Page 10 of Petals for Vicious Secrets

Hope sat down and stared at the water flowing in front of them. “I feel ready for anything, mother,” Hope said without judging her. It might have been a bold statement, but she had truly felt ready and capable of anything life threw at her for months. Perhaps even years.

“I know, my brave girl.” Pride beamed in those dark eyes that belonged to a fighter.

“So, tell me, how are you so sure we can find Raoul?” Hope asked, throwing a small pebble into the water.

“Because if the Thyrian mark was on the wall, it means the Rulers have been here, and that means the Roix is involved. And I know how the Roix works because before being discarded to Verdania over twenty years ago, in Thyria, I was their captain,” Aurora said.

Hope felt cold sweat going down her spine.

Fuck the Fifth. She hadn’t been ready for this.

8

Lenna

As Lenna pushed the white marble door that led directly into the West House gardens and saw what was waiting for them inside, she gasped.

It had been too many years since she last saw the magnificent blue lake surrounding the white castle laid on a small island in the middle of the water. The image in her memory could have not reflected in a million years how beautiful it was. The reddish moonlight illuminated the multiple turrets and towers of the castle, and the reflection of the moon on the calm water of the lake felt pure. It was almost too beautiful to be true. The only visible connection to the island, and therefore to the castle, were five semi-arched bridges made of stone, distributed at equal distances alongside the circular island, as if they were the white spokes of a marvelous wheel.

Ayla stepped out of the corridor and stood a step behind her. “Oh,” Ayla said, holding her breath, her currently brown eyes wide, trying to absorb all the surrounding beauty.

From the edge of the lake until the exterior walls that separated the West House from the rest of the West Petal, there were garden grounds with summerhouses and small sheds like the one they stood by. It was difficult to think how such a place existed so close to the market where people of the city were begging for food to feed their children. Least to say how the Cardinals fuck would they reach the castle and find Raoul without ending imprisoned. This was a fortress made of water and moonlight.

Lenna considered their options: to likely end up in one of those history books she hated so much for being the youngest Ruler’s family members about to become panoms that ruined their futures by trespassing grounds of another House, or to return home before it was too late, and figure out another way to know where the Fifth was Raoul and if he was alive.

“I had a feeling you would come for him, Lenna,” a cold male voice said next to them. “I admit I was not expecting the other one.”

Lenna turned to face the man so fast that she felt her neck crack. Where darkness and shadows had been a few seconds ago, there was a man leaning casually against the wall of the fake shed they had just come out. He was in his early thirties, with blue eyes and long dark hair falling past his shoulders into a biological arm and a metallic mechanical arm. He was staring at the castle beneath the lake in front of them, as if he could not be bothered to pay attention to the twin sisters.

“Ciaran,” Lenna smiled. “How the fuck did you know it’s us?” She knew she should probably be ashamed, but she was more amused because Ciaran hadn’t changed one bit in the past two years, since the last time she saw him at the North House.

“No one else would be stupid enough to come here,” Ciaran said, now looking at the full moon. Its light reflected on the blue of his eyes and his metallic arm as much as it reflected on the water in front of them, as if they were part of the same being. Lenna had always thought Ciaran was handsome in a very serious and devastatingly unique way.

“You could stop playing the cleverer one and give me a hug. It’s been two years.” Lenna put her hands on her waist.

Ciaran slightly lifted a corner of his mouth, the closest he usually got to a smile. “I would, if you didn’t look like a stranger.”

Ayla started opening her pocket to get her bag out, but Ciaran lifted a hand and closed it. Lenna felt like a blanket lifted from her face and hair, and touched her hair to confirm what she knew: the fake black curls were gone, and her red waves were back in their usual place.

Ciaran took a few steps towards Lenna and gave her a tight, short hug. “You have less than a week until you become panoms. It would be a good idea to avoid getting into serious trouble before then.”

Lenna looked at him. Ciaran had always been like a big brother to her. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him until now. Since the West and North Houses had distanced themselves two years ago, there had been no social events like there used to. Lenna knew her father and mother met with the other Rulers in the different Cardinal Houses and at the Organ House frequently, but the heirs and extended family members were now excluded from those meetings. Ciaran, like Lenna, was the heir of his House, and unlike her, he was a very experienced panom.

“And what is this about?” Ciaran said to Lenna, pointing at Ayla.

Ayla’s face was the definition of indignation. “Excuse me,” she said, as if expecting an apology.

Ciaran completely ignored Ayla and continued looking at Lenna as if waiting for her to reply. “My dear sister is so snoopy she couldn’t resist me finding something out before she does. She must think she is the best spymaster of Thyria or something,” Lenna said, feeling the angry stare of her sister who, unexpectedly, said nothing.

“So,” Lenna continued, now serious, “is Raoul truly here?”

Ciaran turned his face towards the lake again, holding his palms together. “He is,” he said, his voice troubled.

“And where is he?” Ayla said sharply with a demanding tone.

Ciaran looked at Ayla from top to bottom, with visible disgust on his face. Lenna didn't blame him. Ayla had fucked up any sort of possibility of having a cordial relationship with him a few years ago. With no other acknowledgement that he had heard Ayla, Ciaran turned his face to Lenna. If the matter in hand wasn’t so serious, Lenna would probably enjoy the rage and indignation emanating from her sister, who was clenching her fists on her sides.

“Raoul appeared at the entrance of our castle this morning,” he told Lenna. “We’re not sure how or why.”

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