Chapter 3: A Step too Far?
Kel awoke in a foreign bed. Then she realized that at the moment, any bed would most likely seem foreign. She remembered the tavern, the blood, but more importantly, she remembered her complete and total loss of memory.
How strange, she mused, that she knew nothing of any real value about herself. It seemed like no one was giving her any useful information. She had a feeling that for some reason, this was their intent. She felt like there was much more to her story than anyone was willing to disclose.
Kel remembered what she had been told, but based on what had been written on her body, she had some doubts. She knew that no matter what was going on, she had to play along for the time being; she needed more information. Kel felt that even though she didn't necessarily feel comfortable with basically being a sitting duck, accepting help from an enemy, she had very little choice in the matter.
So, Kel did what she had to, she got up and washed her face. She couldn't help but look at herself in the mirror again. She looked slightly better than before. Her face seemed to have a bit more color.
She wasn't that awful looking really, she thought. It could be worse, after all, she could have had a hooked nose or a harelip.
Over all, Kel was satisfied with her reflection.
She walked over to the trunk and pulled out one of the dresses that it contained. The dress was a faded brown color, and made of coarse material. She didn't feel like wearing such a thing was natural, but she supposed that it was the type of thing that a poor barmaid would wear. But at this point she was starting to feel like she had never been a poor barmaid at all, so feelings about such things didn't particularly matter.
Kel put the dress on and only one word came to mind, restricting. Now that she had more time to analyze her feelings, she felt like a dress, especially this dress was all wrong.
She tied her hair back with a strip of clothe that had been in the trunk and took a deep breath to steady herself and forced herself to open her door. It slid open with a wretched creaking noise that made her wince slightly. She hadn't noticed it before.
Kel doubted that anyone had heard the sound but her, for when she had stepped out the door, she became aware of loud, boisterous voices from the main room of the tavern. She vaguely wondered what time it was. In fact, it occurred to Kel that she hadn't had any idea of what time it was since before she came here. She could only assume that now it was some time later in the evening for the place to be this busy.
She felt a bit awkward as she slowly ventured down the hall towards the main room where she had been hours earlier. When she reached the end of the hall, she found the room much different than when she had last been there. The room was packed. It was full of men, and the occasional barmaid. There were also some other women there, she blushed at their state of dress, which easily implied their profession.
"Eh Lass! What can I do ya for?" A large man at the bar called to her.
"Oh...um I'm fine." She attempted to move away from him, but he would not be put off so easily.
"Nonsense! Ya look a bit peaky. I'll get ya some food."
Kel really didin't have tome to protest before had handed her a bowl of what seemed to be stew.
"Thank you." She gave him a small smile.
He gave her a wink and returned to his customers.
"Eh! Lil," someone shouted from across the room. Her head jerked towards the speaker. It was Charlie. "what ar' ya doin' up, girl? Ya' should be restin'" Kel was startled by how he almost sounded angry.
She became nervous when he grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her back down the hall towards her room. He pushed her in and then followed her, closing the door quickly behind him.
Kel looked up at him with wide, startled eyes. He turned to face her again and when he saw the look of fear and shock on her face, his own eyes widened slightly. He looked between her and the door and fully realized the spectacle he had just made. It was quite possible that no one had seen it but that didn't matter so much as the trust he had just possible lost with the girl. The boss would not be happy. He scrambled to come up with a reasonable explanation for his actions.
The truth was that he was chosen for this part of the operation because for everything to go according to plan, Keladry must be put into such a setting where she could become familiar with her life. Well, really the life constructed for her by The Shadows. How perfect for them to have her without past emotions or loyalties. They would have a spy that would remain faithful only to them and that did not remember past experiences, which in the end would only hold her back. Kel would be the perfect weapon for their cause.
The fact was that Charlie knew very little about the operation at all. His only objective was to introduce her to her 'old life', before she lost her memory during a bar fight, where she had been hit just a little too hard in the head.
Edward was his accomplice in a way. He was higher up on the organization, but seeing that he was not back yet, Charlie wasn't entirely sure what to do.
"I was just worried that ya might get hurt again Lil," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "sorry if I startled ya." He said apologetically.
Kel could think of very little to say and nodded. She seemed to be very nonverbal lately.
"So just stay here, and later we can talk." Charlie reasoned, adopting a soothing tone. "Now, are ya going to be all right until then?" he asked.
Once again, she nodded. Kel didn't trust him. He left the room then, and closed the door firmly behind him.
Kel collapsed onto her bed. If it was possible, she felt even less safe now in her surroundings than before.
She drank some water from the pitcher in her room in an attempt to calm herself. Charlie had told her to rest, but she didn't feel like resting, once again she felt an almost overwhelming sense of tiredness.
The feeling was beginning to seem very strange. She didn't understadn why she still felt so tired. Honestly, she hadn't done anything, but she still felt like she could easilhy take a nap.
Edward moved quickly towards the tavern, passing through the familiar city with ease. He had been given the sign for action. He was to start the more elaborate part of the project now. He knew it had to be done, but he wished that he didn't have to be the one to do it.
Edward had joined The Shadows because he wanted change. He had experienced firsthand what the hierarchy of this society could do to people and he knew from a young age that he would do everything in his power to destroy the monarchy.
The Shadows had found him on the streets of this very city when he was only ten years old. They had taken him in, and fed him, trained him, and he owed them for it.
But Edward felt that this was somehow wrong. He wanted to ruin the king, but erasing the memory of a girl and using her as a weapon against her friends and family was cruel.
He had made a pledge when he had been initiated that he would do whatever it took to take down the king, but he felt like this was a step too far. He would do it though, if not because of his own convictions, but for the people.
Edward knew that using Keladry of Mindelan as a weapon would be effective, and as much as he hated it, it was for the greater good.
Before he knew it, he had reached the tavern and entered with distaste, it was not his type of place to put it lightly. He saw Charlie cleaning up at one of the tables.
Edward wasted no time, and whispered to Charlie, "The time to act is now. I have been given the orders."
Charlie looked at him with thinly veiled excitement, "She 'ill be leaven' soon then?" he questioned Ed carefully.
Edward rolled his eyes, "Yes, she will be leaving with me in a few hours time if everything goes to plan and you will be able to get back to being a full time bar owner and part time drunk." Charlie seemed to get even more excited.
"She leaves that soon."
"Yes, she does. Now don't say anything, just play along, let me handle it, this is a very delicate situation." He notice Charlie shift with slight unease as he said this and glared. "I trust that you haven't done anything too incredibly stupid since I was last here I trust." It was more of an affirmation than a question.
Charlie fumbled with a filthy cleaning rag as he avoided Ed's gaze, "Well, maybe I scared 'er a little bit earlier. I was jus-"
Edward cut him off, "Save it. On second thought, why don't you just stay out here?"
He briskly made his way to the girl's room. "I guess I have to just do everything for myself." He mumbled angrily to himself.
Kel had remained in her room all night after the incident with Charlie. She knew that there was nothing she could do but wait.
She heard footsteps moving down the hallway, the tapping getting louder and louder, until it stopped, at her door. The person knocked, she wasn't just going to let them in.
"Who is it?" Kel questioned. She heard a slightly exasperated sigh from outside.
"It's Edward, may I come in?"
"Yes." Kel swallowed and got up from the bed where she had been lying staring at the ceiling for the majority of the night. The door creaked and Ed entered, leaving the door open behind him.
Edward regarded her for a moment, "Would you like to sit down?" She looked at him curiously, almost replying that she had been sitting down for hours. But Kel complied with his suggestion sitting down in the chair by her mirror.
He took a few uneasy paces before her and then turned and met her confused gaze. "Lil, I have something that I need to tell you."
"Before your accident," he said this rather uneasily, "you had agreed to join a certain organization. Do you remember anything about it?" He knew full well that she wouldn't but thought it would be best to ask the question anyways.
Kel shook her head no. He continued, "Well, the organization is called the Shadows. It is an organization that is fighting the corruption of Tortall. That is to say, that The Shadows are trying to destroy the monarchy of this country because they are evil and causing pain to the people." He watched Kel for any sign of recognition, and when he saw none he continued.
"You had agreed a few night s ago, to become a spy for The Shadows and an agent. Your conduction into the organization is tonight and I was wondering if you would still be willing to join. So, would you?"
Kel shifted uneasily in her chair. She didn't know if joining was such a good idea, but she had a feeling that no matter what she said in response, Edward would cajole her into it anyways. She had so many questions. He wasn't telling her anything but the basics, what he had told her had been practically useless. She knew nothing about the monarchy that he was speaking out against. For all she knew, The Shadows were the enemy, not the monarchy. But she had a feeling that joining this group might help her in the long run to help her learn more about herself.
To Kel, self knowledge was what she wanted most. She wanted to know her true name, her heritage, her family. Kel wanted to know as much about her true life as she could and hopefully became one of The Shadows would help.
"I'll do it." She told Ed, "Where do I go?"
"Come with me. As you might have guessed, I'm a member as well. I have already informed them of your…unusual circumstances."
Kel couldn't help but wonder who this 'them' was, but there was only one way to find out. So when Edward got up and walked out of the room, Kel followed, not knowing what lie ahead of her, but knowing that she could not remain at the tavern without answers.