Moonlight trickled in through the window. Kaya didn't remember having left her curtains open. Even if she had, she would have expected Mirja or somebody else to have closed them. Why did everything have to be confusing? She was starting to go mad.
There were shadows on the wall. Kaya jumped up, her hands balled into fists. Before she could investigate, a hand clamped over her mouth and she was pulled back down onto her bed.
'Hello, Kaya.'
Kaya recognised one of her former captors. It wasn't any of the original ones, but a girl she vaguely remembered. Her bushy brown braids stuck out below her gray hood reminded Kaya of her and the touch of her hand on her forehead.
The memories came back. The dirty room, the filth, the punishments when Kaya tried to escape. The shadow manipulator sending darkness after her to hold Kaya back and afterwards, Thaia came to soothe her, planting affirmations and false memories in her mind. The happy times spent playing cards weren't real. The tasty food was just an illusion. Her gratitude wasn't real.
'Shhh, Kaya, don't think of such things. Remember what I told you.'
I am grateful.
I want to be a perfect Eseterrian.
Cines is my home. I have no other home.
My captors are my saviours.
One by one, the true memories faded. All thoughts dissolved until her mind was a clean slate. It was a fruit, ripe for plucking.
No. I won't let you control me.
The girl laughed softly and cruelly. 'Tsk, tsk, Kaya. Your problem is that with me here, it doesn't matter how you feel, what you want. Before I was conditioning you for the shadow whore and Adrastos, but with me here, such things are rather trivial. Besides, I can make sure you forget this. Wouldn't be the first time.'
There were footsteps outside. Kaya contemplated screaming, but the girl held Kaya's forehead down and chased the thought away. A smug smirk played on her lips. Her accomplice pulled out a dart to play safe, but whoever was passing, disappeared.
What do you want?
Greed flickered in the girl's eyes. Kaya had become accustomed to seeing it since she was in the court. They were wolf eyes.
'Don't worry, you won't have to do anything too bad. You'll just be on distraction duty.'
What do you want?
'Thaia, we need to get a move on.'
She looked over to the boy and nodded. An odd, cold sensation spread through Kaya's head and the mission was clear. As much as she wanted to resist, she couldn't. All she was, was a puppet.
She put on a skirt over the loose pantaloons of her nightwear, buttoned up a coat and slipped into some boots before leaving her room. A patrolling guard started, then bowed.
'Ponyéva.'
He was facing her room. She needed to make him look in the opposite direction. With that aim, she walked past him and he turned around to watch.
'Do you need a guard to accompany you, Ponyéva?'
Behind him, the wolf and her tall companion were creeping out of the room. Their movements were incredibly silent, they were like curtains blowing in the wind. The girl met Kaya's eyes briefly.
'Tell me, who else is on duty?'
'Uh... Zazhil Feyer, Damascus Myèv, Katryn Paulei and Phinneas Smay.'
'Nevermind, I think I'll go alone,' the Eseterrian decided while the two criminals disappeared around the corner.
We need you.
Despite how shocked and uncomfortable the guard looked, she pushed past him and headed down towards where the others were. For a moment, she noticed the smell of scented bathwater, then her mind was cleared again.
Thaia touched Kaya's head and her first arrival flashed before her mind's eye, then disappeared. The girl smiled darkly, then bent down the narrow corridor. It was a path few knew actually led from the small entrance hall to the Eseterrian's dwellings. Naturally that was why the Chèr favoured it and now it was being exploited.
When the faint glow of the moonlit small entrance hall was visible further down the corridor, Kaya was sent to the front. The chance of there not being guards in there was virtually zero.
Kaya stumbled out and spotted the two guards stood in front of the grand wooden doors to the ballroom. It looked rather eerie at night, the arches and columns throwing unsettling shadows. Still, there was no room for fear in Kaya's controlled mind. She strolled right up to the guards.
'I'm sorry, I was, uh, wondering whether the door is open,' mumbled Kaya. She felt pathetic, Shula Kaya didn't mumble. Yet she wasn't really Shula Kaya right now.
'Yes. Why?'
Kaya sighed. 'I couldn't sleep. I thought a bit of fresh air might help. I just wasn't sure whether I could get in or out.'
The other spoke up nervously now, 'Excuse me, aren't you one of the Eseterrians?'
'That's me.' Her tone sounded unusually authoritative. Either the others were rubbing off on her or this was Thaia's influence.
'Ponyéva, you're not meant to leave alone at night. You should be accompanied by guards,' he lectured her. There was an edginess to his tone, as if he feared a spirit would appear to scold him for denying an Eseterrian. Normally Kaya herself would argue that she didn't need protecting, but the wolf had different plans.
'Oh, forgive me. Couldn't one of you come with me?'
'Well...' mumbled the second, his gaze darting to the second.
'We have orders to stay stationed here.'
'From the king, I assume?'
Now even the proud guard faltered slightly. 'Not quite, Ponyéva.'
'The prince?'
He grimaced and the shyer guard answered, 'Captain Caulfield.'
'Captain Caulfield? You deny me, an Eseterrian, on the orders of a mere captain?' She raised an intimidating eyebrow. She didn't wait for a reply, strutting outside instead.
The palace door guards drew their swords, but sheathed them again when they recognised her. The guards from inside quickly ran after her.
'What's going on here?'
'She wanted to go for a walk. We were just going to ensure protocol was upheld by accompanying her.'
'That's Miss Kaya. She's precisely the one that doesn't need protection. Now go back to your posts,' he ordered. Once they'd left, he turned his attention to the Eseterrian. 'Officially you still need protection, but I assume you'd rather take care of that yourself.'
She nodded, then smiled at him. It felt like a cat's smile. She hated this so much. She was playing small part, a little distraction, but she was allowing a crime to take place. Without her, they couldn't do it.
I am grateful.
No. No, you're not.
I am grateful. All I want is to help.
Kaya's body had already started steering her through the garden. She was unusually cold, especially considering the furry inside of the coat. She felt helpless like a child again, watching her father being pushed to his knees. She gulped and was grateful when the parasite in her mind consumed the thought. Neither she nor the wolf wanted a mental breakdown.
The grounds were oddly beautiful in the night. The moon shone on the snow, creating a pretty glow. Tree branches formed intricate silhouettes. There was a dripping noise of the melting snow. Spring was drawing near, although chance had it more snow would come before the thaw. Still, the snow no longer crackled beneath Kaya's boots, instead feeling like sludge. There was nothing pleasant about it.
Come.
Kaya finished the little loop and returned to the entrance. 'It's rather cold, I'm afraid.' They didn't know her well enough to know the she was never cold.
They stepped aside, allowing her to open the door. She did and saw the two invaders behind the guards, the vendor slumped over the man's shoulder.
'Wait, can I just see your faces so that I can remember you if ever you should need my favour?'
They hesitated, exchanging looks. Kaya held her breath. They were so close to noticing the criminals. However, their necks turned a bit too little. They took off their helmets. Kaya met one's eyes before he was whacked on the head and collapsed to the floor. A trickle of blood tainted the ground.
Again, the memories raced back. Kaya was hammering at the door, screaming. In came the shadow manipulator and grabbed her hammering wrists. She held a dagger to Kaya's throat, another to her gut.
'One more scream and I'll remove your organs, one by one. You know, it takes some time to die,' whispered the girl in her ear. 'The time it'll take for us to fetch a healer. Then we can start again.'
That had silenced her.
'Ach—'
She interrupted Adrastos by cursing. In her shock, her knife had grazed Kaya's cheek.
How'd you get that, the Chèr had asked. Now she knew. An accident, but it might as well have been intentional.
Of course the wolf had come then, ready to fix Kaya's memories. She was there now, a hand on Kaya's forehead. Her voice whispered little commands into Kaya's ear which the Elementida ignored. Without hearing the words, she knew roughly what it would be. She looked away, taking one last look at the magical silhouette of the tree and said farewell to her memories and autonomy.
♤ ♤ ♤
A/N: I'm currently at the station that one of the Lucidity characters is named after. I'm editing this on the way to the arts university because I have an entrance exam for their gifted kids programme thing. I am very scared.
Anyway, I know this is neither a long chapter or especially good, but it's an important one, so yeah. I hope you kind of enjoyed it. There might already be another chapter tomorrow, we'll see.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen2U.Pro