She placed her hand on it again and squeezed it. "I am so sorry for your situation and I do hope that it gets resolved fast." 

"Look at you!" a voice from the entrance came, making them turn sharply towards the source.

Wearing grey slacks with black sweater and black boots, Darla was looking well rested. She had tied her hair in a neat bun on the top of her head. She sauntered to their table and stood there with a hand on her hip and the other one holding a letter. Looking at where she was holding Aidan's hand, she lashed, "Wasn't Ileus enough that now you are going after Aidan?" 

Anastasia growled. "Are you insane?" she said, removing her hand from Aidan's. 

"Darla!" Aidan chided her.

But Darla ignored him. "I told you throughout the journey that you should stay away from Ileus, but you didn't pay attention to me. Do you think that you will get him? Your situation is so different that you should only dream of him. That man is beyond your reach." 

"Stop it Darla," Aidan snarled. 

"No! I won't stop. Because of her I am suffering and am in a lot of pain," Darla snapped at Aidan without turning to see him. She addressed Anastasi again with scathing bitterness. "You will be gone from our lives before the sun rises tomorrow, do you know?" 

Anastasia's stomach plummeted. Did Darla know of her plans? 

"So why are you clinging to him? Why can't you keep his hands off something that never belonged to you in the first place? The only person, the only woman who will stay with Ileus all the time, is me. I have been with him through thick and thin. Ileus belongs to me and no one!" 

Anastasia looked at Aidan whose face had become pale. She felt bad for him. 

Darla continued, "Back at Virgine Falls what happened was all your fault. We have lost two men only because of your selfishness!" Her chest was heaving with anger as her face became red with animosity. "Don't you have a modicum of guilt in your heart? Don't you feel sad that we lost Zlu and Carrick because of you!" 

She was about to lash more, when Anastasia cut in. "We didn't lose Zlu and Carrick because of me Darla, we lost them because of you!" Anastasia said with clenched jaws. "Don't hide your mistakes or blame others for what you did. Just because I didn't know what transpired over there, it doesn't mean that you can take advantage of the situation and fling the dirt at me, okay?" 

"You are so pathetic!" Darla rebuked her. "Everything happened because of you and you aren't even agreeing?"

"It didn't happen because of me!" Anastasia said with equal anger. "Tell me one thing Darla—despite knowing that the red wildflowers were harmful, you ventured into the field. May I ask why you did that?" 

Darla straightened and glared at her. "I didn't—" 

"Oh don't tell lies! Everyone in the group knew what it meant to go amongst those wild flowers. Ileus had warned me and so had Kaizan. I can't believe that no one told you or you didn't know. But you still ventured. And I will tell you why you did that?" Anastasia was on the roll. She was sick of being accused of things she never did and she was totally sick of Darla. "You wanted to seduce Ileus and you were so desperate that you walked amongst the passion flowers voluntarily!" 

Darla's breath became shallow as she removed her gaze past her towards Aidan as if accusing him. 

"Ileus was injured and you wanted to take advantage of the situation. So you went to smell the flowers knowing fully well that they acted as aphrodisiacs. You thought that after that you would simply walk in Ileus's tent and ask him to help you. And he, like a good friend, would do that. Later you would ask him to take responsibility for his actions." Anastasia closed her fists so tightly at the thought that her knuckles became white. "Now that is what pathetic is. Your intentions were deplorable."

"Anastasia!" She snarled, as if threatening her to quiet.

The men who were sitting at the far end got up and walked out of the dining room, giving them dirty glares. 

Anastasia didn't stop. "But Kaizan had already told me to stay near Ileus. He never revealed your intentions because obviously he feels more faithful towards you, but he did warn me in his own way to be close to him."

Darla shifted on her feet. Her unease was apparent. "This is preposterous!" 

Aidan's head hung low as he fidgeted with his fingers in his lap. 

"As soon as you inhaled the aroma of the flowers, you lost your senses, and in that frenzy you dashed to see him. However, Aidan caught you and he took you away from there. You were so mad in your lust that you fought with him to go back to Ileus. It was then that Carrick came to his help. And this man here," Anastasia pointed at Aidan, "risked his life and went amongst the field only to match up to your passion. And Carrick…" Anastasia's voice broke. "Poor one, he ran to help the two of you even though it wasn't required. Both of you were so consumed in your lust that you didn't pay attention to the man who was standing there to take you out. And Carrick became a victim of something he didn't even start." 

"Don't say a word more Anastasia, else I am going to kill you!" Darla snarled as her claws lengthened. 

The energy thrummed in Anastasia's heart. It wanted to spread with every throb as it responded to her anger. She felt her chest tightening and suddenly electricity passed through fingers. She felt the presence of something, someone… The presence was almost visceral and it prickled under her skin. "You don't speak with me like that," she said in a voice she hardly recognized as her own.

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