Chapter 14 – Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
The sight of Suncliff just below the hill they were standing on, with the sun bright and high in the sky and the ocean glistening in response, made Kaide smile for maybe the tenth time that day. Earlier, Katsa, Bitterblue and Kaide had stopped at an inn friendly to the Council, and not only had their first hot bath in ages, but also got new clothing – and new looks to remain hidden in Suncliff. It was hard for Kaide to remember the last time that she had felt so...happy.
Looking down at Suncliff beneath her, Kaide summoned her mental map, trying to remember all of the hidden alleys that ran winding throughout Suncliff. Next to her, Katsa also stared down at the city, an uncertain expression on her face.
"You sure it's safe to find and stay with the children you grew up with?" Katsa asked, finally voicing the doubt in her mind as Bitterblue looked on. "I mean...they're older now, and you've been gone for so many years, how do you know they'll remember you? What makes you think that they won't sell you out?"
Kaide frowned, her hand reaching for the safe, comfortable hilt of her sword. "I don't. But I rather place my trust in street kids like me than inns in Suncliff. We don't know if Leck's story has passed this far west."
Katsa let out a sigh before conceding. "We don't have many choices then. Let's go."
The hike into the city was careful, as Bitterblue and Katsa tried to remain hidden. Both of them were far too recognisable for their own good, with Bitterblue now dressing like a boy, and Katsa with an eye patch over her left eye to hide her Grace. Kaide, of course, could hide her Grace her usual way, but had cut her distinctive long hair into a pixie cut that gave her fond memories of her childhood. After entering the city and avoiding the ports and the ships there, following an earlier, planned arrangement, Kaide went on ahead, navigating the narrow, dark streets, as Katsa and Bitterblue followed, trying to blend in with locals.
As Kaide walked through the winding alleys, she became more and more nervous. What Katsa had said earlier about the children she had raised and lived with could be true. What if they forgot her, and sold her out to Leck? What if the reunion that Kaide had always been hoping for would only ever be a dream in her sleep, something that would haunt her forever? Kaide forced herself to push these thoughts out of her mind as she entered the poorer areas of Suncliff, where the slums began.
"Be careful with what you are holding. Thieves are prominent here," Kaide muttered under her breath, knowing that behind her, Katsa would hear. Kaide followed her own advice and clutched her sword, a valuable memento of what she had been through in her life, and took a sudden left turn, hoping that her little ones, such as young Amy, hadn't moved. She didn't even know if Damon was alive. But she knew that where she stood at the moment was where the front entrance to their hidden slum was.
"Kaide?" Katsa asked, stopping behind her. "Are we lost?"
As Bitterblue stared intently at the alley, looking for some signs of life, Kaide replied. "It should be here. It was here last I remember."
"It is here," Bitterblue said with a sense of finality. "The prints here are fresh and look like they're from children. And I think I see some kinds of traps."
"It's here," Kaide breathed with relief. "Damon got us into the habit of 'securing' our entrance with traps. Only the ones living here knew how to get past... it has his signature all over it. Let me deal with this."
Kaide stepped forward, her eyes changing back to its normal mismatched colours of amber and blue, and smiled in relief.
"What I forgot to mention earlier is that my Grace is stronger when I show the Graced colours of my eyes. It's like I contain my abilities in a box when I hide my eye colour. So I can see much more now," Kaide added, stepping forward and twisting sharply to the right, before hopping slightly. "This is going to be fun. Katsa, try and follow if you can, but don't set anything off. Just remember that it is made for younger children to get over, so Bitterblue should be able to get through. Just take your time."
Kaide moved through the alley, wired with countless amounts of strings, like a well-oiled machine. Her smile faded slightly at the realisation that the pattern of the traps were the same as when she last left. Identical. But it was this thought that distracted Kaide from the final trap, when she crashed into a sodden teddy bear that was dangling from above that was never there before. There was a clutter of noise before Kaide saw an avalanche of rubbish come at her from above.
"Shit!" Kaide swore, jumping to the opposite wall of the alley, managing to dodge the main barrage of rubbish before falling heavily onto it. From the dark holes at the end of the alley, Kaide saw several eyes stare at her, the glint of metal reflecting into Kaide's eyes. Kaide stood up, and kept her hand on her sword but didn't draw it. From the darkness, a tall, lanky, but clean man several years older than Kaide stepped forward, a sharp dagger in his hand. Some children and some teenagers stepped out from the darkness, similarly armed, but what Kaide noticed was that they all seemed decently dressed and that there were no layers of accumulated dirt on their faces.
Kaide stared intently into the lead man, her eyes boring into his sea blue eyes. A name popped into her head, but Kaide couldn't say it. The man in front of her had messy black hair, and pale skin untouched by the Sundean sun. There was a long, thick scar that ran down the right side of his face, starting from his temple, winding down the edges of his hairline and ending at the corner of his lips. Images ran through Kaide's mind. Blood. Pain. A cry of pain beside her. Suddenly, the name returned to Kaide's lips, and this time she said it.
"Damon?" Kaide said, her voice ending in a question. He was so much taller than she remembered. Standing behind her, hidden by the rubbish, Katsa and Bitterblue watched on, worried.
The man staggered back, the blank expression on his face changing into one of longing and hope.
"It can't be...I thought...we all thought...you were gone..." A tear trailed down the edge of Damon's face, before the mask of determined blankness came back on. "Why didn't you come back earlier? What are you doing here?" Damon sounded hysterical, the tears pouring down his cheeks. "I thought you were dead!"
Kaide looked frozen, her eyes tearing up, her legs barely holding her up. "I couldn't," Kaide choked. "I couldn't. Not for years. I forgot what...freedom was." Kaide sank on her knees, the tears finally pushing their way out of her eyes, but she made no move to step forward. "I didn't know that you were alive either..."
Katsa stepped forward and climbed up the mountain of rubbish, Bitterblue following behind her. Katsa kept going until she faced Damon. "If you are Damon, then she is Kaide. Don't blame her for not coming, because I know exactly what she went though, and its worse than trying to survive on the streets. Sometimes I even wonder how she has the strength to even bother living, so if you're harsh to her then you'll..."
"Stop, Katsa. I'll deal with this. Explanations should come from me. Damon, I'm so sorry," Kaide said, holding Katsa back. "I'll explain everything. But I have a little situation here, and it's not good."
Damon remained frozen, until another girl stepped forward, this time several years younger than Kaide, and staring at Kaide with fascination, tugged at Damon's side. Damon jumped slightly, then looked at Kaide, Katsa, then finally Bitterblue. Looking at Bitterblue, Damon nodded.
"Come. We'll talk, and if your answer satisfies anything, you can stay." Damon's voice was deliberately cold, and Kaide had a hurt expression on her face. It was only Katsa's reassuring hand on her shoulder that made Kaide move into the darkness of the slum.
Walking through the darkness, Kaide realised that they were walking through a tunnel, rather than the tattered house that once stood here. Once the sunlight returned and bit into her eyes, Kaide saw a small clearing with a decent sized house surrounded by the grey walls of surrounding homes and alley walls. The narrow tunnel that they had just walked though was revealed to be made from the ruins of a fallen house, and looked unstable, but was lined with years of compacted mud that kept it standing.
"Damon," Kaide couldn't help saying, "how the hell did you build a house here?"
In front of them, Damon jumped up like a startled bird and snapped back, "No questions."
Kaide bit back a smile as she remembered this aspect of Damon's personality – he loved acting tough but was a terrible actor. Damon stopped at the steps of the house, muttered a few words to the children beside him, who bounded up the stairs on the house and disappeared within. Only Damon and the girl who had stared at Kaide earlier remained, their eyes both on Katsa as they made out the weapons she was concealing.
"Why are you all armed?" Damon asked, crossing his arms. "I don't think you need to break into houses to get food and clothes, do you?"
"Our weapons are for the obvious reasons. Defending ourselves, and if necessary, killing. There is one's blood in particular that I would want to line my sword with," Kaide replied, her eyes boring into Damon's.
"Would that happen to be mine?" Damon asked, his eyes icy. Kaide's shoulders shook for a second before she burst into laughter.
"You? Why on earth would I want to kill you, Damon? If I wanted you dead, you would already be dead. My target is Leck of Monsea," Kaide replied, Bitterblue nodding behind her.
"The king?" Damon said sharply. "Why him? Are you assassinating kings now? Not that that's a bad thing," Damon added, hastily. "I don't give a damn if all the kings and royals are dead."
Katsa frowned, and Kaide raised her hand up, suddenly realising the danger that Bitterblue and Katsa were in. If Kaide revealed their relationships to any of the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms – daughter of a king and niece of a king respectively – Kaide could get into a messy position. "Let me do the chatting, Katsa. We're in a bad position already."
Looking at Damon, Kaide gave him her most killer expression. "I have a...let's say personal reason for wanting to kill Leck. He's the one who screwed up my life the moment I was born, and after I was taken from Suncliff."
"Before?" Damon asked, the sharpness leaving his body. "You found out your past?" Damon no longer looked suspicious – he was curious as to what the girl he once worked with was going to say.
"Yes, but that's not the reason I'm here. Firstly, I missed you all, so badly I can't describe it. I spent so many years being a hostage and a punching bag for the parents of the noble that I saved that words can't describe. I've been and survived hell and I made it back here. I've been tortured mentally and physically. Have you ever faced something like that, Damon? I did the best I could."
"You were tortured?" Damon blinked, breathing deeply. Suddenly, something broke within him, and he leapt forward and hugged Kaide, tears falling down his cheek. He smelt the same to Kaide – that familiar safe scent of the ocean and smoke.
Kaide hugged him back, finding that Damon was the same height as her – he had been so much shorter despite the fact that he was older than her. She missed Damon more than she remembered. Standing behind him, the joy in her eyes familiar, must've been Amy, the young girl that she had comforted every night, whispering stories of hope. How she had grown up.
"I missed you all," Kaide whispered. They broke apart and Damon stared at her, his expression now warm.
"I don't care what you've been doing. You're welcome here, Kaide, and as are any friends of yours." Damon turned and nodded at Katsa and Bitterblue, who nodded back in reply. "Thanks for getting Kaide safely here. By the way, Kaide, what's this situation that you mentioned earlier as been not very good?"
Kaide smiled at Damon, sitting down on the grass. "It's going to be a long explanation, so I suggest we sit down."
"Of course." Damon sat down, Amy behind him looking stunned, and Katsa and Bitterblue joining Kaide on the grass. "What's the situation?"
"Me wanting to kill Leck. The feeling is...mutual," Kaide starting, Katsa letting out a small laugh.
"So it is. They hate each other's guts, from the moment they met," Katsa said, Damon looking at her approvingly.
"How did you meet? He's a royal, and last I heard of you, you were...um...you...know..." Damon said, trying not to say the words that made pain splash throughout him. What had his Kaide done to deserve such pain?
"I'll start from the beginning. Basically, this is the situation. We were at the markets. Mad out of control horse with screeching noble on it. Me jumping in and saving this girl and you...getting the stuffing smushed out of you." Kaide and Damon both cringed, and Damon's hand went to his scar. "The story continues. Noble girl takes me away as I faint. I wake up in a noble's house, with the girl crying, her parents looking at me as they would trash. They argue about the noble girl's behaviour. I insult the nobles and they try and kill me, but the noble girl stops them. They get the ingenious idea to use me as bait to make the noble girl behave. I get thrown into a dungeon, and get abused and so on..."
"Kaide..." Damon whispered. "Please tell me it gets better."
Kaide smiled sadly. "Not for a while."
Kaide continued her story as the anguish became apparent on Damon's face. It got better when Kaide spoke about learning how to use the sword and meeting the sympathetic soldier, but any anguish that was erased returned when Kaide spoke of her escape from Blaire's parents, and Blaire's idea to meet Leck.
At one point as Kaide was describing her job for Leck, Damon interrupted. "I don't like this noble girl. I guess you don't either seeing as you don't mention her name. But Leck...the fact that he is Graced endangers us all. Your Grace protected you, and I'm guessing he found out?"
Kaide nodded. "I did more stuff for him, but I got into a confrontation with the noble girl. She found out and went back to Leck's arms. I fled."
"Thank goodness. You ended up in Sunder with Bitterblue and Katsa?"
Kaide nodded, and was relieved that Damon had no adverse reaction to the fact that Katsa and Bitterblue were both relatives of kings. Kaide was going to hide her heritage for as long as she could, and hoped that its connection to Leck wouldn't drive Damon away – it had shocked Damon that kings would treat their own relatives badly, as Randa had used Katsa and as Leck had tried to use Bitterblue. However, despite their praises for Po, Damon was going to reserve judgement until later. Kaide could see how that annoyed Katsa.
By the time that Kaide finished describing their entire journey to Sunder, the sun was no longer overhead but near the horizon. Damon looked at Kaide and the longing there was evident. "Are you going to stay here permanently or are you only going to stay until you can get a ship to Lienid?" But even as he said it, Damon knew the answer. Kaide, Katsa and Bitterblue would only be truly free once Leck was dead. And knowing that Kaide had lived and felt a different lifestyle, Damon knew that she would never again live in Suncliff again. She would move around, living her own adventure.
"No, Damon, I'm going. Do you think you could get us a ship to Lienid? It would be so much easier because we wouldn't need to stay hidden. We're too distinctive." Kaide looked at Damon, mirroring the longing, but with a sad touch on her face.
"Amy can. She's missed you heaps, hasn't she?" Damon smiled. Damon stood up, stretching his sore muscles. "I'm going to prepare a feast for all of us. And before you complain, Kaide, we're a lot better off now. That noble girl you saved...she left a lot behind which I grabbed. Stealing is more like a fun hobby nowadays, and it's a great job to get paid for."
With a smile, Damon ran back into the house, Kaide looking at the doorway where he disappeared into long after Damon disappeared. A tear fell down Kaide's face as Amy leapt forward, squealing with delight.
The sky was dark, and Kaide was lying on the grass, Damon beside her. Her stomach was full, and seeing the food and valuable items stored in the house, Kaide could see that all of the children and teenagers in the house – of which there were about thirty of – were better off since she last saw them. Blaire had definitely dropped some valuables and maybe that could explain why her parents were so furious.
Earlier in the night, straight after dinner, Amy had left with Katsa to try and find a ship. Katsa had come along, wanting to defend Amy if anything should happen, as well as to use Po's ring, which Katsa had found squeezed into her belongings with a note tied to it from Po. Katsa had initially been angry, but the ring would confirm her story and ensure that any Lienid ship that they found would take them to Po's castle.
"So Kaide," Damon said, turning to face her, "What is the story about your past? How did Leck screw it up?"
Kaide was silent as she bit her lip. "Damon, don't get mad at me, please. Leck tried to kill me while my mother was pregnant with me, and once I was born. I ended up in Suncliff when Leck found the nurse that had smuggled me out of Monsea, and she tried to put me somewhere safe. The truth is my parents... Bitterblue is Leck's only child and the heir to the throne of Monsea, but before them were the true rulers of Monsea before their throne was stolen by Leck. He hid it with his Grace, but they were pregnant. They had a girl. I am that girl."
All Kaide could hear was the sudden intake of breath.
"Is this a good time to find a ship?" Katsa asked Amy, as they walked along the shoreline, their path lit by the moonlight. Amy smiled at her, her crooked teeth making her look so much younger.
"The serious sailors will be here. The ones that will leave soon will be. Don't worry," Amy smiled. Her voice was soft but high-pitched, and Katsa noticed that it tended to echo. The port seemed empty, but suddenly, hearing the loud, arrogant steps of boots on wood, Katsa and Amy turned around to see a slim figure walk towards them, two daggers in their hands. When the moonlight revealed their face, Katsa swore, her hands going straight to her ears.
"Lady Katsa," Blaire smiled, her face no longer bruised but covered in clearly seen pink scars. "Long time no see. As much as I would love to know where King Leck's dear daughter Bitterblue is and where that traitor Kaide is, I think you better tell the man in person. Come along."
As tight as Katsa clamped her hands over her ears, she could still feel Leck's Grace creeping in. It wasn't that bad an idea to tell Leck where Bitterblue was wasn't it? After all, she was his daughter. And Kaide? Hadn't she spied on her in Randa City, and tried to attack Po and herself?
"Katsa," Amy commanded, her eyes blazing with fury as she realised that she faced the noble girl that had taken Kaide from her. "Leck's Grace. Remember Po. Po. Run, Katsa, run."
Katsa stood frozen, torn between two different desires.
Okay, I'm back! Yes, I know it's the middle of February and I just gave you two evil little cliffies (evil laugh), but reviews would be much appreciated. I don't see what's so hard about story alerting/favouriting a story and reviewing when you can do it in the same screen. If you like a story enough to story alert/ favourite then you should leave a review saying why. Just saying, you can review and add at the same time, or I may end up slacking off again and really enjoying my holidays (joking joking). Anyway, I'll try my best to update as soon as possible with school really starting to get evil (groan), but as always, encouragement always helps with faster updates :)