Falsified (Tarnished Book 2)

13 The Intruder

I retired for the evening. I sat in my quarters at my desk looking through some old tomes about the King of the Grove. From what I could find on the library's shelves, this king was notorious for creating beasts and monsters. However, the only mentions of him were myth and legend to the Ravelian Isles. I sat sifting through page by page while the candle flickered in front of me. My eyes grew weary of the pages the longer I glanced over the words. The words became hazy and muddled the more focus I tried to read it. I pushed away from the desk.

I was getting nowhere with this so-called King of the Grove. The myths and legends depict him in numerous ways. One depicts him as a monster while another reveres his gift to the world. A third, he was a villain who cursed humanity for their ignorance of his gift.

I sat on the window sill and saw the sky growing lighter in its pigment. Morning is here and I still have no answer for what the Ghost referred to. He described this King darker than a human, but what I saw on the battlefield was like a man. The cursing bit must be true, but for its purpose and function made no sense. Ignorance was not enough for someone to want to curse others.

A crow cawed and I knew this will be a long day. Moving away from the window, I wandered over to the door. I pulled the latch and it creaked open. Without glancing up, I ran into Zazi.

I sighed. "What brings you here?" I asked searching his face.

He stood there, but his eyes forced to shut for a moment. "I still do not trust you, you will have to earn it. You went too far last night mentioning the one thing he has regretted to this day. You should apologize,"

I scowled. "Are you saying I offended him?" I slipped by him while I saw his eyes narrow. "An apology isn't the solution here. Naivety should be your specialty, Captain. Honesty is what he wished of me and I gave it." Moving on, my eyes did not register the other Talons followed him here. I took a deep breath. "Five against one, huh,"

"What you said the other night was out of line as a knight," Zazi raged. "You hurt him,"

I cringed. My body stiffened and tightened as if bound not to speak. I glanced down at my sword. "I'm within my right." I grasped the hilt with a gentle squeeze. "He's hurt but so am I. Every time he looked at me as his son, my own anger struck at him for it. I'm no substitute. The ones we love would never wish for us to replace them. I can't," I paused before my tongue could reveal the truth of my identity. Clearing my throat, I continued. "No apology will heal his heart, just as concealing it will do."

"Kid, this is not a fight you need to pick." Mesmer chimed in.

"Let him think he has any right to deny what he did, maybe that guilt will swallow him whole." Issara sneered. "The brat can say what he wants, but that does not give him the authority to say if it was right or wrong."

Mesmer walked up to me. "You said before it was not your intention to be here. Kid, I should warn you this is not the time to be a rebel."

I scoffed and lowered my hand to the sheath. "I have sacrificed pride, innocence, and mercy. You," I glared upon him and continued. "cannot brand me a rebel or that I'm an ill-mannered fool. I lost everything because of people like you!"

The lot of them seemed unsure of what that meant. Their eyes caught on me while Mesmer tried to understand it.

I retreated from him. My hand fell away from my sword. I remembered I cannot be myself here and my eyes fell on Mesmer. "You want to know who I am, then you should know people who try, die. I lose more battles than I can win them. The only thing I care about in this world is turning it around so that no man sits above another."