Where does the world rise?
Is it amongst the stars, next to the sun, blocking the moon? In the infinity where they weave the gap between those who wait and those who escape? Maybe it’s all in the eyes of the beholder, in the current, in the motion of endless pictures and dreams. In disappointments and determinations. In faith. Maybe there is nothing in this world worth stressing over. It takes only a moment for the gap to close and for worlds to collide; and when it happens, the minds of those longing for the other side get clearer, at least for a moment.
As Thomas stood in front of his door, the door of the house he had built, the house that at times seemed colossal, he felt the breeze of the early October caress his neck. It was still warm late at night; the breeze kept the air moving, but that air was so unnatural, so cunning, it brought no relief. Thomas looked up at the sky full of stars; they always reminded him of Diane. Everything reminded him of Diane. Only this thought was different. This feeling was different. It had been a moment, nothing more than a few seconds, but the world seemed different now, bigger, more open, more bearable. He seemed bigger now, more open and bearable. He was her equal in nothing more than thought; but it was different, this door, this air, and this town. It was his. It takes only a moment to lose control and dive into insecurity but less then a second to gain it back. It happens quickly and without a sound.
The house smelled awfully like peppermint. It was a heavy smell that crawled into every crevice of Thomas’s nose and burned his body slowly as it travelled down to his stomach. It was eerily quiet inside. Not a single, tiny, measly sound.
Nothing.
He didn’t take off his shoes. The floor creeked. A light flickered in the living room. Kyla never left the light on when she went to sleep. Thomas pulled out his sword and made small, careful steps towards the living room. He stopped by the doorframe, pressed his back against the wall, and listened.
Nothing.
Yet the light was still flickering. His heart was beating fast. Someone was in his new house. He could feel them. Smell them. They smelled like peppermint, so clean and so intense.
What a sickening smell.
He took a deep breath and turned around so he was inside the living room with his sword pointed towards the window. There was a figure. A shadow of her was cast to her left from the candle that flickered to her right. She was about as tall as Thomas with dark blond hair held tight in a secure bun, and wearing a black uniform. A Raven uniform.
“Ah, you’re here at last!” she said excitedly as she turned around to face him. “I’ve been waiting for you, you know.” She was in her late twenties with big round eyes, a small nose, and plump pink lips. Her face was filled with light and her body was elegantly muscular.
“Who are you?” Thomas asked.
“Did you have fun in prison?” she ignored his question and walked towards the candle. Thomas’s eyes lit up, but she only picked up the chamberstick and went back to her spot in front of the window.
“How do you know where I was?” Thomas asked, paying close attention to her every movement.
“Silly, I personally told Brandon you were in there,” she replied with a smile, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Did you have a nice talk?” The way she held the small flame in front of her mocked Thomas; she didn’t feel at all threatened by his presence.
“Who are you?” Thomas repeated the question.
Her blue eyes glistened as she said, “I’m what you would call the leader.”
Thomas shivered, his sword twice as heavy as a moment ago. “You’re the leader of the Ravens?”
“Yes.”
“At the Headquarters?”
“Yes, I am.” She never stopped smiling, but the way her lips curled upwards didn’t have the same unsettling aura as Elaine’s. She seemed like a genuinely nice person, and it terrified Thomas to the bone.
He lowered his sword. He knew they would never harm him. “Where is Kyla?”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Oh,” she let out, like she had completely forgotten about her, “I took care of her.”
Thomas’s heart dropped to his toes and his throat closed up. “What… What does that mean?”
“Well, you don’t really have to know. She disobeyed the orders. She’s alive, don’t you worry, but I just had to punish her, you know. I should have done it months ago, to be honest…”
“But you had a deal with Diane,” Thomas interrupted her, fear slowly turning into anger. “How unfortunate.” She was the most dangerous person he had probably ever encountered and they were alone. But he still had the upper hand; he was the Fool after all. No matter what he did, how far he went, she would never harm him. Diane Hunster, the woman who had been missing for months, stood between the two of them, reminding them both that she hadn’t made her decision just yet.
The woman put her index finger to her cheek and tilted her head, like she was trying to remember. “Did I? Well, it must have slipped my mind. I’m such a forgetful person.”
“Somehow I find that hard to believe,” Thomas replied through his teeth. His eyes were still ablaze, ready to turn her into ash at any moment.
She put the candle down and took a small step towards him. “I’ll tell you what,” she put her hands behind her back and made another little step, “I’ll make you a deal.”
“I don’t want it,” Thomas refused instantly.
“You do.” She was so unbothered by his presence that Thomas wished he could smear the floor with her blood as he did with those Demons at the bakery. “I’ll give you soldiers. And Kyla. You just stay safe. That’s what I came to tell you actually: we have no problem with your doing whatever you want as long as you… well, don’t die.”
“And what do you want in return for those soldiers?”
“Nothing.”
Thomas snickered. “Right. Because you people are so generous.”
“To those who deserve it, yes,” she replied, again ignoring his undertone. “If you think about it, Thomas, it’s a win-win situation. You get your soldiers and we make sure you don’t end up in a ditch somewhere. And by the looks of it,” she looked him up and down, “you most certainly would.” She looked at him, her blue eyes full of life. “But, if you insist on doing something for me, I could think of something Elaine doesn’t have to know about.”
She was very close to him now. Thomas didn’t realize when exactly she tricked him into letting his guard down, but he knew she didn’t even need such petty tricks. She was a few years older than him, but it was evident she was physically way more capable.
“What do you want?” Thomas asked.
“Nothing much really. Just, when you see Diane, put in a good word for me.”
Thomas was taken aback; the darkness of the room, the stillness, made it all seem like a dream. “You’re joking.”
“Not at all,” she reassured him with a smile. “I have a very simple desire, which is, that if Diane comes back with a hitlist, I am not on it.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
They were almost at eye level. “You people always have a catch.”
“Not me. And believe me, I am a woman of my word…”
“As can be seen by what you did to Kyla,” Thomas interrupted.
She smiled wider. “When I want to be. And I want to be one now.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “Do we have a deal?”
Thomas breathed in the smell of peppermint. Her hand was so heavy he just wanted her to take it off his shoulder. And he didn’t really have a choice; he needed people if he wanted to find the Swan. It didn’t matter if they were all spies reporting on his every word; if they protected him and got him where he needed to be safely, if was worth it. “Kyla comes with me.”
She pinched his cheek. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, cutie pie.”
Her voice was ringing in his ears, disturbing his inner peace. There was so much sarcasm in her smile, so much entitlement in her posture, and so much evil in her eyes. Thomas used to be certain there was no person in that whole world he could dislike more than Elaine.
Elaine is a saint compared to this woman, I’m sure. What an awful being.
She was about to dive into the darkness of the hallway when Thomas broke the character. “You are that scared of Diane, huh? Well, I would be too if I was on the wrong side of the tracks.”
He found it unsettling how he could feel her breathing on his skin like she was still looking at him at eye-level; like she would never leave. “Wolves don’t bark, pretty boy. Only dogs do.”
Thomas smiled. “It appears so.” He walked over to the window and looked at the darkness. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell Elaine about this.”
She didn’t say anything else, she just left. Thomas was left to ponder over his sudden courage, his all too sudden change in character. Was that little episode all it took to change him so drastically when months with Diane Hunster couldn’t? Or was it something he had suppressed, something hiding with that gigantic power of his? He looked down, at his hands. It was the same pair of hands that once carried sacks of flour; though rough, the skin looked different now. It had a glow now, one of realization, of knowledge. Of power.
And that awful woman. How did she manage to push him so far off his tracks that he would try to provoke her, and in only a few minutes? Why was he so on edge? He wasn’t scared, he knew she wouldn’t hurt him.
But I know she can. I know I wouldn’t be able to do anything to protect myself even after all this training. Because I still doubt myself. Because I now know I am doubting myself. All I need to do, all I truly need to do, is have faith in myself. Not Kyla, not Diane, not those unknown soldiers, myself. I will protect myself. I will find the Swan. And when Diane comes back, I will stand before her with my head held high, and she will know she was right to have faith in me too.