REDEMPTION

30. DISCOVERY.

He walked out rather proud of what he had accomplished. His footsteps echoed in the hallway but his feet were fading. Morning had come and as the light touched his body, he disappeared. He did not seem bothered and continued walking. Ralph looked into the darkness that waited for him and smiled. He knew that the darkness he was about to spread would not be forgotten. His eyes concealed his plans and his body was finally erased with the light.

All he needed was the book. And he had a pretty good idea where it would be.

Bendra woke up to a feeling he had not felt in a long time. Just as it had come, it vanished as well. He could tell that this was not his own feeling. But it still felt too real. He opened his eyes slowly and he took a while for him to realize where he was. The first thing he saw was white. He thought it was the pillow until he moved his hand.

As he did, someone snuggled closer to him. Shocked by this he suddenly jerked and this made him fall out of the bed. He made no sound as he fell, afraid he would wake her. Surprisingly, she still slept soundly as if nothing had happened. Bendra woke up rubbing his rump. He could not believe what he was seeing and he wanted to forget what he had woken up to.

That might have been what he wanted but his actions weren’t. He soon walked out the room after making sure her covers were back in place. His body kept surprising him. And what was even more unbearable, she was his perfect mate. Did the gods really despise him this much? Bendra preferred to die ten times over than admit he was falling for her.

After locking thee door he headed to his own room, which was down the hall, to freshen up. Once he was done, he headed to the dining where he found Holmen waiting for him. He had prepared Bendra’s breakfast as usual. He sat and ate in silence. He did not even ask for the routine updates of what was going on. However, Holmen delivered the report.

“Your brother, Prince Belford, was sent to represent your father in the cerebrations held at Rin city. There have been no major fluctuations in the capital’s political struggles and the public is not doing too bad either. However, I do have some disturbing news.” He paused.

Bendra stopped eating and turned to look at him. Signaling him to move on with what he was saying.

“Lord Claus, hero of the Other realm, was found dead alongside his wife. At first we were not able to recognize him until we saw the ring King Cedric the fourth, your great great great great great grandfather awarded him with on his right middle finger. He was clutching to something and we later discovered it to be a book. We tried going through it but… the book could not open. And it was addressed to Achlysa.”

Her name sparked something within him but he immediately pushed it aside.

“Any leads.”

Holmen shook his head.

This was strange indeed. Not too long, Lord’s Claus wanted his own daughter dead on claims that she had killed his wife, her mother. The emergence of Achlysa seemed to foil his plans but the mention of her name brought a reaction he had never seen before. He was afraid of her. That name meant something. It was something to be feared of the hero of a nation shuddered at the mere mention of it.

The maiden he had rescued did not seem to recall many things. And someone was willing to go through such intense measures to ensure she had died. Holmen had given him the report on how the carried she was brought in was rigged. The daughter and sons of the Angel household were no where to be found. The boys had left a clue behind. But Audrey had vanished into thin air. Now her parents were dead and her brothers were missing. And so was she.

However, after some interrogation in the Angel household. They found it strange that no one remembered when the children were born. Where they were born or how their names came to be. This did not add up. Everyone knew that the Angel household had teenagers and that meant that someone had to know.

Bendra’s men had searched the whole mansion but came up empty. They did not have an ancestral tree or portraits of the either. They had no records of the births or deaths of their family and this gave rise to questions. He was confused, how did they not have these records. Unless, they did not die. But that was impossible, right?

Achlysa had woken up drenched in sweat. She had a nightmare but she could not remember what it was about. All she could think of was getting out of there. Her eyes were opened but she still could not see. She could tell that it was morning though. The poison in her system had been expelled. She was fine.

Last night’s events were a blur to her. She only remembered finding it hard to breathe. Everything else was a blur. Her guts told her that she was missing something important. She decided to find a way out of this place first. Achlysa threw the covers aside and slowly stretched her feet till they came into contact with the flow. She wanted to spread her bed but once she tried to get hold of her covers and failed, she withdrew.

Achlysa stretched her hands before and took a step at a time. After sometime, her hands landed on something firm. It had the same texture as the one from yesterday. She used it as her guide and managed to find the door. She opened it and left the room. She had no idea where she was going. Yet, anywhere was better than in there.

“Anyone there?” she half yelled after wondering the house for quite some time.

No one came. And no one answered. She sighed and started walking on. She immediately hit a hard surface, making her fall over. Fear run up and down her spine. Achlysa knew whoever this was, was her enemy. And she needed to run. She scrum led to her feet and ran in the opposite direction. However, she ran into many things as she did this.

“Found you.”

Her to mentor took his time, walking leisurely. He knew she could not get anywhere fast enough. He laughed while watching her struggle to run to a place to could not see. Some of her wounds had opened again. The pink pajamas she had on was decorated in red polka dots. After a while she could not go further.

His face was murky black. His features could not be made out. He was tall and well built. And he was wearing a black cloak. He stretched his hand but immediately jumped back. If he had been a second late, his armed would have been ripped of. Standing before him was a young male. He tilted his head as if trying to figure out who he was.

“I’ll be back.”