Distrust

---Indigo---

"What's going on?" Lucian, gripping Rachel's hand, pushed the cloth screen aside and stormed into the tent. They took one look at the scene before them and stopped in their tracks.

"Aaron?" Lucian's voice wavered. Rachel looked like she just saw a ghost.

Aaron raised his gaze from Katherine. His eyes widened. "Lucian? Rachel? You both turned over to the dark side?" Aaron looked more and more despaired by the second.

"No! Aaron, what are you talking about?" Lucian was in front of Aaron in two large steps. "Shit, Katherine, you have blood everywhere! Rachel—"

"I'm here." Rachel knelt down by Lucian's side, her brow furrowing with concern after taking in Katherine's injuries. She stuck out her hand to summon her healing powers, but Aaron held Katherine tighter to him and scooted backwards.

"How can I trust you? We thought you all died. We saw Lord Victor bomb the campsite. And this guy," Aaron gestured at Lionel with his chin, "stabbed Katherine. He was torturing her. I don't see how someone like him can be good."

"For your information, Aaron, I—" Lionel's anger flared up, and he started forward. I grabbed his arm.

"Stop it, Lio. Don't make it worse."

I saw a flash of hurt in Lionel's eyes, but I walked over to Aaron and squatted down next to him. "Aaron, you have to believe us. When have we ever lied to you? If you can't believe me, at least believe Lucian. He's your best friend. He wouldn't lie to you."

"Ashley was Kath's best friend and she betrayed us." Aaron said bitterly. Rachel and Lucian looked at each other, then at Aaron.

"What? Ashley betrayed you?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"Guys, Katherine is literally dying. We can catch up later; right now, we have to save Katherine." I cut in before Aaron could reply. "Rachel, work your magic."

Rachel nodded, and extended her hands once more. Aaron looked at each of us with distrust, then at Katherine in his arms. She was way too pale and barely breathing now. Finally, he brought her closer to Rachel and allowed Rachel to place her hands on Katherine's wounds.

As the yellow magic began flowing out of Rachel's fingers, I noticed how the officers and soldiers in the tent were either moving closer to get a better look or staring with disbelief and shock. I stood up. "I want everyone to leave this tent right now. Lionel and I will fill you in tomorrow morning. Tell all the soldiers that everything was a big misunderstanding and to go back to bed. Do not disturb us."

Murmuring in low voices, the people in the tent began filing out. Lionel turned to go too, still holding his bloody sword in one hand. "Lionel, you stay here." I said.

"That's okay. I don't want to intrude on your reunion and 'make things worse'." He said without even turning around. "Besides, I need to clean my sword." With that, he walked briskly out of the back entrance.

I turned back to look at Katherine. The blood flow had stopped, and I saw her own blue healing magic dancing with the yellow sparks from Rachel. She'll be alright. I pulled Lucian aside. "Lucian, can you take care of Aaron and Katherine?"

He nodded confidently. "Just leave it up to me, Indigo."

"Good. Find them a spare tent, treat their wounds, whatever they need. Make sure no one gives them trouble." I left behind a few orders, and then headed out to find Lionel.

I found him in his tent, sitting at the edge of his bed and wiping the blood off of his sword intently. He didn't even look up as I entered. "Hey."

"What? Are they all taken care of now? Do you need extra supplies or something?" Lionel's tone was sharp. He flipped his sword to the other side and continued to wipe the blood off with a small cloth and not look at me.

"Lio, are you mad?" I stepped farther into his tent and crossed my arms.

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Lionel scrubbed at a spot with more force than necessary. "Should I be mad that dead people suddenly came back to life? That the people who tried to kill you turned out to be your old friends? That I tried to protect you and got yelled at for it?"

"I'm in as much shock as you are, Lio. I have no idea how they survived. We all thought Aaron and Katherine were dead." I walked until I was standing in front of Lionel. "It was all a big misunderstanding. You thought they were sent by Lord Victor, and they thought we were Lord Victor's new recruits. And…I'm sorry if I snapped at you. I just didn't want you to push Aaron further, when Katherine was at the verge of death and we were all in shock of seeing each other after thinking the other party was dead. You were the one who tortured Katherine, after all."

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't know they were part of the Rosewood Seven. You told me they were all dead. I was only trying to extract information out of our captives." Lionel huffed, holding his sword up to the light to see if it was clean. The three lanterns in his tent reflected off the blade.

"Are you just not going to look at me?" I was losing patience. I didn't get why Lionel was acting this way. "You're being childish, Lionel."

He suddenly stood up, his sword in hand. I took a step backwards involuntarily. He towered six inches above me, and the rosy lighting made him look…dangerous. "Me? Acting childish?" Lionel looked directly into my eyes. "After all these weeks of close interactions with me, shouldn't you know what kind of person I am? They tried to kill you, Indy. That girl tried to kill me when we were battling. You have no idea how dangerous that duel was. If I was a split second too slow at any particular time, I would have lost my life instead of having just a large cut on my calf."

I glanced at his hastily-bandaged leg, and I suddenly felt bad that I didn't pay that much attention to his wounds. "I'm sorry, Lio. Katherine is a really good swordswoman, and you were also trying to kill her, so…"

"Oh, one more thing. Is that guy the Aaron you told me about?" Lionel fixated his sharp gaze on me. I was pinned to the spot as he took another step towards me, his sword glittering. "Everything makes sense now. You didn't want me to hurt him, because you love him. You came to me because you thought he was dead, but now that he's here, you're going to go running back to him." Lionel laughed dryly. "I get it now, Indigo."

"Stop saying nonsense! I don't 'love' Aaron!" My eyes widened with anger. "This has nothing to do with him!"

"Oh really? But you seemed so desperate for him to believe you. You were willing to hear him out and let him insult me, and not let me defend myself. I'm not stupid, Indigo." Lionel came closer and closer. I held his dark gaze, and I couldn't move.

"I…" I didn't even know what to say anymore. Lionel wasn't going to listen. "I'm sorry, Lio. But that's not true."

Lionel raised his sword. I braced myself, wondering if I could outrun him. But he only slipped his sword back into the sheath hanging at his side and turned away. "I'm tired, Indigo. Good night." He said curtly.

I stood there, looking at his back, wondering what I should do and what I should say. In the end, I didn't do or say anything more. I left the tent without looking back.