Hi everyone!

So sorry for the delay in posting!!! I had a crazy busy week with barely any sleep LOL hopefully it gets better this week! Thank you for your patience, and here's a nice long chapter to make up for the delay!

Also, thank you so much for all your kind words in the previous chapters and the messages on my profile! I can't wait to reply to them all!!! <3

Just wanted to add a bit of a content warning for this chapter while I'm here. There are a bit of heavy conversations in this so please be mindful :)

Thank you!

Love, luckycharms <3

CONTENT WARNING!!

This chapter contains triggering content such as violence, racism, trauma, and abuse/harassment. Please be mindful of these triggers if you wish to read this chapter.

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Thea and Niall were back in Achlis by a little past noon the next day and though Thea expected the four hours they spent together in the train alone to be rather awkward after the events of the night before... it actually wasn't.

Their commute was consumed mostly with Niall updating Thea on what had been going on in Achlis while she was gone. Thea also spent some time showing him what she had done in her time back at Abureth, letting Niall flip through all the poems she had typed out.

Niall liked her idea, nodding in agreement as she explained her plan to him. "I can create three volumes," she said. "Before the war, during the war, and after... of course, the after part will only work out if Rue agrees to get back to work on writing once he's awake again."

It was a good idea, according to Niall. And the best part was, if Rue agreed to all of this, both Julian and Milo had contacts with publishers that they could take advantage of. Putting the work together and distributing it would therefore be the easy part... the difficult part would be getting Rue to agree to this.

But that was an issue for another day. Right now, her priority was making sure Rue woke up and despite him still being unconscious, she was excited to see him. But once the train pulled into the Capital, Niall made it clear that he had not gotten the opportunity to do the paperwork required to give Thea access to Rue, and seeing as he was supposedly a high risk criminal who currently was in a hospital rather than under lock and key, the paperwork was a little more extensive than usual.

So, the decision was that they would part ways in Achlis, Thea to her office with Milo to check on things and Niall to his office to complete the paperwork, and once they were ready, Niall would come get Thea.

When Thea arrived in the office, she smiled to see the lights were on, happy to know that Milo was there and she could give Milo a tight hug and apologize for worrying him. However, after she shut the door and looked towards his desk, it was empty.

She assumed immediately that he might have gone for lunch, though it was odd that he would leave the lights on, but before she could think more about it, she was startled by the presence of someone else... someone sitting in her seat, his feet up on her desk. She found herself standing there, frozen and staring, surprised by his presence as he looked back at her.

"Thi," Adrien smiled lazily as he spoke. "I saw you walk in with the General. I thought I'd drop by to say hi but you weren't here yet, so I stuck around."

She didn't respond, stuck in her spot and unable to move, a fear rising in her due to the fact that she was here alone. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with Adrien of all people and all she could think of doing was run, but her feet wouldn't budge.

He pulled his feet off her desk before standing, not taking his eyes off of her for a second as he moved, like a predator with its eyes on its prey. "I heard you've been busy," he said as he grabbed a pen and started twirling it between his fingers. It took her a moment to realize that it was the pen that Aaryan had gotten her. Seeing as she had thrown it at him that night in front of the Screeching Crow, he must have come back and dropped it off... that being said, no matter how angry she was at Aaryan, she hated that Adrien was touching something he had given her. "Getting smacked silly by Rivier and all... trying to get him fired for it, or something?"

"What are you doing here?" She finally managed to say. "You can't be in here."

"Why?" Adrien looked incredibly amused, his lips curved up to one side, making her hate how handsome he was... how incredibly beautiful this man would have been if he wasn't so frightening, his green eyes warm, despite sending a shiver through her, and his short hair combed and styled back nicely, managing to hide the longer curls she was more familiar with during their time in university. It also didn't help that he was in a three piece, dark, navy suit, looking expensive and rich and put together. He looked older and more mature, less boyish than he once was, and somehow, despite how much more handsome it made him, it made Thea fear him even more.

"There are confidential things in here," she tried. "You don't work here–"

"Oh, but I do now," his smile widened as he approached her. "Haven't you heard?"

Thea swallowed back her nervousness, only to have to return two folds worse as he got close to her, making her take a few steps back until her back hit one of the many shelves filled with Milo's books and notes. "What?"

He only stopped walking when he was standing inches away from her, trapping her between himself and the shelves. "I work here now," he said, still smiling. "My father wants to move on from his role as Premier, so I'm getting myself ready to inevitably take his place. I've got an office and everything."

No. Thea felt her heartbeat rising in panic. She couldn't possibly be this cursed. How could this be happening to her?

"That's what I wanted to tell you that day in the foyer," his smile faded just enough for her to notice, "but you shouted at me for no good reason."

At first, she didn't know what he was talking about. What day in the foyer? However, as she tried to clear her mind and focus, it came back to her... she remembered him grabbing her arm when she was trying to get to Niall as fast as she could to tell him about Rue being attacked. She remembered yelling at him for touching her.

She hadn't thought about this even once since it happened, and now, she was suddenly filled with dread. "Y-you need to leave, Adrien."

"No I don't," he simply said. "Not until we've spoken."

Her hands were shaking, no surprise there, though she held them together tightly in front of her, also hoping that that would create some form of barrier in between them. She felt like she was suffocating, a heavy weight being pushed hard against her chest and nausea overwhelming her as she could smell the familiar scent of whatever cologne he seemed to still use.

"What's going on, Thi," he asked, his voice dropping low. "What's with this coldness? We used to be so close."

Her throat was dry. She couldn't respond.

"We're adults now, let's let bygones be bygones," he said, reaching out and running his fingers through her hair. It was tied up into a half ponytail, the top of it knotted up into pretty braids... she had spent more time on it than usual that morning back in Abureth, knowing that she would be sitting around with Niall for so long. She wanted to look pretty.

Right now she felt horrible though... she felt horrid.

"And look at your hair," he continued, his fingers still in her hair... as her scarred ear seemed to throb all of a sudden, she couldn't help but notice that it felt absolutely nothing like how it felt when Niall's fingers ran through it. "It's grown back so nicely."

She pushed him, hoping to get away from him as she felt her vision begin to fade. It was a weighty push, hard enough for him to stumble backwards a few steps. However, just as he had that night all those years ago, everything about him changed within less than a second. His smile vanished and his eyes darkened and with a frightening level of ease he placed his hand on her chest and pushed her back, causing her to slam back against the shelf hard before he shoved his forearm against her throat. The pressure of his strength against her neck was painful enough to make her eyes water. "Let... me... go!" She choked, clawing at his arm as hard as she could but doing no damage.

"Is this really the respect I get for trying to be nice to you, Thi?"

She was trying hard not to cry, not wanting to seem weak in front of this man that she feared so much.

"You haven't changed at all, have you?" He asked, bringing his face closer to hers, his darkened eyes cold like ice... though not the kind of icy that Niall's eyes were. Niall's green eyes were icy because of how bright they looked against his dark hair... and despite the iciness, they made her feel warm. Adrien, however, made her feel cold... cold enough to make her blood run cold. "Exactly the same as you were back then... thinking you're better than me?"

"What are you... talking about?" She asked, confused and suddenly feeling hopeless.

Hopeless because he was right.

She really hadn't changed. She hadn't changed at all, though not in the way that he was referencing.

But after everything... after coming back to the Capital, after meeting Rue, after standing up to the bullies in Achlis, after having guns pointed at her in Danyo, after speaking up in front of the heads of the Defence Department and the president himself, after holding the bloodied Rue in her arms, after getting backhanded by Rivier and still not being scared of him... after all of that... she thought she was brave. She thought she had grown. She thought she was stronger.

Yet here she was, back in the same spot she was in years ago in University, cowering under the grip of Adrien, unable to do anything but hold back her tears as she pretended she was stronger than she really was.

She hadn't changed at all.

"Get your shit together," Adrien said, his voice as cold as his expression. "Get it together and remember your place, you Elorian whore. You can screw around with that half-breed General all you want but that doesn't change who you are. Don't think for a second you can shout at me in front of everyone... try to make a fool out of me... and get away with it."

She tried to fight him, she really did, but he was too strong.

"If I tell you to wait, you wait. If I talk to you, you respond. If I tell you to get out of my fucking face, you leave," he said. "Do you understand?"

When she didn't respond to him, he pushed his arm harder against her.

"You should know at this point what I can do to you," now he smirked before he reached up with his free hand and pulled her pins out of her hair, dropping them onto the floor, one by one as her braids fell apart. Her blood was ice and her body went rigid as the last of her pins fell onto the floor, her heavy braids unraveling on their own. When he was done and he let go, she crumbled to the floor, trying to hold back the contents of her stomach from coming out.

"Good," Adrien said, throwing the pen Aaryan got her, the pen he was still holding, hard onto the floor, causing the barrel to crack. "It seems like you get the point. Make sure you remember that the next time we run into each other, Thi."

As Thea stared at the floor, her vision blurring with tears, Adrian watched her for a moment longer before stepping back and leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Pulling her knees close and hugging them, she began to sob, unable to believe how quickly everything could go from good to absolutely horrible... how Adrien went from haunting her memories to back to tormenting her reality.

She couldn't be here anymore.

She couldn't be here if he was here.

She wouldn't survive.

But just as her sobbing worsened, her mind going to Rue and her thoughts wandering to how she needed to be here to help him, the door flung open again.

In a panic, she grabbed a book from the shelf and threw it in the direction of the door, shouting for him to leave her alone as she did so. However, instead of it hitting Adrien, the relatively heavy book slammed against Milo's chest before he let out a pained gasp.

Thea's eyes widened, but before she could even think to apologize, someone was holding her tightly. "Thea? What the hell happened? Why are you crying?"

It was Aaryan.

She was wiping her tears away, feeling humiliated and horrified and hurt and all sorts of terrible things. She just wanted to disappear. She didn't want to be here.

She just wanted to go to Rue. All she wanted was to go to Rue to see if he was okay.

She didn't want to be here.

She didn't want Milo here.

And she most certainly did not want Aaryan here.

He was staring at her face with a panicked expression as Milo, the hollow of his neck already bruised from the impact of the book, knelt down in front of her as well. "Thea, oh my god, was it Adrien? I just saw him–"

"Adri–" Aaryan cut himself off. "What the hell did he do?"

"Nothing," Thea choked. "It's fine."

"No it's not, Thea," Milo said. "This is not fine–"

"What the hell did he do to you?" Aaryan growled, using his hand to turn her face towards him. "Did he touch you?"

Thea was shaking her head. She couldn't breathe. This was too much for her. "Please," she started crying, Aaryan's expression changing from fury to panic to back to fury at the sight of her. "Please just leave me–"

Before she could finish, to Thea's horror, Aaryan stood and sprinted out the door.

"Fuck," Milo cursed, an extremely unusual thing for him to do. "Fuck. Shit."

"W-what," Thea felt faint. "What... is he going to..."

"Stay here–"

Of course she wouldn't stay here. With the little strength she had left in her, she stood up and dashed after Aaryan, fearing what he may do, Milo calling after her now too.

She ran down the hallway in the direction of Niall's office, hearing Aaryan's shout coming from somewhere around the corner. Her hair had completely come apart, flailing around everywhere as she ran breathlessly, barely able to hold herself up. When she turned the corner, she spotted him just in time to see Adrien turn around in surprise and widen his eyes as Aaryan lunged at the man, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him hard against the wall. "What the hell did you do to her, you fuck–"

"Stop!" Thea screamed as she grabbed Aaryan and tried to pull him back. She was terrified, holding herself up through willpower alone... the will to make sure that Aaryan didn't do something that would get him either arrested or killed. She had spent all these years without him, wondering if he was dead or in prison somewhere... she was not going to allow for any of that to come true. Not when she only just got him back. Not when she hadn't even had a chance to fully forgive him yet.

"Aaryan, stop!" Milo shouted, though grabbing Thea by the waist and pulling her away. "Stay away, Thea, you're going to get hurt!" He held her shaking body tightly against his before he turned to look back at Aaryan, who was preparing to slam his fist into Adrien's face.

Thea was shouting for Aaryan to stop, trying to break free of Milo while her entire world was spinning, and soon Luana was suddenly there too.

She didn't know from where she had come, but she was there, grabbing Aaryan before he could land a blow and pulling him off of Adrien with the kind of strength a soldier would have, woman or not. After ripping Aaryan off Adrien, she shouted at Milo to grab him and Milo reached out, while still holding onto Thea, but just as his fingers grabbed onto Aaryan's shirt, he slipped right out of his grasp and charged at Adrien again. He was about to push past Luana, who was trying to protect Adrien from Aaryan's blows, but she grabbed him by the waist, shouting at him and asking if he was crazy.

Then, in the midst of all the chaos, there was some clarity.

"Hey!" Niall's voice boomed through the hallway so loudly that Thea felt his voice shudder through her bones. Everyone froze, including the onlookers who were coming out of their office to see what was going on.

When Thea looked at him, she felt a sense of relief that she had not felt in forever. He was standing right outside his office door, which happened to be right in front of where the fight had broken out, Mrs. Railer standing behind him with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth.

"Get back to work, all of you," Niall snapped, shouting at the onlookers who immediately returned to their offices and shut their doors. His eyes then fell on Thea and narrowed, before he turned to look at Aaryan and then Adrien. "What the hell–"

"Move, bitch," Adrien suddenly said, pushing past Luana to try and get to Aaryan while his guard was down.

The next thing that happened was quick, so quick that if Thea had blinked, she would have missed it.

Luana's eyes flashed at Niall, who lowered his head in a quick nod. Then Luana's arms were around Adrien's chest from behind, her body using his to flip upside down as her legs twisted around his neck. Her entire body wrapped around his with acrobatic ease before she flipped him and he landed hard on his back onto the floor, Luana on top of him now, her hand pressed hard onto his chest as she held him down. Adrien, who had his breath knocked out of him, was gasping, trying to get it back.

Thea gawked, suddenly snapping back into her senses, and with her body pressed tightly against Milo's, she could practically feel his heart flutter... his skin warm.

"The General is speaking," Luana hissed, her hair a mess now, but looking powerful as she stared down at Adrien with black eyes that were more sharp and dangerous than daggers. 

Thea couldn't help but be mesmerized.

Niall stepped forward, glowering. "Have you had enough now?"

Adrien's face was scrunched up with fury. "My... father–"

"Your father what?" Niall asked, looking down at Adrien. "What are you going to tell him, that an Elorian woman knocked the air out of you without breaking a single sweat? The same Elorian woman who you hid behind as she protected you from an Elorian boy who grabbed you by the collar and had you shitting yourself in front of my entire wing?"

Before Adrien could respond, Luana stepped away and Niall was kneeling, grabbing Adrien by the same collar that Aaryan had previously held and lifting him up.

With one arm.

As Adrien kicked with a force that seemed to do nothing for Niall, who continued to lift him like he was a skinny, weightless child, Thea was still gawking, watching as Niall's arms flexed under the white shirt he was wearing, threatening to rip out at the seams. He was still in his civilian clothes, seeing as they came straight here from the station, and despite the situation, Thea was glad, knowing she would not have witnessed his arms like this if they were hidden under the coat of his uniform.

Within moments, Adrien was upright, elevated a few inches above the ground, trying to fight away though Niall maintained a steady hold of him. "Tell your father whatever you want, go ahead. Go ahead and I will happily make a fool out of you when you do."

Adrien was fuming, his face red. "Let me go, you half-breed shit."

"I will," he said, "but before I do, let me tell you that I don't know what you did, but this is what will happen when you mess with any of our people. Do you understand?"

Adrien seemed barely receptive, his eyes wild in anger. When Niall finally did let him go, he cursed him before he tugged hard at the jacket of his three piece suit, adjusting it back into place before adjusting his tie too. "You have absolutely no idea who you are dealing with," he snarled. "You have no idea who I–"

"Get out of my sight," Niall responded dismissively, before turning to Thea.

Thea didn't know when she got to the floor, but at that point she was on her knees, still in Milo's arms, her eyes wide, unable to believe all that had happened. After all these years of fear and hurt she felt because of that man, somehow, together, all these people who she loved had managed to make Adrien look... almost pathetic.

This was the first time he had ever seemed so powerless.

So childlike.

Despite telling him to leave, Adrien didn't immediately go. Instead, he watched with a twisted expression as Niall, who was walking over to Thea, paused in front of Aaryan to smack him hard on the head before muttering "you should know better."

Though standing at attention in front of Niall, Aaryan took the hit with an unapologetic frown, which Niall ignored.

And Adrien continued to watch as Niall then knelt in front of Thea, grabbing her face in his hands, his thumb gently grazing over the red that was forming around her neck, his fingers pushing her hair out of her face, his face close to her as he asked her what happened.

Thea's eyes were still on Adrien, who looked repulsed before he spat, looking at them with an expression of utter disgust before turning and storming away.

Whatever the case, feeling Niall's cool fingers against her skin filled her with relief as she put her hands over Niall's and closed her eyes. "Are you not going to tell me what happened?" Niall asked, lifting her face so she would look at him. His voice was gentle and filled with worry.

"I... I just..." There was only one thing she wanted right now and that was to move on from this. "I just want to go see Rue."

Niall's brows pulled together.

"Should I call a nurse?" Mrs. Railer, who was now by Niall's side, asked.

"No, please, I'm fine," Thea insisted, pulling her face from Niall and wiping her tears away. "I just want to go see Rue."

Niall looked at Milo, who was still holding Thea. "Meet me in my office," he said to him, before turning to Aaryan. "You too."

As Milo gave Thea a reassuring squeeze before letting go and standing up, Aaryan frowned. "I'm not... I'm not going to apologize for what I did."

Niall closed his eyes for a moment, looking frustrated. "I'm not going to ask you to apologize, I need to write this up in case Karney does decide to go and report this. I need you to tell me what happened."

Thea felt a rush of awkwardness, hating that they would be discussing this further. "Can I go see Rue?" She asked, sounding desperate now.

"Yes, Thea, you can," Niall turned to Luana, "take her to him."

Luana rushed over, taking Milo's place behind Thea as Milo walked over to Aaryan, grabbing his arm and dragging him off towards Niall's office.

"The paperwork?" Mrs. Railer asked. "It's still not complete."

"I'll finish it now and call the hospital... hopefully by the time the two get there, it'll be done," he looked at Mrs. Railer. "Can you call Julian? If he's available, he can help speed up the process."

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Railer said, before giving Thea a gentle smile and rushing off behind Milo and Aaryan.

"We'll get you cleaned up, Thea," Luana said, helping Thea up. "And then take you straight to Rue."

Thea smiled, but when her eyes fell on Niall again, she felt his concern radiating through her. "Are you sure you don't–"

Thea cut him off by shaking her head. "I just want to see Rue."

"Alright," Niall said before touching her cheek gently. "We'll sort this out here. Don't worry about a thing. I'm here if you need me."

"I know." She forced out a smile before letting Luana guide her. As the two girls walked off towards the bathrooms, Luana held onto Thea's hand, looking at her with furrowed brows and worried eyes. Thea could feel the concern and she hated it, so trying to lighten the mood, she forced out a smile again. "Where did you learn to flip people like that?"

To that, Luana chuckled. "How do you think I managed to survive years at a military academy filled with Aiverian men?"

Fair point. "Can you teach me that move you did? And maybe others as well?"

"Sure," Luana grinned, before lowering her voice and gently elbowing Thea. "If you want, we can use Aaryan as our punching bag. I'm sure he'll agree to it if it means you forgiving him."

To that, Thea laughed, sincerely.

It hurt a little to laugh, but she did anyway before tightening her grip on her friend's hand.

Laughing was painful, sure, but the sight of Rue in the hospital bed made Thea's heart ache so badly that she wanted to rip it out.

The room was small and dark, thick curtains pulled shut over the only window in the room and lights so dim that they might as well have just been off. His bed was a simple one with his right hand and both legs chained to its railings. She imagined it would be incredibly uncomfortable for him, but she wondered if he could even feel comfort in the state that he was in now.

There were needles and wires coming out of him and connecting to different bags of liquid that seemed to be keeping him alive when his body struggled to do so on his own. He was shirtless, his chest covered in bandages that had patches of blood visible on them, and in addition to that, the entire left side of his face was covered in bandages as well.

Thea pulled up a stool and sat next to him, holding back her tears. She could tell just by looking at him that though there was only the bare minimum being done to keep him alive, he was not being cared for. There were still dried blood in his hair and on his fingers and his skin was incredibly dry... flaking even.

She tried not to cry. Instead, she stood, rushing out of the room and up a few floors to the nearest nursing station. There, she demanded for wipes and other cleaning tools and when the doctor who approached her protested, her response was simple. "Take your grievances to General Niall Killian," she said. "He'll deal with you."

It seemed that was all it took to get people to do what she said.

When she returned to Rue, she spent most of the evening cleaning him up. She wiped away all the dry blood and applied some creams onto his hands, face and even lips. She even used her own hair brush from her purse to untangle his long hair which, despite being rather unkempt, was still pretty, stunning Elorian hair.

Finally, when she assumed he was at least a little more comfortable, she sat herself back down and the events of the day invaded her mind again. Even though Rue was technically there, the silence of the room and the comfort of her presence made her tears escape. She crossed her arms over the side of his bed and rested her head in them as she cried silently. She cried for herself and she cried for Rue, wondering if he would ever wake up, and without even realizing it, she soon fell fast asleep.

When Thea woke up again, it took her a moment to remember where she was. She felt a gentle weight on the top of her head and for a brief moment, she thought she was back in Abureth, years ago, her head on her brother's lap as he rested his hand on the top of her head while he read. However, as she came to, remembering she was still in the hospital, she raised her head and looked at Rue.

Rue moved his chained hand from her before smiling rather weakly.

She stood immediately. "Rue!" She gasped. "Let me get a doctor!"

Just as she turned to run off though, he grabbed her arm, wincing as he did so. When she looked at him, he shook his head. "Don't," he said, firmly but quietly. "Not yet."

Thea didn't really like the sound of that, but decided to do what Rue requested. Sitting back down, she took his hands in hers. "How long have you been awake for?"

"Your crying seems to have woken me up," he said with his very familiar smirk. "I don't have the time... how long ago did you start crying?"

Thea's cheeks were hot in embarrassment.

"Though I'd be flattered if you were crying solely for me, the weight of those tears seemed... heavy," he started, "I think it'd be safe to assume that you've had a rougher time than I did while I was unconscious?"

"Rue... you had your eye gauged out and were stabbed nearly to the brink of death... I don't think my problems pale–"

"Why don't you talk at me then," he said, a small smile on his face. "Like the good old days. Tell me, what's bringing you down? Why don't you let it out?"

Thea felt her heart fill to the brim with what she thought was love. After everything that had happened to him, he wanted to hear about her problems?

It felt... unfair... but she loved him for it anyways.

"Go ahead then," he said, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again and turning his head to face the window that was covered with curtains. "I'm listening."

Thea's eyes followed his and after a moment of staring, she realized something.

Standing, she rushed over to the curtains and pulled them all the way open, revealing the bright moon, before opening the window as well and letting the cool night air in. When she returned to Rue, she grabbed the railing and with all her strength, she pulled the bed towards the window, grateful for the wheels despite the weight of the bed. She ignored Rue's protests and only paused every few jerks to run behind him and pull stands that held the bags of fluids as well.

When Rue's bed was finally right under the window and his skin was lit by the beautiful moonlight, he stopped his protests. She watched as he closed his eyes, the light breeze of the winter air grazing against his skin. He was silent for a long time and Thea let him stay like that... she let him bask in the freshness of the air. Finally, when Rue spoke, his voice was soft. "I haven't felt the moonlight against my skin for nearly half a decade."

Thea was smiling as she moved her stool back to his bedside. "I figured as much."

When he looked at her with his one good eye, she could feel his gratefulness. She was made certain of it when he reached out and took her hand in his and squeezed it with the little strength he had in him.

"I'll make sure they don't move you back," Thea said. "I'll beg Niall to get you a room with bigger windows–"

"Thea, this is more than enough," was his response. "It seems like you already have a lot on your plate... so tell me, what happened?"

Clearly, he wasn't going to let that go. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Did it matter before, whether or not I wanted to know?" He asked, with a raised brow.

To that, Thea chuckled, leaning forward. "Everyone was so worried that you wouldn't trust me anymore... that you'd hate us all. It seems like instead, you've gotten quite kinder."

"Don't test my patience though," he said with his usual smirk. "So tell me."

After a moment of chewing on her lip, she sighed and let it all out. She started from the moment she left the prison cell after seeing him in his bloodied state. She told him how she ran into Adrien, a man from her past who she hated, she told him how Rivier hit her and Niall defended her and how the president pretended walked in on it all. She told him about Niall's plans for the leak, how she helped with it and how that very night she found out that Aaryan was alive. She told him about the commotion that ensued and how she quit and left Achlis for Abureth before immediately regretting it. She told him how Niall came after her and after a moment of hesitation, she also confessed to him that the two had kissed because she was grateful for what he offered her brother, even backtracking to tell him how they had kissed once before and how Niall said it couldn't happen again.

At this point, the lack of surprise on Rue's face made her hesitate.

Why wasn't he surprised that she and Niall kissed?

That seemed to be something that would warrant some shock, right?

Nevertheless, she continued on with her suspicions of her brother's antics before their return to Achlis. And finally, she told him about what had happened with Adrien.

She took a deep breath, watching as Rue turned his head and looked back out at the moon. "Adrien... Karney..." he said. "Karney... how the hell did you manage to get mixed up with a Karney?"

Thea felt her frustration grow. "I ask myself the same question... a lot."

"What's your actual history... with Karney?"

Thea's hands clenched into fists as she felt them begin to shake again. She was so used to Niall allowing her her privacy that hearing someone ask her so bluntly... it was nerve-wracking. She began scratching at the scar on her left ear. With the events of today, it felt like it was freshly wounded, the phantom feeling of warm blood dripping down the side of her neck overwhelming her.

Her silence made Rue look back at her, he watched her carefully before a frown formed on his face. "Do you want me to tell you a secret?"

Thea looked at him with raised brows. "If you... feel comfortable doing so..."

"You've read my poems. You've read about the woman in my life, yes?"

She nodded.

"Rivier doesn't just hate me because I made a fool of him when he tried to capture my division in Faru. He hates me because his only daughter fell in love with me."

Thea's eyes widened instantly as she gawked. Somehow, almost instantly, everything that had been bothering her was momentarily forgotten.

Rue nodded slowly. "She was a scholar," he said, looking back at the moon. "She left the Capital because she didn't agree with her father's beliefs and discrimination against us... our people... and she befriended the Crows that I eventually joined because she wanted to know them. She wanted to know what they were fighting for. That's how I met her, after I joined the Crows, and soon we fell in love."

Thea couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Rue had once been in love with Rivier's daughter?

"To my dismay and despite her bad relationship with her father, she wrote to him, rather regularly. She told me her goal was to get him to understand how wrong he was about Elorian's and Crows and eventually Rivier wrote back," Rue continued. "He begged her to come home to talk to her, he promised he would forgive her and hear her out. I told her not to go but she believed there was good in the man and so she left."

Thea knew where this was going.

"She didn't come back. I thought maybe he had convinced her to leave me but it didn't take much effort to find out that she was dead."

She let out a breath. "How..."

"I have no doubt in my mind that Rivier killed her," he added, now making Thea gasp in horror. "Not a single doubt," he continued. "She had this long, beautiful brown hair... curls... and Rivier cut it all off and sent it to the post office that she sent her letters from, knowing that eventually it would find its way to me. And it did. I got her hair in a box and I knew for certain that this man killed his own daughter, all because she fell in love with me."

She pressed her lips to a thin line, holding back her tears and shock.

"It was why I chose to make a fool out of him in Faru... I planned it all... I had to save my brethren from capture, sure, but I also knew I had to stay behind. I had to see his face. I had to look him in the eye and watch his humiliation and the destruction of that pride of his which he cared about more than anything. More than his own daughter. Any pain or death or anything that came after that would be worth it."

Rue turned to look at her again, his expression serious. "I'm telling you this because these men, the men that rule this State, they rule because they have the capacity to be evil. All of those who thrive and find pleasure in their positions do so because they are incredibly evil. Evil enough to go as far as killing their own daughters if it means protecting their pride from harm."

She immediately thought of Niall, and Rue seemed to read her mind.

"You know the General better than I do," he continued. "You see how much he struggles with the role he has... how little he wants it. Whatever it is I may feel or think about the man, I know he goes home every day and wishes desperately that he was somewhere else... alone, as you once told me, in a run down shack somewhere up in the mountains... that's how I know he's, at the very least, not evil."

Thea nodded slowly.

Yes, she knew that too.

Niall hated this.

He hated all of this.

She remembered him telling her how he never has a choice to do what he wants.

She remembered him, after pulling away from their kiss, saying that he wished being 'just Niall' was as easy as it sounded.

"The Karney's on the other hand," he continued, "are the perfect example of evil. You know what Jakob Karney did at the start of the Civil War with those riots. He sanctioned that pogrom, thousands of Elorian's were murdered in his hands, a feat he is both proud and happy with. He is evil."

She nodded. Yes. She knew this.

"So whatever it is that happened between you and his son... do not blame yourself for it," he surprised her by saying. His voice was firm but still sounded kind and sincere. "None of it was your fault, so don't think for a second that it is."

"But–"

Rue shook his head. "Because if you were to go by that logic... the logic of blaming yourself for the actions of evil people... then that would mean that I should blame myself for the death of the woman I loved. I should blame myself for trusting, for a moment, that maybe her father would love her as a father should love a daughter. And I should blame myself for not fighting harder to make her stay. Would you feel it fair for me to believe that?"

She shook her head, her eyes watering.

"Exactly," Rue said, reaching out and touching her hand again.

She knew he was right. She spent so many years wondering that, if she had done things differently, her issues with Adrien may never have happened... but Rue was right. None of it was her fault.

It still hurt, but she knew he was right.

When her eyes fell on his face again, she forced out a smile. "Can I... tell you what happened?" Rue was like her in more ways than she could ever have imagined... they were so similar but still so different... and somehow, all of this filled her with a sense of comfort and trust.

With everything they had just discussed, the words seemed to be rising to the brim of her throat. She wanted him to know. She wanted to tell him so he could help her. So he could teach her how to be as wise and brave and strong as he was after being hurt by someone who was, as he had said, evil.

Rue seemed surprised, but his surprise was followed by a warm smile. "Of course you can, Thea," he said. "For as long as I am around, you are welcome to talk at me about anything."

She chuckled through her tears and when he reached out to touch her again, she took his hand in hers and held it.