Alnwick Chronicles

Fourteen

Michael

While Aerith and Adalyn are chatting away, I decide to exit the hospital tent and go outside for a breath of fresh air. They might want to discuss private things, which they would not be able to if I'm around. Also, seeing them together makes me heartsick for my own siblings.

Outside, there is the usual hustle and bustle of everyday Aberrant life. It should feel strange, a secret little community of spies and detectives huddled in a small clearing in the woods, but it has begun feeling like home to me.

My actual home was destroyed and my family murdered, in case you're wondering. By the oh-so-noble Queen of Alnwick.

We used to be a well-off Metropolan family. We had everything: a large house, servants, a respectable position in society. My father used to trade in jewelry of the most exquisite kind, and even Muriel and Florence used to buy from him.

When I was seven, my mother passed away while giving birth to my three little sisters. Even though I missed her more than words could express, the triplets started brightening up my life, little by little. In just a short while, they became my whole world.

Then one day, two years ago, when I had gone to see a sports match with a friend, our house burnt down. With my dad and sisters inside.

I'm not going to go into all that I went through when I found out, but once the immediate grief subsided a bit, all I could feel was rage. This was arson, and Queen Muriel was behind it. I knew dad was having some sort of disagreement with her, even though he refused to share any details.

Miserable, livid and homeless, I started to wander around streets and alleys, looking for fights. I didn't let anyone know I was alive, or Muriel would have found out and come for me too. I started getting more and more in trouble, and almost got arrested too. Scared, I ran away. I ended up in a totally different part of the Metropola, where I decided to try and start a new life. I searched for jobs, but couldn't land any.

Then one dark night, I stumbled upon what seemed to be a bank robbing heist. I watched the entire thing from a distance, unsure of what to do but staying out of sight. However, I found one pair of startling blue eyes staring into mine. I had been discovered.

I tried to escape but they caught me anyway. There were around six of them, and the blue-eyed girl seemed to be their leader. They interrogated me. At first, I refused to open my mouth, but eventually they were able to coax things from me. I somehow ended up having a breakdown and oversharing. I even told them about my hatred for Muriel.

The blue-eyed girl with jet black hair in a pixie cut told me her name was Zora, and that she was an Aberrant. She explained to me what the Aberrants did, and asked if I wanted to join.

Her proposition sounded a thousand times better than any sympathy she could have offered, and so I agreed.

I was trained to become physically fit and mentally sharp by my mentor, an older Aberrant. I learnt to hide my emotions, but let them fuel me. Then I started going on actual missions, and gradually rose through the ranks.

Then one day not long ago, Nathaniel brought in a boy and two girls, who he claimed were being chased by Cold Hollow. I didn't believe him then, given his history of dishonesty, but it soon turned out to be true. Aerith, Adalyn and Skyla might not know it, but they have been the talk of town around here ever since they arrived.

Aerith told me about something they discovered, but didn't want to tell anyone else because it would raise chaos, and they aren't even sure how reliable the information is. It was about Lyton being alive. It did send a shockwave through me, but I chose not to think about it after that.

Something to my left catches my eye. It's Idella, standing just outside the meeting tent. She motions for me to come inside, her expression grave. Once I'm inside, she wastes no time getting to the point.

"We've received information about Heath's whereabouts. Apparently some eleven-year old mystery addict saw two 'suspicious-looking people' with an injured man whose description matches Heath. The kid was cooking up conspiracy theories for attention, and our guys found out and got the actual facts from him."

I try to keep a straight face as I ask, "So where is Heath?"

"Marlow."

Skyla

After the two minutes it takes for my brain to register the shock, I run into her arms as she envelops me in a bear hug. A tear rolls down my cheek, but I wipe it away quickly. "I hope nobody saw that," mom whispers when we separate.

I have so many questions, I don't know where to begin. "How- why-" I stutter.

"It's a long story, and I think I'd better narrate it when all five of us are together."

Five. Aerith, Adalyn, me, her and... "Where's dad?"

She looks around as if to make sure no one is watching, then replies, "Not here. Come with me." She motions for me to get on my horse again, but I just shake my head. I'd be crazy to wish for death a second time.

"Come on," mom tells me, already aboard her white steed. "I'll guide you through it this time."

It takes some convincing, but I give in in the end. I climb onto Icarus' saddle, and make sure to follow every single instruction from mom. In just a little while, I'm comfortable making my horse trot.

"We've done enough suspicious activity already," says mom, probably referring to our hug and crash course on horse-riding. "We need to go separate ways now. Meet me behind the fifth line of stables in three hours, when it's dark."

I nod, and we ride off in different directions.

***

The sun is setting when I turn the corner behind the line of stables she mentioned, to see her already waiting for me. I was thinking of bringing Nathaniel and Laura along, but decided against it in the end. I'm going to listen to what mom has to say first, and then decide who to bring in on what information.

When I'm in earshot, she says without beating around the bush, "Ivan's been captured by Muriel's people, and I have a fairly good idea of where they've kept him." To my questioning look, she responds, "In the castle dungeons."

The dungeons. It's the most logical holding place and I should have anticipated it, but it still sends a bead of cold sweat down my spine. In winter.

Just then, Jeanne raises her hand to tuck a stray strand of her wavy brown hair behind one ear, which makes the bottom of her quilted jacket rise a couple inches, exposing an assortment of miniature blades and daggers strapped to her waist.

My voice is apprehensive when I say, "What... what are we going to do?"

She inhales deeply before peering straight into my eyes. "What do you say to a midnight prison-break?"