Rivers of the Night-Chapter 324: Ulterior Motives
Chapter 324: Ulterior Motives
“You ran.”
The voice caused Aetherion’s steps to grind to a halt. He exhaled a heavy breath, took another, and then exhaled an even heavier one. His little sister’s voice was particularly grating to him right now, and of course, he knew it was her even before he looked over.
“Gather the men. We will set up a perimeter.”
“No, thank you.” Sadie’s voice came from the shadows. Right now, it was hard for even Aetherion to pick her out exactly. There was a particular tone of subterfuge in her voice.
“Do you not understand what’s at stake—?” Aetherion stopped himself before speaking out Sadie’s real name as though it held some sort of power over him.
“You told me not to act, so I’m not acting. What? Are you going to try and punish me for that too?”
Aetherion closed his eyes, his temper almost writhing out of control. Luckily, he managed to reel it in. He had too much practice doing exactly that.
He was a prideful man, and though he could accept a loss in the short term, he wouldn’t accept an internal loss like that one. The one thing he could completely control was his own mental state, so he demanded it of himself to always have it in the palm of his hands.
Without another word, Aetherion continued to flash forward, hurrying back to the arena.
Sadie appeared from the shadows of a building’s roof, shaking her head as she looked off to where her brother had gone.
The reality was that she knew it wasn’t that Theron couldn’t chase Aetherion, but rather that he felt it wasn’t an efficient use of his time right now—especially since he could only actively chase one of the princes at a time.
To Sadie, that only meant one thing.
He was planning something.
And knowing Theron, he had already prepared for this exact contingency. But there was something else as well.
Theron wouldn’t do this if there was still something he could gain from the Nightingale Province. His family was too important to him, and he knew how to prioritize things accordingly. He wouldn’t let his temper get the best of him if it wasn’t advisable, even if that meant killing someone tangentially related to his family’s death.
What did that mean?
That meant that Theron had likely found something in the Nightingale Empire—enough that he didn’t feel his stay there was strictly necessary anymore.
‘So fast… how did he do it…?’
Everything Sadie learned about Theron just felt more ridiculous. They had been looking for clues for so long, but Theron had only returned to the Empire for a month and already managed it? How was that possible?
‘The only way is that he really is related to them. My theory was correct. But all the details in the middle… I have no idea how to piece them all together.’
There was something else Sadie was incredibly interested in. Just what was Theron’s—.
Her eyes widened. ‘Daggers of the Night!’
It was the only explanation, but she couldn’t fill in the details either. The Thistle Brook branch was under the control of the Nightingales, but this Sangun branch was most definitely not. How could Theron…
Sadie exhaled a breath.
Something told her that Theron had reached a level she couldn’t understand. In fact, she knew that she had a hand in it. It was safe to say the only chink in Theron’s armor had been her, but ever since the moment she exposed herself, that weakness was gone.
And she might have lost Theron forever precisely because of that.
The question was… should she inform them that Theron likely had the very information or item they were looking for and alert another set of enemies Theron couldn’t deal with while he was already in the midst of this storm?
Or should she plead ignorance?
Sadie’s frown tightened her delicate brow.
…
Aetherion returned to the arena in a flash.
“ELITES OF THE NIGHTINGALE EMPIRE. GATHER!”
His voice boomed with more force than he usually used. There was a shuffling, and one cultivator after another gathered.
The chaos of the arena had already settled down considerably. Or rather… there really hadn’t been much to begin with because of the approach Theron had taken.
Quickly, the geniuses of the Nightingale Empire came together, Aliza cursing under her breath because she had no chance to slip away. Honestly, even she didn’t know why she was so interested in seeing how Theron was doing right now.
“General Pennel, I will be in need of your services.”
The General saluted with a stiff expression. Theron was supposed to be the young man that helped turn things around in the Empire, but now he was being asked to hunt that light?
“I will need you to coordinate with the Generals of the Sangun—.”
“Young Prince, I don’t believe that this is wise. The Sangun have only just recently acted to infringe on our sovereignty. Trusting them to give us proper information is irresponsible.”
“I gave you an order, General Pennel. Act upon it,” Aetherion said simply.
“And the Firewings?” General Pennel asked.
“I will coordinate with them personally, but for now, this isn’t something that you need to worry about. We need to put our full effort behind this.
“GOLD CLAN! GATHER!”
Aetherion’s expression changed when he heard this voice. Theron didn’t kill them? Why? Did they split up?
This was trouble.
‘He did this on purpose.’
Who didn’t know the current situation? The Black Clan had been thoroughly offended by the Sangun and the Auran. This left the Nightingales, Firewings, and Gold Clans in a unique position where they could curry favor with both powerful Clans.
Given the secrets of the Nightingales and Firewings, this could actually be a chance to flip the entire Black Territory on its head.
Aetherion clenched his teeth hard, his jaw nearly cracking beneath the pressure. Once again, he almost lost his temper.
Time and time again, this little bastard got in his way. The worst part was that Theron never even seemed to need to put much effort into it.
No matter what happened now, the cohesion of their group would be fractured. Everyone had too many of their own ulterior motives.
