He wanted to get information and the only way how was for her to subdued.
However, the sight of blood and a familiar red ribbon around the woman's right wrist made his blood turned cold.
He knew who that red ribbon belonged to. He had seen it just a few hours ago.
No, she couldn't be. She couldn't have been injured by this woman or... worse. He wouldn't allow it.
Dark thoughts of his soul mate lying somewhere bleeding to death due to her injuries ate at him and he slammed her head down onto the ground.
"Where is she?" he snarled, murderous rage pulsing through his veins. Never mind getting information, he needed to know where she was. And if that blood really belonged to her - his heart dropped.
No, it couldn't belong to her. It just couldn't. He wouldn't let his mind wander in that direction.
"I won't repeat myself again!" He gritted his teeth, his fingers tightening around her throat. "Where. Is. She."
Her body was struggling viciously under his and her hands were grabbing forcefully at his wrist but he ignored it. "If you've hurt her, you'll wish for death and it will not come for you," he hissed menacingly, eyes dark.
His mind was filled with images of Adrastea lying somewhere, blood flowing out of her due to a knife wound, her screaming for him to help her, her giving up due to the immense blood loss, her dying.
The woman was gasping for breath, trying to speak but he ignored it as well.
Abruptly, the door slammed open and his head snapped towards it, his hold on the woman not diminishing and he was met with the sight of Adrastea with Darius and Jarek behind her.
Before he could say or do anything, both his men came towards him and pried him away from the woman he had been interrogating and within seconds, had her tied up.
Despite being at their mercy, the woman had not lost her composure but was kneeling with her back straight and her face faced forward.
Already, the moonlight that filtered through the curtains showed that bruises were slowly and gradually appearing on her neck. But to his mild surprise, she wasn't gasping or choking for the air that he deprived her of earlier.
He took a quick glance to his right to see Adrastea taking in the scene warily and he scanned her person quickly, not seeing any smudges of blood on her anywhere.
Seeing that she was alright and well, Rhydderch ignored the fast diminishing weight in his gut that was being replaced with relief that had almost suffocated him before giving all his attention to the woman in front of them.
He would deal with Adrastea later. When they were in private.
Without hesitation, he stalked towards the bound woman and roughly tore off the navy mask covering her face. The moment her identity was revealed, Rhydderch gasped and stumbled back in shock. Just to be sure once more, his eyes took in every detail of hers.
Yes, those features were different but yet, still so familiar. Time had definitely changed them but still, he knew that face.
A face that was once so familiar to him stared back at him impassively as if he didn't matter to her at all.
No, it couldn't be. It couldn't be!
She had died fifteen years ago. That he was sure of. How could he not be? Surely, she would have sent word if she had been alive.
But staring down at her still form defied everything he had believed.
She was alive. Had been for the past fifteen years.
"Rhydderch?" A small hand touched his elbow gently, bringing him back to reality. Imperceptibly, he shook his head and stared at Adrastea who was watching him with wide concerned eyes.
Rhydderch blinked and chose to focus on the less disturbing issue. He grabbed her by the shoulders and glared down at her, relief choking him. "Where the hell were you? And what the hell were you thinking?" he demanded, eyes flashing.
"I was in my old room," she began. "An idea just came into my mind and I knew if I went back to sleep, I would forget it come morning."
It was a habit he partook in sometimes and he gritted his teeth, unable to yell at her for that. "Forget it," he muttered before turning away. The shock of the night's events taking up the most of his mind.
He didn't even know why he was upset. Perhaps it was the thought of her being gone that brought out such emotions. Or the idea of her in danger at the probable hands of her brother - someone he was unable to deal with due to the political situation he was in - made such fear and rage to be evoked.
Suppressing his emotions and forcing himself to get back his calm composure, he took a deep breath and turned towards the more complex issue.
The apprehended woman.
"Izla?"
It was only when the word left his mouth that he realised it was more of a question than a statement.
The woman stared up at him for a long moment before she jerked violently from her position on the ground and began struggling fiercely in her bonds.
"NO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO NOW!" She screeched and Rhydderch could only stop and stare in shock.
Suddenly, he just felt tired. The adrenaline that had been pumping through his body had faded and he could feel the back of his head throbbing in pain and all he wanted to do was sleep. Feeling his shoulders sag in exhaustion, he gave a curt nod to Jarek and Darius to take her to the cells. He would deal with Izla later.
Izla hadn't stopped screaming or struggling the entire time his men dragged her out and it was until the door was closed firmly behind them that the room became silent. Deathly silent.
Exhaling deeply, he sat down on the bed and a small hand touched his head gingerly, "Your head is injured. It's good that there isn't any bleeding or anything," she offered as she got into the bed beside him.
He remained silent, his mind still trying to digest what he had seen.
Numbly, he could feel her hands softly rub at his head, causing him to wince. "Rhydderch, you have to rest," she instructed and he blinked before glaring.
"Never walk around without a guard with you," he ordered roughly and fiercely and she nodded, clearly realising that it was best not to start an argument right now.
He relaxed at her agreement and a lengthy but comfortable silence passed as she stroked through his silky hair soothingly.
"Rhydderch."
He realised that the tone she used was hesitant and unsure and already, he knew what she was going to ask.
"Who is she? And," Adrastea paused before summoning all her courage to ask, "how do you know her?"
Rhydderch turned towards her, his dark hair sticking up messily as though he had been running his hands through it numerous times and his posture was tense, as though he was a spring that was coiled tightly and would snap if pushed too far. But what caught her attention was the haunted look in his eyes.
Yes, he promised himself that he would never fully trust anyone but... he was starting to trust Adrastea - no, he already trusted her. And that very thought scared him.
Why shouldn't he be scared?
Rhydderch did not trust anyone completely. How could he?
Betrayal wasn't something new to him and neither did he wish to face it again.
But this was Adrastea, his soul mate. The one person he had an attachment to. An attachment that involved him letting down his guard when he was around her. An attachment that made him share his thoughts and express his feelings in front of.
And the very realisation that he trusted her made him feel lighter, freer. Yes, he trusted her and he had no qualms about it.
He turned to her and swallowed thickly, unable to really believe what he was going to say.
"Izla wa-is my sister."
* * *
A/N: Hi guys! I hope you like this chapter! It was hard to write this one and I'm terribly afraid that my characters are a little OOC (out of character) and idk. Sigh. Anyway, let me know what you guys think!
Chapter dedicated to @DarkQueen26 !