Splintered Fate (17 page)

Kaiden shook his head. Her words
were so simple, I am horrible and I ran away, so black and white.
Life was not as clear-cut as she made it out to be.

“
No, you left to get help for your
people.”

“
And now I have even more reason
for it.” Lana said mostly to herself. There was something so strong
about the way she said it.

Kaiden was unsure of what she
meant.

“
What you are doing now, you do
for your people. Even if you don’t yet see it. If you are even a
fraction of the girl I once knew, then you already are and will
forever be an amazing leader for your people.”

Lana rewarded Kaiden’s words with a small
smile that did not reach her eyes. Her smile was purely for the
person who was trying to cheer her up. “You are being
kind.”

“
Will you come back to the
camp?”

“
I prefer to just stay
here.”

“
I will stay with you
then.”

With a shrug Lana laid back on the
soft grass, blanket wrapped around her. She stared up at the star
littered sky. Kaiden joined her on the ground.

The sky was dark, apart from the
stars. On the far horizon rings from the big moon could be seen
coming into view. Soon the moon would be overhead and its blue
light would dimly lighten the sky.

Lana stared straight ahead,
staring at the little moon emerging into her view. The place she
had met the Rami lying on the ground beside her. What were the
chances, of her meeting him there then and again on the day she
needed to be rescued?

“
Did you ever think we would see
each other again?” She asked softly.

A smile tugged at Kaiden’s lips.
Lana seemed to finally be talking to him. He glanced up at the
small moon in thought of how to answer her, thinking back to when
he was but a child.

The instructors at Ucu encourage
Rami and Madonians to work together, though that never happened,
for even as children there was a line drawn in the sand between the
Rami and Madonians and neither wanted to cross it. Lana was the odd
one out between the Madonians. Being a child of a council member
she had a small circle of friends and non of them traveled to the
school at that time, leaving her alone for the other children were
too intimidated to partner with her. Neither she nor Kaiden had
partners for their first group assignment.

Kaiden knew who she was and
decided to try and partner with her. Not to make friends but to
learn. He and his brother, at their young age, were being groomed
to join and climb the ranks in King Zakran’s army. Despite being a
crazy and ruthless king, as a child Kaiden was eager to please him.
Kaiden thought that if he could get some knowledge from Lana, a
daughter of the Madonian council, that he could climb ranks faster
than his brother.

Lana was reluctant to work with
the Rami at first but he challenged her, said she was unable to
keep up with him due to weakness. This made her determined and so
she accepted the Rami as a partner, for one assignment.

It didn’t take long after that
before they became friends and partners for each assignment given
to them from that day forward. As their friendship grew Kaiden
forgot about why he initially became her partner. They were best
friends for their entire time at the school, spending every day
together. That was until they returned to their lands and went
their separate ways.

Kaiden turned to Lana as he answered her
question. “Never. That should be painfully obvious by our butchered
goodbye.”

Lana let out a small laugh,
sending his pulse racing at the sound. “Aw, it wasn’t that
bad.”

“
Speak for yourself. I had to
learn the hard way that Madonian royals cannot kiss.”

“
HEY!” Lana hit his shoulder
playfully. “I am not a royal.”

Kaiden was surprised that that was
what had put her off and not his remark about the kiss. “That’s
what some Rami refer to the Madonian council as.” He said with a
shrug. “Please forgive me Ms. Casteel I meant no disrespect. I
assure you it will not happen again.” He teased.

“
And the way I remember it… I came
to hug you goodbye and you were the one who acted, butchering the
what otherwise would have been a nice goodbye.” Lana
retorted.

He couldn’t help but smile.

“
Oh please. You
wanted to kiss me from the moment you met me. I saw it in your eyes
from the moment I said
Hi, my name is
Kaiden
. And you were all flustered,
baffled by my rugged charms.”

“
I was a child! What kid even has
rugged charms? And no, I certainly did not. I was thinking who is
this scrawny little boy and why is he drooling? Rugged,
hah.”

“
I never drool. And I was just
trying to make your dreams come true in our last moment
together.”

“
I am not sure what kind of dreams
you thought I had…”

“
The kind all girls have when it
comes to me.” Kaiden interrupted.

“
You think so very highly of
yourself.”

“
All I know is you should consider
yourself lucky for ever meeting a Rami with my strapping good
looks. Let alone to be graced by his presence. And lucky enough to
be on the receiving end of his kiss and attention?”

Lana smiled in response, still
eyeing the sky. “Talking in third person now are we?”

“
If the moment calls for
it.”

“
I forgot how talkative and cocky
you were.”

Kaiden mockingly gasped. “To be
cocky would be to think unrealistically highly of myself. I think
of myself no higher than I truly am. As for talking, well its
easier to speak to you when you don’t look like you completely hate
me.”

“
I don’t hate you.” It was nearly
a whisper.

“
I know, I saved you, pretty much
twice now. So princess, I think you are in my debts.”

“
Is that so? And how would you
like to be repaid for your services?”

“
I have not yet decided. But I
will let you know when I decide on a good form of
payment.”

Lana had forgotten how as children
Kaiden was able to so easily comfort her. In this moment she found
herself thankful for having him near. He had this ability to
somehow pull her from the darkness that seemed to completely
envelope her.

“
Isn’t it strange? We have been
apart living completely different lives and yet this feels almost
normal. As if we were at Ucu just a few days ago.”

Kaiden turned his gaze away from
the sky and over to Lana. Feeling his eyes on her, she allowed her
gaze to wonder over to his. He tried to suppress a smile, but the
sheen in those blue eyes of his gave him away.

“
I hate to break it to you but…
You appear much older than I remember you a few days ago, it’s kind
of creepy.”

“
I see no one ever taught you the
proper way to speak to women.”

“
Women never seemed to mind my
speech before,” Kaiden shot back, immediately regretting his
words.

Lana suddenly wondered of Kaiden’s
love life and blushed in the darkness as she looked away from him.
She did not want to think of any of it. Silence fell between
them.

“
Its good to be near you again.”
Kaiden’s voice was a low murmur. He was watching the small moon
when he said it, Lana had wondered if she had imagined
it.

The two of them lay silently near
each other, gazing up at the stars until they fell
sleep.

Chapter

Nine

Lana sat with her eyes focused on
a flickering flame, watching the fire dance over a stick as it
scorched the wood into ash. Her cheeks were rosy from the heat the
fire gave off, she welcomed the warmth. Even though her legs were
sore from the long day of riding the heat of the fire soothed the
pain, relaxing the muscles, so that she hardly felt the aching any
more.

Ardin lay motionlessly beside her.
He too silently watched the flames in the fire. Even though the two
of them were near each other they were not one as Madonian and
Aorra often were. Ever since the other night when Lana’s Aorra
dumped his secret onto her they had been somewhat apart.

Lana couldn’t help but feel hurt. She
understood her Aorra’s reasoning for keeping the information of the
Dukran’s potential involvement in Valdor’s death from her. However,
she could not help but feel somehow lied to by him. He was supposed
to be the one she could always trust with anything. They were not
supposed to have secrets. She imagined that he must have felt
similarly when she ran off risking their lives at the Rami camp in
Abder.

Without a word Lana raised her
hand and placed it gently on her Aorra’s head, scratching his ear
for a moment before retrieving her hand back to her lap. Gray blue
eyes met hers, there was so much behind them. Even though they
didn’t speak, not even in her mind, their eyes spoke for them. She
felt him gently reach for her from within and she reached out to
him, closing the distance that had been between them. Ardin then
scooted closer, so that his body rested against her leg. It felt
good having him close.

With a small smile Lana turned
back towards the fire. It had been three days since her father died
in her arms. She shut her eyes for a moment, trying to push away
the memories. They haunted her at times like this, times when she
was not focused on something else.

Feeling an abrupt shift she forced
her eyelids open to see Donn standing, all eyes were on him. For a
moment Lana was surprised that the old man was able to jump to his
feet so suddenly. He stood motionless, his eyes hazed over and
glistening.

“
We need to leave, at once.” Donn
urgently spoke.

Lana didn’t know why but a shiver ran down her
spine as they all rose to their feet.

“
What’s going on?” Lana asked
softly, as she secured her sword to her waist.

Donn helped Alex onto his horse, “There are
Rami men who are about to discover our camp.”

Kaiden stopped what he was doing,
turning to Donn who climbed onto the dapple grey horse behind his
grandson. Kaiden's eyes were wide, filled with questions about the
approaching Rami men.

Seeing both Lana’s and Kaiden’s expressions
Donn explained without need of inquiry, “They have been tracking
us, looking for you and Lana.” Donn gestured at Kaiden.

Nadina put her Aorra in a satchel
attached to her horse and climbed on to its back while Kaiden used
dirt to put out there freshly lit fire. Lana could tell that within
him questions burned to be asked, yet he remained silent. She
figured he would wait till they were on the move to ask them, not
wasting time and risking their lives.

Everyone was up and riding within
minutes.

Brows pulled together in worry,
Lana looked over to the children and the old man. Donn told her the
general direction the Rami were coming from and so she headed in
the opposite, trying to stay on course as much as
possible.

Ardin, for the first time since
the night before, entered her thoughts. His warm presence was
soothing. Lana welcomed his company. Her Aorra felt like an anchor,
the one true and solid thing in her life, something to hold on to
so that her mind and thoughts not run away. Her green eyes followed
Ardin as he ran up ahead, but his presence within her mind never
left.

The sun had already set behind the horizon but
the big moon provided a dull blue light for them to travel by.
Thick patches of trees and brush made it impossible for the horses
to gallop, limiting their speed. It was but a short time of riding
before Kaiden found his way closer to Donn.

“
How did they know where we were
and why are they after us?” He asked.

Lana was riding ahead of them, but she slowed,
closing some of the distance so that she too could hear some
answers from Donn. A part of her feared that Kaiden might try to
communicate with their followers, especially if it were his
brother.

Donn peered at Kaiden for a moment as if
deciding what he wanted to say. Alex sat in front of his
grandfather, holding on to the mane of the horse as hard as he
could. The boy’s eyes looked as if he had seen a ghost, his skin
pail. Lana’s heart hurt for the children. Donn’s voice pulled her
attention away from Alex.

“
They found us because they have a
good tracker, a man named Garin.” Donn said, keeping his eyes
looking ahead.

Lana felt a kick to her stomach at the
thoughts of Garin, approaching them. Her fear for Alex and Nadina
grew immensely. Garin must not catch them. She glanced back in time
to see Kaiden slowing, allowing Nadina and Donn to move further
ahead of him.

Ardin, slow
yourself so Donn and the kids can follow. I will be close
behind.
Lana spoke to her Aorra as she
slowed to catch up to Kaiden.

Be careful.

It was surprising that Ardin did
not challenge her request. She looked to Kaiden as her horse
slowed, he had his head turned towards the dark woods behind him.
Lana knew he would want to stop for his brother. He loved Garin
even though his brother was cruel to him as a child. That love
blinded him. She had seen the hatred in Garin’s eyes for her kind,
how cold he was, how dangerous. It was unbelievable that both
Kaiden and Garin had come from the same place, linked by blood. The
two could not be more different.