Chapter 46
Chapter
Forty-Six
-KADIAN-
“Where did you get this?” I lifted up the paper, which held runes and letters from the common language.
“I told you I needed to meet with Edrick this evening. Well, this was why.”
“Why did Edrick have this?” Not only were the runes translatable, but the symbols from the Room of Convergence marred this paper as well. “Do you know what these symbols represent?” I questioned as I studied each of them.
My, my. Starting to put pieces together, are we? The voice slithered in.
Not now.
The voice laughed.
“Edrick knows where to find things. Why do you think I am gifted with languages? He sent me books. When my father asked where they came from, I lied and said I had an interest in linguistics. He ran with it from there.”
I nodded. “Have you had much time to look it over?”
“Not yet. I was going to bring it to the library but…” She looked back to her bed. “Things went a little sideways.”
“Do you mind if I borrow it? I’ll bring it back in the morning.”
“Of course. It will save me some work if you can make out whatever it is you need. Then, perhaps we will have a better idea of what Addie was researching and what was on that paper at the wedding. I wish I had gotten a look at it.”
Placing a hand on Iona’s shoulder, I gave it a squeeze. “We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, rest. You’ve had a long day.” I remained unsure about what had claimed her.
I know the voice whispered.
And are you going to tell me?
It’s laugh radiated inside my skull.
“I’ll come get you in the morning.”
“I did find something else that was interesting,” Iona said as she sat on the edge of her bed.
“Did you, now?”
Iona rose and made her way to her bedside table. Reaching inside, she held out a folder.
Making my way forward, I reached for the folder. As my fingers wrapped around it, preparing to pull it towards me, Iona said, “I haven’t been able to dig into this fully, and I don’t know if there is more, but you should brace yourself for this one.”
I straightened my posture and opened the folder. The top paper had my name listed on it, and the names of my family. “This is Addie’s writing. Addie was researching my genealogy?”
What interest could she have had in me? Was she curious which Fae we were related to? I flipped through the papers. Five papers in, I stopped. “Why was she researching Brida’s ancestry? She already knew it?”
Iona rose from the bed, making her way towards me before pointing to a section of the page. “It seems that even though Addie loved Brida,” Iona’s eyes found mine, and sympathy lived there, a notion I still found disturbing. “Deeply. That they weren’t related by blood.”
“Of course they were related by blood, Addie and Aela were sisters.”
“Kadian,” Iona grabbed the paper and placed it flat down on the desk. “These are Addie’s own documents, I haven’t touched them or changed them. But if you look here, she lists her parents as Merida Velin and Addis Velin. Aela is not listed as being their child.”
“You’re trying to tell me that somehow Aela wasn’t related to Addie, and that Addie faked being Brida’s aunt this whole time?” It was too hard to believe. They were related… they had to be.
“What did Aela look like? Did she look like Addie?”
I had never thought about it before, but Aela’s bright red hair had been something of note in Escalia and had been the topic of conversation before Brida’s hair had turned stark black with the streaks of Aela’s red lingering in it.
I had never cared to think about it, but Addie’s brown hair had looked nothing like Aela’s.
In fact, they looked nothing alike at all.
“No,” I whispered, sitting down in the chair. “Addie looked more like me than she did like Aela or Brida.”
A look of pity crested Iona’s brow, which in and of itself was terrifying.
“I just found this; we’ll do more research.
For some reason, she was researching the two of you, and there has to be a reason for it.
” Iona’s voice was more assured than it had been previously, and it was hard to argue with her.
Addie had been determined and focused, despite her often carefree spirit.
“I’ll talk to Edrick about it, I’ll go see him tomorrow.”
Iona placed her hand on my shoulder, mimicking my gesture from moments before. “We’ll figure it out.” I looked up at her to find her smiling, “Or, at least I will.”
Patting her hand, I rose. “Do you want to sleep in my room?” I gestured to where the door should have been.
“I’ll be fine. There aren’t many people on this floor to begin with. Besides, if I need you, I know where to find you.”
“You do,” I said as I stood awkwardly.
Should I? I shifted on my feet, unsure how to proceed.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“I feel like I should hug you.”
“Why?” Iona’s voice told me how repulsed she was by the notion.
“Because you had a hard day. And that’s what friends do.”
Iona said nothing, staring at me like she was a small child taking its first steps, unsure of her place in this world. “Can’t we just be friends who don’t hug?” She offered.
“Works for me.” I sighed with relief.
“Goodnight, Kadian.”
After saying my goodbyes and making my way through the gaping hole where her door had been, I returned to my room. After grabbing the books, I closed the door behind me. I knew where I needed to go.
Arriving at the library, I nodded at the scribe who was on duty before making my way behind the stacks to the door that would lead me to the tower.
There is something about that room. Clutching the paper with the translated runes, the book from Tura, and the book from the Eternal House, I climbed the stairs at a quickened pace.
Two at a time, two at a time. The corridor was empty, and I made my way to the Room of Convergence.
After scrutinizing over each corner and confirming that the runes were in fact the same, I placed the book from the Eternal House down in the center.
Look at the runes, I reminded myself. There was a key to this, they would need to be unlocked in a specific way, perhaps words spoken?
I fiddled with the lock to ensure it wouldn’t open. “Damnit,” I murmured as I looked over the list. What sort of magic bound this book? I dragged a hand over my face as I attempted to sound out each of the runes.
“Si, okay, I think that’s the first part.
” A mechanism on the book turned slowly like the inner workings of a timepiece.
I looked back to the paper and then to the book, “The runes are counterclockwise.” My eyes flowed back between the paper and the book, over and over, analyzing each curve of the rune, “ta…ta…taluu.” The lock turned a bit faster now.
“Me, that one is easy. Si talu me.” I repeated and the clasp spun at an increasing speed, obscuring some of the runes I needed to look at.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. STOP!” I screamed, and it did. The swirling ceased, and I paused to look around me. Grains of sand floated in the air around me, weaving in patterns similar to the runes on the book.
What the fuck…
“You can do this, Kadian.” I heard a voice, a voice I knew but couldn’t place.
Focus. I can get to the sand later.
This line looks like the sound for am, and this for ir, amirale.
Si tu amirale. I repeated the words to myself in my mind, not wanting to say them aloud, fearing the spinning would once again obscure my vision.
This is the same curve as the beginning, but it has a little point here, so si… g. Sig. Si talu me, amirale sig.
I found my rhythm over the course of the next hour, shifting from book to decoder, attempting to sound out the runes in my head before speaking them allowed.
There were eight runes left, eight left to uncover.
That one is the same as before, but the curve is slightly higher…
not ta but te. Yes, te! Si talu me, amirale sig te… only a few more to go.
Sweat accumulated on my forehead, I used my forearm to wipe it away, praying it wouldn’t land on something and distort any of the ink.
Come on, Kadian. Focus. How did this task come to me? The person who was least prepared, who could barely read, whose only real job had been to protect those around me, and I’d failed at that. How had this fallen to me?
A…fu. Si talu me, amirale sig te afu. Only two runes left. The first was similar to one earlier, m… not e, not a. I. Mi.
Standing, I rubbed my hands together, staring down at the book. I can do this. Can I do this? Yes. I can do this.
“Si talu me, amirale sig te afu mi.”
The words left my lips, and for an instant, nothing happened until all of the grains of sand fell from the air onto the ground and trembled.
With each pulse, they bounced, making their way closer to the book.
The clasp of the book broke free, flinging itself across the room as a sand storm rushed for the book, forcing it open.
Before I could move, before I could do anything other than breathe, the sand whirled up, surrounding me.
NO, no!
It encircled me, and I knew this sensation far too well. I don’t want to shadow-step! I screamed in my mind, but it didn’t matter. The sand didn’t listen. A moment later, I was gone. Out of the room, out of the palace, out of time.