Chapter Fourteen

It was still the middle of the night. Alex figured he must have been asleep for only a couple of hours at the most. The campsite was quiet, with only a few of the Ravennites on watch around the site’s boundaries. Alex gazed around with the cold, nighttime gusts gnawing against his face, and he noticed Matheus standing near the edge of the campsite behind Rowan’s tent. He was just standing there, looking off into the dark distance. Alex walked over casually to stand by his side.

Matheus looked over at him. “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?” he muttered quietly.

Alex nodded his head tiredly. “Exhausting, to say the least.”

“Where is she?” Matheus asked, referring to Rowan.

“Asleep by the fire.” Alex gestured back toward the tent. “I just had a bad dream and had to step outside.” Matheus said just returned his distracted attention to the dark tree lines. For a moment, Alex was tempted to tell him about the dream. The thought of it possibly involving Rowan, however, held him back. He was so confused right now. He had never been so unsure about his feelings toward Rowan, and he feared it would be unwise to bring any of the Ravennites into it, even one of his closest friends.

Still, every time Alex thought about it, he instantly conjured up the image of one man: Caine, the Ravennite who Rowan originally told him she believed to be dead. That turned out to be false when Caine revealed himself to Rowan at the Iron Furnace. Her devotion ran so deep that she was utterly heartbroken by the knowledge of one Ravennite willfully betraying their people.

Alex took a deep breath before breaking the silence again. “Let me ask you something.” He looked Matheus in the eyes as if to show him the seriousness of his concern. “How many of your people would have followed the ideals of Caine if they were given the opportunity?”

Matheus’ blood immediately went cold and Alex could see that. The topic was obviously a trigger point for even the boldest of the Ravennites. He did not look like he wanted to answer Alex’s question straightforwardly. “You’re asking me if there were others who betrayed us when Ravenna fell? No, at least not that we know of. We don’t even know when exactly Caine pledged himself to the Morennos.”

“But why?” Alex persisted. “What was his incentive? Why would he want to see his own home destroyed?”

Matheus was growing more tense by the second. It was clear to Alex that the Ravennites must have been reeling over a lack of information regarding Caine’s true motives. The Morenno brothers’ father felt he had been betrayed in an agreement between their two peoples. Alex still did not know what the Chief’s violation was, but whatever the case, it was enough for Caine to betray his people nonetheless. 

“I didn’t know Caine as well as most of the citizens of Ravenna,” Matheus responded after much thought, “but it was no secret that, for months up until the Domineers attacked, those closest to him, even Delmar, believed that he was not well. There was a time when Caine cared as deeply as any one of us for the wellbeing of Ravenna, but ever since that audience with the Chief, he seemed to enter a steady decline that affected nearly everything about who he was. I truly don’t know what possessed him to fall in line with the Domineers. Fear? Anger? Delusion? He’s hardly more than a stranger to me now, as well as to Delmar.”

“And you never told Rowan about it,” Alex added. “You made her believe he had been killed. Was it to protect her?”

Matheus nodded. “It was Delmar’s call. Rowan was only a small child at the time; she was far too vulnerable. Her mother died from grief after the death of the Chief, and I don’t like to think what might have happened if Rowan found out then that there was a traitor involved with the fall of Ravenna.”

Alex narrowed his eyes at Matheus’ last words. “Involved? You mean he didn’t just give himself over to the Domineers? Are you saying he fought with them from the beginning, even in Ravenna?”

Matheus’ head suddenly went down. He let out a long sigh, and Alex knew that it was a tale he absolutely did not want to tell. It made Alex’s skin crawl to think about. However, he was taken aback when Matheus looked back at him and uncomfortably answered his question. 

“Listen,” he began with a surprisingly rough voice. “The truth is there is much more to that story than most Ravennites know. Delmar ordered it to be kept secret from the people, and I should not even be telling it to you.” He inched closer to Alex, full of tension. “You must promise me you will keep this to yourself. Nothing that I tell you here was ever spoken. You must take it with you to the grave. Promise me that.”

Alex’s heart was beating heavily as he shakily nodded his head. “You can trust me, Matheus. You know that.”

Matheus appeared as though he was trying to clear his thoughts before speaking. Whatever it was that was eating him up, Alex was almost questioning if he even wanted to know. 

“It’s true that Delmar and Malachai were the only two to make it out of the Ravenna alive. Delmar received a nasty slash to the side of his face and the last of the Ravennite defenders gave their lives so that Malachai could drag him to safety. However, the worst scar he took with him that night was not on his face, but on his heart when he watched his own father fall in the fight. The Chief fought bravely to defend his people, but it was not the Domineers who brought him down. It was Caine who picked up his sword and drove it through the heart of the Chief.”

As Matheus finished speaking, Alex felt a powerful wave of goosebumps course over his body. He stared back at him with wide eyes. “Oh my God,” he muttered in a whisper. The very thought of such a sight made the hairs on his neck stand up. Now he understood why they were so desperate to keep the truth from Rowan. It was disturbing to think about what perverse actions Caine might be capable of if he was willing to go so far as to kill the leader of his own people. What could possibly be going through the man’s head, Alex had no idea, and he did not want to dwell on it.

“You remember what I requested of you,” Matheus put a heavy hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Not a word of that was ever spoken to you. It’s a very serious matter. Do you understand?”

Alex nodded his head, swallowing as he did so. “Yes,” was all he could utter. It was not long after that he could feel the tiredness beginning to return to him as he yawned loudly. “I don’t break my promises, Matheus.” he said, putting his own hand on Matheus' shoulder to tell him that he was trustworthy. “I better go and get what sleep I can. I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, Alex walked away, but this time, he was heading back to his own quarters.

“Remember, Alex,” Matheus called after him. “You have one more day and that’s it. Delmar wants everybody back at the Citadel, and take my word for it when I say you do not want to be caught in the wild by the storm.”

“You don’t have to worry about a thing,” Alex replied without turning around. “We’ll be in and out.”

There was no doubt in Matheus’ mind that he could trust Alex, even for an Outsider. The boy had proven himself time and time again, but he was still just as reckless as Rowan at times. The Ravennites knew that a great winter storm was coming for them, for it had followed the exact same pattern for many generations, and they were always prepared to endure it. It almost scared Matheus that Alex appeared to be so careless about it. He was not going to allow him to put the lives of these Ravennites at unnecessary risk by dragging them out into the wilderness when the storm arrived.

As these thoughts continued to trace through Matheus’ mind, he felt a series of freezing winds rush against his face. It was closing in on them, he could sense it. He agreed that it was time for him to retreat for the night as well. As he passed by Rowan’s tent while heading for his own quarters, Matheus felt an instant tremor of concern after what he just told Alex. Acting purely on instinct, Matheus carefully lifted up the flap of Rowan’s tent and looked inside. To his relief, Rowan appeared to be right where Alex said he had left her; she was lying on her side at the rear of the tent, facing the wall with a blanket over her. Matheus gave a quiet sigh of relief before releasing the flap and heading away.

From his own perspective, Matheus saw the motionless form of a young girl fast asleep on the ground in the comfort of her quarters. However, motionless as she was, Rowan was anything but comfortable. Her mind was being swarmed by too many mixed thoughts and emotions to control. Her eyes were wide open and burning painfully, and her face was streaked with trails of flowing tears. Her teeth were clenched as she was overcome by the stress of pure sorrow. Rowan felt a pain in her heart as if somebody had come forth and thrust a knife right into it. 

Somebody did cast a blade through her heart; he did seven years ago when he murdered her father in cold blood. She heard it all, and what hurt her more than anything was knowing her own brother had been hiding it from her. At this time, Rowan’s mind had been completely wiped of nearly all the hatred she carried for the Domineers. Now, only one name was burned across the black matter of her brain, and she could hear it over and over again as the hot tears forced their way from her eyes. 

Caine.