Chapter 4:
The four of us looked at the object at the table. It was still shiny and beautiful. It had clearly been handled with care, showing how precious the bracelet had been to its owner. And now it was laying in front of us, dirt covering it. And its owner was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe she lost it?" Lissa asked.
Maybe, I wasn't particularly worried about the bracelet missing, if her mother hadn't asked if I had seen her, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. But that cold feeling in the pit of my stomach just wouldn't go away.
I touched it again and the hair on my neck was up. I shivered. The feeling was strong, stronger than what I had felt when I put the bodice on, stronger than the other day when Dimitri and I were practicing. Somehow those had felt muted. The feeling in the bodice had long since gone. I didn't feel anything anymore when I put it on. But the bracelet seemed to retain whatever evil was inside of it.
Lissa touched it, held it in her hands. She closed her eyes, after a few moments she opened them again, her brows frowning in confusion.
"I don't feel anything. It is just a gold bracelet to me."
She handed it to Christian. He was a little hesitant to take it. When it touched his skin he relaxed a bit.
"Nothing."
He passed it to Dimitri and the moment he touched the bracelet he hissed. "Definitely something. It is strong."
He looked at me and I nodded. Dimitri and I were feeling the same thing.
"So it only affects Dhampirs? That makes no sense. Moroi are the ones with magic. Shouldn't we be feeling it?" Lissa asked.
I had no idea what this was. I knew about Moroi magic. Dimitri and I had been on the receiving end of charms before. But this wasn't it.
"I don't know what is going on, but I don't like it. Maybe we should be leaving in the opposite direction. I don't want to be running from the Witch hunters only to be dragged into some other scheme."
Lissa looked at me. There was determination in her eyes. "We can't leave. If there are girls going missing we have to find out who is doing it."
I sighed, I wanted to. I really did. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to this girl, but 'they come first' didn't only apply in sacrificing our own lives.
"I understand what you are saying, Vasilissa, but you are our priority. We can't do anything that will draw attention to us." Dimitri said, voicing what I had been thinking. Lissa was our priority, the Queen of the Moroi world was our priority. But I could tell it was difficult for him to let this go too.
"Well, as your Queen I am commanding you to look into it. If there is something fishy going on I want to know. We are still very close to my territory. If they are abducting girls, it is only a matter before they abduct a moroi or dhampir girl. That makes it our priority too."
She was twisting it a little. Lissa couldn't stand people harming innocent people, it didn't matter if they were human or not. But when your Queen gave you a direct order, you had no choice but to obey.
So Lissa and I were starting with Maria's stuff. The magician had dropped off her stuff and Lissa and I were going through it. Most of it were clothes that would do for another round. But at the bottom of the trunk was her personal stuff.
I picked it up one by one. There was a beautiful but simple necklace. There was an old journal and a drawing of a little girl and a woman. I hadn't known Maria, but I imagine this was an image of her mother and her.
"If she left on her own, why would she leave this?" Lissa asked as she looked over my shoulder to the picture.
"She wouldn't" was my conclusion. Something had happened to Maria, and I was willing to bet it was that same thing that happened to that auburn haired girl. But it had been a few weeks since Maria had left, it was probably why the feeling from the bodice was fainter than on the bracelet.
Dimitri and Christian came in.
I looked at him and showed him the stuff.
"Maria was taken a couple of weeks ago. Do you know if anyone else was taken?"
He shook his head.
"I have been asking around. But no other person has been missing…The circus has moved around since Maria was taken. The fact that someone from the crowd in this city was taken can only mean one thing."
I groaned. I knew he was right. Dimitri and I both knew it, because we could feel it in this place. It was around us. We just couldn't pinpoint it.
"What? What does it mean?" Lissa asked.
Dimitri looked at her and Christian. "The girls are being taken by someone in this circus."
Dimitri and I had expected this. The timeline couldn't be explained any other way. But it still seemed to shock Lissa.
We heard a knock on our door and the suspense in the air seemed to dissipate. Sydney was standing outside of the door.
"We are heading into town for some supplies and to scout the city. You are welcome to join. We usually have a couple people going."
The circus had just arrived in this city when we were running from the Witch hunters. It took a while to set up camp for a few weeks. So I suppose most people hadn't gotten a chance to look at the city. I had seen some people go towards the city for supplies. Dimitri had made a food run himself, but this seemed to be more of a social outing.
I wanted to go. I was curious. I always wanted to see the world. Being Lissa's Guardian meant we didn't really do a lot of traveling, some official visits to other royal families, but they were all quite close and we didn't stop to enjoy the scenery on the way.
I could see Lissa was excited to. I wondered though what would draw more attention to us, going or not going. There might be Witch hunters in the city. But then again, Witch hunters might be scouting the circus and not going, would draw more attention. Maybe hiding in plain sight was better?
"We leave in ten minutes if someone wants to join." Sydney said.
She was about to walk away, but she froze. There was a man walking by with a girl next to him. He looked us over and I knew he wasn't happy with what he saw. I had no idea what he wasn't happy with, but the disdain was clear on his face. The girl next to him had a similar look on her face when she looked at us. The difference between them was found when they looked at Sydney. The girl's face lit up, but the man's face stayed dark. It wasn't disdain towards Sydney, but it wasn't exactly a positive emotion either.
I could see Sydney's head dip a bit in resignation. She waved us goodbye and quickly followed after the man.
I looked confused. Dimitri noticed my frown and pointed at them.
"That is Sydney's father and sister, Zoey I believe."
I crossed my arms over my chest.
"So what is his problem?"
Dimitri shrugged. "Apparently Mr Sage isn't fond of outsiders. There is a whole clan of Sages here. They have been in the circus business a long time."
Why would anyone choose to be in the circus business, especially for generations? But if he wasn't fond of outsiders, I can only imagine what he thinks of his daughter bringing outsiders in.
"He doesn't seem the type to entertain people." I crunched up my nose. I wonder what kind of act he would do. I hadn't seen him on stage yet.
"He isn't. But he is the type to gather information, deal in secrets and overall keep a low profile by moving around."
I turned around towards Dimitri.
"You think he is using the circus as a cover? Could he have anything to do with the girls missing?"
Dimitri's brows furrowed into a scowl.
"I am not sure. Although I don't think so. Whatever is involved in, he has been involved in it for a very long time. If he abducted girls regularly then someone would have noticed by now. He has been with this circus for three years and other before that."
I placed my hands on my hips, putting my weight on one side, challenging him.
"And you know this how?"
Dimitri picked something out of his duster. It was a stack of papers, each of them scribbled on. Each paper had a name on the top.
"Research and observations." He handed me a stack and I looked them over. There were a lot of papers and a lot of different names. My man has been busy. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"We need to know if we are safe here."
I suppose he was right.
"So what are we going to do about going into the city?" Lissa asked.
Dimitri looked over towards Sydney in the distance. She was going and so were her father and sister.
"Maybe we should go. We could investigate some more."
Christian joined in.
"I can stay here. And you two can go with Lissa. I think two Guardians are better in the city and I can take care of myself."
Dimitri looked at me and we had a silent conversation. Dimitri and I might not share a bond like Lissa and I used to, but we still knew what the other one wanted. There were pro's and con's to this plan. But I had to agree. If we wanted to investigate and keep an eye on Mr Sage or some other people from the circus we could use both our skills. But we can't leave Lissa alone here. So the three of us would go.
It was actually a nice ride towards the city. Lissa was enthusiastically looking around. She had spent even less time outside the castle than me. I could tell she was loving the freedom.
I was kinda loving it too. I leaned against Dimitri and snuggled a little against his chest. He gently kissed the top of my head and rubbed the back of my hand with his. It was sunny, but Lissa was covered enough by the wagon's tarp. Dimitri and I had taken the spot next to her where the sun was coming through the back. It blocked the rest of the sun from Lissa and we could enjoy some of it.
I could see the city in the distance. There were big bulky gates protecting the city, But I could already see from the wagons going in and out of the city that the gates were open. There was a tower in the middle of the city and by the looks of it, it was a church.
I shivered again. I knew not all churches were connected to Witch hunters, but I don't think I would look at a church the same way again. Suddenly I wondered if this was such a good idea.
"No going back now, Roza. It will be fine. The city is very busy today. We will have no problem blending in or escaping in the chaos if we need to."
Leave it to Dimitri to have come up with plan B already. He probably had scouted a bit the last time he went for provisions. But it did make me feel better. If I had to pick between Dimitri winning or the Witch hunters, I would pick Dimitri every time.
The city was very busy. We were going to the market, but we had to go on foot. Someone stayed with the wagon and the horse while the rest of us went shopping. I noticed that Mr Sage stayed as far away from us as he could, like we had fleas. The moment the wagon was parked he and Zoey got off and walked off. Sydney looked over towards us offering us a silent apology.
"It is really busy today. I want both of you to stay close to me and even closer to each other." Dimitri warned. I nodded, grabbing Lissa's arm and entwining it with my own.
We wondered about the market a bit. Dimitri had picked up a few bits of groceries, but Lissa and I were looking at nicknacks. I had seen a lovely pair of boots and Lissa was currently looking at some jewelry.
That is until she saw the price. Lissa gravitated towards the fancier stuff, and normally the salesmen would love to have shown her every piece of jewelry they had. But now she didn't look like she could afford it. As a matter of fact, we can't afford it. We only had a small stash to last us a few months at best.
I pulled her away from the judging eyes of the salesman and to a little stand that had some more affordable stuff. This one had seashell bracelets and necklaces. They were pretty.
"Are we near an ocean?" Lissa asked.
I shrugged. I didn't really know how far we had traveled.
"No, Miss. The ocean is at least five days travels from here. But it is my home. I travel around trying to sell my merchandise and bring a little sea inland."
There was a sweet girl sitting on the other end of the stand, trying to sell her merchandise. They really were beautiful. I would love to see the ocean sometimes for real. Maybe if the circus moved again in a few weeks we could move closer to the sea.
"Oh this one is really pretty Rose. and I think a bracelet would work for you. Don't you. Oh or this one. Or maybe both. Oh and maybe some earrings for me."
I chuckled. These may be a lot cheaper but if she bought so many it would still add up. Lissa was not used to living on a budget.
"One, Liss, One for you and one for me. That is it."
She looked a little disappointed, but nodded.
"Is it always so busy here?" I asked the girl.
She shook her head. "No, there is a hanging today, that is why I came, people come to see the hanging and they stay and buy some of my goods. Hanging days make my whole week in terms of revenue."
Hanging? Great, just what we need.
"Oh God, that is horrible. People actually watch that?"
Geez Liss, can you sound more like a princess? Humans are fond of their violence. And there wasn't much else to watch.
"What are we talking about, murderers, thieves." I asked. They don't just hang everyone. Humans aren't that bad.
"Heretics and witches."
Shit.
"Condemned by the Witch hunters."
Shit Shit Shit.
"We need to find Dimitri, now." I whispered to Lissa. She was just finishing up the transaction. I grabbed our two seashell trinkets and I looked around.
I saw Dimitri standing only a couple people behind us. Watching us but not being creepy about it. The moment our eyes connected he strode towards me.
"What is it?"
He leaned in a little and I told him about the hangings.
"Shit."
My thoughts exactly.
"We should move back to the wagon and wait there." I told Dimitri. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And then he shook his head.
"We have to go and watch."
"What, are you crazy?" I nearly shouted.
"Quiet Rose. And no I am not crazy. If Witch hunters are in this city and hanging people, they will be watching the crowds. They will be watching to see how people will react. We have to muster up some mild interest at least. We can't be seen sympathising with the condemned."
Dammit. He was right.
"I have to watch someone die?" Lissa asked, shocked.
She practically had tears in her eyes already. I don't think Lissa had ever seen anyone die. There have been Guardians who died because of her in a fight against Strigoi. But she would have been far away from the scene when the actual killing was going on. The only real deaths she had seen were her parents and brother.
"It is okay. Hangings aren't bloody." Lissa looked at me funny. I don't think it was the blood she was afraid of.
"Let's find Sydney and the others."
By the time we had tracked down Sydney, a crowd had gathered. I saw a small platform in the middle. They were putting the finishing touches on it.
"If we leave now they would think it is suspicious." Sydney said. She had made the same calculation as Dimitri had. We couldn't leave.
"We know. We will have to stay and watch and blend into the crowd."
Sydney looked over at her father and some of the other people from the circus. Zoey came up to us.
"I don't want to do this, Sydney. I can't." Sydney grabbed the shoulders of her sister.
"You just have to watch in that direction, you can watch the sky above, it will be fine."
"Why can't we just leave now. We haven't done anything wrong." Sydney looked over to her father. And I think she knew, he did do something wrong. At least in the eyes of the Witch hunters. Interesting.
"We haven't, but they don't know that." She hugged her sister, holding her close.
Dimitri walked up to Zoey once Sydney had let her go. He handed her a couple of coins.
"When the people are being led onto the platform go towards that stand with the seashell jewelry. You can pick something out instead of looking. Nobody would think twice about a young girl being more concerned with jewelry than heretics."
Zoey hesitated taking the coins. It was like she was recoiling even being close to him. But in the end she took the coins and left towards their father. Sydney followed her but turned towards Dimitri and mouthed a thank you. He nodded in return.
"So can I do the same?" I joked.
He shook his head as he touched the seashell bracelet, taking the opportunity to stroke my hand.
"You might have, if you hadn't already purchased something. Besides, I think we need to look. Remember as many faces and attributes of the Witch hunters we can, so we know who to look out for. I am sure they have spies here in the city. We can take this opportunity to get ahead of the Witch hunters."
I nodded, determined to do just that. Lissa grabbed my hand.
"I'll try to keep an eye on aura's to see which ones look out of the ordinary. It might give us a clue about their accomplices."
She squeezed my hands. I was glad I had a brave friend. She was the one being hunted after all.
So there was nothing we could do but watch. It wasn't long before the platform was completed by three nooses being tied around the overhanging piece of wood. The crowd was gathering knowing it won't be long now. We were amongst the crowd somewhere in the middle. Because the platform was raised I could see everything clearly though.
We didn't see the heretics approach but we heard the boos coming from the crowd. I could even see someone throw a rotten piece of fruit towards one of the heretics. Only when they stepped onto the platform was I able to get a good look at them.
It wasn't what I expected. Somehow I hadn't expected them to be so...normal. There were five of them, so I suppose they would have to die in shifts. They were eyeing the nooses, knowing exactly what was to come. One of them looked terrified. He was shaking, another was crying. There weren't any Moroi or Dhampir amongst them. I was grateful for that. Lissa would have never allowed them to die and we would have had to fight. Not that this was much better. I wonder if any of them was actually a Witchor had some experience with the occult.
I looked them over again. There was one of them that stood out to me. She was looking straight ahead. She didn't seem afraid. Or at least she wasn't giving people the satisfaction to see her afraid. She was looking into the crowd and her eyes landed on the Sage clan. There was something that flashed across her eyes.
I looked towards Dimitri. He noticed too... She recognized them.
"Liss. keep an eye on that girl. She seemed to know people from the circus. Specifically Mr Sage."
She nodded and then lost the focus in her eyes. I knew she was reading aura's.
There were a couple of Witch hunters on the platform as well. One seemed to be in charge. He was reading all their 'crimes' from a piece of paper.
But he was obvious. I needed to look for the less obvious ones. They would be on the edge of the crowd, maybe inside the crowd? While we were watching the people on the platform, who was watching us? I scanned the crowd and I came up with a couple of possibilities. They all looked pretty normal. There was no unifying trait on them, no badge they belonged to the Witch hunters, sadly. But I committed their faces to memory. In this case it was better to be safe than sorry.
After the guy on stage, who did have a shirt with hunters emblems on, finished reading their transgression against nature as they called it, three of them were led towards the ropes. One went kicking and screaming, the other two relatively quiet. There was no point in fighting now.
I knew it was coming, but when one of the Witch hunters pulled the lever that released the floor and they swayed in the ropes it still startled me a bit. Lissa actually made a little noise. It was fine, I could hear similar noises coming from the crowd.
With our Dhampir hearing I could hear the neck of one crack. He was dead in an instance. The sudden drop of the nose was too much for his neck to handle. He was hanging at an odd angle now. But I realized this was the preferred option. The other two look a while to die. Even over the sounds of the crowd, Dimitri, Lissa and I could hear their strangled breaths. It took a couple of minutes before the gurgling sounds stopped from both of them. It wasn't a pleasant way to go.
They removed the bodies from the nose and threw them in a wheelbarrow. I wondered if they would get a decent burial.
The last two were led towards the ropes. The girl was amongst them. I looked towards the people from the circus. We had come with a couple of different people. But she only seemed to recognize Sage. He was staring her down. She kept her gaze locked onto him as she stepped into the nose.
Lissa squeezed my hands to draw my attention. "Mr Sages aura is changing. I don't recognize the color though."
That was strange. Lissa had at least a basic understanding of all emotions.
Mr Sages mouth was moving, it looked like he was saying something. Small almost unnoticed movements. He seemed to be repeating whatever he was saying.
That feeling started to creep into me again. That cold feeling that settled in the pit of my stomach. Dimitri looked my way and I knew he felt it too. But now it was undiluted. I started to shiver. Lissa squeezed my hands.
"I am alright." I said through gritted teeth. "Can you tell me where it is coming from?"
She looked from the girl to Mr Sage.
The girl stepped into the noose and when hers and her neighbors were secure, the platforms gave way again. The cold feeling intensified for a moment before it released. I couldn't help noticing it released the moment the girl's body hung lifelessly in the ropes, while her neighbor was still struggling in the ropes.
"There was a flash in his aura before it died out to more normal colors. It was like… the colors from the girl transferred to him."
Dimitri and I looked at each other. We had confirmed it. Mr Sage was the source of the cold feeling we had been feeling. Did that mean he had taken the girls to? Did that mean that Sydney had something to do with this? Were we even safe at the circus?
Where had Abe sent us?