The Immortal Secrets

Chapter 9

After hearing Erik's crazy plan, it was decided by Jace that Kara needed to be trained to use weapons. "  You could barely use a sword" he argued as they walked to the weapon room. " People don't use swords in my world" she said back. " How can you not use swords" Jace muttered to himself. " We have different weapons. More advanced ones". " Whatever" Jace said, scowling at Kara. He opeend the door revealing an advanced training room. The room was filled with weapons on one side. It had crossbows, daggers, swords, axes, mallets, and other crazy weapons Kara had never seen in her life. The rest of the room was filled with targets, and rope courses to test agility strength. " Oh god. Jace is gonna get a kick out of this" Kara thought to herself as she followed him to the weapon wall. The first thing they came too was a crossbow, and Jace took one off the wall and handed it to Kara. " Shoot" was all he said, pointing to a target. Kara shot it, and missed the bullseye. After trying about 5 other weapons, Jace was getting mad. " Just try!" he said angirly. " Your not even trying!". " I am trying! I've never used this stuff before, and your expecting me to be amazing at it!" Kara said back, tying her hair up in a ponytail. " Just try this" Jace snapped, handing Kara a dagger. " Just throw it at a target. Try to hit it this time" he sneered as he sat down on the floor and waited. Kara stared at Jace " Are you always this rude to people" she said quietly. The question took Jace by suprise, causing him to think. " Just throw it" he said, softer this time. Kara took a deep breath and stared at the target. " Theres no way I'm going to hit that" she thought to herself as she wound back her arm.

Thunk.

Jace's eyes widened in suprise as the dagger landed just right  of the center of the bullseye. Kara arched her eyebrows in disbelief, suprised she had just done that. Jace stood up and handed Kara another dagger " Try again. This time, aim for the middle" Kara nodded and went up to the target. This time, the dagger landed right in the middle of the bullseye. " Yay" Jace said, smiling at Kara for the first time. She smiled back " Maybe Jace isn't that horrible after all" Kara thought but then quickly pushed the thought away. She remembered everything he had done to her, and everything he was going to do. The thought disappeared as quickly as it had came.

The plan was simple, and as much as Kara hated to admit it, it was good. She was being forced to attend Conrads masquerade ball, in honor of a traditional elfin holiday. Since, quote erik, conrad had " taken a liking to her" she had to lure him away, and into another room. Jace and Erik would be waiting in the room to finish him off. The plan was foolproof Jace said. Kara was wary at first, since she didn't think Conrad had paid any attention to her, besides using her as a bargain. Jace had eventually agreed with Erik saying " We've known Conrad for a while, and we can defenitly tell if he likes someone or not" so Kara had to agree.

It was the night of the masquarade ball, and the three had rode north in a carriage the day before. Kara had had a week to practice her dagger throwing skills, and now she never missed. They had all day to scope out the city and the castle, making sure there were no flaws in their plan. One of the servants helped Kara get ready for the ball. The plain girl helped Kara step into a dress of blue silk. It had 3/4 length sleeves, and a tight fitted bodice. Silver was spun into the fabric at the bodice, so the top of the dress sparkled. The bottom silk came down in layers, making Kara look taller then she actually was. Her golden locks were fixed on the top of her head, leaving some to fall down to frame her face. The last part of her costume was a silver and white mask, that covered every part of her face but he mouth. The plain girl then handed her a dagger, which Kara hid in the folds of her skirt. She was now ready for the masquarade ball.

The servents led her into the crips night air, and into the carriage. Inside the carriage, only Jace was waiting. " Wheres Erik..." Kara said as soon as the carriage door closed. " He's already inside the castle, checking up on things" Jace said. " Do you have a dagger" Kara knodded. " Are you afraid" Jace said gently, looking into her eyes. This caught Kara by suprise " Yeah." she admitted. " You have nothing to be worried about" Jace said, taking her hands into his. "You have the easy part.  Erik and I are going to keep you safe. We arent going to let him hurt you again. Besides, you can protect yourself better this time" he said sincerly. The two stared at eachother for a minute, before Jace awkardly let go of Kara's hands. The castle pulled to a stop, and Kara couldn't see anything out of the carriage window. She turned to Jace who was smiling and said " It's showtime" 

The carriage door opened, and one of Conrad's servents offered Kara his hand. " This way miss" he said, helping her out of the carriage. Conrad's castle was much different then Jace's. It was white and gleaming, with torches all around. Half of it was outside and in courtyards, with trees and gardens all around. Kara could make out the dancing and laughing people at the party.

When she entered the outdoor courtyard, she was astonished at all of the people that had attended. Everywhere she looked, there were men and women dressed in every color, swirling in time to the music. Her heart stopped as she realized how impossible it would be to find Conrad. Then she remembered Jace's talk, but it didn't make her feel much better. Kara began to weave her way through the crowd, accidently running into people left and right. " Sorry" she would mutter, and cast her face down. It seemed like ages before she caught sight of him, or rather, he caught sight of her. He was surrounded by his friends, and it seemed like he was laughing at a story someone was telling. He was just about to take a drink when they locked eyes. He stared for a second, before setting his drink down and excusing himself , walking towards Kara. Kara breathed a sigh of relief, as she turned around and walked slowly into the crowd, leaving him no choice but to come after her.

Kara weaved through the crowd a few paces, and then stopped to turn back to see if Conrad was still coming. To her horror, she saw he was following, but with 2 gaurds. His grey eyes looked confused and angry, and he had his sword drawn. Karas heart lept in her throat, as she turned around and began running. She could hear the screams behind her, and the thudded footprints of the gaurds boots behind her. Kara threw herself against the castle door, and ran inside. She ran through the silver statued hallways, running faster at every thump of a boot behind her. " I won't be able to make it to the room in time" she thought. " I need to take out the gaurds". Making a split decision, she turned the corner and hid behind an open  door. " Keep going this way" Conrad said to one gaurds. " You look that way" he pointed to the direction to where Kara was hiding. " If you find her, do not kill her. Bring her to me instead" he repleid, taking off in the other direction. Kara breathed a sign of release.

The  gaurd walked tentivly down the hallway, peering at every inch of the long corridor. Kara's blood froze in her body, as she drew the dagger out from her skirt. Closing her eyes, she stepped out and threw it. " I hope it missed" she thought to herself. " Just let them find me". Instead when she opened her eyes, all she was the gaurd laying on the floor, the dagger piercing his heart. Kara stumbled as she reached down to pick the dagger up, tears falling from her eyes. " I just killed a man" she kept repeating over and over to herself. Feeling someones eyes on her, she turned around. Conrad was standing at the end of the hallway his eyes filled with horror. " That wasn't you" he said to her, drawing closer. " I saw when you threw it, you closed your eyes. You didn't want to kill anyone" he said. His face was filled with sadness Kara saw, as he drew closer. " You see what their making you do?" he said softly as he came up to her. " Their changing you. Brainwashing you. It's what they do. It's who they are." he added, slowly taking the dagger from Kara's trembling hands and dropping it on the floor. " They're using you for their own game. And for what? So they can destory me and make Jace more powerful. Thats all they want, power. Thats the only reason your still alive" Conrad added softly. Kara just stood there, dumbfounded.

" God what do I do now." she thought to herself, guilt stricken. She just looked down at the silver threaded carpet, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. " Come back to the party with me" Conrad said. "  We can forget this ever happened, I promise you". Kara looked up into his eyes and saw he really meant it. " I..." she stuttered, trying to buy time. A shadowy sillhoutte appeared at the end of the hallway Conrad had just come. Kara's heart sunk to her knees, and then to the floor as she turned around and saw another silhoutte. Erik and Jace had arrived.