I wandered the hallway for the first second unable to sleep. I looked up at the night sky. There was the moon. There were clouds which tried to hide it. It was a peaceful night. But I couldn't sleep a wink because I started to feel suffocated in my room.
This Red Riders' castle... Despite being the new Filed Marshal I felt so powerless. I felt so powerless because there was someone like Alastair in between me and Athena. He was her friend. He would die for her. He had already earned Athena's trust. Even Nilo, the boy who was carefully following my footsteps trusted him. It seemed like everyone except me trusted Alastair. I too tried. But what I heard in his chamber had brought me back to square one.
There was no explanation why he would claim to love Flora when he was sober but utter Athena's name when he was drunk. I clenched my hands into a fist. Her name was the last thing I wanted to hear. It still echoed in my head and infuriated me.
