“If the legends re true, though,” Abigail said, “then there is surely going to be a lot to save. How are we going to get all that information out before the king shows up at our doorstep?”
“Actually,” Aldis said, “I have an idea about that. Casimir and Azemar brought me to Eldercliff through a portal, and I believe Melchior and I might be able to pull something off to get one set up in the library itself. How about it, old friend?”
Melchior tore his attention away from the rebels who had been staring at him long enough to reply, “That's ancient, advanced magic, but I believe you and I could pull it off.”
“We still have the small possibility of Casimir getting to the library before we do,” Tristan said. “He could very well destroy much of it before we can stop him.
“Regardless,” Froki began, “We're going to save as much as we can so that the king can't bring about his demons. We're in.”
Tristan nodded, then stood up, faced the crowd of waiting rebels, and said, “Now listen here, all of you. We have to defend Eboncrest at all costs. If Casimir destroys the last shred of magic left in the world, he and the king will have full control over our lives. Gather your equipment, for we march onto Eboncrest within the hour, and we will lay a trap for Casimir and save Ilesia from his influence.”
Tristan raised his fist in the air, at which point the entire room erupted into cheers. Kaina knew that they would follow him anywhere, and for the first time in days, she had hope.
After Kaina cleaned herself up, she returned to the mess hall and noticed Tristan, now in a new Azure Rider's uniform, sit down at one of the tables with his hands folded. He stared off into space, the wight over his heart all but lifted, and judging by his blank stare, she knew he wasn't as confident as he let on.
Kaina took a seat next to him and though he didn't look up at her, his eyes still shifted to her.
Kaina smiled, turned her head slightly, and said, “Quite a journey it's been, hasn't it?”
Tristan chuckled. “It's been...something else.”
Kaina reached around her neck and removed the silver locket. She balanced it in her hand, examined each and every detail, then said, “You know, I can't help but wonder how this managed to get us out of that dungeon. It must have some kind of magic attached to it.”
“It never worked like that for me,” Tristan said, “it must be because I've never used magic before. I'm willing to bet that whatever magic was sealed into that locket was only activated when you had it.”
“You said your mother gave it to you?”
“That's right, just before she died. Thankfully I managed to hide it before those goblins took my other things.”
“Is there any chance that your mother was a wizard? After all, how else would she come in contact with a magical locket?”
“I don't know,” Tristan answered. “I admit, I don't remember much about her, but I doubt a wizard would have married the descendant of the man who tried to get rid of them all.”
“Well, maybe we'll find out another day,” Kaina said, “because I have to admit that this locket has piqued my curiosity.”
“Then why don't you keep it?”
Kaina shook her head. “I can't do that...your mother-”
“She'd want you to have it,” Tristan said. “After all, you got more use out of it than I did.”
Kaina smiled and said, “Thank you, Tristan. I'll take good care of it.”
Tristan eyed her curiously. “Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“When you thought of a place you felt most at home, why did you choose the hideout?” Tristan asked.
Kaina stared forward and contemplated her words carefully, then said, “I just...this was the first place I came to after leaving Eboncrest, the only home I had ever known. My family has never approved of me, and when I came to the hideout, it was like no one cared who I was or who's family I belonged to. Everyone just accepted me, and I suppose I just never forgot that. It only occurred to me when I held the locket in my hand just how much I cared about all the people here.”
Tristan smiled. “You know, there is always room in our ranks for more members. Should you wish to fight Torald and bring an end to his plans, you will always have a place in our ranks.”
Kaina smiled. “Thank you, Tristan. I will certainly consider it, although I'm not certain that I have the skills to compete with the rest of you.”
Tristan scoffed. “You do realize that I would be dead by now if it wasn't for you, right? You have far more talent than you give yourself credit for, Kaina, and I'm certain anyone else here would say the same thing.”
A moment later, Froki came out to them and said, “Everyone's ready to march on your command, Tristan.”
Tristan stood up. “Good, let's move out.”
Kaina stood up and saw Aldis, cleaned up and wearing a fresh robe, and Melchior standing with the crowd of rebels.
“You're both coming too?” Kaina asked.
“That's right,” Aldis said. “I could never call myself a wizard if I didn't do everything I could to save the last of the arcane knowledge that Zion left behind.”
“It would be an insult to his legacy to allow it to fall into the wrong hands,” Melchior chimed in. He then placed his white mask over his face and drew his hood and said, “We will do whatever it takes to preserve Zion's legacy.”
“Both of you will be invaluable to our mission,” Tristan said. “All right, everyone. Move out!”
By the time the Azure Riders met at their designated position, dawn was still a few hours away. Tristan ordered the rebels to separate into groups and utilize the cover of night by keeping watch over the city for any signs of trouble. Froki, Emir, and Abigail took certain points while Tristan, Kaina, Aldis, and Melchior made their way into town.
They first stuck to the edge of town to avoid the watchful eyes of the town guards. Fortunately Eboncrest had no wall around it, so this made it far easier to sneak into town unnoticed. They crept near the northern edge of town, where Kaina had her first encounter with the Disciples, and worked their way south in an effort to find anything and everything that might resemble the entrance to the Lost Library.
“What do you think the entrance would look like, Melchior,” Kaina whispered.
“Not like it should be an entrance,” he said. “Of that, I am certain.”
“Then how are we supposed to tell the entrance from a broom closet?” Tristan remarked.
Aldis stopped, then said, “I believe I may know someone who can help us. Let me see if I can find him, and until then, the rest of you should split up and keep an eye out for trouble.”
“Very well,” Kaina said, “and be careful.”
“And you as well,” Aldis said. “You should keep out of sight to avoid being recognized.”
Kaina hesitated, but soon said, “I will.”
Aldis turned to leave, and Melchior followed close behind him. After the two wizards made their way into the next alley, Tristan turned back to Kaina and said, “I'm going to check in with the others. Stay safe and call if you find trouble.”
Kaina nodded as he darted out of the alley toward the edge of town. She wanted to tell him that she would avoid trouble, but as a matter of fact the opposite was true.
She had an idea, a terrible idea, but if anyone knew a thing about the Lost Library if it was indeed in Eboncrest, it would be the man who claims that nothing goes on in Eboncrest without his knowledge.
After a sigh at the sheer stupidity of her plan, yet resigned to the fact that she had little other choice, Kaina then set forth towards Haventhorn Manor to pay her grandfather a visit.
Chapter 27
Kaina braced herself and marched right into the manor and announced to the servants to fetch Elias. Even as she heard the voices of her other family members complaining about being awoken, she didn't falter. It was time to face them, to show that she wouldn't be silenced.
First to come down was Hamelin, who was
dragging Isa and her usual goblet along. Following shortly after was Roland and Matilde, and Kaina could even see Tobyn and Thea, watching from the second floor landing. Lastly, Elias made his way down the steps and into the foyer.
“Well,” Roland spat as Elias reached the floor, “Look who decided to return.”
“I suppose you weren't quite the little adventurer you thought you were,” Hamelin remarked.
“Look at how filthy you are, and why are you wearing trousers? How disgraceful!” Matilde screamed.
Kaina simply stood in place with her arms folded while she they made their comments. All fell silent when Elias edged closer to her.
“Do you have any idea what you have done?” he said. “You have caused this family immeasurable humiliation and grief, but luckily for you, Prince Casimir has been more than gracious about the entire ordeal.”
“I couldn't care less what Casimir thinks,” Kaina spat, “or any of you for that matter.”
Matilde whimpered, Roland and Hamelin began shouting over each other to get their opinions of Kaina heard, and Isa simply slurred something that was as usual, completely incomprehensible.
“ENOUGH!” Kaina yelled, causing everyone to stop and stare at her in horror. She then stepped forward and said, “You know, there was still a part of me that hoped that you would have worried about me just a bit, but the first thing any of you spoke of when I walked into this house was how I embarrassed you. I bet not one of you considered the fact that I was abducted, caged, chased, captured, and nearly killed on several occasions. The only thing any of you care about is your image, not what happens to me or what I want to do with my life. That is why I left, because not a single one of you care what happens to me as long as it benefits you.”
“Then why did you return if you hate us so?” Hamelin remarked.
“Because,” Kaina began, “You might not believe this, but Roric wasn't exactly a hero. He and his descendants, which in case you couldn't figure it out includes Casimir and King Torald, have been searching for an ancient library full of arcane knowledge for centuries, and now they know that it's in Eboncrest. Casimir is on his way here to question you, Grandfather, about the possible whereabouts of the library's entrance.”
Elias scoffed. “That's preposterous. I've lived here my entire life and I know for a fact that there is no such thing here.”
“Father, don't humor her,” Hamelin said, “she's obviously lying.”
Kaina's eyes flashed and shot to her uncle. “I am NOT lying.”
Hamelin wasn't convinced, however, and he then said, “I'll tell you a more likely story. Kaina decided to run off because she was under the impression that she could do anything she wanted without consequence. Upon realizing that she was sadly mistaken, she decided she was better off returning home. However, she still wants to avoid marriage to Casimir, so she's making up stories to smear his good name in the hopes that we will call off the arrangement.”
Kaina marched towards him and yelled, “That's a damned lie and you know it—AH! Let me go!”
Roland had grabbed onto his daughter's arm and pulled her back. “I've had just about enough of you and your mouth. You aren't going to ruin things for us any further. You are going to your room, and this time, you're going to stay there.”
Roland dragged Kaina, who was still fighting him every step of the way, all the way up to her room and tossed her inside.
“Now, I'm going to send word to Prince Casimir that you have been returned to us upon paying your ransom--”
“Who's idea was that?” Kaina interrupted. “Certainly you wouldn't be clever enough to come up with that.”
Kaina didn't realize she had called her grandfather by his first name until it rolled off of her tongue, but it had been so effortless, she saw no point in correcting it.
Roland's face grew bright red and his veins protruded so much that Kaina thought they would burst. “YOU WILL REMAIN IN HERE UNTIL PRINCE CASIMIR ARRIVES TO COLLECT YOU!”
He then slammed the door to her bedroom so hard that one of her paintings fell off of the wall and crashed onto the floor. Kaina could still feel the aftermath of the quake that ensued even long after she had heard his heavy footsteps stomping off down the corridor.
Kaina scoffed. Surely they didn't think she couldn't just escape again? She went over to the window, but she quickly realized that Roland was far more clever than she gave him credit for. It seemed that in her absence, someone had taken the preemptive measure of having thick, iron bars installed onto her window so that in the off chance they managed to get her back in there, she would have no chance of escaping again.
Kaina banged her fist against the bars, then shook it when she hit it a bit too hard. Perhaps she could melt the iron? She thought about it briefly, but then the fear presented itself that she would burn down the manor in the process and possibly hurt or kill several innocent servants. Kaina was no monster, so fire magic would not be an option.
After a brief look around her room, she found that her family had even gone as far as to add bars to her fireplace, not that she could have fit through the flue anyway. Her door wouldn't budge, and there wasn't a single instrument in the room that she could use to pick the lock.
In other words, Kaina was completely and utterly trapped.
Kaina began to wonder if there was a way to use magic to break the lock, but she didn't know of anything other than what she had already learned from Zion. Though she had absorbed much of his knowledge upon opening the lock to the book, she still couldn't quite decipher everything. Kaina still knelt before the lock and tried to focus on it, but after a while she just felt silly. That feeling passed, however, when she heard the lock turning.
Kaina initially thought that whatever she had tried had worked, but upon further examination, she soon realized that someone was on the other side of the door. At first she wondered if Roland had come back to yell at her again, but once the door opened, she saw the last two people she would have suspected.
“Thea? Tobyn?” Kaina asked.
Thea held a master key in her hand and Tobyn, though he nestled beside his mother and she lay her other hand atop his head, smiled upon seeing Kaina.
Thea held the key out to Kaina and said, “Hugo keeps this in his desk in case of an emergency. I thought you might need it.”
Kaina accepted the key, but she didn't move. There was something she just had to ask. “Thea, why are you helping me?”
Thea bowed her head and her dark, coiled hair fell over her face. “I have little trust for the king after my family was butchered on his orders. If he means to destroy this library you spoke of, no matter the reason, then I want to do what I can to put a stop to it.”
Tobyn left his mother's side and approached Kaina. His sweet, innocent eyes met hers and he said, “Be safe.”
He then reached up and wrapped his arms around Kaina's waist, at which point she returned the child's gesture and held him for several seconds. After he pulled away, Kaina said, “The others won't take kindly to this.”
“I have no intention of staying here to face such consequences,” Thea said. “After you left, it made me realize that I have a choice, that I don't have to stay with the man who destroyed everything I ever cared about. I didn't want to bring such hardship onto Tobyn, but I realize now that he's far better off growing away from this life. My only fear is that we have no where to go.”
Kaina thought, and then she said, “I know of a band of warriors who would gladly take you in and protect you. I'm certain that you can find your use among their ranks, and Tobyn will be safe there as well.”
Thea looked down at Tobyn, and then she said, “Tobyn, I know this might seem frightening, but--”
“I don't want to stay here,” Tobyn replied. “I want to go with Kaina.”
Thea smiled. “We will, Tobyn.”
Kaina nodded, then she looked around and said, “We won't have time for you to pack, so you'll just have to leave with what you have on.”
“That won't be an issue,” Thea replied.
“All right, I think our best bet would be to leave through the kitchen,” Kaina replied. “Let's go.”
Kaina, Thea, and Tobyn navigated the halls and tried to avoid any servants still out and about. Most of the servants were still asleep by this hour, so this proved to be effortless. They made their way to the ground floor, then went through the corridor to get to the kitchen. Just as they reached the door, Kaina's heart stopped when it began to open.
Elaine stepped out of the kitchen and jumped when she saw the three of them approaching.
“Lady Kaina?” she gasped. “We were all so worried about you...Lady Thea, Tobyn, what are you doing out of bed?”
In a hushed tone, Kaina said, “Elaine, listen, I need to get out of the manor without anyone knowing. Thea and Tobyn are coming with me...just please don't tell anyone you saw us.”
Elaine studied them, then smiled and said, “I have nothing to say. I cleaned the kitchen and I went to bed. I saw nothing.”
Kaina smiled and walked past Elaine with Thea and Tobyn following close behind. After letting them into the kitchen first, Kaina took one last look at Elaine, who had turned to meet her gaze, and the two shared a smile.
Getting out of the manor was easy from there, and Kaina was surprised to not see many guards in the area. She could hear loud voices coming from the town as she made her way around the manor with Thea and Tobyn following close behind, and she wondered if the others faced any trouble. With the gate unguarded, Kaina seized this opportunity to get back into town to find Tristan.
Kaina ducked behind the nearest building when she saw a pair of guards marching nearby, and she remained tucked in the shadows until she was certain that they wouldn't see or hear them. She also scanned every bit of shadow she could find, but she still couldn't find the others.
Just then, Kaina saw someone moving in the shadows to her left. She jumped in front of Thea and Tobyn, ready to defend them should the need arise, but she was soon relieved to see that it was only Tristan.
Kaina's Dawn (Kaina Saga Book 1) Page 27