Splintered Fate (38 page)

I’ll keep an eye
on him, but don’t get too close to Garin.
Ardin’s voice calmly filled her mind as he faced the guard by
the door. Lana suppressed the shiver that ran down her
spine.

She turned to see the Rami who
faced away from her moments ago, staring directly at her with
piercing blue eyes. They were Kaidens eyes, yet they were not. The
similarity was evident but there was no warmth there, just cold
loathing.

He froze her as if she were in a
trance. Lana could literally feel the presence of his eyes on her
as they raked over her body. They were dark and oozing raw hatred.
It was gripping. She could hear her heart rapidly beating in her
ears as memories flooded her mind from their last painful
encounter.

“
You don’t have to do any of this
Garin-” Lana began, holding her hands out in a none threatening
gesture.

“
Oh, don’t I?” His voice cut her
off, booming off the empty walls of the room Lana was now locked
in. “You took my only blood from me.”

“
I did no such thing, Kaiden saved
my life, but he still loves you Garin.”

“
Is that what he tells you? The
moment he knocked me out from behind, like a coward to save…”
Garin’s hard eyes looked Lana up and down before continuing “you.”
His voice portrayed such hatred that Lana had to resist an urge to
take a step away from him. The three yards between them suddenly
seemed too close. “He betrayed my trust, his brother, for what? A
weak little Madonian he knew as a child and for only one moon time?
I have been with him since he first drew breath. He and I were a
team. HE IS MY BLOOD!” Garin’s voice yelled out, echoing off the
walls.

“
Have you no forgiveness in your
heart?” Lana barely finished her question before another voice came
from her left.

“
There’s nothing to
forgive.”

Lana wanted to sigh in relief at Kaiden’s
sudden presence. The door closed behind him as soon as he entered
the room. A familiar face stared back at Lana from the Rami who had
just allowed Kaiden to enter. It was Seff, the stocky Rami from
when she had walked into their camp in Abder.

“
Seff”, Kaiden began as he turned
to see his once friend closing the door behind him.

“
My friend! I see you have brought
us this girl. Well played! Tell us you learned something valuable.”
Seff spoke.

Lana looked to Kaiden in
confusion. He mimicked the same confusion back at her. Garin
responded to Lana’s confused face.

“
Of course there’s nothing to
forgive, brother.” Garin smiled.

“
What do you mean?” Lana spoke as
her eyes darted around the room. “Kaiden?”

“
I have no idea what he’s talking
about.” Kaiden replied though his body tensed.

Garin’s smile widened. “Finally,
we don’t have to hold this charade anymore, little brother.” He
turned his cold eyes to Lana. “What, you actually thought he cared
for you, Council tramp? He is my brother. Blood is thicker than
whatever you think you have going on. Nothing comes between blood,
that is the Rami way.”

“
I don’t know what game you are
playing but…”

Lana was cut off by Garin. “For
instance, we know you are the councilwoman of the Selvirian
Madonian lands. You are the sole council for those parts, which
makes you quite valuable. Your mother and father were killed by our
hand, but they were both a part of an inside job.” As he spoke
Lana’s eyes darted to and from Kaiden, she didn’t believe it,
Kaiden would never... would he?

Garin continued, “You have enemies in your
homelands, Lana. You also traveled to the hidden city of Alogrin
with an old man and two kids.”

Mortified, Lana’s head snapped to
Kaiden, who stood very still. She felt lightheaded, how could Garin
know this? A cold chill ran through her. Could this have been a
trap all along? She wanted to ask him if it were true, but she
couldn’t find the words. She felt sick, wishing for it not to be
true, wishing to not hear any of it. Kaiden was her friend, she
trusted him with her life, with all of the information she had
shared with him. She had trusted him with absolutely everything.
Her knees threatened to give out.

“
This is not true.” Kaiden took a
step towards her and she took a step away, shaking her head in
disbelief. Suddenly afraid of what she may not have known. Fear
gripped her, tightening around her, constricting around her throat
till she could hardly breath.

“
Sure it is… If you happened to
develop feelings in the process, Kaiden, then that's too bad. You
knew the mission when you took it. You told us that you could
handle this. That you could get her to trust you, for her to feel
safe with you, that you could learn all you could.”

“
They are lying!” Kaiden shouted.
His eyes filled with rage. Was the rage real or another
ploy?

“
You left us messages in the
woods.” Garin spoke with a smile. Kaiden did not reply to the
accusation.

“
Did you?” Lana found the voice to
ask Kaiden, who now seemed flustered.

“
I…” He paused in what seemed to
be a panic and Lana knew, there was truth to what Garin
said.

No, please
no.
She wanted to vomit. A cold sweat
uncomfortably prickled her skin.

“
You were
willing to risk everyone's lives!?” Lana cried out, lip curling in
anger, while Ardin grumbled. She was unable to control herself, to
keep herself composed. She feared what Garin was saying had truth
to it, she
knew
it had truth to it. Her horror was replaced with
rage.

“
I wasn’t trying to do that.”
Kaiden uncomfortably shifted on his feet.

“
We had children
with us, Kaiden! We were trying to get away and you were leaving
him breadcrumbs to follow! Breadcrumbs with information about us,
information about
me
!”

“
No. I wanted him to understand
why I did what I did, my intentions were never to hurt you or
endanger anyone.”

Garin looked at Kaiden sideways.
“Little brother, do you actually fancy this girl? You knew your
mission, that you would have to get close in any way possible. I
thought you might have some fun, not develop feelings. Do not worry
we will help you forget her.” Garin finished with a wink. Lana’s
hands balled into fists.

“
Stop it.” Kaiden
snarled.

“
Oh come now. This was planned for
years, ever since we were children and you went to that dreadful
school.”

Lana froze, unable to even draw
breath. Garin’s eyes watched her as he spoke, as he crippled her
with words. His deadly, icy, eyes held her in their painful grip.
White teeth flashed as he smiled, speaking to her.

“
Kaiden went to Ucu knowing a
child of a Madonian council member would be going. He went for the
sole purpose to get to know you. You, Lana Casteel, were his very
first mission for King Zakran. He even managed to return with a few
new tricks.” In Garin’s palm played a glowing light of electric
energy, before he dropped it. He didn’t even try and harm her with
it, he didn’t have to. With his words he was tearing her apart, and
when he finished she would have no where to go. She and Ardin were
trapped.

Lana turned away from Garin’s
gripping stare to Kaiden. His face was flushed, eyes
pained.

“
So you getting close to me…” Lana
breathed, having to stop herself for fear of tears. Betrayal was
not a feeling she had ever experienced. In this moment Lana didn’t
know what to believe. Garin knew a lot, things he shouldn’t know.
Things that Kaiden clearly told him. Could Kaiden have been
harmlessly reaching out to his brother? If that were true then why
did he never tell her about it? Was her friendship with him a sham,
created for the single purpose of gathering information? Was there
any truth to what they had or was this all a trick?

Kaiden took another step towards
Lana with an open pleading hand. Lana stepped back, away from him.
Her eyes scanned his for anything that could tell her what was
real. But his eyes were the same, the same ones she had grown to
search for every day. They were familiar to her, non threatening.
He had held her, kissed her, she had felt something, it was real.
Or did she just want it to be real so badly that she had placed a
veil over her own gullible eyes?

Had she led him right into Alogrin? Her hands
began to shake despite her best efforts to keep them still. What
had she done? Who had she believed?

“
Garin is twisting everything. We
are close, Lana, you and me.” His voice lowered, softened as he
spoke to her. “This is not fake. I would never bring you any harm.
You, are my people and I am yours.” He took another step towards
her and she took another step away. “You know me.” Kaiden spoke
desperately.

Suddenly Ardin’s
warning voice sounded in her head.
You
need to stop moving away from Kaiden. You are getting too close to
Garin.
Lana glanced to Garin who smiled at
her before she turned back to Kaiden. Could Kaiden be herding her
closer to Garin on purpose? Was he still working with his brother?
Could this be why he didn’t want her to face Garin without him? So
that he could protect his brother. Has the one person she trusted
most in this world besides Ardin have been deceiving her all
along?

Kaiden turned to his brother and Seff. “What
is wrong with you guys? Seff, we grew up together, Garin you are my
brother...How could you just.”

“
Just what? Nothing's wrong here.
Just hand over the girl and kill that dog.”

Ardin growled fiercely, facing the
Rami behind Lana, yet peering over at Kaiden.

“
I will not.” Kaiden
spoke.

“
Don't be stupid. We are giving
you a way back. A way home where you won't need to be looking over
your shoulder for the rest of your life.”

I think they may
be messing with us.
Ardin’s voice entered
Lana’s mind.

Can you read
anything on Kaiden?
Lana
inquired.

He is nervous and scared. I can
smell fear coming off him. He wouldn’t feel fear if he did not care
about you.

So you really
think he left Garin messages just trying to explain himself?
Lana asked Ardin.

Even if that is not the case and
if he helped you only to betray you, it doesn’t seem like he wants
that any more. If he is on our side, we want to keep him
there.

“
Just get rid of them and we will be
able to go home.” Garin instructed. “You will be in high standing
with the Rami people.”

“
I will never hurt Lana or her
Aorra. You and your games, your tricks and hatred for a person you
don't even know disgusts me. Coming here, threatening a small
civilian town like this. You are weak, big brother, that's what
hate does to you. It makes you weak.”

Why are they
taking their time?
Ardin
questioned.
If Kaiden actually was not a
part of this plot they say then they are dragging this on too long.
If he were spying on us, he now turned them down. If Garin is lying
and he wanted to give Kaiden a chance to rejoin the Rami then he
still turned them down. They should have attacked or something by
now.

Lana pondered
Ardin’s words
. If Kaiden was truly not
helping us as some kind of ploy, if he wasn’t working with his
brother then why did they let him in so easily?
Then a wave of nausea hit her. Garin wanted the two of them
together, this was a trap and they played into it so easily. She
played into it, and Kadin came to find her.

Ardin, come to
me.
Lana called for her Aorra. This was a
trap and he was too far out of her reach. Quickly Ardin turned
towards Lana, but it had not go unnoticed. Even something as small
as their location in the room was planned out. The way she and
Ardin entered from one door and Kaiden another. The way Ardin was
pulled to another location within the room while she focused on
Garin.

Abruptly seven Rami came from the
edges of the room, surrounding Ardin, keeping him from Lana. The
Rami had been in the room the entire time, hiding behind the thick
pillars of fabric around the edges. Ardin must not have noticed
them. He was paying too close attention on the few he could see and
ignored the sounds of fighting beyond, ignoring the others in the
room at the same time.

Immediately a shield went up
around Ardin before the first blow of blue light could hit him.
Lana turned towards him but before she could act, powerful arms
closed in around her and a blade was pressed to her
neck.

“
If I see the smallest glint of
silver dust around you I will cut your throat and your dog will
definitely die.” Garin spoke with a hot breath into her
ear.

Horror flooded throughout her. She
felt completely trapped. It was suffocating. Her entire body tensed
while she watched the Rami slash at Ardin’s shield.