Oath of Steel

12 |Verity|

It was the first time that name reached Rosalynde's ears, so common yet dangerous thanks to the particular way Grey had articulated the name, stressing everything his tongue was met with a consonant.

The crumbling theater seemed to be a far memory after that six-letter word had been spoken.

Verity, the Goddess of Justice.

"What an interesting name they decided to use," She commented, a shiver started running down her spine after sensing the sheer winter cold crawling up her skin, making her rub her gloves together.

It mattered not if a three-hundred year old building fell to the ground thanks to the stunt that woman had done, Rosalynde always had been adverse to the cold, even if for the first few years of her life snow had been the only thing along with her parent she'd gotten accustomed in her early childhood.

"Yes. But we better move to a safer place, even the High Strands can be dangerous at night," he was right, at night the High Strands could become even worse than District Street, especially in the alleys where no streetlamp seemed to work.

"Where exactly?" She knew he'd no intention of coming back to the Imperial Citadel, but the information he had was something she needed to get her hands on.

"Come," but she didn't move from the spot, her back not leaving the wall.

There was something she needed to assert before doing anything, something that she should have done before.

"I need to make sure of something before " she said, making him stop in his tracks, looking at her like she'd grown a second head right behind the first one.

"What? Did you forget to close the backstage door? Afraid that the room will get cold?" He asked with fake interest, small simples showing as he mocked her with nothing but obvious pleasure.

She narrowed her eyes in reply, rubbing her hands together to make the cold go away.

"I need to check if Carter is still alive."

She never called her name except on rare occasions, always referring to her as Carter or Apostle V, and tonight it would have not been any different.                                               

Katherine was useful to the Crown, and worthy of being a member of the Apostles, just as her majesty the Empress had declared.

Plus it would have been tedious for her to search for another person to fill her spot, making her lose extremely valuable seconds that could have been used in other useful activities.

"Why? I thought that you didn't care about them," he stated, raising an eyebrow, failing to grasp the true meaning behind her words.

Or maybe he'd realized it from the very start.

"Katherine is greatly favored by the empress, she wouldn't be happy to hear that her protegeè died because I did not bother checking if she made it out alive or not," Rosalynde said.

"So you do care a little about her safely." He stepped closer, starting at her freezing arm before deciding to poke it with his index finger.

"Stop touching," she intimated with a predatory smile gracing her lips, making him smile once more in reply.

"You didn't answer my question though," but Rosalynde had already slipped away from her spot, the shadows aiding her walk as she heard Grey sigh in annoyance from the back.

"Stop avoiding life," She didn't even bother in replying to that idiotic statement, wondering how that even had sense in the first place.

"Stop spouting nonsense and stay here, I'll come back soon," her reply however didn't seem to satisfy him, as he simply rolled his eyes after catching up with her, offering his arm for her to take.