My Savior's Secret

Chapter 12

I didn’t see Ausmane for days after that. He must’ve assumed I left the island already. He had no faith whatsoever, though expecting anything from him was pointless.

My endeavor up the tree wasn’t only enlightening, it was frightening how many times it repeated in my head. The little details I’d been too occupied to pay attention to floated to the forefront of my brain once the adrenaline rush receded.

Ausmane was a Guardian at the VDA. By the title itself, his role must be to protect Etheria from those creatures, volyrs, but I still didn’t know how dangerous they were. I didn’t know how they looked like, but he did.

For a guy who saved people for a living, I didn’t get why the Weverins repulsed him. Were Guardians reclusive people, or were they so superior to the point of raising a wall around them?

I tried getting some answers this night, but the Weverins were again mum about it. The only difference was an unexpected face across me. Darian would definitely have something to say about Guardians—didn’t he want to become one?

“What’s that around your hand, dear?” Mildred said, taking my wrist without warning. She gasped so loud I thought her lungs would pop out. “Oh dear! Are you hurt? When did this happen?”

I’d treated my blisters the night after my gutsy trek. While I was treating them, the same question after which Ausmane and I had parted ways drifted in my mind. Am I your distraction, Scarlet? Why had he asked? Why couldn’t I answer surely?

Mildred’s discovery got Darian’s attention. He gave me a short yet intense look that imprinted to memory. It said something like ‘why are you still going outside?’ Or more like ‘don’t you f*****g dare go outside again bitch.’

Rego took my hand from her to see himself. “This looks bad.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I was hanging out at the garden and fell.”

“Are you getting bored at home?” Mildred asked. “I apologize, Cassiel should’ve taken you out sooner.” Cassiel? Oh, the caustically suave Elrian heir. How could I forget? “He’s been busy with his casino, but he arranged a whole day of fun for you this Friday. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, but it should have you looking forward to something.”

I lowered my spoon in the mashed potato. “I’m not bored. You didn’t have to go through the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all, dear,” she said. “Cassiel insisted.” I highly doubted that. “I would’ve asked Rubi to hang out with you, show you her shop and galleries, but I’m afraid she’s too reserved.”

“Better to stay out of the city for now,” Boyne added, rolling his spaghetti with a fork. “I know you’ve been curious about the news, but these events are common in Etheria. We don’t want to alarm you.”

“I appreciate your worry,” I said, “but I just want to know more about my birthplace. Both good and bad.”

Mildred slid a comforting arm around me. She was a master at giving unrequited hugs. “You must be missing your parents a lot. I understand you want to explore the world they’d lived in.”

I didn’t miss my parents when they’d gone MIA forever ago. I wouldn’t expect this extended family of mine to understand, but I’d spent more time with them than my parents.

“I’ve been seeing you wear a necklace recently,” Mildred said. “A pocket-watch?” At their mention, the weight of the necklace grew tenfold under my shirt.

I fixed my eyes to my plate. “It’s my dad’s.”

“Did your parents leave you anything else?” Boyne asked. Mom had wanted me to destroy the letter. For your eyes only. “Parting words? Anything of the sort?” Why would they care? I might sound harsh, but it was still too quick for me to be buddy-buddy with them.

“It’s quite a shame you didn’t get to say goodbye to either of your parents,” Mildred said, true pity dripping in her voice. I told myself every day, every dinner, to put up with it, the sympathy Mildred poured at me.

“I’ll take you to your parents’ house tomorrow morning,” Rego said. “The investigation is over, and they’ve finally made it secure enough to enter.”

Mildred rubbed my shoulder. “You must be waiting a long time, huh?” Not really.

“What about the death certificate?” I inquired. “I haven’t gotten them yet to take back to Canada.”

Silence settled over the table, and Boyne drank his water before speaking. “It takes a while to get them prepared in Etheria. We’ll have them ready by next week.”

Mildred cupped my injured hand. “Have you not considered staying, dear?” I moved my meatball around in my spaghetti, not wanting to accept that I had. “You’ll be taken care of very well. We insist. You’ll see the wonders of Etheria.”

“It’s tempting,” I said. I had nothing in Canada, no one, but deep inside it felt wrong. “Isn’t it difficult for outsiders to stay, though?”

“Family members of an Etherian citizen can have an exception for permanent residence. Like your father,” Rego said. “Clans often have that power.”

“But I don’t feel like I belong here.”

“You will, dear,” Mildred assured, sharing a look with Boyne. “You must.”

Darian took his plate and left the table abruptly. He hadn’t finished eating. He never left without finishing, nor said a word, making me wonder what type of person he really was. Good or bad or simply grey?

*

The next morning, I was back on the highway being taken away from Weverin territory. As I’d seen coming from the airport, buildings rose in the far distance beyond a trail of woods paralleling the road. Clouds coloured the sky grey and were eerily undisturbed, but they were inviting, like they were telling me not to worry. They'd have my back from above if no one else would.

“That way is the main city,” Rego said, briefly pointing out my window. “Downtown, if ya will. Your parents lived somewhere more secluded. Somewhere between the suburbs and the Defense Bureau headquarters.”

A lake emerged at the exit of the highway with a red bridge layered with morning mist connecting the two ends of the city. It was the bridge I’d seen in the video.

“What’s that bridge called?”

“Srylian Bridge. Quite a sight, huh?” He took the left route, branching off from the highway and parting with the main city.

“Rego, where is the Northern forest?” I asked, eyes unmoving from the bridge.

He sent me a side-glance. “It’s ahead of this road over the inlet. Quite far.” Was it far enough?

We entered what he rightfully called the suburbs. Apartments were flatter in this area, and smaller neighborhoods and streetlights lined the asphalt roads. Traffic thinned near a scant neighbourhood off to the side of the city. Houses spread sparsely, and the main road continued indefinitely.

Rego stopped at one of the corner houses, two stories high, looking a lot like the suburban houses in Canada. The only difference was yellow hazard tape enclosing the property, windows broken and charred on the second floor, and a ghostly ambience. My parents had never shown me the outside before, but a comparison wasn’t the only thing I was short of.

A policeman exited the front doors, and Rego got out the car to meet him. He gave us gloves, partially removed the hazard tape to let us through from the parking lot, and we walked up the porch steps. 

My breath held as we entered.