Dark Born

11

KIDNAP

"He's not here? Where did he go?"

Elsa was seated in front of the counter at the inn. She'd arrived just a moment earlier hoping to talk to Adam. Despite all her attempts to push thoughts of him from her mind, to focus on more important things like the abductions, the rot in the kingdom, or training the new recruits assigned to the district, she couldn't. She wanted to talk to him first, to see if everything was alright between them, and to apologize for the lack of consideration she'd shown at that warehouse. Elsa wasn't good at things like this, but she felt it was necessary to try this time. She didn't want him to have any resentment or ill-feelings toward her. But learning he'd left the inn had sharply deflated her determination.

"He didn't say," Katryn replied with a simple shrug. "We were talking, then I went into the kitchen to help mother, when I came back he was gone. He owes an apology."

He left, just like that? Elsa's brows twisted in thought. It was almost evening, where could he be? Where could he have gone? The cathedral? The Adventurer's Guild? To meet that woman who he'd said he wanted to help? That last thought came with a sharp pang of jealousy, but she smothered it quickly. There was a chance it was just a woman he wanted to genuinely help, but even if there was more to it than simply helping, it was none of her business. She shouldn't be having feelings like jealousy, she had no claim. If Adam wanted to be with a woman, she had no right whatsoever to stop him... she had none.

How did he even meet this woman in the first place? Where?

Elsa shook her head to clear the thoughts. They were valid questions, of course, Adam hadn't been here long enough for someone to know him well and ask for help, but she knew it was her jealousy driving the questions, not a sudden security concern.

"Has it been long?" she asked in a controlled voice.

Katryn didn't respond for a moment as she tilted her head to think. "A little bit," she said and leaned forward on the counter. "Ms. Elsa, is there any trouble? Can I help?"

Elsa released a quiet breath. She needed to calm down, there was no reason to be so desperate as to panic Katryn. Still though, her offer to help told everything about the girl's character. She didn't even understand what might be happening, but she'd offered to help without hesitation. It was such things that had endeared her to the girl. She and her mother were the only people besides her father who might know her, truly know her, and they both had a knack for worrying about her, constantly asking if she was eating well, sleeping, or working too hard. It was like having a stern mother and a little sister, but she couldn't say it was a bad experience. If anything, she might even like it a little.

When she'd first interfered to save the inn, Elsa couldn't have guessed it would turn out like this. All she'd wanted to do was help a mother and daughter she'd heard about in passing, but that had led to a closeness between the three of them, one that she'd resisted at first, preferring to keep to herself. It had taken Elsa a long time to open up to them, to trust them a fair bit, more than anyone except her adopted father. The timing of her father's retirement and departure from the city might have also helped forge their bond, as it was the first time she'd ever been on her own. No, it was the second time.

The first had been when her parents were killed...

"No, there's no trouble, Kat," Elsa responded calmly to settle any concern she might have. "I just wanted to talk to him, that's all. It's nothing very important."

Katryn gave a brief nod then shifted back. "It'll be supper soon, you should stay for a meal and wait for him. I'm sure he'll be back before long. He already missed lunch."

Elsa heard the plea in Katryn's voice. She knew the suggestion had hidden motives, it was more to get her to stay so they could talk than to simply wait for Adam. Still, it was no trouble for her at all. She currently didn't have much to do; there were no new leads to follow in their search for the Blood Crows' leader and to find the abducted children, and as she'd told Elliot earlier, there'd be fighting soon, just not now. The only other thing she could be doing right now was training the new recruits, but she'd given them a day off. She had a lot of spare time today. There was no reason she couldn't stay for supper.

"Alright, I'm already here, waiting wouldn't be a problem," Elsa said with a gentle smile and immediately saw Katryn's face light up with joy. That was the right choice.

"That's great! Shall I get you something to drink? Mead, maybe?"

Elsa gave her a small, embarrassed smile. Aside from wine, that was all she allowed herself to drink. The taste of ale didn't agree with her even a little bit, and she might be the only adult in the entire kingdom who could say that. "Yes, that would be fine."

Katryn grinned knowingly and turned toward the low shelves. "Of course, ale is too bitter and mead is just right. I remember," she said in a soft, teasing voice.

"I don't believe I've ever said something like that," Elsa said.

Katryn grabbed a bottle from the shelf and set down a mug on the counter, then she uncorked and poured the honeyed drink carefully. "You didn't need to."

Elsa picked up the mug as Katryn slid it toward her with that crafty smile. The girl could read people too well, it was like a gift. With a slight shake of her head, she took a sip of the drink, then set the mug back down on the counter. "Thank you, Kat."

Katryn propped her elbows on the counter and rested her chin on her palms, a smile spread on her lips as she stared with open interest. "You're welcome," she said.

"By the way, where's Yara? I haven't seen her," Elsa said.

Katryn nodded toward the stairs. "She's tired, I had to force her to take a little rest," she said. "But she'll be down once the inn starts to pick up and things get busy."

Elsa looked around the inn for a brief moment. It was nearly empty, with only a few patrons locked in conversations or passed out over the table. But it should be getting lively soon with evening drawing near. In the past, Elsa had worried that her presence at the inn might negatively affect the business, she'd believed no one would feel comfortable having a drink or even talking loosely beside a Gold-Rank knight. But all those worries proved to be unfounded, if anything it seemed her presence had helped greatly, giving the inn a level of visibility and prestige no other inn in the area had, or so Katryn had told her.

"And you?" Elsa asked as she returned her gaze to Katryn. "How have you been? I know we haven't talked as much as we used to these past few days."

They'd spoken the night before, after the ambush at the warehouse, but Elsa didn't really consider that a meaningful conversation. It had mostly been fun, lighthearted teasing from Katryn aimed at Yara as they'd skirted around the attack knowing she wouldn't say much about it. Elsa had tried to stay engaged, but she'd been worried about Adam almost the entire time. He'd seemed completely distant, so dark...

"I'm just fine," Katryn said in a light voice, then let out a breath. "A little tired, but fine. And I understand that you've been busy, you can't just leave your duties to come keep me company. It's also been busy around the inn, so I have my hands full."

Elsa tilted her head as she stared at the girl. "Busy?" she asked.

Katryn gave a nod and lifted her elbows from the counter, then stood straighter. "I had to show Adam around, then teach him how to use some tools," she said as a thoughtful frown crossed her face. "He's clever, but at the same time he doesn't seem to know much."

"Ah, you've noticed, too. He's strange in that way," Elsa said.

"He said teleportation magic brought him here, where is he from?"

Elsa was a little surprised Adam had told her about the teleportation magic that had brought him here. It was Divine magic--far beyond the reach of humans--and the sort of thing that would attract no end of attention from those scholarly types. Then again, he likely knew nothing about Divine magic, just like he knew nothing about most other things, and saw no reason to keep his experience a guarded secret. Besides, even if he hadn't told her, she probably would have put the pieces together eventually. Maybe not the entire truth, but enough to know for certain that he wasn't simply a traveler from another kingdom.

Elsa found it a little comforting that she wasn't the only one wondering about where he came from. Talking to him sometimes felt like talking to a child completely ignorant of the world, it was as if he'd fallen straight from the sky, but that wasn't possible. She wanted to know the truth about him more than she'd ever wanted to know anything. She might've decided to stop searching for that 'America Sea-attle,' he'd mentioned as she was getting nowhere, but that didn't mean she'd dropped all her questions.

Still, as she'd told Elliot earlier, the only way to know the truth about him was if he chose to tell them. A dark corner of her mind had brought up the idea of torture, but besides not knowing how he had survived the forest, or whether something was protecting him, the thought of hurting him made her chest physically ache. She would sooner bite off her own fingers, and the strength of that instinct surprised even her. Where had it come from?

Elsa cleared her throat. "He says he's from a place called 'America Sea-attle,'" she replied at last. "Did he tell you anything more? Anything besides the teleportation magic?"

Katryn shook her head. "No, he doesn't say a lot about himself," she said.

"I see," Elsa said with a nod. "Do you two get on well?"

"Well, enough," Katryn answered, then hesitated, her hands drifting to the edge of the counter as she folded them on top of the wood. "Ms. Elsa... can I ask something?" She leaned forward, just slightly. "What is he to you? You seem to care a lot about him?"

Elsa swallowed past a thick lump in her throat, trying to keep her expression neutral as her heart pounded in fear that Katryn had seen through her, seen her inner turmoil, seen the shameful secret she was carrying deep inside her chest. Had she been too obvious? She usually kept her feelings tightly contained. No one could say she was expressive. But Adam had come along. Why did everything involving him seem to always shatter her composure and leave her so utterly weak? Elsa hated it. What would Katryn think if she knew she was going to pieces over a boy that was her own age, a boy she barely even knew.

Elsa didn't want to feel this way. If she could, she would've crushed these emotions the first time she felt it. But she couldn't, she had no experience dealing with anything like this, no guide for what to do or say, and that unfamiliarity scared her.

"What brought this on?" Elsa asked, her voice tight as she tried to sound normal.

Katryn lifted her shoulders in a simple shrug. "You've asked a lot of questions about him, and you came here today to see him, not me or mother," she explained.

Elsa straightened in the seat and cleared her throat. "You're reading too deeply into things," she said in a feigned dismissive tone. "I only wanted to be sure that he was settling in properly. He's... a person of interest. Keeping eyes on him is the least I can do."

Katryn stared at her for a moment. Elsa was sure the girl knew she was lying through her teeth, but instead of pressing her more or exposing the lie, Katryn smiled, and it wasn't her usual mischievous or teasing smile. If anything, it looked forced... pained.

"I see," she whispered. "That's a relief, then."

Confused, Elsa's brow pressed together. "Relief?" she asked quietly.

Katryn swept back wisps of long dark hair from her face and her eyes briefly darted toward the far wall. "I think I might like him, and I think he feels the same."

Elsa's jaw clenched before she could stop it and her breath caught in a shallow hitch, but she quickly suppressed the shocked reaction, forced her shoulders to remain still, forced her gaze not to flicker. "Oh," she muttered. It was the only thing she could think to say.

"I don't want mother know this, but we've been spending nights together."

The words hit Elsa with the force of an anvil and this time, she couldn't stop herself from reacting even stronger. Her fingers clenched tighter around the mug until it began to creak, and for one long terrifying moment, she thought she might actually crush it, or fling it away. But thankfully she didn't do either. Somehow, through sheer discipline from years of brutal training, she kept the mug planted on the counter without shifting.

Her gaze didn't move from Katryn and she forced it to remain cool, composed, even though her every instinct was to scream, at Katryn, at herself, at the situation, even at Adam himself. "Together?" she managed to say in a low, almost silent voice.

Katryn blinked, then looked away as her cheeks warmed in a shy blush, "I know it's sudden," she continued. "And it isn't... well, it isn't serious yet, but I do care about him a lot, and he does for me as well. I wanted... I just wanted to be honest with you."

Elsa forced her fingers to unclench from the mug, then she slid her hands under the counter to hide her loss of control. Her breath felt quick, and her chest felt tight, like a band was slowly being wound around her ribs. Nights? Together? Adam had spent nights with her and they liked each other? A storm of emotions crashed through her at the mere thought, jealousy, resentment, a sharp pang of loss, and it threatened to shatter what little composure she had left as her fingers curled into tight fists under the counter.

Elsa tried to force down the surging feelings, reminding herself that she had no claim to him whatsoever. Hadn't she just told herself that she had no right to stop him if he wanted to be with a woman, whether it be Katryn or the other woman he'd mentioned? Adam was free to choose, free to spend nights with whomever, with as many women that would have him. It should be none of her concern. None at all. He wasn't hers. But still, it hurt so much.

It hurt in a way she didn't even know was possible.

Elsa drew in a slow breath to steady herself, then she looked back to Katryn and she sharply noticed something, something in her eyes as it flickered away, as if she didn't want to look at her. Was it guilt? Why? Had it all been a lie? A joke? A part of her deeply hoped that was the case. It would sting, but she would forgive it in time.

But no, Katryn wouldn't lie about something like this, not when Adam could expose the lie. Then what was it? Suddenly, a thought struck her, a thought that made her chest tighten even more. Was it on purpose? Was Katryn telling her all this on purpose? To hurt her? It made no sense. Elsa couldn't understand why Katryn, the girl whom she taken as her little sister, would want to hurt her? What could she possibly gain from it?

Nothing like this had ever happened before...

Katryn had always been careful with her words, with her gestures. Some dismissed her as an overly cheerful girl with little awareness, but Elsa knew her better. Katryn noticed almost everything, and had likely noticed she'd lied about why she cared about Adam, that was why it made no sense she would do something like this. Elsa knew the girl had caught on to her budding feelings for Adam, so even if she and Adam had truly been together, she wouldn't tell her this way, without any care for how she might feel about it. Katryn wasn't cruel. She wasn't vindictive. She wasn't the type of person to seek other people's pain for her own amusement. And yet, the thought had planted itself into her mind.

Katryn was trying to hurt her purposely...

Elsa knew well that people changed, especially when it involved things like love or wealth. Was that what was happening? If so, she could understand it, even if it still hurt deeply. She never could've imagined that Katryn would wish to cause her pain. But perhaps that was her own fault. She should've expected it. People were always people in the end.

"I see," Elsa finally, in a soft careful voice. "I understand."

Katryn looked away for a brief moment, then returned her gaze hesitantly, her hands digging into the pocket of her apron. "Ms. Elsa, I don't--"

Elsa lifted a hand to cut her off. "It's fine, Katryn. What or who you choose is none of my concern. I won't breathe a word to Yara. I only... hope that it brings you joy."

Yara came down the stairs then, and their conversation faded naturally. Her arrival signaled the start of the evening bustle, and Katryn quickly slipped back into her duties of wiping dirty mugs, greeting patrons, and moving from table to table to take orders.

Elsa stayed where she was on the stool, still deep in thought. She was more hurt by what she'd realized about Katryn than anything involving Adam. But perhaps it was all for the best. Maybe it was a final lesson she needed to learn about people, and maybe she could also begin to let go of the thought she shouldn't have had about a boy in the first place.

Yes, it was probably for the best...

***

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Adam had stopped walking and his heart pounded loudly inside his chest as his gaze remained fixed on the damaged warehouse just ahead, or rather, at the figure standing close to the entrance, a man encased in golden armor with a red cape flowing at his back.

It was a Gold-Rank knight. The man was slender and tall, with dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was the second Gold-Rank Adam had seen, and he looked completely ordinary, not as fearsome as he had imagined them to be; even Elsa had seemed somewhat intimidating the first time they'd met. But the man looked normal, friendly, a little like one of his professors at college, just an average guy you could see at a bar anywhere. Still, after the bloody carnage he'd seen Elsa--a fellow Gold-Rank--unleash last night, he knew the man's appearance was most likely deceptive and he shouldn't even try to get close.

Not until he figured out why the man was here at least...

Without even thinking, Adam moved hastily behind the corner of a small, crumbling building and pressed himself against the wall. He didn't know what he expected to happen here, but whatever it was, he had to see, and this seemed like a decent place to hide. There were other knights with the Gold-Rank, five Bronze-Ranks and three Silver-Ranks, that was a lot. He was lucky none of them had spotted him as they'd been too interested in the damage done to the warehouse. Was that why they were here? To investigate?

Adam watched them for a while. They didn't do anything, just stood there observing the warehouse and exchanging a few quiet words. Then the Gold-Rank said something and the two Silver-Ranks went inside. Adam was too far away to catch any of it, but if he had to guess, the Gold-Rank had ordered them to search the place. Couldn't he have gone in as well? Probably one of those types who expected his lessers to handle everything.

Elsa seemed the complete opposite, she expected to be there for everything and help out if needed. He recalled how he'd followed her to meet Elliot, when even their ambushers had expected only Elliot to arrive. Adam supposed Gold-Ranks knights came in different colors and shades. He wasn't sure why he'd assumed they would act the same, be all about their duty. Some things here were just like on Earth, he had to keep that in mind.

The two Silver-Ranks came out after a moment and simply shook their heads.

Were they looking for something? People?

His question was answered soon as other figures began to arrive, several of them, about ten or thereabouts, clad in ugly mismatched armors and robes, they looked rough, like the same kind of people who had attacked him, Elsa, and Elliot last night, the sort of people a Gold-Rank knight had no business meeting. Yet, they continued to approach.