A House Divided by Nicole Ciacchella (the giving tree read aloud txt) 📕

is alive? You can't trust anything they say."

"I can prove it," Vivie said quietly. Drawing a necklace out from under her shirt, she lifted it over her head and handed it to Cianne, whose face paled even more.

"It was my mother's," Cianne said, her voice cracking. "She was wearing it when she left for her last journey."

"How can you be sure?" Kila asked, trying to speak as gently as possible. "It was such a long time ago, Cianne, and—"

"It's Shaper-made. My father commissioned it for her, for their tenth anniversary. It's one of a kind," she said, holding it out to him.

He took it from her shaking hand and examined it, all doubt disappearing the instant he saw it. The pendant was a small ship at sea, tossed about by roiling waves. Though no bigger than his thumb, it was incredibly detailed. Minuscule sailors hauled ropes on the deck while gulls wheeled overhead. The waves were so realistic he was surprised his fingers remained dry when he touched them. He could even make out the grain of the wood from which the ship had been built.

Returning the necklace to Cianne, he crouched protectively beside her chair, his arm curled around the chair's back. He could feel Flim's eyes on them, but he didn't care. He studied Cianne, searching for the right words to say.

"How did you get this?" Cianne asked Vivie.

"Your mother sent it to me, in case I ever needed to tell you the truth."

"Why didn't she take me with her? Why did she leave me here?" Cianne cried.

She sounded like the child she had been when she'd been led to believe her mother had died. It reminded Kila of the fragile, skittish girl who had appeared in his garden, who had seemed so lonely, as if she had no one in the world on whom she could rely. Betrayal and grief carved harsh lines in her face, and tears sprang to Vivie's eyes.

"She had no choice, Cianne. She had no idea they had discovered what she knew, and she only just escaped with her life when they tried to kill her during her last voyage. Sending for you was out of the question. She hasn't ceased running since, and she knew that was no life for a child. As long as you didn't know what the House had done, you would be safe, and she asked me to look after you, to get you out if you had to leave."

Pressing her lips together, Cianne said nothing. Kila watched her struggle with her newfound knowledge and wished there were something he could do to help her. Never in his life had he felt so utterly useless, and it tore him apart.

"Why would they want to kill her?" Kila asked, desperate to understand.

"Because she discovered the House had conspired to kill the royal family," Cianne said in a faint whisper. She stared at the pendant as if it were the only thing in the room she could see.

"What?" he asked, horrified.

"I heard them talking about it, though not in so many words. Toran had figured it out too; it's why they killed him." Taking a deep breath, Cianne recounted for them what she'd overheard, her eyes never leaving the pendant. Her voice gained strength as she spoke, and with her final words she closed her hand around her mother's pendant, clutching it in her fist.

"How did you manage to hear all this?" Flim asked suspiciously, and Kila felt his own hands curling into fists.

"I snuck into the warehouse and hid in the rafters while they spoke. I heard everything they said," Cianne said.

"How did you—" Vivie began, bewildered.

"I also know how to keep secrets," Cianne said, anger making a lash of her words. Abashed, Vivie dropped her eyes to the floor, color rising to her cheeks.

Chief Flim had begun pacing the room, rubbing her chin as she walked. "We have to determine who Farla was talking about, see if we can get him out. He may be willing to help our cause," she said to Vivie.

"What cause?" Kila asked.

Sighing, the chief stopped walking and faced him. "I only told you part of the truth when you arrived in the city. For years I've been working with an organization devoted to uncovering the truth about what happened to the Astoran royal family. I've long suspected the trade Houses were involved, but I have no proof. I'd hoped you might get close to Burl, help me find something incriminating, but until I could determine your loyalties, I couldn't tell you anything. I couldn't risk you going to Burl, or Burl extracting the information from you against your will."

Kila didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand he understood why Flim had to be as cautious as she had been, but on the other hand he felt used. How could she send him into this whole mess so ignorant and unprepared?

When he looked up at her, her gaze held no apology, and he understood. Some things were bigger than any one person. Flim was concerned with the fate of an entire realm, not the welfare of one Enforcer. Though he wasn't pleased that she had used him, he knew why she had, and he had to admit that were he in her shoes he might very well have done the same.

Yet he didn't care about Flim's cause. He didn't care about anything except what had happened to Cianne.

Cradling her hands in his, he peered up into her face. "What are you going to do?"

"I can't stay here," she said, tears flooding her eyes. "Not after all I've learned. Not knowing that my father—" When she inhaled, her breath caught on a sob. "And my mother, I have to see my mother."

"Can you get her to her mother?" he asked Vivie.

"Yes. Annalith has had several contingency plans in place ever since she left."

"What will you do?" Flim asked Kila, regarding him warily.

"I'm not going to go running to either Burl or House Staerleigh, if that's what you're concerned about," he said. "I don't know what I'll do, but I can promise you that I will keep my mouth shut."

Relief smoothed away the lines on her forehead, but her mouth turned down in disappointment.

That was all he intended to say to her, though. Anything else he had to say was for Cianne's ears and hers alone.

"Don't go back to the enclave," he said to her. "It's not safe for you there."

"No one saw me. They would never have said as much as they did if they had. I'm safe for the time being, and I can't leave without telling Lach the truth," she said, pleading with him.

"That's not wise," Flim barked.

"I won't have him living a lie, like I was." Cianne's lip curled in a snarl. "I will not hide the truth from him, like it was hidden from me. He deserves to know what happened to his father."

"But—"

Vivie cut the chief off with a gesture. "Are you certain, Cianne? Doing this will put you both at risk, and there's no way of knowing how he'll react."

"I've never been more certain," she said, rising from her chair.

"Come here immediately if you fear you're in danger," Kila said. "I'll help you get out of the city." His heart felt like it was squeezing its way up his throat. He wanted to plead with her to stay with him, so that he could try to help protect her, but he knew he couldn't keep her from this. She would never forgive him if he did.

"I will," she said, giving him a quick embrace.

Without saying a word to Flim or Vivie, she walked out his back door.

"You had better keep her safe," Kila said to Vivie in a low, dangerous tone.

"I will," she said, her face a mask of determination. "I won't let her down again."

 

 

Chapter 31

 

 

 

Never before had Cianne known real torment until that next day at her father's manor. She wondered how she would be able to look at him, how she would be able to function around him without leaping on him and wrapping her hands around his neck, choking the life from him. He and Moiria were far more alike than she had ever imagined, both willing to sacrifice anything and everything to fulfill their own ambitions. Even those they purported to love.

Cianne's hours were numbered, she was certain of it. It had become abundantly clear to her that her failure to unite herself in marriage to Lach would result in her father's deciding she was a liability. He might not kill her, but he would keep her under his thumb, trap her in a position from which she would have no hope of extricating herself. Abject loyalty to the House, no matter its actions, was the one and only way to ensure her security, and she would never comply.

Everywhere she looked, Cianne feared conspirators were lying in wait, base criminals who had plotted to commit regicide and would not blink an eye at the necessity of taking her life as well. They had helped arrange the indiscriminate slaughter of an entire family. No one had been spared, not one man, woman, or child. In one fell swoop, House Staerleigh, House Mallay, House Rolland, and who knew how many other Houses and nobles, were all guilty of the bloodiest massacre Astoran had ever known, and she would never forget it.

Not everyone. Not all of them. Think of Vivie. Think of all those members who are like you were once, who have no idea of the depths to which the House will sink. Do you really think every one of them would applaud the Elders for what they've done?

No, she wouldn't be like her father. She wouldn't view everyone who wasn't on her side as an enemy to be destroyed. That she would do everything in her power to bring to justice those who had actively participated in the crime wasn't in doubt, but she would never be a party to harming innocents. Everything she did from this point forward she did in service to her realm, to Astoran and its innocent citizens, who had no idea the wolves were living amongst them.

"You seem preoccupied this morning, my dear," her father remarked as they ate breakfast.

Her hand tightened around her fork and she contemplated using it as a weapon, imagined plunging it deep into his black heart. Perspiration prickled along her hairline as she forced herself to respond. "I'm worried about Lach. He's leaving soon, and I hope he'll have a safe, prosperous journey."

"He will. Cearus favors Lach more than he favors any other member of House Staerleigh."

"Yes, Lach is very blessed," Cianne said, the words tasting like ash, threatening to choke her.

"What are your plans for the day?"

Has he always asked me that, feigning interest in my days while maintaining a vigilant watch over my actions? Or is this a new thing, born of his suspicions that perhaps I'm not the dutiful slave he and the House demand I be?

"I've asked Lach to have lunch with me. He should be here shortly."

Smiling his pleasure, her father reached for her hand, and she commanded herself not to stiffen as his warm, dry hand covered hers. Her skin crawled, the sensation so intense she longed to scream and scratch herself until she bled.

"Have a wonderful time. I'll be home for dinner tonight."

"I'll see you then. Have a pleasant day, Father." Her practiced smile appeared relaxed, but inside she was as rigid as steel.

The minutes felt like hours