*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Atania's Knight - Raquel Festow* Part 1

Chapter 26 - Unexpected Visitor

*Ruth Watson POV*

I woke the next morning to find the headache I had from the day before still hadn't disipated. The light was streaming in through the slightly thicker curtains of the previous hotel, but still not thick enough to make the room dark enough. I rolled over to get my phone from the side table, but of course, it wasn't there. I groaned and rolled over to where Darren would be laying. He wasn't there either. Laying on my back, I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling.
What time was it? It was later than when I normally get up, that's for sure. I lifted my arm to look at my watch and it faintly showed me it was ten thirty in the morning.
Oh shit! Rebecca was going to kill me!
I bounced out of bed and grabbed my bag of new clothes. I opted to wear a black, corset type top with ripped, tight black jeans. They felt amazingly comfortable to wear and I felt like my old self, the self before Astrovia. I grabbed my huge bag and slid Dragonwrath inside it along with the bag of money. I picked up the card key for the hotel room and left, locking the door behind me. I gave the lady a brief smile as I headed to leave. The lady gaped at me for a moment before shaking her head slightly to get a grip on herself.
"I loved that video of you playing the piano yesterday. It was beautiful!" She complimented, smiling sweetly.
My face fell. She was able to recognise me from the video? How zoomed in must it have been? I needed to see this video myself.
"What video?" I asked as innocently as I could.
"The video. You were playing the piano yesterday, right?" She asked, looking confused.
"Yes I was..." I lied. "I didn't know there was a video?"
She did exactly as I had predicted she would. Some people are so easy to read.
"Oh yeah, it's everywhere. Here, look!" She pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen for a minute before showing the video to me. There was Rebecca, smiling widely as she played the grand piano again. She really was in her element in front of a piano. She was playing a fast, exciting tune with lots of thrilling scales added in to make it even more difficult. She was such a show off.
I nodded to let the girl know I had seen enough. "I didn't realise they caught me. Oh well... Can't be helped, I suppose."
"Not if you're that good! It was inspiring!" She complimented again.
I gave her a stretched fake smile and headed out of the door.
The new hotel was a good half hour away from the high street by car, but I still opted to walk to the cafe. I needed to clear my head.
Obviously, things were going to become more difficult now. We were easily recognisable to those who had seen the video and that seemed to be pretty much everyone. Oh how I wished I hadn't broken my phone.
The buses and lorries were roaring past me as I walked to the A124. I needed to cross it to get to the high street so looked up and down the road for a crossing. Finally spotting one in the distance, I headed in that direction, the roar of the traffic almost drowning out my rumbling stomach.
This had been the third day in a row where I had only eaten one meal. However yesterday, I didn't eat anything. I was incredibly hungry and was feeling a little light headed. I lit up a cigarette but that only made the hollow ache in my stomach and the painful headache worse.
I stopped for a moment and looked at the parade of shops opposite me on the other side of the road. There was a cafe. It looked very small, but it would do. I really needed to eat something and soon.
I marched up the road to the crossing and waited for the lights to change. Annoyingly, you crossed one side then had to press the button again for the other side to stop. I was getting impatient and so was my stomach. It growled angrily at me as I took the final steps, and I almost jogged to the cafe. Eager to get some food.
Upon entering the small cafe, I looked around. The cafe was a fraction of the size of Dean's and was very run down, but still clean. They had the plastic red and white checkered tablecloths that made me remember the cafe I used to sit in back when I was a teenager, the chairs were cheap plastic chairs bolted onto a metal pole so they couldn't be moved and the walls and ceiling were stained yellow. This cafe had obviously been around for a good many years.
There was only one other person in the cafe. They were wearing a black hoodie and sitting with their back to me.
I sighed and sat down, putting my bag down, propping it up against the chair beside me, closest to the wall. I picked up the menu and had a quick look. I really fancied steak so decided on a rib-eye steak with chips.
A fat, balding man with a white button up shirt, that was struggling to hide his protruding belly, and an apron over his trousers came out to take my order with a friendly smile. I smiled back and told him what I'd like.
"Rib eye steak, medium rare, with chips and a coffee, please."
"Sure thing, babe. Anything else?" He grunted, but I was distracted.
The person in the black hoodie had their head turned to the side, listening to my conversation. I frowned, sliding my hand under the table to grip Dragonwrath's hilt, just in case.
"Anything else, babe?" The owner repeated and I started.
"No. Thank you." I smiled, distractedly as he walked away.
I turned my gaze back to the black hooded figure, tingles going up my spine. They didn't look armed, but then again...
The man brought out my coffee and I thanked him with a smile.
Something told me not to drink it, but I still put the sugar in as if I was going to, carefully watching the black hooded person out of the corner of my eye. Their arm moved to the edge of the table, gripping the side with their hand. I froze. It was a mans hand, but that wasn't what scared me. A bone white twisted bracelet was on his wrist... A Portal Bracelet.
I jumped to my feet, pulling Dragonwrath out and held the blade under his chin.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
He looked up at me. Piercing brown eyes, his face unshaven and his cheeks shallow, bags under his eyes and his lips chapped and scabby.
"Biqirez?" He rasped.
My eyes widened. Isn't that Atanian language? I hid my shock and scowled at him.
"Who are you?" I repeated, more venomously.
Tears started pooling in his eyes. "What happened to your hair?" He whispered.
"I will not be asking you again! WHO ARE YOU!" I shouted, my sword now glowing red.
The man flinched away from my sword and raised his arms in fear. "No please, Raquel. Don't you recognise me?"
I narrowed my eyes and leant forward so my face was merely inches away from him. "I've asked you three times now. You have still not given me the answer." I threatened, quietly.
"NO! Pleize!" The man tumbled out of his chair and begged on his knees. "I am not them! Pleize! You have to believe me!"
"Then who are you? Final warning!" I snarled, nudging his chin up so he would look at me with the very tip of Dragonwraths sharp blade.
"Fabian! Fabian Festow! Your firez!" He started to sob pathetically.
In my mind, I knew he was speaking Atanian, but I still couldn't believe he was actually from the Realm, nor could I understand some of the words he was saying, apart from pleize. I lowered my sword, but kept my glare on him. He was shaking uncontrollably and sweating profusely too.
"Sit with me." I said bluntly.
He watched me as I went to sit down at my table to wait for my food, unsure if I had meant it.
"Well? Sit with me!" I ordered and he scrambled to the chair opposite me.
He sat down, tensely, and I could feel his eyes boring into me.
"State your business here!" I said, authoritivly.
"I'm looking for my biqirez and-"
"Without the mixed language!" I spat, glaring at him so harshly, I thought I could see sparks coming from my own eyes.
"My daughter! I'm looking for my daughter!" He said, raising his arms up to defend himself again.
I cast my eyes over him. He was in a black hoodie, but judging by the neck of his jumper, he didn't have a shirt on underneath it. The dark, dirty trousers he wore were baggy, meaning he had either lost a lot of weight or he had got some that were too big for him. Judging by how his face was, he had lost a lot of weight.
If this man was who he claimed to be and was actually Raquel's father, he would be able to share some insight on where he and his wife disappeared to the night before the attack. But if he wasn't, he would, undoubtedly, be part of the Order of Verdicts.
In my heart, I felt he was who he said he was. There was nothing threatening about him. If anything, the man was just weak and pathetic. But my mind was telling me to be cautious. I needed to find a way to prove who he was without dropping a hint or anything.
"Your daughter?" I asked, blunty, keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of lying or deceit.
"Yes. We were split up. My qaa- my wife, disappeared in a flash in front of my eyes just as I arrived home, then I was attacked and this-" he lifted his arm to show me the bracelet. "- was forced onto my hand and I was sent here!" His voice was trembling and his eyes were begging me to believe him. He was also jumpy and terrified. "I have been wandering everywhere to try and find someone who could help me, but no one here knows where Atania is nor how to get there. Pleize! Help me!"
His eyes warily studied Dragonwrath and he gasped, placing a hand on the celtic engravings of my sword.
"What do you think you're doing?!" I snarled at him dangerously.
The man looked at the engravings closer then very slowly back up at me, his eyes filled with wonder.
"Rebecca..." He whispered.
I cocked an eyebrow in surprise, but kept the remainder of my face void, not giving anything away.
"You're Rebecca Donton!" He half raised from his seat, his face filling with delight. "I recognise those engravings! You're actually her! But..." His face fell, looking at my face. "You look just like my Raquel."
I took a slow deep breath to calm myself. He knew the engravings, so he was definately from Atania.
Fabian slowly lowered himself back into his chair, unable to tear his eyes away from me.
"I had heard stories..." He whispered. "I heard stories that you was a doppelgänger, but I never believed them... It's true. My Raquel is a Knight of FREE."
My eye twitched. I needed help, and fast. I needed to get Rebecca here NOW! But I had no phone, nor did my watch work that way anymore. Then I remembered, Rebecca had been able to send me a warning a couple of times through Dragonwrath to keep myself prepared for anything.
I tightened my grip on Dragonwrath.
'Contact Rebecca. Tell her I need her.' I thought clearly in my mind, hoping Dragonwrath would hear me. It glowed white then flashed. I had done it!!