Druhin leaned against the wall, panting. Rakini did the same, hunched over with her hands on her knees. It was an empty alleyway between two narrow streets, paved in the middle of two buildings. After managing to shake off the Arkan guards, they had to run quite a bit before finally finding safety.

She gave a lopsided grin. "That was pretty close, wasn't it?"

"I hope you'll forgive me", he responded guilty. "About the knife and the threatening."

"Nevermind that." She waved her hand dismissively. "You can pull the same trick anytime we're in a bad situation."

He smiled back, sinking to the ground in exhaustion. Rakini did the same, trying to catch her breath. They rested for a few moments, his heartbeat echoing wildly in his ears.

"I'm just relieved that no one got hurt", he commented.

"Are you sure about that, now?", a voice drawled from a side.

Druhin stiffened, clutching the rough, coarse wall in shock. He exchanged an alarmed look with Rakini before slowly turning towards the speaker.

A few paces forward, a young Raatrika man stood with crossed arms, his back casually resting on the wall. His eyes were a dark purple, glinting as he gave them a friendly wave.

Druhin felt Rakini tug on his shirt. "We need to get out of here", she whispered out-of-breath. "Let's go!"

Druhin quickly scrambled back up, about to break into a run.

"Keep wading through these ditches", he called in a cheeky voice. "You'll surely stumble upon the rebel Queen this way."

They halted in their tracks, the mud coating their boots splattering around. Druhin cautiously turned back to him, Rakini close by his side.

The man slowly took a few steps towards them, putting up his empty, weaponless hands as though showing truce.

"Stay right there", Rakini warned.

"Or what, High Lady Rakini?The boy laughed, though stopping in his tracks.  "You'll impale me with your silken handkerchief? Blast me with your haughty glares? Oh, I'm so scared", he exclaimed dramatically

As Rakini fumbled for a reply, he grinned boyishly, running a hair through his tousled hair.

His clothes, though rugged and worn out, were spotlessly clean. "I'm not trying to kill you, trust me", he spoke with a hint of seriousness.

"And why exactly should we do that?", Rakini countered. "Who are you, in the first place?"

He gave her a small bow. Whether he was mocking her or being genuinely respectful, Druhin couldn't tell.

"I, my lady, so happen to be one of Rambha's closest confidantes-", he declared, a hint of pride evident in his voice. "-besides being the most dashing, brave rebel she's ever recruited."

Druhin frowned as his eyes twinkled mischeviously. "And why should we trust you?"

The man lifted up his left sleeve in response. Tattooed on his arm was the symbol of a thick vertical line, with two crossed lines running over it in the middle. "Believe me now?"

"What's that?", Druhin felt Rakini whisper into his ear.

"The symbol of the rebels", he muttered back. "Looks real to me, though I can't say for sure."

The young man grinned. "Are you done with your little chat? Time is running out, and neither of your looks are improving, if you ask me."

"I...", Rakini's voice faltered. "What do you want from us?"

"I don't want anything from you, Lady Rakini." He straightened up, all traces of playfulness disappearing. "You, on the other hand, have no business interfering in the rebels' matters."

"Do you even hear yourself?", Rakini rebuked furiously. "You kidnap my mother and ask me to just stay silent?"

He scoffed, shaking his head. "Who do you think you're trying to fool? Do you think we can't see through your plans?"

Druhin watched as Rakini frowned in confusion. "What plans?"

"Raiding the rebel headquarters, attacking the poor, innocent familes of the refugees", he accused. "Where's the Arkan army that's following you secretly?"

"What are you talking  about?" She waved her arm around. "What army?"

"Just stop with the pretence already, Arkan", he bit back. "I know that there's an army waiting behind you ready to pounce on our camp."

"That isn't true", Druhin countered urgently. One wrong word planted in Rambha's mind could mean multiple lives falling.

"You've got it all wrong", Rakini explained. "I want to meet your leader, yes, but all alone. There is no army with me, absolutely no one else except my friend Druhin here."

She waved an arm at him as the man watched unimpressedly.

"Nice try, Lady Rakini", he said in a bored voice. "Let me ask one last time. Where are the guards? If you take them and leave right now, Rambha will not harm your mother."

"If I really bought the army with me, why would I make a show of them by letting them chase us around?", she demanded. "I repeat, I haven't brought anyone along."

His lilac eyes narrowed. "All orchestrated pretense."

"We've made her family believe that I too, am a part of the rebels", Druhin took over. "And that she's been kidnapped, just like her mother."

"The letter from your leader already warned us not to try and rescue them." Rakini tried, crossing her arms. "Even after that, if the Arkans wanted to burst into your place, why would they need me?"

"If they didn't care about the five lives, wouldn't they do it directly?", Druhin challenged once again, seeing the man's  eyes narrow in confusion.

The rebel looked like he wanted to argue further, but stopped himself.

Rakini walked forward with slow, heavy footsteps. "There is no rescue operation going on here. All I want to do is see your leader, and that too, alone."

"Why would you do that?", he asked, mistrust creeping into his voice. "What possible reason can there be?"

"That's between us and her", Druhin interjected firmly. "We'll reveal that directly to the rebel Queen."

His violet eyes scrutinized them sharply. Druhin noted that they were a darker, more beautiful shade than his own.

"Why are you helping this woman, by the way?", the man asked him after a few moments of silence.

Druhin turned to Rakini, who gave him a brief nod. He cleared his throat hesitantly. "She offered to do me a favour in return, if I helped her escape and took her to Rambha."

The man cocked his head to a side, pretending to be in deep thought. "What is the one big favour an Arkan like her could do to a Raatrika? Let me guess-", drawing a few moments, he gave a quick snap of his fingers. "-she offered to set you and your family free?"

Druhin inhaled sharply, frowning under his accusing gaze. The man took a step forward, but this time, Druhin didn't move back.

"Alright. Let's just say she did", he countered. "What about it?"

The rebel stopped right in front of them. "Did you ever wonder, my friend, what will happen to your family now that the Arkans know who you are?"

A bead of cold sweat dripped down Druhin's back at the words. His family. His poor, helpless family.

"If what she says is true, you shouldn't have pretended to have kidnapped her, Druhin", the man said, shaking his head sorrowfully.

"W-Why do you say that?"

"What will happen to your family now?", he questioned. "Didn't it occur to you that the Arkans might use them against you? Capture them, and threaten you with their lives?"

A jolt of shocked realization  went through his spine. Druhin's eyes began to sting as his mind went back to his small, creaky house. His family could barely tolerate the heat and feed themselves. What an armed, merciless army could do to them....it made Druhin's heart shiver with fear.

The man placed a hand on his shoulder. "Never trust the Arkans", he recited in a slow, deliberate voice. "Haven't you still learnt that lessons after generations of slavery?"

For once, Druhin shuddered under the intense heat of the sun.

"And I am here to destroy that belief for good", Rakini declared firmly. "I made a promise to Druhin that I'll grant him the freedom he wants. I'm ready to risk anything to keep my word.

Druhin watched in surprise as she marched to the man, her chin stuck in the air. Something had shifted in her eyes once again, and Druhin couldn't help but fear further. Whenever that happened, Rakini always seemed to bring more trouble to herself than what she warded away.

"If there is one person in this land who can help Druhin's family to safety, it's your leader Rambha", she declared with solid certainty.

The man stared at her with an unreadable expression, his head tilting slightly downwards in contemplation.  "Yes, so what about it?"

"Then place my request to her-", she began. "-the rebels must hide his family from the army and ensure their safety."

"What did you just say, Arkan?", he asked, his eyes widening slightly.

Druhin's jaw slackened as she nodded. He couldn't see her face from where she stood with her back to him, but Druhin could clearly imagine her jaw set tight in stubbornness.

"You must convince your leader to protect his family", she repeated said in a soft, steady tone. "It is my request, one I make in good faith. A request from High Lady Rakini to the rebel Queen Rambha."

"Why would she do that?", he asked dubiously. If he was surprised, he was hiding it well behind his guarded expression.

"I am her sole hope in getting what she wants, though she may not know that." She paused. "And I will help, but only if Druhin's family is safe first. Tell this to your Queen and request her to choose wisely."

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Author's note :

Let's gear up for more action in the upcoming chapters everyone!

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