Plutonian

Chapter 33

"Is Lucian inside?" I don't wait for an answer from Cysus, instead I push Lucian's room door wide open and walk in swiftly. My training clothes are sticky with sweat and some blood has dried up underneath my nose making it itch but I didn't care. 

Lucian humiliated me and destroyed any semblance of a friendship I might have had with Rosie and it made me mad. 

I see him sitting by his desk at his study and he barely looks up at me before he turns his attention to the folds of papers on his table. 

Prick.

Ignoring Cyscus's pleas I reach his table and stare down at him. My eyes briefly glaze over what he is studying and I see numerous boxes and scribbles in dark red ink. They remind me of the document I pulled out of Lucian's forbidden section of his library the first day I stayed here.

It is a floor plan. But for what? 

Lucian folds the pieces of paper before I can read anything and turns his gaze towards me finally.

"Why don't you get cleaned up?" He nods at my nose and I hear Cyscus rushing up to me but I'm too angry to care if Cyscus is here or not.

"Why did you do that to me in the training center? What was the purpose of embarrassing me like that?" I ask him, the spite in my voice evidently clear.

"Embarrass?" Lucian eyes light up in shock. "You think I did that to embarrass you?"

"I wasn't ready to let them know about us yet," I say, my voice rising with every syllable and I hear Cyscus warning me to shut up but I carry on in a heat of words. "You should have told me before you decided to do that! I could have prepared!"

Lucian stands up abruptly and both Cyscus and I fall silent. My heart beats like a hammer in my chest when I see  him look down at me in anger. 

"Leave us," He says without looking at Cyscus and the Plutonian rushes out of the room and closes the door behind him, making me feel slightly more apprehensive. 

"So you are embarrassed to be seen with me," Lucian states and I gulp slightly when I see the fire in his eyes. 

"It's not you, Lucian. It's the dynamic between the fighters. They don't respect those with Plutonian favors," I explain quickly, feeling slightly frightened of this side of him that I've never seen before. 

"And yet they'd do anything for us." His jaw clenches as he stares at me and then turns away and starts folding up those papers on his table. "Did you know Leslie was a fixer a few months ago. He used to spy on the fighters and report to Sergeant Atmos. He's desperate to join the army and he gave us false information, that is why he's still a fighter. And why he's so jealous of a newcomer like you." 

Lucian carries those folded pieces of paper and tucks them into a section of the forbidden part of the library. "Do you honestly think Rosie would turn down the offer if she got the chance?" He asks me pointedly.

A shiver runs down my spine as I realize that he knows about my friendship with Rosie and Leslie bullying me and God knows what else.

"How-?" I barely utter a word before he cuts me off again.

"It's been a long few days and I am in no mood to argue with you or anyone else for that matter. All you need to know is that you weren't going to win tomorrow. I have a team who analyzes the probability of success for your matches and despite your training the odds were not in your favor. Lazarus interfered with the match selections, so I had to do something to undermine Leslie's confidence. You still need to win so I would appreciate if you focused on your match instead of my actions."