Killing On Command

Chapter 20

Requiem sat on the edge of his seat, Alex's hand still pressed between his and his forehead damp with nerves. Alex watched him as he struggled to find the word to say, but placed her free hand over his to reassure him. It was the least she could do after he had done so much for her. She felt sad to know that in a few months, they could both be dead and she would never see him again. She also knew that he was emotionally unstable, and that he could snap at any time and possibly kill her. She trusted him, oddly. She felt that they had a connection that she could not explain, but the voice in the back of her mind told her that she would soon find out.

"First, I need you to promise me something, okay?" He began again, pulling his hands away and standing up from his seat. He looked very on edge and nervous, which worried her considerably.

"That depends on the promise," She risked a joke, and he smiled a small but grateful smile in her direction, avoiding eye contact with her. "Of course," Her words seemed to reassure him, causing him to sigh with relief at her words.

"I need you to promise me not to panic at what I'm about to tell you; it is a lot to take in, and I have only ever spoke of this to one person before," He stopped. "That person was your mother, actually. It is strange, for she is so similar to you, but she looked so different,"

"How do you-"

"Know your mother?" He chuckled darkly, sitting on the edge of her bed to stop himself from pacing the room. "We were good friends while she served the Lamia family." He looked up at her and made eye contact with her for the first time. The colour in them was a deep shade of crimson, and she made a note of it, knowing that he was hungry due to the starving rituals which he and some of the other Lords had been enduring as a sort of fast for their Gods. She stayed silent as she took in what he had said, partially because she was speechless at what he had said, but also because she was waiting for more information.

"I hope you don't mind, but I visited your home last night when you were sleeping and-"

"Wait, you went back to the Inn?" She asked instantly, interrupting him. He nodded slowly. "Sorry, carry on,"

"Well, I looked at the portraits hanging in your old house and looked into the names. Elana Cheshire is a name I instantly recognized, of course." He paused to let her take in the information. "Your mother lived here in the Haven for ten years before she met your father - Sebastian Cheshire - and ran away with him. She was already promised to his family before, but when she ran away she was seen as doing her duty as a woman. My father, however, wasn't happy about the whole incident."

"Why not?" She asked him. He shook his head shamefully.

"Your mother was not only a maid here in the Haven for my family, but she was a spy. She'd be escorted in the day by the guards to the river and told to find out more about the Miller's movements just after they had won the war. She, like you, was a Sun-walker.

"I am aware that you have always known your father to be Grogg Cheshire, Sebastian's older brother. He took you and your sister in when your mother died shortly after your birth. Now, here's the complicated part. Your father was neither Grogg nor Sebastian, as Sebastian had died over a year before you were born."

"How is that possible?" She asked him, her mind filling with useless thoughts which she didn't want to think about. She hated her mind sometimes. Requiem sighed again and ribbed his weary and tired eyes.

"I am going to confide in you something only your mother knew, and I can only hope that you will not hate me for what I have done." He looked as though he was searching for the words again, but he could not find them. "Do you promise not to be angry with me?"