Chapter 10 – The Fall of Friends
"Seriously...where the hell are you hiding?" Kaide hissed, as she took a peek into Leck's dining hall only to find it empty. She had been looking for Blaire for several hours to try and tell her that she wanted to leave, but it was as if Blaire had simply disappeared off the face of the castle.
Grumbling, Kaide went back upstairs, intending to wait until dinner so she could have a private conversation with Blaire. However, as Kaide passed by the closed door of Blaire's room, she heard groans that made her heart skip a beat. Adrenalin ran through her veins like ice as Kaide slowly slid the door open slightly, to be met with a sight that would give her nightmares for weeks.
Leck was lying in bed with a tall girl with short, spiky black hair that could only belong to Blaire. No one had that exact same hairstyle. Kaide barely suppressed her yell of anger and betrayal when the brutal truth finally hit her – Blaire had betrayed her. She was sleeping with Leck behind her back. Blaire was never her best friend, someone she had considered a sister. Just a traitor waiting to sell her out. It hurt her even more because she thought of Queen Ashen, the woman who had been killed by her own husband. This is how he cared about her – sleeping with another woman the same night that she was killed.
Kaide didn't even bother to close the door as she ran down the corridor, unrestrained tears pouring down her cheeks. She had wanted to leave Blaire, yes, but she had cared about her. This was the ultimate slap in the face – Kaide had wasted her life and freedom for years for someone who had being hiding the worst secret behind her back forever.
Kaide slammed her bedroom door behind her and grabbed all the clothes and possessions she could find and stuffed them roughly into her large leather packs. Kaide had never had much clothing, and her main possessions were weapons, but it still surprised Kaide from under the anger that she, the orphaned street girl from Sunder, actually owned this much stuff. Every heart beat hurt as if a serrated knife was cutting its way slowly through her body, killing her slowly but drawing out the pain. This was how Kaide felt to be betrayed – how could Blaire even do that to her?
Kaide's bags were bulging from the quick stuffing of items and clothing into it, as Kaide reached for her bedside table and saw the necklace that Blaire had given her several years ago. It was a small amethyst flower that Blaire had given Kaide to remind her not only to control her temper, but that Kaide was like a flower, fragile but strong. Kaide was so tempted to throw the necklace out of the window, to break every last link that she had with Blaire, but some unknown instinct stopped her, as Kaide roughly shoved the necklace into the bottom of her bag, cracking it.
Kaide looked out into the setting sunset, feeling the tears reawaken. She had been in her room for over an hour packing her things, despite her haste. It was time to sneak into the kitchens, grab some food, and get out of here. She would find Katsa, Bitterblue (Kaide was sure that Bitterblue would eventually find Katsa), and Po, and help them kill Leck. She would kill Blaire herself. And after that... Kaide wasn't sure, but maybe she could end things by jumping of the nearest cliff, or drowning herself in the ocean. She could go back to her old home in Sunder and discover what happened to the young homeless children she had looked after when she was younger. Kaide didn't know what she wanted to do in the far future, but she knew for the immediate future that she was going to kill Leck. And if Blaire was in her path, Kaide would not hesitate to spear her sword through Blaire's treacherous body.
Kaide slammed opened her door, and slipped into the shadows of the castle as the day grew darker, into night. She had nearly arrived at the kitchen when she unexpectedly crashed into a tall figure. Kaide had been so focused on escaping that she hadn't been watching where she was going.
"Kaide?" Blaire asked in astonishment, taking in Kaide's anger and her roughly packed leather bag.
"Oh...Blaire. Get out of my way if you know what's good for you." Kaide's voice was frosty and ice cold, her eyes burning with pain and betrayal.
Blaire looked puzzled. "What's going on? Why are you looking at me this way?"
Kaide let out a breath of exasperation before stepping forward and grabbing Blaire's tunic, shoving her hard against the wall. "Don't act innocent, you bitch! I saw everything! Everything! You think you could make out with Leck behind my back? Being his little whore? I saw everything!"
Blaire's eyes flared as she tried to push Kaide off her, with little success. She had never noticed how much stronger Kaide was than her. It was unnatural. Like she was Graced..."What the hell are you talking about! I didn't do anything with Leck! I was in the castle grounds all afternoon-"
"With no apparent alibi!" Kaide was so furious her eyes could've been red. "I spent hours looking for you, only to find you sleeping with Leck! I am not an idiot!"
"What is this madness?" Blaire screamed, her face turning red as Kaide's hold was starting to choke her. "I never went to my room!"
"LIAR!" Kaide threw Blaire onto the floor, Blaire skidding for several metres. "I saw everything and you can't deny it!"
Blaire looked at Kaide, and an expression of shock, sudden understanding and betrayal crossed her face. She raised her right arm, shaking as she pointed to Kaide's face. "You're...your eyes...you're Graced." Her voice was a whisper, as Kaide's anger and sudden loss of control made Kaide realise that she had lost control of the colours of her eyes. Kaide adjusted her blue eye back to a matching amber, but the damage was done.
"You're Graced." Blaire's voice was a whisper, yet it contained the danger of many emotions fuelling one another. "You. Are. Graced. And you never told me. You're Graced!"
Blaire sprung up, her eyes filled with anger and betrayal that matched Kaide's. "You're Graced and you never told me. Ever! Why?" Blaire's voice was anguished, as she tried to figure out why Kaide would hide something like this from her. First the accusation that she was sleeping with Leck, and now that she was Graced? It was too much for Blaire to handle.
"You would've told Leck. You're his little whore after all – you'll just go and run over to him and kneel at his feet and tell him that big bad Kaide is Graced. That's what you would've done! And I was right not to trust you!" Kaide drew out her sword and pointed it at Blaire. "And now I am going to kill you for that."
Blaire got up, and drew her dagger. "You know what? I will. I'll go and tell Leck you're Graced and he'll go kill you, but I'll tell you one last thing – I am not his whore!" Blaire drew out a dagger and threw it at Kaide, who dodged it with the inhumane speed she had been holding back to hide her Grace, as Blaire ran into the shadows. Kaide wanted to pursue her, but she knew escape was more important. Fine, Leck might know she was Graced. But he didn't know what it was. Even Kaide found it hard to describe her own Grace.
Kaide ran into the kitchen, grabbing the first baskets of food that she saw, and stuffed as much as she could into her bags, before grabbing a canteen of water and running for the exit. Kaide swore when she saw a pair of armed knights walk through the adjacent corridor and knew that Blaire had sounded the alarm. Kaide couldn't help but smile when she realised that she could do whatever she wanted in Leck's castle. Instead of trying to dodge the knights and go to another exit, Kaide climbed up the stairs, tugging at her belt to get the spiked end of her rope out. What she was attempting to do was dangerous, but it was the best way to get out of the castle without needing to dodge Leck's archers. It would be fun too to imagine Leck's face when he heard how she escaped.
Kaide tied the straps of her leather bags around her torso, not wanting to carry her bags in her arms. She tugged at her belt with her left arm, and drew out her sword with her right, as she arrived at the floor where her rooms, as well as Blaire and Leck's were located. Kaide saw another pair of knights walk by, but this time, Kaide ran forward and decapitated the first knight with a blow between the protective helmet and armour, and the second by using the extra strength of her Grace to slice through the rusted metal armour and stab the knight in the heart.
The attack was quick and silent enough not to draw attention, but Kaide still ran silently, as if a whole legion of guards could hear her every steps. This escape reminded Kaide of the time when she was living in Sunder, running away as she stole food.
Kaide ran silently through the dark street, a basket filled with two loaves of bread and fresh fruit in her arms. She heard the angry yells of the rich couple that she had stolen the fruit from behind her. She could hear the barks of the dogs that they had set after her, but she needed to give this food to the kids. They couldn't go hungry for another night. Kaide jumped onto the nearest roof, her Grace enhancing her strength, but with her weakened body, may not have been enough to escape...
It was distracting enough to remember her past even when she wasn't fighting for her life. Kaide encountered two pairs of guards this time, dispatching them like she did those years she had secretly trained with Blaire...
"Hiyah!" Kaide's rusted sword sliced through the hay dummies as she practiced the techniques that Blaire had taught her. Blaire thought it would be a good idea for Kaide to learn how to fight in case they decided to flee from her parents. Kaide loved it because her Grace was suited to this kind of thing, but she didn't know why she never told Blaire about it... it was a ticket to escaping, but then possible imprisonment to the king once Blaire told her parents...Kaide just couldn't trust her yet...
Remembering Blaire made Kaide even angrier. The guards tumbled to the stone floor, blood spreading across the floor like fleas as she ran further along the corridor. It was all Kaide ever thought she could do. Run. Hide. Bide her time. It was something that Kaide was great at. She had so much practice when she was younger. Kaide reached the door that she had been aiming for this whole time and opened the rusted lock, before closing the door behind her...
If Damon taught Kaide one thing it was patience. "Hide and steal..." Damon was fond of saying. Kaide did this all the time when she was stealing, but it was even better when she did it with Damon. There was the one time with Damon when they had broken into a massive mansion. Instead of stealing food, Damon suggested that "They try for the big bucks this time." Kaide had laughed, but gleefully hid in the mansion with Damon until the inhabitants had fallen asleep. Kaide and Damon stole as much jewellery as they could. After that, Damon had actually purchased food for the little ones to eat from the money from the stolen jewellery, rather than steal it...
Kaide didn't know why she was thinking of the past, as she pushed the objects in the room towards the door, stopping Leck's men, who were pounding on the door, from opening it. The objects were the heavy furniture that Leck had abandoned, after becoming King of Monsea. Kaide supposed that she was thinking of the past because she was free then, and she was approaching freedom now. Only one jump stood between Kaide and freedom.
Kaide returned her blue sword to its sheath, and fully extended her rope. She stood at the window, staring down at the twenty metre drop below her, before swinging the spiked end of her rope up onto the wooden flagpole that Kaide knew hung above. Kaide smirked as she tugged at the rope, the spike firmly attached. The banging at the door grew louder, and Kaide knew that she had several minutes before the guards broke in. They thought she was trapped, but they were more than wrong. Kaide's rope was only fifteen metres long, because any longer and there would be too much slack in the rope if Kaide swung it fully with the strength of her Grace, but Kaide didn't mind a five metre plunge.
Kaide smiled at the cracking wooden door one last time, before pulling on leather gloves onto her hands, wrapping the rope several times around her waist, and jumping out the window. Kaide allowed herself a five metre drop before facing herself towards the wall and placing her feet on the stone wall to stop herself banging onto it. Kaide slid down the rest of the wall, using the rope to glide down, looking down constantly to check for guards. She knew she was leaving out of a castle tower that was far away from the main entrance to the castle so fewer guards would be around here. Still, it would be bad for Kaide if a guard stood here, because she could face a battle she could lose, with the knights at a very high advantage, being able to use spears, or even worse, shoot at her with crossbows.
Once Kaide reached the point where her rope ran out, she heard the wooden door above her finally crack open. Kaide unravelled the rope around her waist, holding it firmly in her right hand, her tendons screaming with the sudden weight. She pulled, hard, the metal spikes shearing through the wooden pole with the added pressure, and Kaide landed heavily on the castle grounds, the spike landing with a thud beneath her. Kaide only had enough time to hastily roll up the rope into a circle and place it on her left shoulder before the first knight peered down from the window and pointed at her.
"She's there!" the knight yelled, panic in his voice.
Kaide gave him a cheerful wave, before running into the forest and disappearing into the darkness, the darkness hiding her immediately.
Kaide ran throughout the dark forest, her enhanced eyesight only enough to stop her crashing into trees in the pitch black. She ran for nearly an hour, knowing that dinner would delay the search after her, but Kaide was feeling hungry, and especially tired, desperate for a safe place to sleep. As Kaide slowed down into a brisk walk, the moon illuminated the thick trunk of a tall tree. Kaide smiled, knowing that she would be safe in the trees. No one could climb high trees like her. Kaide didn't bother with the rope – instead, she leapt onto the nearest branches and climbed the tree, until she reached the canopy and a comfortable hollow where she could rest. Untying her leather bags from her back, Kaide opened her bag to find whatever she could eat, so she could go after Katsa and Po tomorrow.
Blaire ran to her room, tears in her eyes, feeling the same emotions run through her, over and over. Hate. Anger. Shock. Betrayal. And curiosity. Blaire wanted to know why Kaide hid her Grace all these years, and why she accused her of sleeping with Leck. As she looked at her bed, the sheets pristine, seemingly untouched, Blaire was suspicious. The sheets smelled new, and last Blaire checked, she hadn't changed her sheets in several days. And Blaire always changed her sheets herself. Something had happened here. Was it possible that Leck was sleeping with someone in her bed to make Kaide believe that she was sleeping with him? As soon as she thought that, Blaire realised that it was true. But this didn't remove the feelings of resentment towards Kaide for hiding her Grace.
Blaire hid her face in her hands as she gingerly sat on the edge of her bed. What was she going to do? She couldn't trust Leck, but Kaide had betrayed her in the worst way possible. Blaire's door creaked open as Leck came in, a wide smile on his face. Blaire stood up, feeling angry and vindictive.
"Is it true you slept with someone in my bed to make Kaide think that I was sleeping with you?" Blaire asked, one hand on a dagger. Leck smiled, his one eye glittering with an emotion that Blaire couldn't recognise.
"That anger, Blaire...it is not towards me. You hate Kaide for lying to you about her Grace, don't you?" Leck replied, putting all the persuasion of his Grace in his voice.
Blaire winced, part of her hating Kaide for not telling her about her Grace, but another part rebelling, subconsciously realising that Leck was using his Grace on her. She wasn't going to lose control, she wasn't-
"That anger. All those emotions. Let them blind you."
Blaire lost control. She felt all the emotions that she was holding back explode, filling her with an uncontrollable fire. How she hated Kaide, how she broke her heart-
"That's right. You hate Kaide. You find me your master. And-" Leck stopped dramatically, grinning evilly as he realised, that without Kaide, it was simple for Blaire to fall under his Grace. "-the moment you see Kaide, you will throw that dagger you are holding in her heart. I want you to kill Kaide. Agreed?" Leck asked, knowing that Blaire would comply.
Blaire looked at Leck, realising that what Leck was saying was what she wanted to do. She wanted to see Kaide dead at her feet for her betrayal.
"Of course, Master Leck," Blaire murmured, the part of her brain that was fighting against Leck's Grace disappearing in a wave of fog.
Dun dun dun ;D. I'll be back to try and update weekly, but I'm busy at the moment, so I am not sure. Anyway, the usual disclaimer counts for this chapter (and any more that I write), and I hope you have enjoyed it. Express your comments by reviewing! I love reviews! :D