Secrets Untold

Chapter 2

Olivia showed me to a small, beautiful shed by the lake. Inside were the remains of my late father. He was dressed in the highest quality of fabric and was lying in a boat customized with his achievements. I brushed my finger over what seemed like a man holding a baby to his chest while holding out his sword. This was a story that he would always tell me. The day my mother and I had been taken by some enemy. My father had fought through storms to get to where we had been taken. Once he had found me first, he would hold me as tightly to his chest as he could, swinging his swords and yelling threats to the enemies. He found my mother not too long after and brought us both to safety.

"He was a very proud man. And you were his greatest treasure, Adriana Auclair."

A man appeared out from the shadows and bowed with his hand above his heart. He had carving tools in his hands. So, he must have been the one to carve out the stories of my late father.

"How did you know my father?" I asked, letting my fingers trace another one of the carvings.

"I didn't know him personally, but I knew your mother. She saved me from being killed by my previous master," he explained, taking a wary step backwards.

Olivia clapped her hands, making us both look at her at the same time. She smiled and pointed towards the setting sun, "it's about time to send Mr. Auclair off with a proper goodbye."

She looked at me and grimaced, it was like she hadn't noticed the dried blood I was wearing from head to toe after the battle.

"Alexei, can you do the last touches and I'll bring our lady to change into something more proper," she said, grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

I snorted softly and didn't even wave at the guy named Alexei before we were out of there. Olivia dragged me to the mansion, and into a rather big room. The room was clean, and I couldn't even see a dust particle.

"It's only rather well fitting that our new Lady is dressed for the part. Of course, it's not going to be like those silks the nobles are wearing," she explained, opening double doors to another room, filled with different kinds of outfits.

"Who were you to my father, Olivia? And why did you bring him here instead of the palace?"

She stopped; the dress she had taken a hold of slipped out of her fingers. A face of guilt was what I saw when she turned back to me, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to fall. What was it that she knew that my father hadn't told me?

"First of, they didn't want to let me in with him. You should have heard the names they were calling him, and the way they spoke of you. It was horrible and I didn't want to be there much longer," she said, having taken a seat and looked down at the floor, "and I wasn't really someone to your father, not like the way you might suspect at least. I was someone who would just listen to the stories he told, no matter how gruesome they sounded. Most of them involved you, and you should have seen how brightly his eyes shined when he spoke of your achievements."

My achievements? I watched her raise her head slowly with a small smile. Why did she want me to trust her so easily? What had my parents saved all these people from?

"I should get dressed properly, shouldn't I?" I asked, forcing a smile on my face.

Olivia quickly looked through the dresses, the tears still streaming down her face. But she looked pretty while crying, there wasn't anything secretive about her. It made me want to protect her from everything outside of the barrier.

"I think you'll look amazing in this one," she chimed.

What she held up looked gorgeous. It was black from the bottom and gradually turned blue towards the top part. The sleeves were off shoulder and all the way down to the wrist before the fabric would be wrapped around the middle finger. It looked like a dress my mother would design, its simplicity, yet elegance. The back of it was laced up with a black ribbon.