Bound by Deception

8.1 The Mighty Lord Returns

Tongue-tied, Aria numbly watched the young man retract his hand and blush, scratching his neck with embarrassment.

"Apologies," he said, his accent faint and unfamiliar. "I didn't mean to startle you, my lady."

Aria bristled. The endearing term sounded odd on his tongue. Sterling's way of saying it sounded much easier to the ears. Nonetheless, when she noticed her aunt staring pointedly at her, Aria spoke.

"It's alright," she said. "I was just surprised to see you, Edward..."

He laughed. "You thought I had perished in the war, hadn't you?"

"Well, yes!" Anger and bile rose in Aria's throat. "I have every right to be cross with you! Why didn't you come tell me otherwise? Did you think that I would not have cared?!"

"Aria, manners!" Tamasa scolded. "Lord James, I'm terribly sorry about my niece's behavior."

"I deserve it," Lord Edward James laughed. "After all, I told her nothing about my whereabouts. What sort of friend does that?"

"Not a very good one." Aria crossed her arms. "So? Care to tell me why you show your face now?"

"It's a long story," Lord James said. He sat himself beside Bhuv with a grunt. "Do you remember the war?"

Aria scoffed. "How could I not? It was all you would ever talk about."

"Aria..."

"Please, Lady Kumar, it's alright," Lord James assured the fidgety woman. "Anyway, I signed up to be part of the militia. They put me as a minuteman shortly after I joined. The first battle I fought in was the battle at Joyheld. We captured Prime Minister Holden and killed him there. Well...I killed him."

"I heard that on the news already," Aria said. "They never mentioned your name, though. They said it was done by Harry Wilhelm."

"And who do you think Harry Wilhelm was?" Lord James cheekily inquired.

Aria's eyes narrowed. "Based on your tone, I'm assuming it was you."

"It was. I would have thought you would recognize me, Aria."

"I didn't care much for war then, and quite frankly I still don't care about it. It's vile and unjust." Like I'm one to talk with my field. "So, you became Harry Wilhelm to fight?"

"I was too young to join on a legal basis," Lord James explained. "At nineteen they wouldn't accept me. Harry Wilhelm was twenty-four."

"You always looked older," Aria mused. "So, what happened then?"

"After Joyheld, I was stationed in Bishops. There I met a woman named Jac. I think she was a lady of the night, but I'm unsure. She was well-dressed, though. I realized very quickly that she was a spy from Grandville."

"How did you discover that?"

"I had my ways. Anyway, she was dressed nicely, so I could only assume she had a lot of money, and therefore good connections. To try and get into her, I left my post and spent the day with her. That would serve as my downfall, though." His face darkened. "Do you remember the church fire?"

The room grew quiet. Aria tensed. Oh, she remembered the church fire. How could she not? That was where she got her start, after all, to become the brains of the feared Gemini Killers. Madame was in that building. They had started the fire on purpose. If what Edward was saying was true, then there were spies from Grandville in the church. But there were also innocent civilians, many of whom perished in the flames. Aria would have been one of them, had she not used her memory to escape through a small hatch. It was there that she met the people in charge of starting the fire - and Madame.

Edward studied her. "I take it by your expression that you do remember?"

"Yes, I do."

"That was my post, Aria. I had allowed many to die. I did not know who was in there. My commander wouldn't give me their names. Because of my apparent treason, I was subjected to punishment from the army. I was exiled for ten years on the basis of betraying the country." He laughed humorlessly. "Well, not before they beat me."

Tamasa gasped. "No! Why would they do that to you, you poor boy!"

Edward shrugged. "In the eyes of the government, I was at fault. I was a murderer, and I could do nothing to prove myself innocent. It didn't help that the woman I met, Jac, seemed to perish as well. To this day, I have no idea where she went, or if that was even her name. Perhaps she died? Who knows?"

"That was a horrible thing! Where were you exiled to?" Noah stopped playing and questioned Edward briskly.

"It was a cold place east of here. I don't know the name. It's sort of a prison/mental institution." Edward frowned. "It's a brutal place. They subject you to unimaginable torture. I'm just happy to be back and away from that." He bent his head briefly, exhaled, and looked up again, meeting Aria's eyes pleadingly. "Please, forgive me Ari?"

Aria hesitated. "Look, you didn't betray us, and what happened was all in the past. It's fine. I guess you're forgiven, since you came here right after...you did, right? Were you just released?"

"I...yes." Edward grinned. "I couldn't wait to see you again, little pigeon. I wanted to apologize to you...I had so much to say."

"Indeed...and don't call me little pigeon. I'm not little nor am I a bird."

"You're intelligent. That's why I call you that." He smirked. "So, how are you then? Have you found a job?"

"I do odd jobs," Aria said. "Mostly copy work."

"Ah, I see. A governess?"

"Sometimes. It depends." Aria refrained from giving too much of her personal life away. She continued to study Edward with a scrutinizing smile. "So, you have no idea where you were sent to?"

"None." Edward shook his head. "Why?"

"Just curious. You know me and geography." In all fairness, Aria wasn't the slightest bit interested in the government's torture methods or secret facilities. She knew most of them thanks to her training with Madame, but she figured the extra information would help their tasks. "Have you gone to get your official pardon?"

"I'm going to after I leave here. I wanted to see you first." Edward gazed longingly at her. "I...er...has anyone come to call on you, Ari?"

"Call on me?" Aria blinked. "Well, no. In fact, I believe it's Noah who will be marrying first."

"Really?" Edward ruffled Noah's dark hair. "Congratulations. To whom?"

"Eloise Maryland." Noah blushed. "You remember her, right, Edward?"

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So...we now know who this mysterious man is, but it seems like he's done some awful things! Was the church massacre his fault? What's going on through Aria's head right now?

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