Kaina exchanged a glance with Tristan and said, “I suppose I'll just do that, then. Do you have any slips of paper?”
“Aye,” the boy said as he patted the pouch on his pocket. “You need three, right? What would you like to write on them?”
“Erm...nothing. I'd like them to be blank,” Kaina replied.
A moment later, when the pigeon boy stared at her with his eyes practically crossed, Kaina realized exactly how ridiculous her request sounded.
The boy cleared his throat, then said, “Just so I heard right, you want me to send three white doves in random directions throughout the city with blank slips of paper tied to their legs...and you're payin' me to do it?”
An awkward smile appeared on Kaina's face as she said, “Yes, please.”
The boy nodded and said, “That'll be six gold pieces.”
Kaina fished the gold out of her pocket and handed them to the confused young man, who then turned to his coup to carry out the odd request.
Kaina and Tristan turned back to the square just as the pigeon boy reached into the coup and grabbed the first dove, the latter caught up to the former and said, “Well we've completed that pointless first task. What's next?”
“Next I have to wait by the fountain in the town square for a sign for further instructions.”
“What kind of sign?”
“I don't know, but Aldis told me I would know it when I saw it.”
Tristan furrowed his brow. “I don't know about this, Kaina. Why the doves? And why the blank paper? It all seems so...strange.”
Kaina met his gaze and replied, “Aldis is the one person I would trust him with my life. He would never steer me wrong.”
Tristan's expression softened. “If you say so. I'll wait near one of the merchant carts in case there's any trouble. Whatever you do, don't go off on your own or with anyone you don't know.”
Kaina glared at him and said, “I'm not an idiot.”
“Just making sure,” Tristan replied as he turned around and made his way to produce cart.
Kaina simply shook her head and made her way to the fountain to await whatever sign Melchior would send her way.
An hour passed since Kaina sent the doves, but she saw no sign of anyone or anything that could even resemble something to do with a wizard. Out of instinct, she kept patting her pouch to ensure the book was still inside, and once she felt the encrusted gem through the leather pouch, she rested her chin back in her hand and waited some more.
Out the corner of her eye, Kaina could still see Tristan standing guard by the produce cart, and when she turned her attention back to him, she couldn't help but smirk at how suspicious he looked just watching the crowd with a hand gripped on his sword. He soon noticed her amused expression and countered with an odd look, at which point her cheeks flushed and she jerked her head in another direction.
Just when Kaina began to consider leaving, she felt someone sit beside her. She turned to see who it was, but the second she moved, a man's voice said, “Don't look. Don't speak. Just listen.”
A chill crept over Kaina's skin. She glanced briefly at Tristan, who understood and matched her demeanor.
“I received your message,” the man said, “and I know you have the book.”
Kaina tried to get a look at the man through the corner of her eye, but his face was concealed by a dark, hooded cloak.
“Follow me and keep close,” the hooded man said. “I'll bring you to a place where we can discuss the book in private.”
Kaina didn't move. “Who are you?”
“Who do you think I am?” the man said. “I'm Melchior.”
Kaina's blood ran cold. She shot up from her seat and turned to face the man, who kept his gaze pointed towards the ground.
“You're lying,” Kaina said. “You are not Melchior.”
Kaina could see the figure beneath the cloak tense up upon hearing her words, and she knew then and there her accusation had hit its mark.
“What are you talking about?” the impostor stammered. “Of course I'm Melchior!”
Kaina drew her lips so tight she thought they would bleed. She reached down and drew back the man's hood before he could react. The man shot up to his feet and stared back in horror. His brown hair, brown eyes, and muted skin hardly qualified as those of someone as illusive as Melchior, who supposedly wasn't even human.
Kaina stared the strange man down and said, “Who sent you?”
The impostor threw his hands up in defense and said, “A-all right, you caught me. I'm not Melchior, but I do work for him. He sent me to find you-”
“You're lying,” Kaina barked. “Who really sent you? Azemar? Casimir?”
The impostor's expression darkened, and in a low voice, he growled, “You would do well to hand over that book, girl, lest you incur the wrath of the Unmaker-”
Just then, he was interrupted by Tristan stepping in between the two of them. He faced away from Kaina, but she could still see the glint of his blade as he pulled it slightly out of his sheath.
“This is your only warning,” Tristan growled, “leave now, or my blade flies.”
The impostor's expression blanched in an instant, and only seconds later he was off into the crowd like a scared rat. Several people ducked out of the way of his flight, and although a few unlucky individuals were knocked down, they were otherwise unharmed.
Tristan turned back to Kaina, and upon seeing her annoyed expression, said, “What?”
Kaina took in a sharp breath and said, “While I appreciate the gesture, I had everything under control.”
“Clearly,” Tristan remarked, ignoring the seething glare from Kaina that followed, “but now he and the rest of his friends will know that we won't give up that book without a fight.”
Kaina opened her mouth to speak again, but she was interrupted when something white flashed before her eyes. She blinked and wondered for a moment if she had imagined it, but when she say the matching expression on Tristan's face, she knew she hadn't. The white mass flashed a second time, and this time, she realized exactly what it was. She held her arm out just in time for a beautiful white dove to land on it.
The dove eyed Kaina with enough curiosity to rival her own, and that was when Kaina noticed the slip of paper tied to its leg. She furrowed her brow and turned back to the pigeon coup, where she could see twelve white doves, meaning that the three she sent out had already returned.
Kaina turned back to the dove and said, “Where did you come from, little one?”
She carefully tugged on the string holding the paper in place, then caught the end of the paper as it began to unravel. As soon as the paper was free from the dove's leg, it flapped its brilliant white wings and flew off into the night.
Tristan edged closer to Kaina and said, “What does it say?”
Kaina unraveled the little paper and read the contents. She furrowed her brow again, then read it aloud:
“'The setting sun casts not on the knowledge we keep, for darkness can only penetrate the mind of those who will it.'”
“What does that mean?” Tristan asked.
Kaina rolled up the paper and said, “I've heard that saying somewhere before...but I can't remember where...”
“Swell,” Tristan sighed. “I suppose we just wander aimlessly through Eldercliff until we find what we're looking for?”
Kaina clenched the paper in her hand and muttered under her breath. She shut her eyes and searched every part of her memory in order to find where she had heard the phrase before. She knew it would have had something to do with Aldis' teachings, since the majority of everything she read had been with him.
“'The knowledge we keep'...'the knowledge we keep...'” she repeated.
“What's that?”
Kaina opened her eyes and said, “The paper mentions knowledge...and I know that Aldis is a member of the Scholar's Union...and they run the Eldercliff library...so maybe we should check there?”
Tristan shook his head. “We have no ot
her leads at the moment, I suppose it's worth a try.”
Kaina looked around the square and when she didn't see anyone else suspicious, she said, “All right, let's go.”
Upon their arrival through the strange portal, Casimir and Azemar explained the situation to the other Disciples stationed there. Casimir soon discovered that the basement they had stepped through had a similar old shack above ground that was equally as run down as the one near Eboncrest, and Azemar explained that they had even gone as far as to spread the rumor that the shack in Eldercliff was cursed so that the locals wouldn't dare to investigate and stumble upon their secret base by accident.
Once everything was settled, one member of the Disciples went to the town square to watch for Kaina, and several others dressed as civilians and went with him to keep watch. It had been close to an hour by then, and Casimir now grew restless and impatient as he waited in the basement, staring at the gate that once served as a magical door that brought him miles away from Eboncrest in a matter of seconds.
Azemar had noticed his agitation and said, “Fret not, Sire. We will secure the book.”
Casimir, without breaking his gaze from the now empty gate, remarked, “If I recall correctly, Azemar, that's precisely what you said when we arrived in Eboncrest, and I feared that the Haventhorns might catch on to what we were really doing there.”
Azemar scoffed. “The Haventhorns care only about their own image. So long as we don't disturb that, they won't object to anything we do.”
Casimir shook his head, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the trap door connected to the ladder leading to the basement ceiling opened. The prince shot up upon noticing the man they had sent to the town square entering, and when he finally made it to the floor panting, Azemar approached him.
“Did you get it?” the adviser asked. “Did you get the book?”
The man stared at him. “That little bitch is more clever than you give her credit for, Azemar. She called me out and her friend chased me off.”
“Friend?” Azemar asked. “What friend?”
Before the man could answer, Casimir said, “What happened after that?”
“The man threatened me, and I...erm...pretended to be afraid and ran off while the others kept their sights on them,” the man explained. “The girl received a message soon after that and one of the others overheard her asking where the city's library was.”
“Good,” Azemar said. “We can head her off there and catch her before Melchior finds her.”
“That's not all, Sir,” the man said. “Nilas is here, and he's in quite a poor mood. Says that he's positive he had an encounter with the girl in the village along the road, and that their horses 'mysteriously' ran off towards the Black Forest with their supplies. They only just arrived in Eldercliff to help find her.”
As if on cue, the trap door opened again and a familiar patch of red hair soon came into view as Nilas quickly made his way down the ladder. His feet barely even touched the ground before he said, “I know it was her...I saw the Haventhorn girl in the village and--”
“Yes, Nilas,” Azemar replied, “we already know. Not to worry. We have confirmed that she's in the city, and that she and her companion are heading off to the library as we speak. We need to assemble a team together to head them off.”
“Let me go,” Nilas said, though by his tone it was evident this wasn't a request. “I owe her a bit of payback.”
“Very well,” Azemar conceded. “We'll need someone to bring him with us anyway.”
Azemar gestured to Aldis, who sat perfectly calm and still in the corner of the basement, his hands still bound and his posture still weak.
Nilas, who didn't appreciate the mundane task, scowled, but eventually nodded anyway.
Casimir shot up. “Wait a moment, Azemar. If we do this, we do this under my direction. Do not forget that you are not the one running things here. My father tasked me with obtaining the book, and he specifically told you that you are to answer only to me. That also includes any of those under your command.”
Nilas snarled at the prince, who in turn stared him down like the vermin he was.
“You would do well to behave yourself around the heir to the Ilesian throne,” Casimir remarked.
In an effort to diffuse the situation, Azemar then said, “Very well, Prince Casimir, you will lead the charge. What is our first step?”
Prince Casimir met his gaze and answered, “Here is the plan.”
None of the stories that Aldis told Kaina about the Eldercliff library offered it justice. Along with the library, the Cultural District included various museums, restaurants, and even musicians in the streets. The library itself was made of white, polished stone with tall columns and multiple floors. Kaina would have loved nothing more than to explore it further, but they had a task at hand.
Kaina spotted an alley just beside the library and pointed it out to Tristan. The two made their way to the alley, then turned until they were in another alley just behind the building. They didn't see anyone, but before long they heard the flapping of wings and noticed something land on a nearby rooftop.
Kaina gasped and pointed to a majestic, golden feathered eagle. It locked its amber eyes with hers and sat patiently as Kaina admired it.
“It's so beautiful!” Kaina explained. “I've never seen an eagle like that.”
The eagle broke its gaze with Kaina and shifted its eyes east, towards another path, and then flew off in that direction. In the distance, Kaina could see it land on another rooftop that was on the same road, and then it sat still and stared at her once more.
“I think we're supposed to follow it,” Kaina said.
“I think you're right,” Tristan said. “Let's go.”
Kaina locked her eyes on the eagle as she marched straight for it with Tristan trailing right behind her. As soon as they were close enough, the eagle shifted its gaze once more, this time to the north, and flew off in that direction. It perched on another building, and Kaina followed again. This cycle went on a few more times until the eagle finally led them to a remote area with little more than a few abandoned buildings and old storage facilities.
The eagle perched on top of an old chimney that no longer had a building attached. As Kaina and Tristan approached, its gaze shifted to stare at something behind them, and the former quickly turned to see what it was.
A man, or at least Kaina thought it was a man, who wore a hooded cloak and heavy boots walked towards them at a brisk pace. The eagle screeched and flew off, which Kaina assumed was her signal that the man was who she thought he was. Nevertheless, she refrained from getting too close before she knew for sure.
With a quivering voice that at the moment, she couldn't explain, Kaina stared at the man and said, “Melchior...?”
The figure stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her for a moment before she could see his mouth curling into a smile from beneath the shadow of his hood. After a brief moment of confusion, Kaina heard the blade leaving Tristan's sheath.
“Kaina, it's a trap,” he said in a hushed tone.
Her heart nearly stopped, and her eyes darted back and forth as several men all around them stepped out of the shadows, and Kaina didn't have to take more than a minute to recognize who they were. Those familiar black hoods were forever etched into her memory as the fiends they were.
“I'm afraid not,” came a voice from beneath the hood, a voice Kaina found eerily familiar. The figure then drew back his hood and added, “But I will take that book nonetheless.”
A moment later, Kaina locked eyes with none other than Prince Casimir.
Kaina backed away and Tristan brandished his sword. The Disciples closed in on them as Casimir removed his cloak and dropped it to the ground, and Azemar soon approached from behind him. Kaina expected the prince to address her first, but instead he chuckled and said, “It's been a while, Tristan.”
Kaina shifted her gaze to Tristan, who now stood in a battle stance beside her, and he replied,
“Not long enough.”
Casimir scoffed. “Oh don't be like that. Ever since I found out that it was you aiding Kaina, I've been looking forward to seeing you again.”
“You two have met before?” Kaina pressed.
Casimir didn't answer, but he instead turned back to Tristan and said, “You haven't told her? If I didn't know better I would think you were ashamed of me.”
The prince edged closer, prompting Tristan to raise his sword and say, “Take one more step and I'll have your head.”
Casimir smirked, shook his head and said, “Now Tristan, is that any way to speak to your brother?”
Chapter 18
“Brother?” Kaina exclaimed.
Prince Casimir's eyes shifted between Kaina and Tristan. “I'm not surprised you don't know. You aren't the first to be deceived by him. Now then...”
Casimir snapped his fingers and the Disciples drew closer, further cutting off their means of escape. Tristan shifted around so that he covered Kaina's flank, and the two soon stood back to back, completely surrounded.
“...give me the book,” Casimir ordered.
“Never,” Kaina spat.
Casimir flashed a sickening smile and said, “I think you will feel differently when you see my special guest. Nilas?”
Just then, Azemar and Casimir parted to allow two more people to step through. One of them was Nilas, and to Kaina's horror, he dragged Aldis along with him. The latter, who was bound at his wrists, simply stared helplessly at his student, his disheveled hair and dirt-stained clothes the only indicator of the ordeal he endured during captivity.
“Aldis!” Kaina cried.
She tried to run for him, but Tristan caught her arm and held her back.
“Give me the book,” Casimir said, “and I will release him.”
“Don't give it to him, Kaina,” Aldis cried, “he won't--”
Before Aldis could continue, Azemar waved his hand over his face. A red mist surrounded Aldis' head, putting him in a dream like trance.
Kaina's Dawn (Kaina Saga Book 1) Page 19