Dingy, dilapidated, and now deliberately destroyed. Such is the current state of the flat The Nameless had called home.
Ravi had been consumed by rage, destroying everything in his path--throwing daggers, bludgeoning furniture. He even cracked their only pot, hurling it straight onto the cobblestone streets along with the pieces of veal they were gonna have.
He was lost in his own thoughts, his mind replaying the scene of Adina swallowing the poison. The image of the dark purple liquid rose inside his mind. Then her wide eyes. Her trembling hands. What in the goddess's green earth was she thinking of?
Why not just request a trial? It would have bought them time to get her out. Or why not throw him under the bus? It was bad enough the apple merchant accused him of being the hit man, but he could have handled that. Why did she have to make it worse by jumping into the line of fire? Why make a worthless sacrifice?
"Ravi..." Alex called out his name meekly for the nth time. He and Dymitri had wisely retreated into a corner, far enough from the hurling projectiles.
"You're also responsible for this, you know?" Ravi snapped. "I could have saved her if you hadn't knocked me out."
"Could you have?" Dymitri bellowed. It was the first time he ever spoke to Ravi like that, strong and assured, like a father talking to a headstrong child.
"She was surrounded by poisoners, Ravi," Alex supplied in support.
"And those poisoners are always surrounded by guards." Dymitri continued. "What else were we supposed to do? Calmly asked you to regroup? Call for back-up? Well, what back-up? It's always been only us four."
"And now there's only three!" Ravi let the full force of his emotions bubble up to the surface. He desperately wished this wasn't real. That it was all just a nightmare he could wake up from. Something hot traced his cheek, and he wiped it away only to find that they were tears. He let them fall, dropping to his knees.
Adina! His sweet Adina... he never even told her. He had repressed his feelings for a long time, made excuses not to make a move, but now that she's gone... He could see her more vividly than ever before. Her curly locks of raven, her emerald eyes, the dimples on her cheeks, her contagious laugh.
There is an emptiness in his chest he never thought possible. A gaping hole in his soul. A missing puzzle piece in his life's tapestry. What would he give if only he could take time back.
The two gave him his space, but waited closely in the shadows. "I'm sure she'll be fine," Alex said lightly after a while. "They have all the best things in the capitol. The poisoners could probably provide her with a better life than we ever had. We should be happy for her."
Ravi leveled him with a menacing look. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"
Alex and Dymitri exchanged glances as they finally caught on. Ravi still didn't know.
"Ravi... Adina isn't dead." Dymitri explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I saw her drink the poison. Those vile, foul, loathsome poisoners made her drink it." Ravi seethed.
"Yeah..." Alex began. "But poisoners can't die from poison, can they? If you ask me, it seemed like they were testing her."
"Whatever it was, it affected her for only a while, and then she stood up like it was nothing. She actually looked better after consuming it." Dymitri added.
"Adina is a poisoner?" Ravi's brows met in confusion. "That... why wouldn't she tell me?"
"Us, I mean," Ravi corrected when he saw the two looking at him suspiciously. "Why wouldn't she tell us?"
"Maybe she didn't know she was a poisoner?" Alex guessed.
"Or maybe she just didn't want to." Dymitri shrugged. "Anyway, the truth finally came out. And if you think on it, a lot of things actually make sense now."
Ravi and Alex turned to him, confused. "How so?"
"Remember how she always knows which remedy to make? Isn't an aptitude for making medicine a natural side-effect of the poisoner ability?"
Alex's eyes widened as he finally understood. "Oh! And think of just how much she eats but she's still bone-thin."
"She was on regular diet than a poisoner one." Ravi mused. "No wonder she looked so sickly."
"Well then she'd do great in the capitol," Alex suggested. "I have a feeling the poisoners will have all the poison she could ever want."
To their surprise, Ravi shook his head. His morose attitude returning. "No. I know Adina. If she wanted to go to be a poisoner, she would have left us a long time ago. All she needed was to reveal she had a gift and she could have had a better life than this."
"Well it doesn't matter now whether she wanted to leave or not. Now that she's a known poisoner, she has no choice but to live with her own kind." Dymitri only speaks the truth, but the truth stings. A lot.
Ravi looked out the window and into the busy streets of Mercantil. Aptly nicknamed The Trading Center, it was a bustling hub not only of goods exchange but of moral compromise. It reflects the inner turmoil, the warring emotions in his heart.
On one hand, there are people who depend on them in this city. And on the other, there is a friend far away from home. And who knows what the poisoners are doing to her? It's a treacherous place, the Capitol. And even more so are the people. Not all that glitters is gold.
"I know what you're thinking," Alex hedged. "But I think we have to let her go."
Dymitri put a hand on Ravi's shoulder. "Her place is there, with the poisoners."
But is it really? How would they know? Shouldn't Adina had been given a choice?
"No," Ravi replied, his voice low but determined. "We're going to get her back."
"But Ravi--"
"She drank that poison to save my life!" Ravi all but screamed. "And now she's risking her freedom. It's my turn to return the favor."
The capitol is far away from here. They would need money. They would need supplies. They would need connections that can help them cross the border. There is much planning to do before they could act. But Ravi knows it would have been worth it.
"And what if she doesn't want to come back?" Dymitri challenged. "Are you going to carry her home anyway?"
"Of course not." Ravi answered quicker than lightning. "But at least we'll know it was her choice. That she'll be happy. That she'll be safe."
He needs to see her alive with his own eyes. Even if she scorns them or dismisses them, it's okay as long as he knows she'll be alright.
"Wait for me, Adina," he whispered into the winds. "I'm coming."