Lady in the Iron Mask

II: Chapter 27

When Eve eventually emerged from the Garden and into the room with Evie and Kieran, it felt as though her life force had already drained from her body. They watched her: Evie was concerned, but Kieran seemed to be more apprehensive. What had she learned from her experience? And what would it do to them?

Eve's eyes scanned the cavern, finally resting on Kieran's face. She flushed as her heart jumped in her chest, but a knot of guilt had already intruded on her opportunity to be grateful for their reunion.

"Eve, you utter codswallop!" Evie ran up to her without hesitation, throwing Eve into a strong yet caring embrace. "I never should have left you behind. You've been in there for days!"

"Yeah...It was a tough battle," Eve winced discreetly.

She didn't want to have to lie to her friend.

Kieran stared at her, piecing their memories together from before. The beautiful, pinkish haired woman before him now had the stance of someone carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. He hoped that what he withheld from her wouldn't break her heart. She held his gaze for a moment, and then glanced seemingly shyly at Evie. Understanding her silent cue, Evie briskly departed, heading upstairs and leaving them alone, after giving Kieran one last suspicious glance.

Uncertainly, Eve crossed her arms. The wound on her palm was already healing at a rapid pace, but her left underarm burned from the sting of a new brand. It was hidden by her tunic, yet in her mind's eye she could always see it. A slanting, s intertwined with an e, which marked her as being consort to Ash. The process had surprisingly been painless and quick, with Ash using his fingernails to carve it into her flesh, which bound them irrevocably together. Now, if she died, he would, and vice versa, although the latter was unlikely.

"...Eve?" Kieran stepped towards her, then held out his palm. "Are you okay?"

If she rejected him, he knew they would be lost forever.

"I'm fine," she smiled, taking his hand.

Kieran winced; her grip was remarkably stronger than it had been before, but she didn't seem to have noticed. Regardless, they both moved into one another, slowly wrapping their arms around each other as though nothing was secure, except their bodies which anchored them to the earth. Both exhaled softly, although both for different reasons. Eve had missed him and she had forgotten how he had made her feel in those months they had spent apart. Even though she was a warrior, her heart  remained true to who she was. In contrast, Kieran was relieved that she didn't know his secret. In those long months they had spent apart, much had changed, including the dynamic of their relationship, although she didn't know it yet. He wanted to freeze this moment in time, and never let go of this witty, kind and beautiful spark called Eve.

Finally, they broke apart, feelings stirring between them and tangling amongst one another. It got in the way of their enjoyment of just being alive and together, as the reality of their dangerous situation dawned on them.

"Where have you been? I've been apart from you some six months," Eve murmured as they stood close to one another, replicating the illusion of privacy, "although it may have been much longer for all I know."

Kieran's mind returned to the battlefield on the frosty mountain from that day.

"It was a mess," he told her honestly, and gravely. "Our whole force was mostly wiped out, but we were victorious. It was a costly battle, and I searched faces of the dead for days until I realised that you were not there. I was relieved, but worried you had been followed."

"No, we were fine," Eve responded. "We stayed at a brothel for a good time, which is probably how we missed one another."

"Yes, probably," Kieran said quickly, then changed the subject. "Luckily, we found Evelynn and Eden together in the forest just down the side of the mountain. Both were unharmed, although Eden had stirred her horse into such a frenzy that it had bucked her off, and run away. We looted supplies from the dead, and headed off with our horses towards Port Regis. We arrived here a good five months ago I think, and then moved on to the land of Adam-"

"Wait, what?!" Eve interrupted. "You left without me, to go on the mission which may be my destiny?"

"We had no choice, Eve."

"What do you mean you had no choice? Do you even love me? You left me and didn't search for me this whole time?"

"No, Eve!" Kieran yelled suddenly. "I did it because the King was dying back at home, and the throne is an easy picking with me gone for so long. I thought if it was finished quickly, I could return and rule the way he should always have done, not with an iron fist."

Eve was shocked.

"He-he's dying? That can't be! How are we supposed to finish off Adam's king if our kingdom is so weak? We don't even have any soldiers left!" Eve panicked. "We could be overrun!"

"Eve, calm down." Kieran placed his palms on her shoulders and softly squeezed. "I, too, panicked when I learned this. For all we know halfway across the land, he could already be dead."

"We should go and finish this once and for all, then," Eve whispered with conviction. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, Evelynn and Evie are in a safe place, don't worry," he said dismissively, releasing Eve and stepping back. "Anyway, I failed to get into the City of Lights since we were short on manpower, so I gave up and have been searching for you ever since that time, so long ago now. I have been in this city for months, and could find you easily. I left the mask so you'd know I was a friend, and because I knew that you would try to destroy the brotherhood for your sister."

"So where is she now?" Eve asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Who?"

"EVE!" Evie interrupted with a piercing scream from just up the stairs. "HELP ME!"

It seemed she would find out in just a moment, and without hesitating, Eve leapt up the staircase as quickly as she could, and back into the light of Port Regis.