: A Name And A Face
Kayda made her way through the majestic infrastructure of the building before she stopped herself in front of a familiar pair of doors.
Raising her hand, she planned to knock but the quiet mummers of subtle voices were carried through the door.
"... came back, but the information they contain is slightly, well, disturbing."
It was Clouse's voice. It had been awhile.
Curious, Kayda continued to eavesdrop.
"Just give the report Clouse. I'll decide whether it's disturbing enough for you to drag me all the way here while I was in the middle of a meeting!" Gerrin's booming voice shouted out across the room.
Dimitri looked on with an apathetic expression while listening to the two argue for a short amount of time before he had had enough.
"Clouse. Read the report." His voice sounded as soothing as a cello but had the effect of an ice pick that scrapped at one's soul.
Clouse nodded with a grave expression. "I went to investigate the people who Count Hannibal last had contact with. He met with a few merchants before he had traveled to the Western Continent Zedrul. There have been multiple reports of him being in the capital Sitor. Most of our spies have confirmed this report along with evidence that the slave trading merchants were there on the outskirts of Sitor."
He paused. Dimitri and Gerrin looked at him waiting for him to continue. "But there was a message sent to the guild by one of our spies saying that he was really in a small territory called Oshor."
The air around Clouse changed. "We never heard from that spy again."
Gerrin was skeptical while the expression on Dimitri's face darkened. Clouse continued to further strengthen his claims. "I personally looked into this and discovered that there is indeed evidence that Count Hannibal was there in Oshor. But he wasn't the only one there.
I also found evidence that followers of the Goddess Ithi where there in the same place at the same time."
"What?" Gerrin was dumbfounded.
Clouse gritted his teeth. "If it wasn't for that one message, we would have never been able connect the two together. And upon further research, we found multiple connections between the church of Ithi and other nobles along with certain events."
Everyone fell silent while delving into deep thought. If this was true, what Clouse said, then that meant that they had a lot of traitors among them that where covering for count Hannibal. Only one remained loyal, but there was no telling if he was alive.
Looking up, Dimitri noticed the hesitant expression upon Clouses face that he had tried to conceal. With narrowed eyes, he focused on Clouse. "Is there something else."
Clouse looked at Dimitri. He silently gulped down the imaginary grip on his throat preventing himself from speaking.
"We also uncovered something disturbing." Clouse once again paused.
Gerrin frowned. "Well? Spit it out!"
Clouse furrowed his brows. "Since so much time has passed, they became a little more lax with information because so much time has passed and they believe that they have covered everything up flawlessly. If it weren't for a mere coincidence one of my subordinates fell upon, there would be no way to gain this information."
"Spit it out already!" Gerrin's patience was running thin that waiting another second would cause the last string holding him back from strangling the information out Clouse to snap.
Clouse swallowed. "We have reason to believe that people from the Church of Ithi to be involved in the genocide of the Southern captial Ealapea. But oth…"
All words that were spoken after that was just a low buzz ringing in Kayda's ears.
She could hear her heartbeat under her skin. Blood quickly drained from her face while her hands turned numb and her mind was burned with a white blankness that consumed her.
…
Kayda stood there, at some point of time, she had made her way back to the room she stayed in.
When the door closed behind her, she seemed to be frozen in time as millions of thoughts, memories and voices filled her head.
"Kayda! Run!" the voices overwhelmed her.
"Hide here Kay. I promise I'll come back for you, but until then, stay quiet." Cryn whispered to her while looking over his shoulder. His expression filled with hidden fear and trepidation.
Kayda could clearly see what he wanted to hide from her, but her little six year old soul couldn't comprehend what it could possibly mean.
"Don't leave!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around his long tail. Her face wrought with tears and snot. She didn't know what was going on but she knew something was wrong.
The screams that filled the halls slithered in through the cracks in the door conivingly making their way to her ears.
Something was wrong. She knew it. Mama and Papa were nowhere to be seen, her brother isn't acting normal and a strong metallic smell filled her nose making her nauseous and sick.
Cryn looked at his little sister. Her face pale and frightened.
Forcing a smile on his face, he knelt down and held her by the shoulders. "Kay, remember that game we would play when Mama and Papa were mad at us?" He asked.
Kayda bobbed her head with her hands clenched in little fists.
"Well, we're going to play that game right now. But this time, everyone is playing. So while you hide here, I'm going to go help some servants find some hiding spots. So remember. Stay still and stay quiet." He looked at her with an all to stern expression for his age.
Kayda nodded her head, albeit hesitantly.
Cryn smiled. Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on her forehead. A cool and soothing feeling traveled through her body.
"I'll be back." He smiled then, in a rush, left her alone.
Soon after, loud shouts followed.
She didn't know how long she waited for him to come back. She didn't move, and stayed still without moving a single inch.
After the hours of waiting, everything was enveloped in silence. She stayed in that room for what seemed like days until unfamiliar men burst into the room speaking words she didn't understand. They dragged her through her home.
But it wasn't her home. Her home wasn't painted red. The people she knew didn't lay in the halls with eyes opened dull like marble. They didn't have missing limbs and torn wings.
It wasn't her home. In her home, her parents' bodies didn't lay upon the carpet with holes piercing their chests and and their faces pale and devoid of the love and rosy affection they showed when looking at her.
That wasn't her home. Those weren't her people.
She never saw anyone she knew ever again after that.
Collapsed on the floor of the luxurious room, Kayda seemed to stare into space as tears ran down her eyes. They pittered pattered onto her hand.
Looking down, she wiped her eyes.
She didn't care if the information was scattered or still being pieced together. She now had a name.
She had a name and a face to go to the people who took away her life.
Standing up, a look of determination filled her eyes.
Pulling out a seat, she sat at the small tea table in her room and looked out her window. Her mind plotting her actions for the future.
A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. Maggy soon entered afterwards with a tray in hand.
"Miss Kayda, I brought you dinner." Her kind and edlerly voice filled the room as she smiled politely.
Kayda turned around to look at her.
Maggy was setting the table as Kayda stared at her.
Noticing her gaze, Maggy finished setting up the dishes before looking at Kayda with a warm and ederly smile.
"Can I do something for you miss?"
Kayda was silent for a while before she warmly smiled.
Maggy was shocked by the sight. She had never seen Kayda change her expression when around others, much less smile!
She was still thin and malnourished but she looked a lot better than before with color to her cheeks and unsunken eyes. The gentle curve of her lips brightened her face while her eyes were delicate crescents that bloomed with warmth and smiles of their own.
"Can I ask for a favor?" Kayda's mellow voice traveled through one ear and out the other. Stunned, Maggy absent mindedly nodded as she was still reeling in shock.
"Can you teach me the official Eastern language?" She asked politely while maintaining the smile.
Maggy regained her sanity and a giant smile instantly formed upon her weathered lips.
"Of course! Oh my, I would be absolutely delighted to." She excitedly shook with happiness.
Kayda let out a soft giggle. The sound of her laughter was comparable to the sound of crystal chimes that reverbrated in ones body and tugged at one's heart.
Kayda looked at Maggy with smiling eyes. "Can you keep it a secret? I want to surprise Mellisony with it." Kayda gently asked.
Maggy got a crafty look on her face as she let out a laugh. "Just count on me miss. We'll get you speaking Klenonian in no time." She thumped her chest with pride while Kayda giggled.
Once Maggy left the room, the warm and gentle look on Kayda's face was instantly dropped as she resumed her original apathetic expression.
If she was going to get out of here any time soon, she needed the trust of some of the people here.
If that meant taking out her old acting skills, so be it.
She was going to utilize every bit of skill and knowledge she had to accomplish her goal. No matter how long it took.
During the next week, Kayda secretly spent time with Micheal while gathering intel on the guards and becoming acquainted with some of Micheal's coworkers, discreetly learning their shifts. All the while learning diligently from Maggy how to speak the native language.
She didn't hear from Clouse or Gerrin after eavesdropping on their conversation. And like always, Dimitri remained obscure.
After a week, Dr. Myer came for a check up and discovered the wounds on her hands. She was able to cover it up by accidentally cutting it on a large broken vase with the help of Aylin who she had gotten closer to over the week.
Dr. Myer was sceptical but didn't bother to dig further into it.
It was past lunch time now and there was a familiar knock on the window.
Without bothering to check, Kayda hopped out and landed in front of Micheal.