I Am Who? - Book 2

Chapter 26 - Uncertainty

**Spoilers, but the above picture will give you something of an idea of what Bree's dress looks like in my imagination. I'm not an incredible artist, but I couldn't find any pictures that were similar to what I was imagining and I didn't wanna just pick some random dress, so I drew this up really quick to give you something to work off of as you're reading :D

Our guide turned to face us as we came to a stop. He stared hard at each of us until Bohai reluctantly dismounted. His annoyance at the situation seemed to have mellowed into caution, and his every move indicated he was on high alert and with good reason. We were currently at the mercy of an entire tribe of people who had been betrayed and were on the brink of extinction, for from what I could see, the Second was nowhere near the sophistication the Ninth had possessed.

Kotaro must have heard everyone dismounting, for he gracefully slid off our mounts back without a word from me. I was too absorbed in studying my surroundings to see exactly how it happened, but as I slowly moved to follow him, one of the Second guards swept his spear neatly under Kotaro's feet, knocking him heavily to the ground.

"All your kind were supposed to be dead." He growled, spitting at Kotaro's prone form.

I didn't waste any more time as he roughly jerked Kotaro's blindfold off his face. Tumbling off the horse's back, I grabbed his arm before he could do anything else. I had seen Kotaro beaten to a pulp more times than I wanted to, and I wasn't going to just stand here while it happened again.

The man turned to look at me, jerking his arm to escape my grasp. I was gripping him too tightly for the movement to free him completely, and my hands closed over his in my desperation to stop him. A wave of nausea washed over me, and I mentally cursed myself.

I was becoming more accustomed to the signs that a vision was about to occur. I tried my best to fight it off, but it was too late. The yard around me vanished.

"Why didn't you tell us who you were before?" It could only be Bohai's voice, and it was dry and humorless.

I was standing in an open room. It was small in comparison to the throne room of the Ninth, but its stateliness could lead me to no other conclusion. Someone was standing beside me, and we were both facing a square table on the other side of which stood several figures. My companion shifted slightly, and I turned to look at him. Shock radiated through me. It was Kotaro, and surprisingly, I could clearly make out every detail of his features.

"I couldn't have known what sort of intentions you had." The voice was gravely, and slightly familiar, but the face was blurred. "Given our history and the one you travel with, I had no way to know if you were simply pretending in order to get in here and spy on what men and resources we have."

"Forgive me, King Citro, but why reveal yourself now, then? You could have played innocent." Bohai asked.

"She knew my name." The blurred figure turned to look at me. "She knew who I was without a hint from anyone. Only a Seer could have had such knowledge."

Every eye in the room was on me, and I struggled to keep my shoulders straight beneath the scrutiny. I knew inherently that something hinged on my reaction, and I clenched my teeth. The urge to run away almost overwhelmed me.

My vision cleared, and I found myself lying on a cot in a little room. Quiet, murmuring voices met my ears, and I slowly sat up. Ayan and Kotaro were standing in the doorway talking to each other. For once, Ayan's expression bore more concern than Kotaro's, and that alone could have told me the severity of the situation.

"How are you feeling?" Kotaro's voice cut Ayan off mid-sentence as he noticed my movement.

I simply nodded in answer to his question, not having the strength or wherewithal to explain everything at the moment. I blinked quickly in an attempt to banish the fog of the images I'd seen. My body felt like it had been dragged up the mountain, but that was an improvement from what I'd experienced after coming back to reality previously.