The Atonement of a Writer

16. The Strange Savior

"You can't even do one thing right." Her cold voice echoed through the doors.

There was a small whimper, and something crashed.

He heard a few hissed words he couldn't quite make out. There was some scrapping, and, a few minutes later, her frigid tone sent chills down his spine. "I have no use for you anymore."

There was a thud, and then silence.

He slowly backed away from the doors, disturbed. What had he just overheard?

Later, when he was sure she wasn't there, he snuck back in. Looking around, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Was it just him? Had he heard wrong?

No, he shook his head. He would never forget that tone. He had never heard it before in his life, and it felt like he was missing something important.

Feeling apologetic, he went through her desk and drawers. All she had were textbooks and hand-written notes--nothing special. He picked up the history book, and opened it. There was nothing unusual about it. He flipped through it, and when he reached the back cover, something seemed to be bulging. Carefully, he reached in and found a piece of paper.

He froze as he read its contents. It was a list of names--family names. What caught his attention were the circled-then-crossed-out names--the families that had been either stripped of their noble rank or even executed for treason.

What stood out to him was a very familiar name. It was circled, and not crossed out.

~*~

Before leaving for the south, there was one thing Lili needed to do.

After Killian finally succeeded in teaching her how to ride a horse, they rode out together for a few hours, into the forest where she was kidnapped. Led by Noir, they made their way to the stranger's cabin.

Riding in silence, Lili tried to figure out how to talk to the stranger alone without Killian. That was, if they saw him--there was no guarantee he would be waiting for them.

It wasn't like Lili could ask Killian to give them privacy so they could talk. He would know something was up--and it wasn't like she could ask about the note in front of Killian either. Plus, the stranger might've noticed she went through his room, and if he chose to bring that up, Killian couldn't be there--she didn't want to ruin Arielle's reputation, if she hadn't already. Honestly, if she could, she would've come without Killian, but she didn't even dare suggest it when she saw the look on his face.

She had to come up with an excuse, somehow. This might be her only chance to talk to the person before her potential death in the "expedition".

After what seemed like ages, they finally arrived at the clearing. She instantly recognized the small cabin in front of her.

Immediately, Lili dismounted. "Come on, let's go."

Killian, however, stayed on his horse, a look of confusion on his face. "Go? Go where?"

She looked back and forth between Killian and the cabin. Slowly, she pointed her finger towards the house. "...There?"

He frowned. "Where?"

"Killian, the cabin is right there."

"No it's not," he argued, looking more and more confused, "this clearing is empty."

Noir cawed. When the both of them looked up to him, Noir flew straight to the cabin and perched on the roof, looking at her expectantly.

She nodded, and turned back to Killian. "See? Noir's on the roof."