Splintered Fate (36 page)

“
Oh please forgive me, my lady. I
saw Alec and so I opened the door, but then this old man pulled my
attention away. My name is Farla. Oh you look so much like your
mother! So beautiful! Tell me are you hungry child? I make the very
best baked goods, your father always loved my baking.” The squat
little lady squeaked. She quickly reached around herself, loosening
her apron before pulling it off and throwing it onto a flowery
counter. Flicking dry powder off of her dress, Farla turned back to
Lana with a warm smile.

“
You are very kind, but we must
get to the safe house.”

The baker’s eyes grew large “Oh no, it is
dangerous, the Rami are there!”

“
You think we don’t know that, you
obtuse woman?” Zorin spoke up.

Lana glanced at him, shocked. He
was always composed and well mannered, she could not believe that
he was behaving this way.

“
You two know each other?” Lana
asked as her eyes moved from Farla to Zorin and back to
Farla.

“
Yes.” The old woman smiled before
turning serious. “My poor fool of a sister married into that one’s
family.” She said gesturing to Zorin.

“
Ugh,” Zorin rolled his eyes in
protest. “You old baboon, it was the best thing to have ever
happened to your family! You all constantly follow me, obsessed
with me and my family tree.” Zorin yelled furiously. “If I never
have to see you or your hack of a cousin again it would be all too
heavenly.”

“
Cousin?” Lana asked, intrigued by
what she was witnessing.

“
Donn is a lovely person you blind
idiot!”

“
Donn?” Lana turned to Zorin with
wide eyes.

So this is why
they don't like each other.
Lana thought
to Ardin.

At least Donn
and Zorin have a mutual understanding in Alogrin, unlike these two
here.
Ardin replied with a move of his
tail, slightly entertained.

“
You and Donn are family?” Lana
blurted.

“
Only by marriage,” Both Zorin and
Farla retorted, both clearly finding offense at the notion of being
related to each other.

Lana could not help but laugh.

It poured out of her like a sweet
release. All the pressure she had been feeling and then these two
behaving in this way. It was humorous. It made Zorin seem normal,
not a king but like a normal person with in-law problems. The short
comical release didn’t last long before the other feelings of the
night slammed back into her.

“
Farla, I am sorry but we must go,
can you take us to the tunnel?” Lana asked when she had a grasp on
herself.

“
Certainly dear!” She squeaked.
Farla eyed the group and grabbed three white candles from the
pantry. She lit two, one for herself and gave the other to Alec,
keeping a hold on the third as she slipped it into a pocket in her
dress.

Walking over to one of her large
ovens, Farla opened its thick door and walked in. On any other day
this would seem extremely odd and Lana would hesitantly follow
someone into an oven. But time did not wait and hesitating only
wasted time. They followed the squat woman through the dark oven.
Once inside it was clear that it was no longer a cooker, the door
that lead inside was the only remnant of an oven. Inside Farla lead
them down a few dark steps into a room underneath the building. The
room was littered with flour and wooden planks. She lifted a plank
from up against the wall where there was a small entrance to a dark
hall.

“
Be safe, dear child.” Farla
whispered as she reached up, touching Lana’s brown hair. “Your
mother would be so proud of you.”

“
Thank you.” Lana murmured as
Farla pulled the third candle out of her pocket. Using her candle,
she lit the third one and handed it over to Lana.

“
Now, at the end of the hall there
will be steps. You will be fine making some noise, but once you get
to the steps be sure to be quiet. You will emerge from behind a
painting on the wall of a hall within the safe house.”

“
Lock your doors and stay inside
until this is over,” She warned the squat woman.

“
Or if you really want to help, go
run around the safe house a few laps for a great distraction.”
Zorin added.

“
Zorin!” Lana
cautioned.

“
It would offer a decent
diversion,” Zorin replied with a shrug, as if he was unaware that
anything he said was rude.

“
Don’t worry about me child. The
lands may do as they will with me. It is you that I hope to be
alright,” Farla spoke to Lana before glaring at Zorin from the
corner of her eye. Then the little squat baker wrapped her arms
around Lana in a warm embrace. The pleasant scent of sugar and
bread drifted off of her skin.

After Farla’s parting hug, Ardin
stepped into the dark narrow hall. He was followed by Kirill, next
was Lana, Zorin, Clyte, and the Gorthyn citizens. The tunnel was
dark and damp. Some of the stone under their feet was dangerously
slick with a mossy slime. Lana held a light, which allowed for the
few around her to make out the tunnel enough to not walk into a
wall or each other. Alec provided the same for those farther
back.

Lana could see Zorin a step behind
her and she found herself thinking about what he and Farla had
bickered about. She could not help but feel curious. Not wanting to
think about Kaiden, she gave in to her curiosity.

“
So who married who?”

A small unexpected smile spread across Zorin’s
face “Who from their family married into mine?” Zorin
asked.

Lana gave him a confirming nod.

“
Well it happened more than once
that our families crossed such paths. But all originally involved
have left this world.”

“
Oh, then why continue this feud
between the two families?”

“
We must still live with the
consequences. It is not necessarily the parties involved who were
interesting, it is the offspring they produced.”

Offspring?
“Who?” Lana asked, her
interest heightened.

“
Arkhip, to start
with.”

“
What?” Lana asked, gazing forward
at Kirill, who walked just in front of them. Surely he had heard
yet he made no indication of it. Arkhip was related to the great
king, he was somehow related to Zorin.

Did you hear
that?
Lana asked Ardin.

I did. It makes sense; Zorin and
Donn are two powerful families. Donn has a bunch of those little
lizard things. Zorin’s family comes from Kings, extremely talented
with the fine details, such as the intricate designs. You saw how
he can easily make on his swords. That’s how Arkhip can make a pack
of wolves I suppose.

“
So Farla’s sister is…”

“
She was Arkhip’s
wife.”

“
So that was his Aunt?” Lana
gestured to Kirill Dukran.

“
Its more complicated than that.”
The way Zorin said it, it was like he wasn’t telling her something.
There was a tone of warning in his voice.

“
What others are there? You said
your families had crossed more than once?”

“
The others haven’t shown to be as
volatile as Arkhip Dukran.”

“
But who are they?”

“
Ah, now that is a good question,
isnt it?” Zorin smiled.

“
You don’t know?” Lana did not
believe that Zorin Donyerth had no knowledge of something like
that.

“
Perhaps not all things are meant
to be shared, at least not until the time is right.” He
grinned.

Lana couldn’t believe it. That
such a horrible man like Arkhip Dukran could have been related to
Zorin or even Donn. As she walked she pondered over how Arkhip even
became the man he was. There must have been a time he was
different. A time when he had the love of a woman who had bor him a
child. How had Arkhip become the monster that he now
was?

We are almost at
the stairs.
Ardin gave Lana a heads
up.

“
I hear Great Cats have the best
hearing of Aorras.” Lana spoke to Zorin.

“
I hear that too.” He replied with
a sly smile.

I hear
different.
Ardin grumbled, only half
joking.

“
Will Dorian go up ahead when we
reach the stairs and listen to what is going on?” She asked
Zorin.

“
It would be silly for him not
to.”

Lana nodded in agreement.

“
We are almost there.” She
announced to the group “Zorin’s Aorra will go to the passageway
door and let us know of any movement or sounds. We will wait at the
bottom of the stairs.”

The large animal grumbled a cat
like sound as it walked past Zorin towards the steps. Silently he
slinked up the staircase into the darkness while the rest of them
waited at the bottom, huddled together in anticipation. The feeling
in the air was thick with tension. Everyone seemed anxious to get
the events of the night over with. Even in the silence, Lana could
feel the anger and fierce need to protect those they loved coming
off of those around her. The energy radiating through each of them
spoke while their bodies stood so incredibly still, waiting,
ready.

It was a short while before Zorin
spoke. “There seems to be a guard that’s monitoring the hall. He
walks by roughly ever five minutes, other than that, nothing else
can be heard.”

“
The next time he walks by I can
go up there and take care of him. I will be quick and quiet then I
will let you know its clear.” Kirill offered.

Lana watched him, his steel eyes
looking at her steadily, waiting for her decision. To trust him,
could be a risk, but he was the best-trained killer they had,
certainly the most experienced, maybe besides Clyte. As if he knew
her thoughts he spoke again.

“
Taking care of Rami threats is my
skill. You don’t trust me, but I swear myself to you. Let me help
you, let me do what I know how to do, what you brought me to do.”
He went down on one knee in front of everyone and looked down at
the ground then back up at her. “Use me.” To anyone else his words
seemed like a plea, a desperate attempt to help, but his eyes said
more. They gave his words away as a command. He was doing his best
to bend for her, but he couldn’t, not completely.

There was a small gasp from the Gorthynians
but Lana did not acknowledge it. “Please stand.” She
said.

Kirill got on his feet.

Just this one time, his command was her wish.
She would use him. He was going to help her regain control of the
town.

“
Go.” Her head tilted towards the
dark steps.

“
You have two minutes.” Zorin
added and Kirill was gone.

“
You really got a Dukran to swear
himself to you?” Alec spoke jovially.

“
This is not something to be
celebrated.”

“
Are you kidding, but
he-”?

“
The price that had to be paid to
get him to this place is not one that I wish to pay.”

“
But he-”

“
Has a monster for a father. I
would have run too.”

“
He ran to you.”

“
We were friends once, and like I
said there was a price.”

Lana had to stop herself from
rolling her eyes for bringing up her past friendship with Kirill.
The friendship that she had constantly been trying to forget when
all others seemed to not let it go.

“
What did it cost?” one of Alec’s
men asked curiously.

“
My father’s life.”

Silence filled the hall. Lana
allowed the rage from the memory to enter her. She welcomed it,
allowing it to seep deep within, fueling her. She took a step
forward and turned to face the people who were with her, her
people.

With a deep breath she was about
to address them before Bredin interrupted.

“
Oh you are
one
very
lucky
princess.” He spoke with a hint of excitement.

“
What are you talking about?” Lana
snapped, confused and irritated. This was not the time to poke jabs
at her.

“
Micah, he is here.”

“
What?!” The irritation left her
immediately.

“
He is outside with a few guards.
They are with Kaiden and the others. Apparently he didn’t think you
could handle this on your own so he came to help.”

Bredin had to say it that way,
with a small poke at her, but Lana didn’t care. This was amazing
news. She felt a slight bit of relief that Kaiden would have people
with him who would actually have his back and not only the
Gorthynians who, despite her words, didn’t trust him. Lana turned
with bright eyes to Zorin, as if to confirm that Bredin was being
honest.

He smiled a wide smile. “You inspire greatness
Lana Casteel, well done.”

I can smell the
blood.
Ardin said as Lana looked back over
to Zorin for a signal.