Thief of Twilight

Part One: Chapter 11

It felt like the emperor, Lord Baek, and Beom were ignoring me once they returned to the palace. I found my way back rather easily. Beom found me near the banquet hall shortly after his arrival. He didn't seem upset at the fact that I hid my abilities. If anything, he looked like he had a few questions. While I did have dinner alone, I was able to take a long relaxing bath to gather my thoughts.

After combing my hair and fashioning it into a thick braid, I opened the piece of parchment that I found on Lord Farron's body. I hid it in one of the trunks in my room. I lit a candle and set it on the table. After ensuring that no one was walking past my room, I shut the windows and held the piece of parchment over the flame. I'm almost certain that this is a secret letter written with invisible ink. I doubt Lord Baldwin would really send someone to bring me back to Khurut. If he did, they'd most likely give me a message of some sort beforehand.

I held the parchment over the flame. After a few moments, words in black ink appeared before my eyes.

"I knew it." I mumbled. A secret message slowly appeared on the note.

Zurine, in three weeks' time I will arrive in Sincheon with Dahi. I will either send word to you or seek an invitation to speak with the emperor. We will discuss our situation further at that time. Also, get rid of Lord Farron. He has made a mess of things and I can't afford to keep him in the organization any longer. I lied to him about the bounty.

"I knew he wouldn't send someone after me."

"Lady Abedayo!"

I jumped at the sound of Lord Baek's voice. "Y-Yes!" I quickly burned the note over the flame.

"May we enter? I believe we need to have a serious conversation."

Shit. "Yes, you may come in!" as the note burned into small black fragments, the door slid open. Emperor Kang, Lord Baek, and Beom stepped inside. Beom closed the door behind them. It would seem that they were already dressed for bed. Loose trousers and a robe tied at the waist.

"Lady Abedayo-." Lord Baek took a deep breath.

"That was amazing!" Beom threw up his hands. "You were so fast! You took each of them out without a problem! That was so cool! You were-!"

"Beom!" Lord Baek slapped his hand over Beom's mouth. "Lady Abedayo, what exactly are you? If you were able to do that this whole time why didn't you tell us?"

Emperor Kang sat with his hands on his knees.

"...Well..." I don't know how to answer that question. I mean, I can tell them the truth but swap out the important information. It wouldn't be a complete lie. Just...a partial one. As long as I don't reveal anything too personal, everything should be okay. I'll just have to leave Lord Baldwin, Dahi, Nightdawn, and Shadowbane out of it.

"Can you please explain yourself?" Lord Baek pressed.

"Well...about that..." I laughed. "You see..." I looked at Beom. "The truth is...I'm not from Batoise..."

Lord Baek lowered his hand from Beom's mouth.

"I'm from...Khurut. But I was part of a collective of priests and priestesses." I know it's not good to lie but if I can somehow get them to understand that I am...of some sort of value then it should be alright. Whether that value is based on my appearance or abilities is up to them. But I doubt that they would take away my title or even imprison me. And they still have to give me my money since I'm technically engaged to the emperor now.

"You're from Khurut?" Lord Baek questioned.

"Yes. But..it goes further back than that. You see, a long time ago when gods ruled the moral realm, there were temples in nearly every city. If there wasn't a temple, then there was a monolith dedicated to a god. Some of the monoliths were in cities and others were in the forest. There were even temples built deep in the mountains. The goddess Celene, who is the Goddess of the Moon, had a monolith in Jurza. Unfortunately, there was a religious campaign that called for the temples and monoliths to be destroyed. Some worshippers resisted and died. Others were imprisoned." I pursed my lips. Is it safe to tell them this?