She melted into him, succumb to the darkness that engulfed her. Darkness of his heart, of his spirit, of his body. The imposing, behemoth figure of the Dauntless seemed to be caught in a state of drunkenness, the opiate of lust coursing through his muddied veins. His eyelids drooped, pulled down by the drug that was Circe. Oh, but she was hemlock, laced with valerian and lavender. The sun spilled over them, encasing them like golden statues. Archibald shifted his weight as the shadowmere moved away, his ears pinning some against his nape, confusion morphing his brow. Sighing, the dark knight squared his weight and thought about the answer to her question.

Truly, he did not, until this moment, think about why he thought she would abandon him. Despite that, the answer was blatantly obvious, at least for anyone that knew anything of the Dauntless' past. Mandrake was the reason. "I have nine brothers, Circe. One mother, one father. Even still, I have been alone most of my life." He started, his eyes hard on the blue seas of the mare before him. "Mandrake is my mother's name. I do not know the name of my father, but I am the very essence of him. My twin brother's name is Vincent. I have not seen him since Knox's birth, almost three years ago. My other brothers are Wilder, Evers, Casimir, Tajheri, Kipp, Emerson, Knox and Darwin. None of them share the same father as I do, save for Vince. Mandrake birthed some of them, myself and Vince, Casimir, Knox and Darwin, but Wilder, Evers, Tajheri, Kipp and Emerson were stolen from their families. After Mandrake bore or stole a son, the other sons were to slay the father or families. I made my first kill when Casimir was born. His father was weak, and I was but just over a year. Knox's father, Roanne the Sentinel, once my leader in Isilme, fell under the hooves of my brothers and I in the deep forest. He was my first kill in Helovia. Finally, my brother Wilder, father to my brother Darwin, was slain. Alongside him, we killed Mandrake."

Archibald turned his head away, looking off into the glowing distance. He felt vulnerable in this moment more than he had ever in his life, even when he was a colt. "I was the favorite son, the best, the machine. I killed without question and did anything that Mandrake ordered, until I learned of Darwin's conception. I knew then that the monster had to die. Since then, I have seen little of my brothers. Knox joined the Foothills, but ran off soon after. Evers left the Foothills as well. The others, well, they could be dead for what I know." Archibald's voice was lowering, getting quieter and darker and more angry with each word. The rage that pent up in the chest of the warrior was finally spilling forth. As he spoke, Archibald realized that he hated his fucked up family. "I believed you so easy to leave me, for blood does not tie us, and even the ones that share blood with me, figurative or literal, have left. I am too strong, too domineering, too controlling of them. I know clearly of Tajheri's hate for me, but I believe my other brothers follow suite."

Archibald sighed again, the muscles in his shoulders and neck tight as they began to shake with rage. He felt so angry at his family, at the Grey, at everyone--except her.