The Steele Wolf by Chanda Hahn
Kael straightened his shoulders and shook his head at me in the negative. “No, there was no pain. It was worse, far worse. A complete and utter sense of loss and hopelessness overcame me.” He stepped back and leaned against the balustrade, grabbing his head in frustration. “I felt as if my world had suddenly come to an end, and that I had failed. The feeling was so intense. I felt as if a giant hole had opened up and swallowed me and all I felt was numbness, nothing. No hope.” Kael looked up from the ground and I saw fear, true fear deep inside. He looked at me eyes pleading. “It stripped me of all of my SwordBrother senses. I’m nothing without my senses. I rushed to the house to look for you but you weren’t there. No one knew where you went.”
“Xiven knew what happened,” I answered thoughtfully. “He wasn’t injured as much as I was but maybe he went in search of a healer too?”
Kael shook his head. “Xiven has run away. His room was in shambles and his clothes are missing.”
“Why would he do that?” I stuttered.
“Because he tried to kill you?”
“No, I don’t believe that. It was an accident, we were sparring and he got carried away. What I can’t figure out was how he was able to access so much power here within the mists.” I chewed on my lip to ponder the thought before my eyes opened and I blurted out the information I had found out about Fanny and her inventions. Kael listened wide-eyed and angry throughout the whole conversation.
“So she thinks she has the name of the man who ordered this machine?” Kael started to pace. “How do you know that she is telling the truth? She could be lying to you to throw you off the scent and then escape while we are here discussing this.” He turned to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me down the stairs after him. “Show me where this house is; I will make her talk. If she knows anything she will tell me.” Kael was taking the steps two at a time and I stumbled when we reached the street level again. Violently, I shook my arm out of his grasp.
“NO!” I stood firm feet planted.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Kael turned and looked at me in confusion. “This could be the answer we were looking for in finding Tenya!”
“No, not like this.” Deep down I trusted Fanny, she spoke truth. I could tell that when she found out the man had twisted and misused her plans for the invention it hurt her deeply. I wasn’t about to punish her more by having Kael torture her into telling us information she doesn’t know. “I believe her, Kael. I trust that she will find out everything she can and help us if she is truly able.”
“You are crazy if you think she is going to help you. You can’t trust strangers.” Kael was angry and truthfully I couldn’t blame him.
“I trusted you, Kael! You were a stranger and you helped me escape the Raven’s prison. So does that mean I shouldn’t have trusted you either?”
Kael froze and he looked down at the ground. The wind from the various windmills in Skyfell blew his hair wildly in all directions and also blew away his whispered words so that they were barely audible. “No, you shouldn’t have.”
I turned my back on Kael and started to walk up the stairway that led to the Jesai’s home. Spinning once more on Kael I shot out, “She saved me. She could have let me die or kept me prisoner deep underground but she didn’t. She saved my life. I will give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Kael looked up from the bottom of the stairway to stare into my green eyes. “I hope you’re right, Thalia. Joss’ sister’s life depends on it.”
A cold chill spread through my bones and a flicker of doubt flooded my body. Shaking my head, I pushed all negative emotions and feelings away and found my inner strength. “I know I’m right. Fanny will come through.”
Just then a flurry of activity came from the streets as Joss, Mona, Nero and a large amount of servants came carrying crates of bread, fruits and other odds and ends. We had to move out of the way quickly or be trampled by the caravan of goods.
“Joss!” I called out and he turned to me. “What’s going on?”
Joss grinned his dazzling boyish smile at me. “Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten already?” His carefree manner and the fact that there was a huge bustle of activity told me that he hadn’t been home all morning and more than likely didn’t know about the fight between me and Xiven, or his disappearance.
I opened my mouth to explain what had occurred but Joss interrupted me.
“Tonight’s our engagement celebration!”
Chapter 24
I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. Where had the time gone? Somewhere deep inside I had secretly hoped to be farther along in our search and possibly had even found his sister by now so that we could drop the whole charade of being engaged and go back to the way things were. But a week had passed and here we were on the day that I had been dreading.
Grabbing Joss’ sleeve I pulled him aside. “Joss, are you seriously still thinking of going through with this? We are supposed to be faking so we can find your sister.”
The mask of joy fell from Joss’ face and a sterner, more serious one replaced it. “Thalia, we are, don’t doubt that. But if you could see what this is doing to my parents you would understand. They need this. They need a moment, no matter how brief, to forget their grief and find happiness. Even if it is a lie.”
Joss’ face looked pained and that’s when I realized how much of his hurt he was hiding from me, his family, everyone. He was doing it to spare his family pain, by pretending to be the same old carefree Joss that they knew and loved.
“Joss, I don’t th—”
“Can you do this for my parents, for me?” The silent ache that I saw deep inside him silenced any forthcoming arguments and all I could do was nod my head in agreement. He reached out and cupped my cheek, placing a quick kiss on my forehead. “That’s my girl.”
What was wrong with me? I must be the only girl my age not dreaming about finding a lifemate and starting a family. Maybe everything that had happened to me in the last year has made me more wary of happy endings and true love. Learning my mother was murdered when I was a child, being kidnapped the same day that Fenri asked to be my lifemate, and being tortured and almost killed on numerous occasions could definitely skew a young girl’s heart and mind.
Sighing in defeat, I grabbed a crate of fruit and followed Joss up the stairs. It was only when I saw that I was carrying passion fruit that I felt a pang of remorse that I never got to say goodbye to Avina and Berry or tell them why I had left to follow my father. Concentrating on them must have somehow conjured them because when I entered the Jesai family’s main hall I heard two screams fill the air. Shocked, I dropped the crate and watched as the passion fruit rolled across the floor to stop right in front of Avina’s boot.
“Thalia!” she screamed and ran to hug me.
“What? How?”
“Joss sent a messenger to the castle to get us,” Berry spoke up, coming to give me a hug as well once Avina had disentangled herself from me. “Although he never told us why.”
“Yes, Thalia, is everything all right?” Avina stopped flittering about the room and paused.
“Why, umm yes, I mean no.” I stumbled over the right words to say. But Joss came to my rescue and wrapped his arms around me, placing his chin on my head.
“Why, of course it is. We couldn’t have an engagement celebration without Thalia’s friends here, now could we?” More screams filled the rooms as they both jumped up and down in excitement, congratulating me.
“You’re going to let me make the dress for the ceremony, right?” Berry trilled joyously.
Avina and Berry chattered together and not much could be understood between the two as their excited, buzzy babble faded to the background. I saw Mona on her hands and knees picking up the passion fruit I had spilled. Her back was to me but it was stiff in anger. Apologetically, I quickly dropped to the floor and started to help pick up my mess that I had created. Gently, I touched her shoulder to hand her my fruit to put in her basket. But she stood up abrupt
“Don’t touch me!” She snarled and whirled out of the room, her dark braid swinging after her. Mona must know about what happened to her brother, or she is jealous about the celebration tonight. I scanned the room for Joss and saw him and Hemi deep in conversation and I could see the pale look on Joss’ face. Hemi must have just told him the events of this morning. Joss’ worried glance towards me that dropped to my torn shirt confirmed it.
“Girls, we have much to discuss but I think it would be better if we went to my room first,” I said.” The whole way up the stairs they couldn’t stop talking. They found everything fascinating.
“Can you believe the giant bird that flew the Skycage up to the city? I positively thought it was going to eat me for dinner. I have never been more scared in my life,” Berry gushed once we had entered my room.
What had started as a joyous reunion turned solemn as I explained the long chain of events that have led me to Skyfell and to lie about being engaged to Joss. It took hours and the afternoon sun became twilight.
“Oh, Thalia, we didn’t know,” Avina sympathized.
“Not many do, but I think we are close to finding the Septori and what happened to Tenya. I don’t know how, but I feel it in my bones.”
A knock came at my door. Avina rushed to answer it and came back with a sour expression on her face.
“Who’s the girl with the dark hair and eyes, the pretty one?”
“Mona?”
“Yeah, what bit her in the butt?”
I laughed out loud, “What are you talking about?”
“She came to the door all high and mighty and demanded that you be ready for the dinner that starts in an hour.”
“Oh my goodness! I completely forgot to get ready.” Jumping off of my bed, I rushed to my closet and changed out of my dirty clothes and did the best I could with the pitcher of water to clean the dirt off of my face.
“Relax.” Berry chimed in. “We’re here to help you. Plus, I brought a surprise for you.”
Berry’s surprise turned out to be a pale blue short dress trimmed in silver. Avina worked wonders on my hair and I entered the main hall with confidence and grace. My entrance caused quite a few heads to turn to me in surprise and a few positive nods my way. The main room had been turned into a joyous reception hall filled with colorful silk streamers that danced across the ceiling and blew gracefully in the wind. Silver bells and chimes were attached to them and added a simple melody to the night air. All of the seating, pillows and chairs had been removed to create standing room only. Torches lit the wall and along the outside veranda creating a soft ambiance.
Many hands reached out to congratulate me, all of them strangers. I swallowed my nervousness at being touched and smiled politely at them, weaving my way through the room looking for a familiar face. Where was Joss? Kael? Nero? There must have been over fifty people on this level alone.
A cold hand grabbed my elbow and I turned in surprise to see Talbot, Mona and Xiven’s father. I breathed in sigh of relief at the sight of someone familiar.
“I don’t know if I congratulated you last week when Joss first made your announcement.”
“No, I don’t think you did.”
“Well, I would like to extend that now.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind.”
“By the way, have you seen my son?”
“Xiven?”
Talbot threw his head back and laughed. “Why of course, Xiven. Who else would I be speaking about? I have no other sons.”
Thinking quickly, I tried to tell him the truth without diverging everything I knew. I didn’t want to be the one to tell him his son had run away. “Umm, not since this morning?”
“Really?” He drawled out slowly. Talbot’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully and studied me closely. “And what was he doing this morning when you last saw him?”
“I was exercising with Hemi and Xiven challenged me to a sparring match. We both ended up pretty beat up in the end.” It was the truth, but I didn’t elaborate more.
Talbot’s firm mouth twitched. “Who won?”
“What?” I asked confused.
Talbot ran his thumb down his jawline thoughtfully, his dark eyes boring into mine. The gesture made me feel slightly sick to my stomach. “I asked you, who won?”
“Oh uh...” He had caught me off guard and all I was able to squeak out was, “Tie,” I turned my back on him and tried to disappear into the crowd of strangers. But Talbot’s arm snaked out and grabbed me again. Pressing painfully, he leaned into me and whispered in my ear.
“We both know that’s a lie.” With a shake he released my arm and walked away. Talbot left me with a feeling of unease and I tried to shake it off.
Mona was walking around with a tray of the chai and I reached for one to calm my nerves when Kael’s hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, stopping my hand midair. Mona’s tray rocked as my hand collided with it. She desperately tried to settle her tray and was only at the last minute able to keep it from dropping to the floor.
The liquid in each of the cups sloshed over the rims and made little pools around each cup. Her eyes flashed a warning and she opened her mouth to say something to me but her eyes flicked over my shoulder and whatever she saw made her bite her tongue. I was almost positive that what was going to come out of her mouth was an insult.
“I’m sorry. I was clumsy.” Mona lowered her eyes and offered me the tray to have my pick of a drink. Again I reached for one but Kael’s grip on my arm tightened in warning. Pulling my hand back, I nodded to Mona. “Maybe later.” Her eyes shot venom at Kael and she walked away. Turning around, I tried to see who or what she saw in the crowd but was unable to.
“Kael, what’s going on?” I pulled my wrist out of his and rubbed it to get the flow of blood back into it. My fingers had started to go numb.
“Don’t drink any chai. Not tonight,” he whispered into my ear.
“Why?”
“I’m not sure, but will you promise to not drink any?”
“Only if you come and tell me later what’s going on.”
Kael drew back from me with a nod and almost instantly faded into the background, something he was extremely talented at.
Nero came into the room and invited all of the guests to the observatory for dinner. Joss appeared at my side almost instantly and took my cold shaky hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Where have you been?” I hissed out between clenched teeth, while trying to smile politely to another guest. “I’ve been left here to the wolves.”
“Sorry, I was taking care of some last minute details. But I’m here now and I promise to not leave your side the rest of the night.” He rubbed his thumb against my hand and tucked it in the crook of his arm.
Joss looked ravishing. He looked every inch the leader’s son. His jacket was dark blue with gold and he wore a gold vest and cream-colored pants. I felt drab in comparison but he must have seen my face because he leaned over and whispered.
“You look beautiful.”
My cheeks flushed. “Thanks.”
Joss led us to the observatory; a room that I hadn’t known existed before now. This was unquestionably the largest room in the house; the floor was white marble with a high-domed glass ceiling. Rows of tables had been laid out displaying a vast array of food. I saw that someone was already seated at the table that Joss was leading me to. She was pale with blonde hair—Gloria.
So this was Joss’ last minute business. He had gone to assist his mother in coming to the celebration dinner. I gave Gloria a small smile and she looked at me as if through a veil of nothingness, her eyes unfocused and blank. A moment later the veil lifted and she started as if seeing me for the first time. She paused in confusion before returning a hesitant smile. Her attempt at amity was miles above the obvious disdain she had previously displayed towards Joss and I as a couple.
The seating arrangement put Gloria on my right along with Mona who
I craned my neck around the room looking for Hemi and Kael. Joss, sensing my distress, nodded to the pair who stood off in the shadows watching silently. Hemi, who was clearly trying to blend into the background, stood out awkwardly as if he was trying to hide his large bulking frame behind a small pillar. An uncontrollable chuckle escaped my lips and drew the direct gaze of Talbot whose eyes turned hard as he studied me under the candlelight. Dropping my eyes, I looked at my clasped hands in my lap until I felt his gaze move elsewhere.
Keeping my eyes downcast, I tried to search the same area that I spotted Hemi in for Kael. Kael blended easily and my eyes skimmed over him twice before noticing him leaning casually against a window. The look Kael was aiming at our table unsettled me; it was a mixture of resentment and suspicion. My mouth went dry with nervousness as I toyed with the possibilities of who he resented at our table. Was it me, because I refused to tell him where to find Fanny? Was it Joss? I tried to concentrate on reading Kael closer but he had gotten a tighter rein on his feelings and I couldn’t discern any darkness around him.
My nervousness made my stomach roll in protest at the smell of food in front of me and I desperately wished for the leaf that Kael carried to settle my stomach. When Nero made his celebration speech and everyone began eating, I made the motions of eating. By cutting my food and moving it around on my plate to make it look like I had eaten.
Reluctantly my eyes found themselves drawn to the empty chair where Xiven should be sitting. If I had only been able to refuse sparring with him earlier. Guilt weighed heavily upon me as I replayed the day in my mind and desperately wished I had found another outlet for my temper. If I had though, neither of us would have been injured. Then he wouldn’t have felt the need to run away. But I also would never have met Fanny, who could possibly lead me to the man who had ordered the Iron Butterfly. Could this man be the leader of the Septori? Could he be the Raven? The questions ate away at me.