silverchain.

chapter fourteen: concerns left unresolved; or, why not to offend an Adept

"Dad."

Karis, panting slightly, grabbed her father by the shoulder. Ivan looked at her with a kind but intense gaze, his mouth set in a firm line. "I need to speak to Jenna, Karis. I will talk to you in a minute."

"No." Her tone was not angry, but deadly quiet, and as he met her eyes, he realized resistance was pointless. Ivan relaxed slightly, slid down the wall to sit comfortably on the ground, and motioned for her to do so. His daughter followed his lead, but her eyes never left his.

"Is there something wrong?" Ivan asked gently.

Fiercely, she replied, "Yes, there is. Why did you leave? What do you have against Amiti?" Unconsciously, the young woman traced geometric shapes in the dust at her feet.

"Where is Amiti?" His tone indicated that the young king's absence was inconsequential, but had gone unnoticed. A crow cawed in the distance. Her mouth tightened.

"He's gone." Karis's voice was robotic, mechanical; even Ivan, knowing her as well as he did, had difficulty detecting emotion in her words. The emotion was there, he knew, and his heart pained for the one he cared for the most in this world. Still, he was not a pushover, and kept his own countenance unemotional but receptive.

"I'm sorry," her father said, honestly meaning it. Discoveries about the boy's paternity and worries about his character aside, Ivan recognized how deeply Karis cared for the Mercury Adept. Seeing his only child, the only blood relative save Hama left to him, in such pain was nigh unbearable. She appeared unmoved at his sentiment, however.

"Why did you leave?" she repeated, eyes dark and stormy, looking so like his deceased wife that Ivan wasn't sure whether to smile or sob at the resemblance. Still, he knew that he could not give in to the temptation of allowing her to know all until he had a chance to discuss the situation with the older generation of Adepts.

Trying his hardest to express his emotions, he softly answered, "I cannot tell you right now, Karis."

Eyes welling up with anger, she growled, "I need to know. You have to tell me! I know it has something to do with Amiti...doesn't it?"

Ivan was not sure whether or not his face betrayed the whirlpooling emotions and thoughts brewing inside him, but he calmly said, "I cannot tell you that either, Karis."

Obviously threatening tears, his daughter sniffled for a second before hardening her eyes again. "Where did you go, Dad?"

"Why did Amiti leave?" he countered, feeling a sudden rush of suspicion.

"Why should I tell you?" Karis sounded near hysterics. Feeling his fatherly instincts overpowering his reason, Ivan reached out an arm to draw her closer. To his surprise, she did not resist, but neither did she lean into him further. Her skin was feverish.

"Have you been sleeping, Karis?" he asked, suddenly worried for her physical health. She nodded, still sniffling. Deep within her heart, a notion that she had repeatedly buried reared its tempting head, and she realized that now, when Ivan was at his most vulnerable, would be the time to execute it.

Swallowing, she murmured, "I'm sorry, Daddy." He looked confused for a moment before falling into a stupor. The slight loss of power threw her for a second, but she soon recovered her spiritual balance, and sought within her for the power that a still novice mind reader would require.

Finding such power, she began to concentrate it in her hands, and, in a motion seemingly instinctual and more natural that breathing, she touched her hands to her father's forehead, and discovered herself once more wading through thoughts.

However, Ivan's mind, while much more categorized and logical inside than Matthew's, was also more crowded and, at the moment, turbulent. The gusts of emotion nearly overcame her as she dove deeper into the layers of thought, but determination was on her side. A memory floated near, and Karis somehow knew that this was the knowledge she craved.

"Why such secrecy?"

A flash of blue, a cloak rustling. The sounds were familiar to her strained ears...or rather, she realized with a start, his. Was such a thing possible? The memory was jumbled, and yet...

"What is your purpose in coming here..."

That voice...oh, let me see! Why can't I see? A cave, deep...dark, yes, definitely a cave, but...

"Ivan?"

She felt dizzy, and felt herself in some way reply, but her words were muddled. Karis...Ivan...couldn't understand himself, but it seemed as though the stranger, whose face was still blurry in the mind, understood.

"Alex," s(he) pronounced finally, and—

Flung against a wall, Karis's head burned with pain. Her eyes were swimming, but she could make out through them the furious expression on her father's face. Still, her feelings overpowered his.

"Why...whytheh...why would you go to...Alex?" she choked out.

"Why would you invade my privacy, Karis? How did you even learn how to do that? I swore I would never teach you...we all thought that it was a blessing that you weren't born with the gift..." Evidently at a loss, he sunk once more to the ground.

"Nobody taught me. I thought...the way Sveta uses it, it didn't seem to be a bad thing..." Guilt began to overwhelm her, but she forced herself to remember what Ivan had done. The betrayal, in her eyes, that he had committed.

"I thought I raised you better than that," he said coldly.

Nearly spitting with rage, she exclaimed, "Why is it always about you and what you should have done or could have done? I'm my own person, I can make my own mistakes, and I don't think this was one of them! Who knows what else you're hiding from me. I bet that's why you didn't want me to learn Mind Read, you thought that you could hide things away from me forever. I'm done taking this from you."

"I wanted to protect you!" Ivan almost shouted back, realizing for the first time that tears were streaming down his cheeks. Suddenly reminded of his childhood, he wiped them away angrily.

"From what? You sent me off into the world, facing death and torment and monsters and..."

"I didn't know that you would be in danger, it was just a simple quest!"

"Oh, so it's my fault that the Grave Eclipse ruined your plans!" she snapped.

"I never said that," her father replied testily.

"How long were you going to keep it from me that you went to see Alex?" Karis demanded, eyes burning.

Ivan paused. "Only until I discussed it with Jenna, Isaac, and Garet."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Solemnly, he met her eyes. "I am, love." It was very rare for Ivan to use such terms, but the word slipped through his lips without consideration. His daughter looked surprised at the affection, but her anger did not appear to lessen.

After a minute, Karis relaxed slightly. "You still won't tell me why, will you?" she asked in a tone more sad than vengeful. His heart lifted slightly.

"No," Ivan told her gently, and his daugher looked resigned. "I need to speak to the rest before I make an even bigger mess of everything. Karis...dear...I'm sorry. You have my full apologies."

"I'm sorry too," she muttered. Father and daughter embraced, but Karis pulled away quickly. Gesturing, she said in a lighter tone, "Go on and tell them what happened. I want to know as soon as possible!"