Chapter 16

Signe didn't know what to share. It was a long time since she had been around people she could trust. The last one was Sylverion, but that didn't turn out well. It was though, a secret to share. "Five years ago I was on a mission. I don't know if you know, but Sylverion worked for the Council. He hasn't though since then. We had been on missions together before, but nothing nearly as important as this one. It was a cross-over between Elves and Humans, one of many ways to attempt a friendship between our races. We were hunting the same person, a killer. But he wasn't the ordinary one. This one was brutal, all his victims butchered in the same way. I think the worst one was the Elven girl he cut into hundreds of pieces that he spread around the land. We couldn't even recover all of her."

 Caine shuddered at the thought. "During that mission, I fell in love with Sylverion. Or, what I thought was love. I fled from my family where I felt love was conditioned, it was earned, not just given because we were blood. As long as I did what they wanted, everything was fine. As soon as I didn't, they called me rebellious. But I wasn't. I just wanted to be seen and heard and loved for who I was."

 "Sylverion gave me that. He saw me for who I was, the fierce, tough sorceress on the outside, but on the inside, he saw a twenty year old girl only wanting love and security. I thought he could give me that."

 "What happened after?" Caine asked. "I've seen the way you look at each other. You hate him, don't you?"

 "I don't hate him. Hate means I care. No, I don't care about him. He's just another tool to ensure our safety. But what he did back then, broke me. Shattered me into a million pieces. For many years after that I thought I didn't deserve love. That no one could ever…"

 A tear fell down her cheek, but she wiped it away. "Well, it ended with us getting captured by this killer. I still remember it as if it happened yesterday. Sometimes it still haunts me in my dreams. I remember him hanging me up like an animal ready to be butchered, he was there, knife in his hand, ready to cut me apart. And then Sylverion managed to get out of his ropes. But instead of helping me, he fled. I was screaming and shouting after him, but he didn't even turn around."

 "How did you survive?"

 "Tor came to my rescue. Tor always had my back. Always."

 "It must be nice knowing that," Caine said. Signe could feel a hint of jealousy in his voice. "What about you?" she said. "What's your secret?"

 Caine hesitated, as if he had too many to choose from. "What I tell you now is enough for you to arrest me. Are you going to arrest me?"

 Signe shook her head. How could she? After everything they had been through together.

 "I killed the Councilmember," he whispered. "Minaia?" Signe asked. Caine nodded. "It was an accident, I swear." Signe tried to stay calm. So that was the reason they wanted him. She knew they never managed to find out who did it, but it all made sense now. A boy with dark powers, someone they never identified. "Why," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "Why did it have to be her?"

 "It was the eighteen-year evaluation," he started. "Since we came to Kaldria too late, we missed the one at fourteen. They wanted us to do all sorts of stuff, everything from easy spells like conjuring flames, to harder ones like shooting a beam onto a target. Catia did everything flawlessly, but she also didn't have my problem. You saw how my powers were before you started to help me. You also know that I still can't fully control them."

 Signe nodded. "Well, I was going to conjure a flame, but instead managed to shoot a million beams all around me. And they weren't Light beams. They were as Dark as they could be. I remember the crowd and the Council gasp and start shouting. So I ran. I ran until I came to a dead end. Minaia was the only one there, she tried to calm me down. But she got too close. I raised my arms in front of me to protect myself, and millions of beams shot out. They pierced her to death, Signe."

 He fell to his knees on the ground. "I… Every time I think about it, it makes me wonder if I even deserve to be here. If I should've let the Council bring me in and kill me. Instead, I ran. They couldn't prove it was me. They didn't even have my name. On that list I was just a number, a number I don't even remember anymore."

 Signe sat down next to him and patted his back. "You deserve to be here just as much as I do. Just because you did something wrong once, doesn't mean you don't deserve another chance. Here," she reached out her hand and he took it. She dragged him back on his feet. "Let's go back to Sylverion. We need to think about what we learned today, and then decide what we want to do next. Staying here doesn't seem like an option."

 They made it back to Sylverion's house. He was waiting for them in the doorway. "So, what did you two learn today about your destiny?" he asked. Signe ignored him and headed straight for her room. "Hey, Signe, I'm talking to you!" Sylverion shouted after her. "Don't," Caine said in the background. "We will tell you eventually. Please, we have a lot of information to process. Give us some time."

 Sylverion started laughing and Signe turned around. "What's so funny?" she asked, her blood slowly starting to boil. "Corinna told you that you can't stay," he said. Her expression must have given it away because he continued. "So it's true. The prophecy. How exciting!"

 "I don't find it exciting or funny that we have the power to destroy the world," Signe said. Sylverion immediately stopped laughing. "My bad," he said while wiping his tears of joy away. "I'm just not used to this excitement. I'll let you two do your business then. I have some of my own I need to tend to." He put on a jacket and left the house. 

 "Where did Sylverion go?" Catia came out of the bedroom. "He said he had some business to do," Signe answered. She grabbed Caine's hand. "We also have some business to discuss." She ignored Catia's look when they passed her, and Signe dragged Caine into her room. She sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. "Caine, what do you think is the good call here?" He shrugged. "I don't know. But it's clear we're not welcome to stay here forever. I guess my dreams shattered."

 Signe sighed. "Okay. We will stay here for a bit. See if we can find some work. Save up some money. Then we're taking a ship over to Nilfheim."

 "Isn't that Council territory now?"

 "I don't think so. They're just working there. Nilfheim is still part of Navia."

 "It was. I'm pretty sure the Council took over."

 Signe didn't reply. She still refused to believe that the Council could do that. That any of the theories were true. Sometimes she wished Tor was here. He would be able to put her head on the right course again.

 "Nilfheim is still our best bet, I think," she said. "But we will see in two weeks' time. Something might change by then."

 A noise outside of the room caught her attention. She walked over to the door and opened it, only to find Catia eavesdropping outside. "You want to leave?" she asked with shaking voice. Signe waved her in and closed the door, putting up a protection spell this time so no one could listen.

 "We need to." She looked at Caine, not knowing how much she could tell. "Tell her everything Corinna told us," he said. Signe sighed. She didn't agree with him, but she ended up telling her everything except for what Corinna told them about Caine's and Catia's birth. It was not her secret to share and if Caine wanted to share that with her later, he could. In the end Catia agreed with them about leaving Hirin even though she didn't like the idea of going back to Nilfheim.

 "There's no other place to go?" Catia asked. Signe shook her head. "Assuming the Council didn't take over the city yet, we will be safe there. Safer than here. It's just a matter of time before they send someone here to lure us out. And the Court of the High Elves doesn't want a war. If protecting us is too much of a risk, they will throw us out."

 "But we're supposed to be safe here. This is supposed to be a safe haven!" Caine raised his voice. Signe smiled sadly. "Yes, it's supposed to be safe. But the Council is known to make deals. Sometime last year rumors about Hirin wanting independence started to go around. The Council can grant them that, but they want something big in return. They can trade us for the city's independence."

 "They wouldn't do that, would they?" Catia asked. Signe shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know the Elves well enough. I can only hope that if the Council finds out we're here, the Elves will protect us. That's all we can hope for.