16 The Orphan

"Is everything okay?"

Eloise's eyes snapped open as Lakyus's voice echoed from the living room into the kitchen. The faint glow in her auburn eyes faded as she grasped the handle of the iron kettle on the kitchen counter, turning around and walking back to the table where Lakyus was sitting.

Eloise smiled apologetically as she saw the slightly concerned look on the old woman's face. "Sorry about the wait. I'm not very used to refilling an apparatus like yours." she said as she set the kettle back down onto the platter.

Lakyus raised her eyebrows. "Does the Varnam household not teach its daughters the art of preparing tea? I recall it being one of the first things that were drilled into me before I ran away from House Aindra."

The corners of Eloise's lips tilted upward in a mysterious smile. "You may find that my family acts rather...differently compared to others."

Lakyus tilted her head in curiosity. "Is that so? I must confess that I know little about the noble families of the New Re-Estize Kingdom. I prefer to keep to myself, for the most part. Do you have any siblings?

Eloise hesitated for a moment before replying: "I have an elder sister. And...lots of brothers…."

An awkward silence ensued as the former captain of the Blue Roses tried to figure out how best to phrase her next words.

"Look, I know this may sound a bit...ironic coming from someone like me, but you should really think twice before delving into this world of violence and deception. You can make a big difference by following a safer, more traditional path."

"I once had a close friend with a heart of gold and a brilliant mind." Lakyus continued, "She had the ability to make the world a better place through empathy and diplomacy, using nothing but her charisma and political influence. Wouldn't it be better to pursue a path more akin to that?"

"Oh, did she manage to achieve her goals?" asked Eloise, staring at Lakyus with a look of innocent curiosity.

The retired adventurer winced at the question. "She-"

"LAKYUS!! You won't believe this!" Evileye's voice thundered into the house. Lakyus pursed her lips as she heard the door in the adjacent room open with a slam.

A few seconds later, the masked Vampire stumbled into the living room, followed by a confused-looking Zinrus clutching a white box. "Gah, navigating through all those enchantments is such a pain."

Lakyus merely rolled her eyes and took another sip of tea. "So what did you find?"

Evileye did not immediately reply. Instead, she tossed the piece of hand-drawn sketch on the table and gestured for Lakyus to inspect it.

Lakyus frowned, leaning over slightly to get a better glimpse of the individual in the sketch.

Suddenly, her entire body went rigid. The cup of tea slid from her limp hands, falling and shattering against the ground as Lakyus sat frozen in absolute shock. Her face looked as if it had aged another decade in that moment, the timeless vitality fading away from Lakyus's eyes and skin as pure disbelief engulfed her wizened countenance.

"What?" she whispered in a small, fragile voice.

She slowly shifted her gaze towards Evileye. "What is the meaning of this? Why are you showing me the sketch of a dead person?"

"This was a sketch drawn by a member of the Resistance before he died. Lord Eitrigg managed to retrieve it somehow, and both he and Arin Aenoch believed that this was the key to the Deathless operations in the New Re-Estize Kingdom." calmly replied Evileye.

Lakyus closed her eyes to calm herself with a deep breath.

"How exactly is Princess Renner, the person you tore me away from saving, supposed to be connected to any of this?" she demanded.

Evileye sighed. "That was for your own good…"

"My own good?! The Re-Estize Kingdom was my home. House Aindra was my family. Renner was my friend! I was supposed to stay and defend them all. I was supposed to die for them. Now they're all gone. So are Tia, Tina, Gagaran, Rigrit….all of them. Now what do I have left?"

Lakyus began her reply with a tone of bitter anger, but her voice began to quiver as she continued, and now nothing but sadness remained in her words.

"You still h-" Evileye began to say something, but was abruptly silenced by Lakyus's furious gaze.

Lakyus turned to look at the sketch once again, silently contemplating the web of possibilities that had suddenly sprung upon her life once again. After several seconds, she spoke: "You already have an idea of what's really going on, haven't you, Evileye?"

The masked vampire shrugged. "It's just a hunch. There's no way to confirm anything unless we head to the Sovereign Duke's castle and see for ourselves what the Cult has been hiding."

"And how do we do that, exactly? Sneak into the heart of a Deathless-infested stronghold?" snapped Lakyus. "How would we even-"

"Is there some way for us to contact the rest of the Resistance members in the New Re-estize Kingdom?" interrupted a sudden voice.

The group turned and looked at Eloise, who had been listening with uncharacteristic patience until now. She had an almost bored expression on her face as she lay back upon the chair, absent-mindedly twirling her striking red hair between her fingers as she elaborated:

"The sketch was drawn by a Resistance member, and Zinrus's father managed to retrieve it, no? Clearly the Resistance has had a history infiltrating Castle Raevan. If there's anyone who could help you in that regard, it would be them."

Evileye found herself nodding in agreement. She looked over at Zinrus and asked: "Are there any means to contact the Resistance circuit in the New Re-Estize Kingdom?"

Zinrus rummaged through the box, narrowing his eyes in concentration as he flipped through the mound of documents. Upon reaching the bottom of the pile, his eyes lit up as he finally found what he'd been looking for.

"Here!" he exclaimed. 'Carved on the bottom of the box is an address labeled "emergency contact."'

Evileye strode over to the box, quickly examining the address before nodding again in satisfaction.

"That settles it then. We'll be heading over there first thing tomorrow. The two of you should get some rest in the meantime; there are some things that me and Lakyus need to discuss...in private."

Lakyus gave a tired sigh and stood up, beckoning for the two teens to follow. "First things first, let me show you two where you'll be sleeping for the night." She walked over to a flight of stairs set between the living room and the kitchen and began ascending. Zinrus and Eloise quickly followed, heading up to the second and highest floor of the house. As they reached the end of the stairs, they found themselves before a small hallway lined with a myriad of doors on both sides.

"These are the guest rooms. Pick whichever one you like. There's nobody left to use them anymore, anyway."

"Sorry for the scene just now," Lakyus added after some hesitation, her bitter expression softening as she looked at the two youngsters. "I know the two of you aren't at fault for any of this. Get some rest, and hopefully we can get closer to the bottom of this by tomorrow."

With that, the former captain of the Blue Roses descended back down the stairs and out of sight.

Zinrus turned to his friend and begun to speak the words that had been wracking his mind all day: "Look, Eloise, I can't express how much I-"

But the red haired girl held up her hand to interrupt him before he could continue any further. "I know, Zinrus. I know. Such talk is unnecessary between friends. I'm really tired, so let's just have this conversation some other time, okay?"

Zinrus blinked in surprise at the firm tone of her voice, but nodded nonetheless. He watched as she walked over to the nearest door, reaching out with her right hand to turn the handle and enter. As he watched, Zinrus could not help but notice a peculiar feathered bracelet on Eloise's hand, crafted from a pitch black plumage that formed an eerie contrast with her stark red hair.

As the girl closed the door behind her, the tired smile on her face transformed into an irritated scowl.

"Eloise this, Eloise that..." she whispered to herself in annoyance.

The girl stared into the mirror on the near wall, allowing the spunky, youthful visage of Eloise Varnam to melt away and reveal the frosty countenance that lay beneath.

Her physical features did not change; the striking image of a teenage girl with red hair and brown eyes remained intact. However, her auburn pupils now shone like cold and distant stars; her face etched with a worn and foreboding look that could have only come from countless years of grim experience. It was a different type of beauty, the type one could find in the sheen of adamantite or the icy glint of a Frost Dragon's scales.

"My name," she spat. "Is Nemu Emmott."