Flock

Chapter 10

Kiliyan's room was sparse. A mattress, a small desk with a few papers scattered across it and an even smaller hearth. It was cold inside, the hearth appearing to have never been used. I attributed that to his Kriyjia blood since they preferred the cold, but really it just seemed like he didn't stay here long.

As if sensing my thoughts Kiliyan gestured around the room. "This is home base, not here for long stretches."

"How long have you been watching me?" I asked, scanning the walls. Kiliyan rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.

"Awhile, but I wasn't just keeping an eye on you. I had other things to worry about."

"Not everything is about me, I know." I waved him off irritably. "But seriously, how long has Clark been having someone look in on me?"

Kiliyan shrugged again. "I don't know, Ollie, honest, but it has at least been as long as I've been around. Maybe even longer."

I felt equally warmed and betrayed by the information. What had made her so worried that she felt the need to watch me, but not actually come and get me? And that wasn't the only thing bothering me,  something was niggling at the back of my mind. There was something off about that letter.

"Why didn't you tell Clark about the ..."

"Don't, even the walls have ears. Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

I smirked, Clark used to say that to me all the time. I never thought I'd have to worry that those ears would be hers.

"Anything about, um, the way he just—" I flailed my fingers around, attempting to reenact the shattering of physical flesh. Kilian simply shook his head no.

I felt deflated, like even though I was this rarity; like I had the potential to be a savior, I still wasn't normal enough to be someone the humans would trust. Clark was though.

Maybe she had a point. If I were to be part of her rebellion maybe that would be enough to sway the humans to remain loyal to our race. Or at least make them listen.

"I've never seen a Kryjia do that," he said. He leaned against the small table and crossed his arms across his chest. He stared down at the floor while he spoke. "The Kriyfem isn't normally used as a means to harm others. It acts as an amplifier to the inner workings of a female Kryjia —mostly as a psychic connection with other Kryjia; or to attract a strong mate. It also generates its own cold so it makes it easier for the females to travel to warmer climates with it in their possession.

"It's crafted into weapons, but what you did? I've only ever heard of the most powerful Kriyjia being able to wield it for physical manifestations of power."

"You know an awful lot about them."

Kiliyan glared at me. "I know a lot about my history; I am one of them."

"Woah, I didn't mean anything by it," I said holding my hands up to ward off whatever tantrum was building inside him. "I'm just surprised that you know so much and yet, here you are. In the midst of a rebellion."

"Just because I am one, doesn't mean I agree with how they wield their power."

Silence fell between us and I could feel the tension growing. I jammed my hands into my pockets, Ilia's letter crinkling beneath my fingers.

"Have you seen this?" I asked. I pulled the letter free and flattened it out on the table. The corners were creased from my pocket but eventually, it laid flat.

"What is it?" he asked. He stood next to me, staring down at the letter.

"It's a letter Clark said she stole back when she had to leave Javink, it was a letter from our previous mayor to—" Kiliyan sucked in a surprised breath.

"My mother."

"Your what?"

Kiliyan's fingers gingerly touched the page. He ignored me completely as he scanned the letter, soaking in each word. I watched his jaw clench and unclench as he read, his hands trembled slightly and I had to fight the compulsion to reach over and steady his hands with my own.

"You said Clark stole this?"

"Yes."

"Why? The mayor was asking for help. My mother would have brought aid."

"That's why she said she stole it. She said it was an ambush—once Illia's troops were outside of her city they would have attacked and taken control of the First Colony. Clark said that Illia was sympathetic to our cause and that the Kryjia were not happy with her. They wanted her out of power."

"That doesn't explain the tears." Kiliyan held the letter out to me.

"We don't know they're tears. It could be water they spilled, rain, gobs of spit."

"They're tears."

"How do you know that?" I had my hands on my hips, and my foot tapped in annoyance.

"Look at the way the letters are smudged; this happened while it was being written. The droplets couldn't have been bigger or smaller than a tear."

"But we don't know. Maybe it was done purposefully, maybe letters were smudged to make it look like the writer was crying while writing it. Wouldn't that make your mother more sympathetic to the cause if she had had any inkling that it could have been a trap?"

"But my mother did go, Ollie," Kiliyan whispered. "She didn't get this letter, but she did go to help Javink. They were ambushed outside of our city borders."

"But Clark said she went and warned Illia—she said Illia took too long to trust her and the city was sacked. That's when they took your mother."

"That's not what happened."

Kiliyan replaced the letter on the table and started pacing. I took up his position at the table and started scanning the letter again. The droplets were definitely consistent in size, but their presence on the paper was oddly spaced. I leaned over the sheet as if to mock write the letter.

"What are you doing?" he asked. I ignored him. My face never hovered over any of the letters that had been smudged out. I changed my position and pretended again. Still nothing. The drops were perfectly placed, not smudging the letters enough to make them indecipherable but enough to highlight them.

"Do you have any paper? Or parchment? Something to write with?" Excitement swelled through me.

"Yeah, but why?" I could hear the confusion in Kiliyan's voice as I swung around grinning like a fool.

"It's a code!"

"D O N T C O M E T R A P S A V E K A L L I E S G O N E."

"Don't come. Trap. Save K. Allies gone." I sat back to study my work. It wasn't the most complicated code, so I worried that I could be reaching for straws.

"Save K," Kiliyan whispered. I turned to look at him. His face was ashen, and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Kiliyan, I think we need to leave here." Things were beginning to click into place in my head. "I don't think Clark is who we think she is. She took this letter—she kept it from Illia. This wasn't hard to crack, she had to have seen this. Why didn't she take this to Illia, right away?"

"Because I needed the mayor to die," Clark's voice cut across the room like ice. Kiliyan and I whirled around to stare at her. She was alone and looked very tired. "I needed Illia to act. One death to prevent the slaughter of thousands was necessary. What I had failed to realize was that Illia's feelings toward her lover were much stronger than I had anticipated. Her reaction to his death was more volatile than we had planned for—she was reckless and that cost the rebellion more than I can say."

"It cost my mother her life," Kiliyan whispered.