Secrets

Asha didn't sleep that night, didn't even move from her bat-like position until the sun came up. She didn't quite know why, but she was anxious, and a bit jerky, even bumping into the bed on her way to the door.

"Good morning," said Ethelyn as Asha entered the hall between their rooms.

Asha nodded. She knew Ethelyn typically rose at sunrise, whether she fell asleep at noon, or only five minutes before.

"Hey, between us, I had a strange feeling about an hour ago. It may be nothing, but…"

"Just in case," finished Asha. Ethelyn was strange on multiple facets, but one thing Asha respected was her ability to sense upcoming events. "I know. I've already put a plan into motion just in case. It should come to fruition soon."

"How much longer will this visit take? I know it isn't just a family visit."

"It should be settled today, one way or another. There are eight different possibilities of a conclusion. I'll just have to nudge Nesryn along until I get the one I want."

Ethelyn's lips curled up into a slight smile. "You really are a greedy one, aren't you?"

Asha smiled back. "The greediest. I won't take a trade for them. They're mine, and they will stay that way until I decide to give them up, or they die trying to get free."

"You're quite scary. Actually, no. You're possessiveness goes to whole new levels. It crosses strange and makes a mad dash right to insanity."

"I know. It's not something I'm proud of, but it's a part of me; results of many, many things being taken from me before. If I no longer want to lose anything to anyone ever again, I have to step up my game."

Ethelyn smiled slightly as she rested her hand on Asha's shoulder a second before she released her. "I'll be gone for a bit this morning. I received a message from the Scion of Ice, and I believe it's important."

"Very well. You are dismissed from active duty. Take care of whatever needs to be addressed before returning to my side."

"Queen's orders?" asked Ethelyn, a small smile on her face.

Asha grinned right back. "Queen's orders."

Ethelyn bowed, one arm at her side, the other going over her chest, the palm against her clothes. "Yes, Your Majesty." Huge white wings appeared on Ethelyn's back as she straightened. She smiled once more before leaning backwards over the window, vanishing for a split second before rising into the air.

Asha gazed for a few seconds after Ethelyn before moving through the hallways. She saw suits of armor walking back to pedestals as she walked, careful not to get caught by them.

They were the security system the Phantomhive family had installed. They were simple suits of metal, with simple metal weapons, but they were made of iron, which was unaffected by magic aimed directly at it. The only way to destroy iron by magic was to do something to do something to whatever was surrounding the iron. Fire was the most effective, as all someone who could use the fire element had to do was heat the air around the iron to a certain degree to cause it to melt.

The worst part about the armor guards were that not even Oblivinite could eat through it, and they were fast and strong.

Asha had been chased around by one in her childhood when she'd tried to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

After the incident, she'd learned very quickly how to use the water element.

Asha continued walking through the manor, going down. She reached the gallery that had terrified her when she was small, though she didn't feel anything now. She made her way to the large picture with the bone frame, eyes spotting the lever almost instantly. She reached out her hand, grabbing the lever, before a surge of Oblivinite appeared in her fist, turning the handle to nothing.

Asha stepped away, instead walking to another painting the size of a doorway. Phillip and Nesryn weren't the only ones with secrets in the manor.

This painting was of a young girl with long silver hair and gold eyes. She was maybe three, small, and dressed in a silver, black, and gold hanfu.

Allunare Solariya, the lost princess of Artemesa, who vanished with her twin brother and little sister after her parents were assassinated.

Even after the disappearance of the Princesses and Prince, they were still giving Asha a hard time. First there was the idealist group that wanted to put the Princess in her rightful place on the throne. They were just a pain in the ass because they would just appear, cause trouble, and then vanish again. Second, an extremist group terrorized Artemesa and its citizens. They wanted King Raul Solariya off the throne, but their ways were wrong and violent. Third, there were many troublesome rumors that the Lost Princess, reported to be dead, was still alive and planning to take back Artemesa.

Asha sighed. The people who believed that were fools. If the King of Artemesa didn't want anyone found, then they wouldn't be found. Even if she was alive, she was probably under heavy guard, her existence classified as a national-grade secret.

Asha reached out and fingered the frame, made of hundreds of silver roses. She had to stand on her toes to reach, but she found the only thorn on the frame, pressing her fingertip against it until it drew blood, the canvas swinging away to reveal a dark passage.

Nesryn and Phillip Phantomhive were fools. They still supported the dead princess, though they acted to follow King Raul in order to keep the manor. But why…?

Asha closed the passage as she moved back through the gallery.

This house held many secrets. Many, and some of them so horrid they could throw Artemesa into a civil war if they were revealed. Some of them even Nesryn and Phillip didn't know, but Asha did. Asha didn't get a salary for working as the King's Watchdog, but her pay was the secrets Artemesa kept, ones that she dug up and exposed. It was a garish sort of pay, but Asha appreciated it, despite some of the brutality and mental strain that came with it.

Those secrets would give her an advantage in the calamity about to strike Artemesa.

"Excuse me, but would you please come to the roof?"

Asha turned to find a servant standing in the doorway of the gallery, eyes kept downward as she shook, probably terrified of the pictures. "Why?"

"Master and Mistress Phantomhive asked me to bring the Young Miss to the roof."

Asha sighed. Of course. They couldn't be bothered to ask her themselves. "Tell them I'll be up shortly. I have one more thing to do, and they're no longer my guardians. I'm sixteen as of midnight this morning."

"Very well, Mistress."

Asha watched the servant leave, wary, because the servant could have been an assassin sent by the Phantomhives to kill her off. She wouldn't put it past Phillip and Nesryn to come up with something that underhanded.

Asha walked out of the gallery and into a separate room a few halls down. Though it was heavily locked, Asha managed to get in within ten seconds.

As Asha gazed around the room, she nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Nesryn, Phillip. You just made my job that much easier." Asha walked out of the room, a very important room, that confirmed who their loyalty belonged to.