KYMALIN IARO cannot give up. With her brother running out of time and their mother powerless, Kymalin embarks on a journey to find a cure. So when a powerful organization becomes her only hope, she has to prove she belongs to it, even if it means ge...
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2407 Varkala 13, Briss
Kymalin stood outside the Heiress's tent, gauging its height and diameter mostly because she didn't want to come in. Not yet.
Her heart refused to calm down ever since a servant girl no older than eight came to fetch her in the dining hall, telling her the Heiress asked for Kymalin by name. It wasn't from excitement. More like...dread.
Of course, she still hasn't figured out who the traitor was. All she had was a lingering suspicion that Raena has something to do with the device she found in the outskirts of the camp. Over the next days since finding the contraption, she had attempted to ask Raena but it seemed like the Magistrate was either busy or not in the mood to talk.
A few days ago, when Kymalin could no longer hide her thoughts, she cornered Raena in the armory and asked her a simple question: "What does the Heiress do to the traitors she catches?"
Raena had paused in fiddling with the bandages of her wound to look up at her. "She kills them," she replied without batting an eyelid.
Kymalin remembered being stunned into silence that single afternoon. Why was she startled? Wasn't that the reason why the Heiress was able to rear such a large force and have them live in hiding in Desara? If one's life wasn't hanging in line, they couldn't be controlled. And the Heiress had always been the one in control, no matter where and how Kymalin looked at it.
"Aren't you concerned about this traitor thing?" Kymalin had blurted against her common sense. Raena hadn't bothered looking up to meet Kymalin's gaze. "Or the fact that your trainee is sitting at the helm of the investigation?"
Raena had rolled her shoulders, finishing her bandage a pushing herself up to match Kymalin's stance. The look on her eyes had hardened into a passive stare. "I couldn't care less what you do in this organization," she said. "I'm just here to teach you how to fight. It seems like you no longer need me since you're already waging your war out there."
Then, Raena's shoulders bumped against Kymalin's in the Magistrate's way out of the armory. Raena didn't look back as she left Kymalin alone in that tent.
Kymalin shook the memory off her mind. The Heiress might not have mind reading powers but she has to be safe for her own peace of mind. She heaved a breath, feeling the thick air of the camp infiltrate her nostrils. Here goes nothing.
She gripped the tent flap in the Heiress' tent and strode in.
The inside was nothing out of the ordinary. Shelves filled to the brim with leather-bound tomes sat in opposite sides of the tent, seemingly guarding the desk situated in the middle of the space. Lounge chairs fitted with velvet cushions scattered around the distance between the tent opening and the wooden table stacked to the brim with piles of parchment, various wooden knickknacks appearing to be children's toys, and a weird contraption featuring a bubbling purple liquid inside.
