🔥 The Path of Fire (Path of Light and Fire Book #1)(Completed) 🔥

Chapter 17: Family Affairs

I've killed fourteen people.

Sabin walked the dirt path of Feral, everyone Leena in tow. It was dark out, only the stars in the sky and it would have been better to rest after such a long trip. His rear was still raw from Ares's saddle, his heart was conflicted. He felt foolish for believing he could not kill, a soldier in the army should have been prepared to. Yet the thought of being a hero and the actual life was not what he envisioned.

He might have been naive once, but it felt so long ago.

Kianna's presence at his side lifted his spirits, but even that came with complications. He was promised to Kaita, his childhood friend from Toro. She was at home, waiting on his return, yet he had given into his feelings for another. He knew the ramifications of his choice.

Disloyal, dishonest and a murderer. There is a special place of torment in the afterlife for people like me.

This was the true hero price my father meant to teach me.

He would not let his indecision affect his judgment. The Guan agent made it clear that they were vulnerable. They could no longer hide in anonymity and prepare; they needed to be active and seek them out. Yet the border of the Wastelands was so vast, stretching over multiple kingdoms. The Guan could attack from anywhere: Acadia, Yua, Hruh or even Rianna. They had to find out where before it was too late.

So while Leena slept in Kianna and Alaina's home, Sabin marched Turrent and Sakima to Lila for the H.E.R.'s aid. Kianna and Alaina came along to see their mother.

Kianna breathed in deeply. "It feels good to be home."

Alaina nodded and ran ahead. "I don't believe our mother will expect us back this soon." She stopped in her tracks at the door. "Rianna's bow!"

"What is it Alaina?" Kianna jogged to her sister's side and gasped.

Sabin pulled Wade and rushed to her side. Turrent and Sakima trailed after them, weapons out.

He drew fire in his left hand. "Where's the danger?"

Kianna shook her head. "There is no danger. At least not the kind you think."

"Spit it out!" Sakima said.

"There's a man in the house."

Sabin sheathed his sword. "How do you know that?"

Kianna gasped. "That's the only reason the curtains would be up. Is our mother trying to have another child at her age?"

"Why is such a big deal?" Sakima asked.

Turrent rolled his eyes. "Let me tell you the story of my first day in Rianna."

As Sakima and Turrent stepped away to discuss Turrent's near execution, Alaina looked wide-eyed at Kianna, her dark brown hair falling over her right eye. She pushed it back, keeping her expression.

"Do we enter?" Sabin asked.

Kianna blushed. "We can, but I am not inclined to watch my mother create."

"I have to know!" Alaina burst through the door. "High Elder Rina!"

Kianna squinted. "I do not hear any moans of pleasure. Perhaps we should follow her."

Sabin walked in just after Kianna. Luckily both Lila and the man were fully clothed. They sat at the table, chatting over a pot of tea as though the scene wasn't unusual.

"Mother, who is...?" Alaina asked.

The man sat with his back to the door, graying hair similar to Sabin's texture cropped close to his head. He turned and rose from his chair, smiling.