Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Butterfly or its characters Chanda Hahn does.
A/N: Please read and review!
Kael's POV:
Deciding that I may as well explore and spy upon the inn and its occupants I got to work. The stables were just that: stables. No hatches that led to underground torture rooms. The first floor contained the innkeeper and his family, nothing too terribly exciting, talking with two men. Now these men, I should really say man and boy, caught my attention. The man was dressed as a traveling bard or troubadour with the full costume stitched of different colors, an earring, and even a goatee but he had a look to him that reminded me of guards who dressed as citizens in order to protect their charges without drawing attention to them. The boy was definitely Denai, probably from a ruling house because of how handsome he was and how much power seemed to radiate from him, and most likely the one the guard watched over in his unassuming costume.
I listened to the conversation for a while, nothing of particular note, when the innkeeper's wife got up and went upstairs. When she came back she had her son grab a bathing tub and they both set off for the stairs again. The lad kept coming back for more and more water. I waited until the bathing tub came back down the stairs with the innkeeper's wife before I explored the second floor. All of the rooms were empty except for one.
The shutters had been thrown open when I had started my investigation and decided to leave it for last. I crept towards it with caution, when I heard a familiar female voice swearing and a drop. I looked in the window to see Thalia on the floor covered in blankets on the floor. She rubbed her head and told herself that it was only a dream. After she calmed down she went back to sleep but she didn't get back on the bed, she stayed on the floor and promptly fell back into a restless sleep.
I moved away from the window with questions swirling through my mind. Thalia looked almost healed and I couldn't help but noticed that she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. 'She looks as if she has had weeks to heal, not hours. Is she Denai? She is beautiful enough to be but I don't get the feeling of power from her like I do from other Denai. How did she get here? Does she know the innkeeper? What about the Denai boy?' I decided that if I wanted answers than I would have to do some more sneaking and eavesdropping. I went back to the first floor and went to the window that the traveling man and the Denai boy had foolishly sat underneath.
"Do you think Thalia will be safe in Haven?" The Denai asked.
"I hope so. If she isn't than there isn't a place in Calandry that is safe for her. If she isn't than maybe I should take her to Sinnedor after all." I scoffed at the traveling man's ideas. Of course she won't be safe in Calandry. 'There is only one place in this world were Thalia will truly be safe and that is at my home, with me, under my constant supervision. Did these fools really think that they could protect her better than a SwordBrother?'
These thoughts stopped me cold. How could I even think of taking an outsider to the sanctuary my people had built for themselves after Link? But at the same time the thought of Thalia with me, under my protection, and away from those who would hurt her felt right, like nothing had in a long time. It also sent a warm feeling throughout my body, imagining her with my people and knowing that all of them would protect her to their dying breath just as I would. With this new idea of keeping her safe tucked in the back of my mind I paid more attention to the conversation happening inside the inn.
"Is it wrong to pity her?" The Denai asked.
"No, Joss, but you shouldn't ever tell her or let her think that you pity her. I get the feeling that she would rather have kept her simple explanation of running away and falling into the river than ever have us pity her. Pride is the only thing she has left." The man said.
"I feel responsible for her if I hadn't healed her than she would be dead. Between the beatings and the dip in the river she would be dead Darren." This news shocked me. My Thalia would be dead if this Denai, Joss, had left her. Strangely, I felt gratitude to him for keeping my Thalia safe while I caught up to her.
"I know Joss. But not everyone wants pity. Let us move on to more pleasant topics. How was the music and the company of a certain innkeeper's daughter tonight?" The one called Darren asked.
"Good but it would have been better if Thalia could have joined us." Joss said. A dark emotion swept through me that he kept thinking of my Thalia when the conversation had been changed. I swept this emotion into the Box [1]I created to examine later along with this conversation.
"I don't think she's ready for something like that and besides I don't think Vienne would have appreciated the intrusion." Darren chuckled.
"Maybe not but her joy in the simple things would have made the experience unique and she doesn't fawn over me like the others do."
"No, no she doesn't does she." Darren sighed. "The girl is a pleasant conundrum. Are you going to treat her like you do the other girls your age?" Darren asked nonchalantly but I could tell by his tense shoulders that he wanted the answer badly but didn't want to make a big deal out of it.
"Not until she is fully healed. I don't want to hurt her when she's like this. And who knows maybe she's Denai and it could turn into a lasting relationship." Joss said. At his words I felt rage boil inside of me. How dare he think to use my Thalia for his own pleasure? Didn't he know what she had gone through? The torture sessions alone would have broken this boy on his first day. I knew that my Thalia had taken many sessions and still she survived beaten but never broken. Didn't he know how special that was to find in a warrior much less in a woman who barely reached five feet and maybe weighed one hundred pounds soaking wet! I felt my gratitude toward him dissipate and feed my rage. But I didn't show any outward sign of my rage but I let rage fuel my determination to keep my Thalia safe. I was so focused on my own rage that I almost missed Darren's reply.
"Joss, I don't think that that is a good idea. I'm not saying to leave her completely alone, but I advise to start with friendship and see if anything occurs. Don't try to seduce her. The poor child has been through enough without you playing with her heart as well." Darren replied. I was grateful to him for standing up for my Thalia but inwardly scoffed at his mention of her being a child. What she had gone through had aged her faster than time, making her not just a warrior in spirit but a woman not to be trifled with.
Joss sighed like a child that had been given a fierce scolding. "If you think that that is best than I will follow your advice, my friend."
I couldn't take any more of this conversation and went in search for a place to rest until morning. The hayloft I had spied in the stables earlier seemed promising. As I climbed up to the loft I opened my Box. 'When had I started thinking of her as mine? Should I take her to my home or wait to see what this Pull was?' My questions had no answers and so I turned over and fell into an exhausted sleep.
My dreams were full of fire, death, and screams. In my dreams I knew that it was my Thalia screaming and that I had to reach her no matter the cost. I found corridors and ran through the door that held her screams. As I crossed the threshold of the torture room her screams abruptly ended and everything looked brighter, better. I around the room looking for her but I couldn't find her. I had arrived at a lifebond[2] ceremony and as I glanced down at myself I noticed the traditional lifebond clothes on myself. I turned around hoping to leave this nightmare in order to continue the search for my Thalia and what I found made me speechless. There my Thalia stood in my people's traditional clothing, looking like the happiest woman on this Earth. She smiled at me and flung herself into my arms. I caught her and the look she gave me sped my heartbeat and had me wishing the ceremony was over so we could be alone. A voice called her name and as she looked over her smile faded, replaced with loathing and sadness. I glared at the voice that had put that look into her eyes and to my shock saw Joss in traditional Denai clothing. My Thalia took reluctant steps away from me and took Joss's hand. She looked at me with the saddest eyes I had ever seen and said:
'Be free Kael. Enjoy it for the both of us.'
The dream instantly vanished as I jolted awake to voices approaching the stables. I heard Joss talking.
"You could ride with me Thalia." Joss answered and again I felt that dark emotion combined with rage rise inside of me.
"No. I think I'll keep riding with Darren to Haven." My Thalia said, dismissing him. Immediately that dark emotion vanished with gratitude that I wouldn't have to watch her ride away from me in the arms of this monster. I watched as she walked over to the other horses and tried to mount. She struggled and I noticed pity in Joss's eyes. I wanted to help but I kept hidden not wanting to make my presence known.
Joss walked over and helped her into the saddle as Darren walked over. Both Darren and Joss swung easily onto their horses and took off in the direction of Haven. I came down from the hayloft and started to leave the stables when the Pull took me. The pain wasn't as bad as yesterday but was still noticeable. It continued to tug me toward Haven following the tracks that my Thalia's group had made.
As I traveled I wondered if this Pull was connected with her and if it was what did it mean? As I walked I decided that now would be a good time to examine that dark emotion I had whenever Joss talked about my Thalia. I compared it to my other SwordBrother's reactions to someone talking about their lifemate[3] or to a charge that they had been bounded to. I realized that I had only seen it once and it was when he was jealous. It had been when the girl I had hoped to lifebond with started to see another man. As I thought about his reactions I was sucked into those terrible memories:
The sun shown bright in a beautiful clearing. My best friend and twin, Jake, and I were talking about my upcoming lifebond ceremony when we saw my intended mate, Kayla, walk towards us. Due to hunting trips and other contracts my womb-mate had taken, they had never met. Jake's behavior instantly changed to one of aggression and he seemed possessive of Kayla. I wondered what was happening and asked if he was alright.
"She's mine, Kael. Don't touch her or I will kill you." Was his response.
"Jake, this is Kayla my intended mate. You cannot claim her." I said in a soothing voice as if speaking to a wounded animal.
My twin snarled and just repeated the word mine over and over again under his breath. I also noticed that as Kayla approached she had eyes only for Jake with a look of trust and happiness that she had never shown me. I thought about both of their reactions and realized that they were destined mates[4]. Jake was showing jealousy and possessive anger at the thought that Kayla would be mine and I saw Kayla's eyes turn sad as she glanced at me realizing that she would never be with Jake if I didn't stop our ceremony. I took this all in and pushed back the grief and heartache that threatened to bring me to my knees.
Kayla would never want me. The one woman I had loved for years didn't love me back and would never be able to forgive me if I took her from Jake. And Jake, my best friend and womb-mate, would never be able to look at me again if I took Kayla away from him. I would lose the two people in my life whom I cared about the most if I went through with the lifebond ceremony I had dreamed about for years.
I stepped away from them and said, "I see that you are destined mates. Kayla, I release you from your oath." The relief on both of their faces cut me almost as much as the grief of never holding Kayla in my arms. I had to get out of here.
They both called out me to wait as I rushed to my tent but I couldn't stand to see them together after all I had done for Jake and all I had suffered in order to be with Kayla.
Later that night after the shock had worn off and I laid there trying to keep my emotions under control I made a vow to never love again. To never allow anyone to see my emotions. To keep myself numb. That night I built walls so strong and hard around my heart that not even the Pull of a destined mate would affect me. I left that morning and went off to enter into contracts that tested my skills as a warrior and as an assassin.
Only a year had passed since my self-induced numbness before I was drugged and put into the back of a cart to be transported to a living hell. Where I met my Thalia and started to feel again.
I snapped out of my memories and thoughts to see Haven, the capital of Calandry, a mile away. As I approached I noticed that the Pull was almost nonexistent and that as I thought of staying in the city it stopped tugging me completely, seeming content that I agreed to stay.
I had only been to this city once or twice in my life and I still found the wide range of colors on the buildings annoying and distracting. I walked through the crowds and walked into the home my clan kept here in case of an emergency. I spotted the collections of weapons that were stashed here and sighed in relief that I would be armed beyond the dagger I had taken from the dead goons.
I outfitted myself and though about my options. 'I could test the boundary of this Pull and see who or what I'm connected to. I could take jobs within the city, which would keep me close to my Thalia.' These ideas appealed to me so I took off to ascertain the extent of my range. I was careful what I thought in order to not influence the Pull to tug me back.
I got as far as the outer walls before the Pull tried to tug me back and so I paced around the city to see if it was the same throughout. Night had fallen long before I reached my starting point again and observed that the Pull hadn't varied on my trek around the city. This proved that the center of the city was were the tether for this Pull was. Reaching the center of the city wouldn't prove too difficult because all roads led to it and the crowds had returned to their houses.
Looming at the center proved to be the one place I never wanted to enter, the place of Denai and royal power: The Palace. Of course it would be in that building! When had my luck ever been good enough to avoid that death trap!? I looked deep inside myself in hopes of locating the exact place the Pull directed me towards. What I found was surprising. Mentally I found a golden thread that pulled me toward another mind.
[1] Box: a method of remembering things. If created correctly a person could remember every event they had ever seen. Kael uses it in order to tuck away reactions, conversations, and emotions during a mission and to review them afterwards.
[2] Lifebond: similar to marriage except that divorce is not an option. Traditional clothes are common but not required. Each culture has their own version of traditional clothing.
[3] Lifemate: term used for people who have a lifebond or when destined mates find each other.
[4] Destined Mates: two people who chose each other in the spirit realm to be together before birth. They instantly recognize each other upon meeting. This only happens in the SwordBrother Clan because of a promise the Goddess made them after they had suffered much loss due to the greed and corruption of other nations. It is rare but not unheard of.