Forty-Five

~ Nathan's pov

I racked my brain to come up with a reasonable excuse, one that would not blow my cover, but at the same time, would not require me to give the boy up and expose him. However, as hard as I tried to come up with one, my brain chose to fail me at that moment. I did not expect Damien and some of the soldiers to have seen where I had been hiding with Albert. I turned back to look at Albert who was hiding behind me and I could see that he was scared, his body was trembling and his eyes were pleading for me to save him.

"Are you deaf?" Damien yelled at me again when I stayed silent as though I was indeed deaf.

I returned my gaze to Damien and just as I was about to get down on my knees to apologize and plead for mercy, as I couldn't come up with any excuse, Albert came forward. He confidently greeted Damien with a bow and introduced himself, wisely leaving out his last name. Damien, who was still in an angry mood, gave the boy a condescending look.

I subtly inched forward. At