“Ísábella and I will set that up with her and any others that are willing to assist with the teaching and training of our forces.”
“Of course, we will, Galen. I’ve told Shane that I will assist in any way that I can,” Ísábella affirmed.
“Then I will begin my recruitment and I will leave the rest of this in Shane’s hands. I am his advisor on the orders of the Empress and will be reachable no matter where I must go to find more to fight in this coming war.”
“We are happy to have you both help us better our abilities to serve the true ruler of all Ilysia.”
Ísábella was putting on an act and Shane knew it well. He knew her better. She had not remained this grateful about their appearance, especially since leadership was taken from her. Their joining of the Empress’s forces took power from her. She was not his enemy but she certainly would double cross him if it meant she had something to gain from it. He was going to have to watch her closer than anyone, simply because her drive and ambition to gain for herself seemed stronger than the others’ need to run away.
“Good because from now on we will meet here daily. Training starts tomorrow,” Shane proclaimed with a slight grin.
“I look forward to this,” Ísábella declared as she stepped to his left side and turned towards the others. “Líssi, do you have nothing to say?”
“This is still all new to her, Ísábella,” Julíus snapped before Líssi could try to respond.
“She can speak for herself and you have spoken out of turn far too much today!”
Shane had to fight the urge to snicker. Ísábella was showing the side he had longed to see of her. She had yelled at Julíus without hesitation. It was obvious that she did not expect respect, she demanded it. He was very much going to be the same way. If he had to be a tyrant to turn them into what they needed to be for the things that approaching fight, then that is exactly what he would do. Ísábella would help him lead but she would not be the leader again. He was rewarded with this post and he would never return it to her.
“This is all very new to me, Ísábella. I’m still learning how to use and control my powers,” Líssi quietly answered.
She was more timid than Dalía but seemed to cling to Julíus from what he could tell. If Julíus could be brought to heel, then he was certain Líssi would follow.
“Don’t worry about that,” he advised her with the most comforting tone he could muster. “There is always something to be learned.”
“Listen to him, Líssi. He’s proving already that he’s going to be a wonderful leader,” Ísábella said in an assuring manner.
Shane could not control the smile that formed on his lips at Ísábella’s words. She was admitting outwardly that he was capable of leading them well. Perhaps this was the start of her accepting her new fate or it was just her way of acting the way she needed to be seen in front of others. Ísábella would not be so remitting in their private meetings. He knew he could never underestimate her and hoped she knew to not do the same with him. From now on this group was under his control. They would flourish into some of the best soldiers in the army of the Empress under his leadership. He was more than prepared to do all he had to and more to succeed. This was his mission now.
Ísábella had given Dalía two days to bring Nóra back to their home. She already felt like she had given the insolent girl too much time away to the point she had seemingly abandoned them. Anger was not the best way to describe how she felt regarding Nóra because she was beyond that point now. If the girl was not with her sister when the rest of them came in from school, there was going to be hell to pay. Shane may be their leader in the eyes of the Empress but this group was always going to answer to her first.
She sat at the kitchen table seething as she waited. They would be arriving soon and her temper was already flaring. Rafe was upstairs putting their daughter down for a nap so they would only have to explain things to her. She felt that he was much too soft on them. They were never going to learn with the way Rafe coddled them all. Ísábella was not about to baby a group of teenagers that were practically adults. They were all old enough to know better and be treated as adults, which was exactly the way she was going to handle them.
She looked towards the door, remaining in her seat when she heard it open. Julíus entered with Dalía and Líssi following behind. She should not have been surprised at Nóra’s absence. She had hoped the girl would listen to reason but apparently this was proof that she would not. Anger, fury, and rage filled her as the three teens stood there looking at her after closing the door behind them.
“Dalía, I thought I gave you specific instructions to bring Nóra here,” she drawled as the anger she was feeling seeped into her voice.
“I can’t bring her here when I don’t know where she is,” Dalía responded quickly.
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s gone, Ísábella, I don’t know where.”
Ísábella felt instantly enraged. Had her serene little sister known this? She stood to her feet and walked towards Dalía. Julíus and Líssi were giving her looks of confusion, making it clear that if Dalía had prior knowledge of Nóra being gone that they did not.
“How long have you known?” Ísábella questioned her sister angrily.
“About a week,” Dalía quietly admitted.
She turned towards the other two before responding to her sister. She needed to know if they were clueless or acting that way.
“Did the two of you know this?” she asked furiously.
“I didn’t,” Julíus answered.
“Líssi?”
“I knew nothing, Ísábella,” the girl replied, as she moved to stand behind Julíus.
“Both of you, upstairs now!” she commanded with a shout.
“Ísábella, come on now. Leave Dalía alone about this. It’s not her fault!” Julíus asserted as he tried to push both girls behind him.
“Don’t try to act like a little hero, Julíus. Go upstairs now and take Líssi with you before I start to think you’re lying to me!”
Her voice echoed against the walls. Her rage had amplified it to where she sounded much larger than she was. She kept her eyes locked onto Julíus furiously. He only remained defiant for another moment before taking Líssi by the hand and walking towards the stairs. She turned and watched them until they completely disappeared from her sight before turning back to her sister. Dalía, sweet little Dalía had lied to her. She had taken care of her since their parents were killed and it was always evident that her sister would always be docile. Ísábella was done with allowing that. It was time her sister became stronger. She had to learn because she had gotten away with her weakness for far too long.
“Ísábella, I’m sorry,” Dalía meekly spoke aloud to break the silence.
“Don’t say you’re sorry when you lied to me!” Ísábella yelled in response.
“I didn’t lie!”
“But you also didn’t tell me! That’s no different from lying, Dalía!”
“How was I supposed to just say that Nóra ran away?”
“Just like that! Say that she ran away! Don’t avoid talking about it so you don’t have to admit that you’ve known she abandoned her duty to this family and the Empress.”
Ísábella could see tears start to form in her sister’s eyes. Just the sight of that look in Dalía’s eyes was igniting her temper further. If there was one thing she despised it was weakness. Dalía was going to learn so this never happened again.
“Don’t you dare cry,” she advised. “I’m already livid, Dalía.”
“I’m not the one that left!” Dalía exclaimed as a tear started to roll down her cheek.
“And you should have told me as soon as you found out!”
“Her mother doesn’t even know where she went, Ísábella!”
“I don’t care! Her mother isn’t the one who made a vow to us and the Empress!”
She kept her eyes tightly locked on Dalía. The pathetic girl was
crying. Ísábella took a deep breath but nothing could calm her at this point. Her sister looked at her and seemed to quiver in fear. She bit her lip to hold back yelling at her more and instead slapped her hard across the face. Dalía cried out in pain as Ísábella heard footsteps behind her.
“Why the hell did you hit her, Ísábella?” Rafe asked angrily as he came to her sister’s side.
“She is going to learn to not lie to me again,” Ísábella responded furiously. “Dalía, I will be sure that vengeance is had on Nóra for her betrayal. Now get out of my sight! I don’t want to see your pathetic face for the rest of the day.”
Rafe stood directly in front of her, his eyes darkened with anger. She did not back down as she heard Dalía scurry away and up the stairs. Ísábella would stand toe to toe with Rafe on anything knowing he would never lose his temper with her, not after everything his father did to his mother. No, Rafe, was too noble and sweet to ever lay a hand on her.
“You should not have done that, Ísábella!” he practically shouted at her.
“It is not up to you how I handle things with my sister, Rafe,” she declared. “She kept something from me that we all needed to know.”
He let out an angry sigh. He should know her better than to think she would admit that what she did was wrong. She did what she had to do and what she felt was necessary.
“About Nóra?” he questioned.
“Yes, about Nóra,” she affirmed.
“That doesn’t mean it’s ok to hit her!”
“Let it go, Rafe! I’m not going to apologize. Dalía has to stop being so weak and she will learn. I’m sick of being disappointed by her.”
“You know how I feel about those things, Ísábella! My father did that to my mother, my sister, Julíus, and me! I will not stand for it in my house!”
Ísábella was taken aback. Rafe had never shouted at her before. Maybe he was not as filled with shortcomings as she had always believed. If only she could bring this out of him in other ways, then he would serve their cause better.
“Fine,” she spat at him. “It won’t happen again in this house but I make no promises outside of it. And, I’m not going to apologize.”
“That’s better than I expected from you,” he remarked.
“Just remember, Rafe, that I’m only agreeing to never again in this house for you.”
“I don’t forget the things you do just for me.”
“It’s because I love you.”
She gave him a slight smile through her fury. Her anger had not calmed but Rafe was a man that needed reassurance. She could not afford to lose him. He was too valuable of an asset for her to use to build the future she wants. Ísábella was a determined woman and she was willing to do whatever it took to not fail her future again.
Chapter Eighteen
Olívia was laying on the large bed in the Moore home with her sister snoring beside her. This was not how she expected them to be reunited but she was still grateful it happened. Katie finding her had been the best thing that had happened to her since she got accepted to the Berdenheim Arts Academy. What made it better was she got Nóra back. Both of their lives were changing in a lot of unexpected ways. It had only been a couple of days since they had brought her sister here from Moserovo. In that time, she had managed to get Nóra to start telling her about the people that she had practically been living with and some of what her sister had told her was frightening. It made her all the more indebted to Katie for helping her rescue her sister.
The sun was starting to shine in through the windows of the room as she sat up and hopped out of the bed. It actually was feeling warm to her again and she knew that was because she would not have to live far away from her sister again. Being twins, it made it so much harder to have been apart for the last three years. She smiled at the thought of not having to fight to send a letter or call again. They would never have to be separated again.
She quietly started pulling clothes out of the dresser when the room went silent. It was an indicator that Nóra would be waking up soon. It made her curious if they were going to spend more time with Katie and her family today. They had met their younger children, two beautiful and energetic little girls named Anní and Camí, but had yet to meet their older daughter. Katie and her husband, James, had shared with them about recently losing their son and how it was affecting Addí the most. The girl was practically a ghost to both her and Nóra. Olívia could understand it had to be devastating and was grateful that she did not know how it felt.
She turned and looked behind her when she heard Nóra yawn. Her sister was sitting up in the bed with her bright ginger hair looking as if it had been slept in by rats. She giggled slightly and Nóra furrowed her eyebrows at her. It felt really good to be able to experience the little things again.
“You don’t wake up looking perfect either,” Nóra said before yawning again.
“I don’t but it’s nice to laugh at how silly your hair looks again,” Olívia responded.
“But what if they come looking for me?”
“Nóri, it’s too early to get that serious! Besides, I believe this family will keep us safe. They’ve been nothing but kind to us.”
“I know and I was brought here from Moserovo without a second thought.”
“Then stop your worrying!”
“Alright, Lívi. I will.”
“Now get your sleepyhead out of the bed and get ready for the day. James was talking about teaching us some things today.”
“Do you think we will finally meet Addí?”
“I don’t know. She barely leaves her room and I can’t blame her.”
“I can’t either. I would be the same if something happened to you.”
“I would too, but that’s not anything I actually want to think about.”
“Me either.”
She gave Nóra a smile as she picked out a simple, navy long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. She had to be able to move just in case they did end up doing any kind of training today. Nóra sleepily walked up beside her and began to rummage through her own clothes. Olívia had to stifle a giggle at how some things did not change. Her sister was still messy. She got dressed quickly then looked for her tennis shoes. Nóra had pulled on an almost emerald colored top with a pair of dark jeans. They were perfect opposites in so many ways. She imagined if they had been identical, those differences would be the only way anyone would tell them apart. Luckily, they were as different in appearance as they were in personality for which they were both grateful. It kept all the twin comparisons at bay.
After putting on and tying her shoes, she looked over to see if Nóra was dressed yet to see her sister’s hair was still a wreck but she had just finished lacing up her combat boots. While her sister was finishing getting ready, she carefully brushed her platinum hair back and twisted it into a bun. It was going to be better to have it secure and out of the way.
“Do you want me to do something with that mop you call hair?” she asked her sister with a giggle.
Nóra’s instant response was to stick her tongue out at her before starting to laugh. Whatever gods existed, she owed them daily thanks for Katie finding her.
“I can fix it, Lívi,” Nóra laughed. “I’m just not as good as you are at it.”
Olívia could only respond to her sister with a laugh. James and Katie Moore had renewed their hope in all things by taking them in. It did mean that both she and Nóra would soon be going to Ilysia to fight a war that she did not know was brewing until a few days ago. This was not a path she was against following, especially not after learning that Nóra had been taken in by those that serve the Dark Empress. She knew they would never have true freedom in Corinthia. She had already been preparing to fight to not be sent back to Rutania when she finished school. Now she could move to a whole new world that could be freer than they ever could in this one. It was an opportunity she was not afraid to take and a path she was more than willing to follow because Ilysia was where they truly belonged.
He had made sure that both of the Pálko sisters were welcomed by everyone that was in their home and close to it. The only one who had yet to meet them was Addí and he was not about to force that upon her. His eldest daughter was going through far too much emotionally to welcome anyone new into her life. It had only been days since they had a private wake at home and sent Zak’s body with John to Ilysia for burial. She had barely spoken then and from what little he had seen of her that was just how she had become in her grief. It worried him but he knew that he could not force her through this process. She had to go through each stage when she was ready, not when anyone felt she should.
Katie was in the kitchen making sure everyone had breakfast when he left to start preparing for the next step with the sisters, who were now a part of his home. He had promised them that he would train them. Nóra was quick to reveal she had some training with her abilities and had some knowledge of Ilysia. He was hoping today that he could get her to reveal some more information regarding her previous associations in Moserovo. Any information would help him be able to work with Robert and John regarding who reports to the Empress. As well as help reveal who could possibly be responsible for Zak’s murder. He had yet to tell Katie his suspicion about Galen and Shane Richards, much less his conclusions about the true heritage of their eldest children. She was grieving but refused to let it stop her from doing anything she needed to do; the Elf in her helping to keep her emotions inwards. She knew as well as he did, they had a lot to do in what could be very little time. The events that took their son’s life only proved that war was closer than they had anticipated.
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