Chapter Ten Yule
"Families are the compass that guides us."
Adan awoke in her bed with no recollection of how she got there. The pounding in her head was a reminder of how much alcohol she had imbued and how much of a beating she had taken. She spent the next couple of days in bed, trying to piece together her night.
On the morning of the third day, Adan left the castle. Freshly cleaned and heading towards the Pearl. It was time she checked in with Czandra. She needed to talk to her about Lennox too. He is her Head of House, she would be the safest person to ask, even if she was forbidden from answering.
"My office. Now." Czandra said by way of greeting.
By the look of the bags under the vampire's eyes, she was in no mood.
Adan kept her distance as she climbed up the stairs behind her.
"Rumour has it that Lord Lennox has bought your papers."
When she nodded, Czandra let out a small shriek.
"He cannot find out about what we do here, Little Mouse."
"He won't." They stepped into the office, closing the door.
"Unless he commands me to tell him about you." Czandra warned.
He won't, he would have done it already. He had explicitly told Adan that he wouldn't do that to her. For trust that much about it him.
"What can you tell me about the Lord of Shadows?" She let disdain drip from her tone as she chocked out his name.
"You know that he has forbidden me from tell you anything about him."
Her face dropped. "I'm sorry, Little Mouse... But the man knows how to play this game. He understands how this world works. Honestly, I'm surprised you don't idolize him for it. You had no issue looking up to me when you were younger. He is not much different,
though perhaps his grasp on this life is larger than my own."
"You think I should idolize him?" She spat.
"I can't say anymore on the subject." But her eyes told Adan she wanted nothing more than to spill his secrets. Lennox's command on her held true, making Adan scowl.
Damn him.
Czandra's lean face softened, "two more arrived today." Adan perked up, "They'll be smuggled out by weeks end."
"There are rumours that Captain Jax found a boat. There are rumours floating around that he came into contact with a phoenix. Was it our boat?" She asked tentatively.
"Apparently, yes. I found out a few days ago when our ship returned. While at sea, the captain boarded, saw the cargo, and left. He never stopped us."
"That's ... unsettling." Adan mussed. He could be made a rich man with that type of intel or cargo. Either he was saving it for leverage. Or he was actually a decent person, but that wouldn't make any sense. Not in this city.
"But somehow the word is out, that is why the king has you hunting him."
"Add the leader of the rebellion to that list. You don't happen to know who that is?" She asked with a sway of her head.
"Good gods, Little Mouse, can you ever stay out of trouble? You of all people should fucking learn to stay on the fringe. But oh no! Not you! You have to be fucking front row and center. Ever since you were no higher than an Undine."
"I didn't ask for this..." she was too mentally exhausted to go head-to-head with the vampire right now.
"Of course not, Little Mouse, and yet you scurry about causing chaos and eating all the cheese." She chided playfully.
"We have never found a phoenix, Czandra. The phoenixes are all gone. The king will never find what he is looking for, and I'll die trying to find them for him. That's how this will end."
"You chose this path long ago. You mutilated yourself so that you couldn't be sold on your bidding day. I found you a way for you to carve out some semblance of a living. And now after everything, you want to give up?!" She was pissed, her wings threatened to unleash themselves.
"This is hardly the fucking end of anything." Adan never mentioned her deal with Lennox, and she wouldn't. Saying it out loud felt like a jinx.
"If you came here to talk business then lets talk, but if you're going to wallow, please take it to the roof."
Adan was more than willing to oblige. She exited the office faster than she entered and headed up, until she was staring out at the City of Bones.
The sun was already high in the sky and the sounds of the city filled the air.
But somehow it was all background noise, it helped settle her thoughts.
Czandra had been helping her smuggle creatures out of Lymia for the last three years.
It had all started when Adan had come to her in tears, from her latest whipping.
She needed to find a way to deal with the life she had chosen.
She needed an outlet that would let her sleep at night.
It all had to mean something. So one day, when she did get her freedom, she had a shred of a soul to turn back to.
It was a huge risk to blab Adan's inter most thoughts to, but she had reached a point that if she turned her in it wouldn't matter.
She was dead inside already. Czandra raged for a month straight before she agreed to help.
Adan knew Czandra had helped her before, and she would help again.
It was a huge risk, if the king found out about their operation they would be worse than dead.
Adan never feared death, there are far, far worse things in this world.
She knew the king had the power to inflict them.
The things he had done to Fire House were brutal and unforgivable.
So she made a vow to save any all creatures that she could.
But she never once found a phoenix. A few Djinn, mostly Centaurs, and a Unicorn once.
She had heard rumours of a Sphinx but never found one, so she stopped looking—Chimeras were just as allusive.
Fire House might be gone--but a few members still survived.
This was the answer to Lennox's question.
This was why she could forgive Czandra for the life that she led--and not him.
She tried to do right when she could. When the system is designed to stomp out that kindness with everything it has.
Whereas Lennox was only in it for himself.
Even if he wasn't always a lord, he didn't know the type of daily struggle her people dealt with in Lymia.
He couldn't know what Adan's life was like.
To explain it to him would either get Adan killed, or Lennox, or the both of them.
She needed to get her freedom, it was the key to being able to do more.
Czandra was right. Lennox could never learn about what they were doing.
Snow began to fall in white chunks and the winter chill bit into Adan's bones as she sat on the roof of the Pearl.
"You're going to catch a chill." Czandra yelled from the widows walk. "Come inside you stubborn, mouse." Adan hadn't come up here to avoid her, she just enjoyed the view and the silence. "Besides we're not done talking." She waved a hand and headed back inside, leaving Adan no choice but to follow.
—
Adan spent the following days stalking one Shadow House member, in particular, from the rooftops.
Thammas Harkness, the right hand to Lennox Hollow in all things business.
If anyone could lead her to more answers about the Lord of Shadows, it was Thammas.
Unfortunately, after several hours of stalking him, she didn't learn anything new.
Thammas went from business to luncheon to business meeting to dinner appointment.
The man was sparkling clean, not a speck of dirt on him. Adan gave up in a huff of frustration.
--
She returned to the Luxus a few weeks later, to buy some last-minute Yule gifts.
The fact that she hadn't heard from Lennox had nothing to do with it.
She couldn't care less, but Yule always made her long for her family.
She missed their traditions, ones that she could never acknowledge now.
Czandra had invited her over, but the thought of dinner with all those young woman running around turned her stomach sour.
Osho and the assassins were probably the safer choice.
It was that or hide out in her room while the court held their annual celebration.
She was permitted to go, but never felt welcome.
Besides, the thought of Yule with Darius leering at her all night sounded more like a nightmare than a holiday.
Lennox was right, she had a way in with the court, and she did everything to avoid it.
She hated them--possible more than she hated the Lord.
She was just leaving a shop with a particularly heavy and expensive gift for Czandra when she spotted Lennox leaning up against a building across from her—waiting for her.
"Stalking me now?" She yelled as she stormed over to him. Fresh snow had fallen in chunks into his raven black hair. He ran his fingers through the strands and grinned at her as she stopped just before him.
"Who's stalking who? I know you were following Thammas the other day and I want to know why." His grin dropped to a stern glare.
"The simplest answer is that I don't trust you." She meant to dismiss him, to continue her errands, but he reached out, grabbing her arm, and pulling her into his warmth.
"Clearly you found nothing suspicious because you gave up after a measly eight hours." He smirked.
Her jaw dropped, "You were tailing me?" It was troublesome that she had no idea.
"Like I said, you're good, but you're not as good as you think you are, love."
He winked at her scowl. "I came to talk to you for a reason, I am having a Yule gathering at my tower."
She followed his direction, to the massive, towering building ahead that glowed with constant light from its many windows.
She knew it was a hotel, and that he lived on the top floor.
It was the second-tallest building in the city--next to the king's castle.
"I was wondering if you would like to come."
Her face soured at the thought of another night with Lennox.
"Nothing like that night at Sanctum." He clarified, and his strong tone softened, "Come as my guest. There will be people there that might be able to help us find who we are looking for."
he looked sincere, if not a little closed off.
He was hiding something, but Adan couldn't fathom what, exactly.
She forced a fake laugh. "Maybe I want to spend my holidays with people I actually like, maybe I already have plans."