39. Hope
39
Hope
“ S top!” Nina shouted again, tears in her light blue eyes as she pushed her body out of the tunnel. Aurora was ready to follow without hesitation. Both hadn’t been hurt by the panomquake, luckily.
The man with dark blue eyes and shoulder-long, smooth dark hair was not looking at Nina anymore. The man with two blades stuck in his shoulder joints was looking at Hope as he lifted a hand and removed one blade from his body, dropping it onto the floor. He did a circular movement with his hand, and the blood stopped pouring from the insertion point.
Panom. This being was a fully powered panom. And her blades maybe weren’t enough, but if she knocked him out, then he surely couldn’t fix himself.
Hope didn’t give him time to remove the other blade. In three leaps, Hope was behind the man, climbing on his back as her arms locked his neck from behind, her knees held his arms on the sides. She didn’t take his ability to breathe, though. Not yet.
This man had dodged her blades when he had been paying attention. He was extremely fast. If she had locked him like this without opposition…
The scent of his shoulder-long, smooth hair next to her face was overwhelming. This man was made of night and pine. She could have sworn he was inhaling her scent as well, closing his eyes as Hope asked Nina, “ Why should I stop?”
The panom didn’t reply, as if he somehow knew that no matter what he said, Hope wouldn’t trust him. Instead, he removed his hand from Hope’s knee lock, and lifted it as if to remove her from him.
No, not her. The blade. He wanted to remove the blade from his other shoulder. As if that was a nuisance, not having a woman hanging from his back who had her arms wrapped around a must-have part of his body in order to breathe.
Hope didn’t let her body react at the shock of seeing a shiny hand grabbing the hilt of her blade and removing it from his shoulder with ease. The same hand traced a quick circle over the wound where blood leaked from, and the skin healed. The tinge of copper smell disappeared with it.
Hope couldn’t take her eyes from it. It was a completely functional, strong, and capable hand. But it was made of metal.
Nina said, “Because this is Ciaran Castel, heir of the West House and who my parents, my brother and I worked for.”
Hope blinked, unsure if this was a trap. This hadn’t been in the plans of their arrival in Thyria.
Aurora, next to Nina, held her weapons in each hand. Her eyes narrowed, which was reason enough for Hope to not let go of Ciaran’s neck yet, despite the frown on Nina’s face. Courtrades were now filling the room, as most of them had jumped out of the tunnel. The last one was Marcus. Six courtrades less indeed.
“This is most surely not the courtrades’ quarters,” Marcus said. “But if you wanted us dead, you would have started already. Who the fuck are you, where are we, and how did you find us?” His eyes were cold, assessing. His hands had shadows twirling around his fingers, as if they were ready to strike should the answers not please him.
“As Nina kindly said,” he bowed at Nina his head as much as Hope’s arms let him before continuing, “I’m Ciaran, son of Cobrian Castel of the West House.”
Hope wasn’t sure if it was him knowing Nina by her first name, the respectful bow towards her friend, the genuine happiness in Nina’s eyes at seeing him, or that his scent was starting to blur her thoughts. But she finally let go of his neck, jumping to the floor. She didn’t go too far from him. Not yet.
“Brendon Gallon here,” said the second man, now stepping into the light. He was stunning, with short blond hair and blue eyes. He added, “We are under the Invisible Grand, and we should leave the chitchat for later unless you fancy a visit to the Organ Mandor.”
Hope’s eyes widened as she held her breath. Could it be this easy to confront her father at last? Adrenaline was rushing through her veins. It had been rushing through her veins for a long while now.
“No one is moving until you tell us how you found us,” Marcus demanded.
It was Ciaran who spoke this time. “I heard the whispers when you left Verdania.”
Marcus nodded silently, as if that explained something to him. “That doesn’t explain how you knew we’d be here,” he said.
“The Cardinals guided us here,” Ciaran said, his voice tense, as if he didn’t like being questioned so much.
“Metaphors are not good enough explanations,” Marcus said.
“A fucking red cardinal came to me and wouldn’t stop picking my already-bleeding back until I Healed myself, and then it instructed me to moure into Brendon’s, and then moure us both into this room, I guess because he works in this damn building that I’ve never stepped in. Is that good enough ?” His patience was definitely running low.
Hope couldn’t stop herself before she asked, “Why was your back bleeding?”
Ciaran looked at her, and she might have imagined the coldness of his eyes easing a bit as he said, “It’s a long story.”
“Did you cause the panomquake?” Marcus asked, still not taking his eyes off Ciaran.
A corner of his lips twisted upwards as he said, “That wasn’t me.”
“He’s not a talker, you see. Don’t waste your— our precious time. Now, can we get out of here?” Brendon urged.
“What if I do fancy a visit to the Organ Mandor?” Hope asked, consciously avoiding the panicked stares of her mother and Nina.
“While being starved, thirsty, sleep deprived and with your hand hurt? A very stupid idea,” Aurora snapped.
Ciaran tilted his head slightly, exposing intricate ink shapes where his neck met his clothes. “Is that why you came to Thyria?” he asked.
“It’s a long story ,” Hope smiled sarcastically.
“Can you take us to the courtrades’ Thyrian quarters?” Marcus asked Ciaran.
“I can moure you there two at a time,” the panom said.
Marcus pushed Aridian and Jessica forward to be the first ones. “Please,” he said.
Ciaran walked towards Brendon and removed Hope’s blade from his shoulder, healing it as he had mended his own. They stared at each other while this happened, presumably in a silent conversation that ended in Brendon nodding and walking next to Hope. Ciaran walked towards Aridian and Jessica and touched the back of their necks, the three of them disappearing from sight a moment later.
In less than a minute, Ciaran returned, and two other courtrades were ready for him. On and on, he moured them away, returning with empty hands, the caved room with fewer people every time he disappeared again.
“Are you sure he is to be trusted?” Hope asked Nina, not caring that Brendon was standing next to her, listening to every word.
“I trust Ciaran with my life,” Nina confirmed.
Aurora said, “I wouldn’t put my life in the hands of any panoms, least of all the hands of a future House Ruler. These beings think differently, behave differently, and live differently than the rest of us.”
The disgust in her mother’s voice was almost hurtful. A reminder that she didn’t yet accept the part of Hope that was linked to these panom beings. Hope tried not to take it personally. She tried, but it still hurt.
“Most of them are a bunch of assholes, to be honest,” Brendon said as a matter of fact.
Nina smiled, and then said, “I don’t want to go to the courtrades’ quarters.”
“Neither do I,” Hope said. “That’s not why we came here.” They had lost nothing there. And she had a feeling that the courtrades wouldn’t welcome them anymore. They had worked together for a specific purpose. A purpose now fulfilled.
“Is there somewhere else, somewhere safe that we can go?” Nina asked Brendon, as Ciaran appeared and disappeared again with another pair. “Just until we find out how to find… some family members?”
“If you’re looking for Raoul, one of our friends has recent news about his whereabouts,” Brendon said, and Nina lifted her eyebrows with surprise. “The description of completely white hair, light blue eyes and very pale skin is not that common, you know? Are you twins or something?”
“He’s my brother,” Nina said, swallowing the multiple questions she surely wanted to ask. Hope knew her friend was trying to contain the emotions right now, trying to not get overexcited.
Ciaran reappeared, and only Marcus and a ginger-haired courtrade remained in the room with Brendon, Nina, Aurora, and Hope.
Marcus approached Aurora, extending his hand to shake hers as he said, “May Llunal shade your path.”
“May the Cardinals guide you,” Aurora replied, shaking his hand firmly.
Nina said, “Thank you for looking after us.”
“You three don’t need anyone looking after you,” he chuckled as he kissed Nina’s hand. “It’s been my pleasure to meet you, Nina.”
He finally turned to Hope and bowed his head slightly. She extended her healthier hand to shake his, but he turned her hand and traced a semicircle crossed with two straight lines on her palm. The symbol appeared traced by thin, dark shadows.
“I, Marcus Olanett, thank you, Hope Nevada, for allowing my courtrades and myself to return to Thyria using your blood. We owe you a life debt. When you seek our help, we will be there for you. I swear on Llunal, his shadows and all his stars,” he said, and the symbol on her palm vanished into nothing.
Hope felt in her hand and her heart that these were not mere words. That had been a life-binding promise, involving his god and the source of the courtrades’ powers. She bowed her head as she said, “It’s been my honor.”
With that, Marcus and the courtrade walked to Ciaran, who had not taken his eyes from Hope’s hand since Marcus had touched it, and disappeared after his hand touched their necks.
“Nina and Brendon, you’re next,” Hope said as Ciaran moured into the underground room again. Hope and her mother would be the last two, but she knew perfectly well that the questions were eating her friend alive, and she needed to go to wherever these friends were, and find out more about Raoul as soon as possible.
Nina gave a brief kiss on Hope’s cheek as she said, “See you in a minute.”
Brendon, Ciaran, and Nina were gone. The silence was only interrupted by Hope and Aurora’s breathing.
“Now we’re here, what do you plan to do? Find him?” Aurora asked, and Hope knew exactly who she meant.
Her mother meant the man who she had loved with all her heart. The man who had given her reasons to believe a different life was possible. The man who had given her a child. The man who had discarded this child and herself, not caring if they lived or died. The man who had broken her mother’s heart. The man who she had almost given up on life for.
Hope didn’t have time to reply before Ciaran moured in front of them, extending his arms to touch their skins. Hope swallowed, unsure of what to expect. She wanted to believe this man, but if this was a trap, they would be completely at his mercy, letting him take them wherever he wanted.
His dark blue eyes seemed to read the hesitation in her eyes, because he said, “Mouring is quite safe, and quick.”
Quite wasn’t a very reassuring word, but Hope decided to not mention it as he touched the backs of their necks, and the floor vanished from underneath their feet.
Lights and shadows and blurs and sounds were spinning around them in an unrecognizable chaos. The only focus of her vision were Aurora, who bit her lips in an uncomfortable flinch, and Ciaran, who started looking around with something like nervousness in his eyes.
“This is taking too long,” he said, pushing his hands on their skins harder. The metal hand against Hope’s skin felt smooth, slightly cool. Everything kept spinning, even faster than before, and Hope felt nausea burning its way up her empty stomach.
“Fuck. Something external is trying to redirect us,” he said, closing his eyes as if trying to concentrate more.
Their feet landed in a spacious room, and Hope would have fallen on her knees if Ciaran hadn’t kept her upright with the metallic hand on her waist. Around them, there was no Nina, no Brendon, and definitely no friends. Ciaran inhaled sharply, and Hope followed his stare until she saw the source of his reaction.
It hadn’t been an external something redirecting them. It had been an external someone .
For the panom force emanating from this being could only belong to the Organ Mandor of Thyria.
Her father, Rhei Coralt, was staring at her.