Buried Truths

Chapter 12

(A/N - Just wanted to credit my amazing book cover to @phoebeconrey )

I followed the servant until he had turned into the alleyway I had mentioned in my note for him. 

Until he screamed at the hanging body of Tanker, still dripping with blood. 

Until he ran back to the Confraria to describe what he had seen, that there was an assassin's mutilated body hanging from only four daggers and that his face was eerily untouched. 

Until he came running back out of the guild to show the others the strange sight in front of him, that Tanker's neckline had been stuffed delicately with the deathly purple flowers, spilling out of his chest and tucked in every hole he had in his body. I smiled and cackled when one of the assassins picked up a petal and then crumpled onto the floor, seizures racking his body. 

The screaming started anew and I left with a satisfied gleam in my eyes, jumping off onto the roofs of the Londoners and heading back to the house of my childhood.

I walked into the house and stopped at the doorway, caressing the dark wood. It looked so bleak compared to the rich colour it had previously. I lifted my head and walked further into the residence, stopping to touch a few more of Terra's loved possessions. A vase from her deceased husband, a painting of her holding me as a baby, a tree ring with her and my small infant handprint indented into it. I smiled as I remembered the day we had brought that tree ring,

It was a strangely sunny day in England, the rain clouds clearing for a rare blue sky with the odd few clouds here and there. The vendors had all placed their booths outside in the sun hoping to attract more customers, and the roads buzzed with a strange form of energy full of eagerness and happiness. Tía* Terra squeezed my hand and looked at me with a beaming smile,

"What do you want to do first Little Star?" She asked me, lifting me into her arms and tickling my chin. I giggled and clapped my hands happily,

"Candy!" I squealed, laughing again when she tickled me for being too loud,

"What about something more permanent than this good weather we're having," a male seller to Tía Terra's right said, she turned and smiled, already capturing the man's attention. Everyone looked at Tía Terra, she was beautiful even if she was old.

"And what could that be?" She asked, her voice a lilting melody as it flowed over to the man, his words fell over themselves as they rushed out of him, wanting to please her desperately. He had explained that he could create an indent on one of the tree rings of whatever we wanted, he even offered to give a free one to me, but Tía Terra laughed and simply said they would take one if he did something special for them. He didn't even hesitate to say yes and then when she explained what she wanted he only told them to put their hands down so he could measure them for the art. After a few minutes he was done, and we walked away from his stall after Tía paid him the huge discount he gave her for the piece. I had looked at the wood and was so sad that it wasn't candy, that I remember trying to throw it onto the floor, but Terra had stopped me with promises of chocolatey confectionery.

I continued walking and paused at the stairs leading down into the storage space but looked away, a dangerous roaring of silence starting in my mind. So I started my trek upstairs to her room and halted at the door, the Satine wood's colour still vividly red as though it was bleeding its heart out. I reached out and placed a shaking hand on her doorknob, gripping it and determinedly turned it. The door opened wide silently, no creaking or squeaking from the hinges and just as I stepped over the threshold, someone's voice shouted my name out. I turned towards the source and found the man from before standing at the foot of the stairs, 'Cae' the name came to my mind from somewhere and I tilted my head at him before sighing and closing the door, taking the stairs down back towards him. I stopped just in front of him, one step higher than him and stood there,

"Zornitsa, I'm so sorr-" His voice broke on the last syllable and his eyes seemed to shimmer a bit, I stared at him in silence for a beat.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I whispered, then raised my voice a little as I said,

"From now on, I will follow my own road. You have no obligation to follow me, you are your own man," when he tried to interrupt I raised a hand, muting him, "But, if you were to choose me. I will have to warn you that I do not wish to be who I used to be, from today onwards I am someone wholly different from the woman you knew. I will not be kind, I will not be weak and I will not rely on anyone for anything, including you." I said, "I will dedicate my whole being to avenge her ... murder and it will not be pleasant. So do not expect anything from me as I will expect nothing from you." I walked past with that and left him standing there. As I walked, I heard footsteps following me and then I saw his hair from the corner of my eye, I looked back to find him smirking at me melancholy then he said,

"You know if you had just shut up and let me talk, you wouldn't have had to say all of that because I'd have told you, I don't care. I'll always choose you, besides I'd be bored otherwise, you seem to have drama following your every step, so if you don't mind, I'll gladly be there for you." I stared at him coldly and turned around, continuing my walk.

"You seem to love talking in romanticised nothings," I said making him laugh. He placed an arm around my shoulders and leaning down, he whispered in my ear,

"I aim to please,"

I whirled around, caught his arm and tore it from my body.

"Rule number 1 of this agreement," I snarled out, "Hands to yourself," he smirked at me and drawled out,

"Then why are you still holding onto me, Zornitsa?"