The Duns

Secrets Uncovered

Chapter Twenty-one

Peter

At first I feel like my eyes are fooling me, but the words labelling this building can't be clearer.

A shining diamond with hints of lavender is carved on the glass far up top. The symbol for To Sotos. And a gun, a silver-gray pistol, is placed on one side of the diamond pointing towards it. The symbol for Oi Alloi. They are enclosed in a circle around which it was written: "Ti Sosti Allo". My knowledge in Greek is terrible, but this term can have only one meaning: Oi Alloi and To Sotos are together. Ti Sosti Allo means the Right Others. I have never understood why our two societies were named this way, but now, the legitimacy in Harry's conspiracy theory barges into my mind.

All this while I had thought the theory is just a dream he had one night and wrote down for the world without thinking of the consequences, but no. It made no sense to me, the entire concept of Igetis and Countess Elizabeth, but I flew along with the conversation, knowing I would prove them wrong somehow, but not once about this.

I look at the faces around me. Catherine's back is all I can see of her. Max looks as shocked as me; perhaps he too is drowning in the same thoughts. Harry, Oliver, and William, the people who proposed this entire concept look surprised but satisfied- perhaps even smug. Lucas, Arthur, and Kabir mirror my expression.

Wait till Ester hears about this.

Richard simply stares at the grass. I get back to my senses as Catherine nears the armed men. The rest of the men follow me, our feet shuffling in the grass.

I can hear her laughing with one of the men on patrol and I wonder how much I really know about her- and how much she knows about me, and for how long she has known. By the time all of us catch up to her, the men have shifted into two lines, facing inward, and their guns raised above their heads; for a second, I think they are saluting us. Yeah right.

Catherine walks into the cave they created, her head held high, her chin firm, smiling graciously at them. Freaking Queen.

They aren't saluting us, they're saluting her. One hell of a Queen.

-

The cold air blasts against my body as I walk in, the hair on my bare arms standing straight up. I ignore it and pull my shoulders back, forcing myself to be alert.

In front of me stands Igetis and, from what I recall, Countess Elizabeth. Igetis is wearing his customary black cloak, but his hood is...off. His head displays no hair and his eyes are slanting inwards. He looks young; the only thing giving away his age are the white on his eyebrows.

His nose isn't crooked, his lips are peach, flaunted by his fair skin. On the right side of his neck, a dark tattoo of a gun, the symbol of Oi Alloi, covers up the space. He wears black studs on one of his ears, they start from the top and go on till the end of the flaky skin.

He smiles warmly to us all, his eyes glistering.

Beside him, Countess Elizabeth wears a navy-blue dress- a gown, rather, reaching till the floor and dragging beside her feet. Her hair, as always, is piled on top of her head and her hands are placed in front of her chest, as if she were giving a speech. She wears a truck full of make-up, but they don't cover the dark circles under her green eyes. An emerald necklace drapes around her neck, the shape of a rectangle and they match with her huge earrings, dangling unsafely.

She looks at Catherine and opens up her arms, as if gesturing for a hug. I step out to stop her, my hand stretched out, but I pull it back almost instantly and my gesture is forgotten. To my surprise, Catherine goes happily into her arms, squeezing her as if they were family. As if they were family. I blink. That can't be possible. I contradict myself constantly, but then give up, following the three of them into the insides of the diamond.