Lady Of Charms

Chapter 3

With curtains completely shut, Aden could barely make out shapes in the room. Someone gripped his shoulder so hard that, if he tried to move, he would dislocate it. That is, if he didn't slice his neck on the dagger pressed to his throat first. What now?

He felt the person behind him shift and the grip on his shoulder loosened. Then the dagger silently disappeared.

"Aden! Don't creep on me like that! I could've killed you!"

He would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Kalena? What are you doing here?" he tried to calm down as he turned around, but his heart still raced.

"I think a better question is what are you doing here!" She moved from the door and sat atop Charles's work table, her feet dangling in the air.

"Well, I heard noise..." he started, leaning on the wall next to the door. His light brown hair was messy and he was still very sleepy.

"I wasn't that loud, was I?" she looked at him playfully, her emerald eyes sparkling.

"No, Kalena. Only half of Carrvana heard you. The rest is probably deaf."

"Well, I guess I got carried away a bit. I've never actually been in here. Dear old Charles likes his privacy, but since he left, I suppose I can at least look around..." she jumped from the table and started searching drawers.

"You can't be serious! What if he comes back?"

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," she snapped.

She found some papers in the first drawer and frowned.

"I didn't know Charles had a sister."

Aden strolled behind the table and leaned over Kalena's shoulder to look at the papers.

Between some documents about a land in Macarn, city in the north and Charles's hometown, there was a picture of a young girl, no more than twelve. And next to her was a younger version of Charles. With those dark brown eyes and dark hair, there was no mistake she was Charles's sister.

"She died in a fire at their family home years ago. She was his only family. After her death, Charles left his hometown and came to Carrvana."

"How do you know all that?" she asked, not taking her eyes from the girl in the picture.

"I'm a spy. It's my job to know things."

Kalena didn't say anything, she just looked at the picture absentmindedly.

Aden took it as a cue to leave and strode to the doors, finally heading for the kitchens.

~

Kalena barely heard when Aden left. She was still looking at the picture and a happy little girl in it. She was so young. Only two years older than Kalena had been when she lost everything. And Charles had lost everything, too. Hearing about his past, she couldn't help but to feel sorry for him.

Kalena knew the rest of the story. Twenty years old assassin came to Carrvana and soon impressed the Lord who then offered him a spot in his elite team of assassins. Nine years later, he was unofficial heir to the Lord of Carrvana and then everything went south. He betrayed Salem, when he could've had everything. What went wrong?

She would think about that later. Now she had a room to search. There had to be some clue to where he's hiding.

She already searched a bookshelf, tapping on every book, trying to hear if any were hollowed out. She knocked on the bookshelf too. Nothing. She explored every floorboard, looking for a hidden compartment. Nothing. An armchair and an armoire yielded nothing as well.