The Fall of the Keepers

Chapter 38 Bad Blood

"We have a lot to catch up on I think."
Kairos emphasized.

I was still staring at Leah dumbfounded, having a hard time finding my tongue again.

"Are the others here? Jasper and Vienna?"

My eyes darted back to the Shadow Wielder and I shook my head.

"No, Ranen, and Navia are, along with two others you haven't met yet."

"The Fire Prince? Here? That must have gone over well."

"There were definitely some threats involved."
I agreed.

"I want to hear everything, but I think your family up there is giving you the come hither glare at the moment."

A glance behind me proved her right and I let out a huff. My eyes fell back on Leah and I simply had to ask a burning question.

"Have you met Kaylen yet?"

"We met. She doesn't know who I am."
Leah replied simply.

But I took it that Leah knew who Kaylen was. David had told me she was in the dark about Project Sapphire but I wondered if that was really the case. Kairos just shrugged at me.

"Trying to get a straight answer out of this one is harder than pulling teeth in the dark. She's clever, I'll give her that."

"I wouldn't be alive if I wasn't."
Leah added pointedly.

She always had been a troublemaker, but that didn't mean she didn't have a good head on her shoulders. I was dying to know how she had survived all this time as a Sentinel, without having her mind wiped. If she truly hadn't forgotten herself, then why had she never reached out to us, especially when her and I had both been in the Citadel?

"You'd better go before your mother starts turning colors up there. We'll come find you later I promise."
Kairos gave me a little shove and reluctantly I made my way back to the front of the Long Hall.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you know the Keeper and her sister."
Niyah said as I approached.

"Sister?"
I repeated.

"Yes, didn't she tell you? That's her older sister Leah, who she went to great lengths to smuggle out of Itova. It's quite the tale of sisterly love really, we were touched enough to overlook the tattoo on her wrist."

I wisely kept my mouth shut.

Straight answers indeed.

I wanted to speak with Ranen, I wanted to speak with Leah, I most definitely did not want to be stuck in front of the Long Hall talking to my mother and brothers. It wasn't that I didn't want to get to know them, but they just weren't my top priority at the moment.

The song the drummers were beating out changed and the crowd grew solemn, chanting in loud voices words I couldn't understand.

"What language is that?"

"The old tongue passed down from our ancestors."
Ren replied unhelpfully.

I listened carefully, but couldn't seem to pick up on any phrases or words that I recognized. Cato would have known what language it was or had descended from instantly, I was certain of it.

"What is it they are singing? It has a very sad sound to me, but I can't understand any of it."

"It is ballad we all know well. It tells the tale of the night our ancestors were defeated by Lucali Amir's troops at Dragon's Hollow."
Niyah emphasized the hated King's name, likely to remind me of Ranen's family history.