A Fleeting Eternity - Chapter Twelve

Ky hated everything about Aleth. He was so smug; so cocky. It was as if he was on a plane well above her, looking down his nose to gloat about how smart he was and how much she still needed to learn. He steeped his fingers, looking at her intently.

“Once I figured out that you can read, I decided I want you to be my assistant. You’re clearly bright and moderately educated – and you at least appear to be male, which is all that’s really important,” Aleth waved his hand dismissively. “Obviously, I can’t have people knowing I’ve stooped to having a woman tending my books – but you can play the part convincingly enough. Of course, I prefer having male assistants so that I can have a bit of fun with them when the mood strikes.”

Ky shivered.

“I don’t like women.” Aleth shrugged. “I guess we’ll both just have to live with you not being satisfactory fun. I’m primarily interested in the language skills. As long as you behave, you’ll be perfectly safe and well taken care of.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You don’t want to find out. Trust me.” He grinned cruelly. “I won’t kill you, but I’ll ensure you’ll wish I did.”

Ky glared at him suspiciously. There was a long moment of silence as Ky tried to think through everything he’d just said. There had to be some angle that she could use to get herself out of this mess, she just had to find it. She would use anything at all to escape Aleth’s oversight as quickly as humanly possible. She hated him with everything that was within her.

“You have something on your mind,” Aleth stated, watching her. “Go ahead, say what you’re thinking. I prefer directness, even from my servants. I’ll know when you’re lying to me anyway, so may as well save us both some time and just come out with the truth on your own.”

“I don’t like you.”

Aleth nodded. “I know. And you don’t have to like me. You just have to obey.”

Ky crossed her arms petulantly, but didn’t answer.

“Okay, well, if you don’t have any more questions, then I guess it’s my turn,” Aleth said. “First things first, what’s your name?”

Ky was silent for a moment. She didn’t trust any of his questions at this point. What implications might there be to her telling him the truth about her name? She couldn’t see any, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have something nefarious planned with the information if she gave it to him. “Ky.”

“Stop lying to me,” he hissed. “I’ve put up with it so far, but that’s ending now. Real name.”

“That is my real name,” Ky argued.

“Then what is it really short for?” Aleth demanded. “Your parents didn’t name their daughter Kyber – and they, at least, knew the truth about you.”

Ky took a deep breath, then sighed. There was no point in making him angry over something as small as a name. “Kylia.”

“That’s not very creative,” Aleth scoffed. “Kylia to Kyber… seems like you’d want a name that wasn’t even similar, to avoid drawing attention.”

“No one at the palace figured it out,” Ky answered irritably. “And I didn’t have to learn to answer to a new name.”

“True enough,” Aleth agreed. “How is it that you know Lieutenant Mikaelson?”

A bitter taste settled on her tongue. “Who?”

“Don’t play coy with me,” Aleth snapped. “You looked more panicked when you heard his voice than you did when I had you cornered in my bedroom.”

“I…” Ky shook her head, doing her best to clear the mental image that came with his comment. “I’m afraid of soldiers, that’s it.”

“Mm, only, that’s a lie,” Aleth said. “You were sure chummy with that soldier who was trying to help keep you away from me; and you had no problem fighting with the soldier that tossed you into the carriage, either. Why hide from Borrond?”

“Officers are scarier than enlisted men.” Ky shrugged, crossing her arms defensively.

“Scarier than the king himself, though?” Aleth pressed. “Your stories aren’t lining up, Ky. No one is more scared of a soldier than they are of the king, and you weren’t as scared of Makata as you were Borrond. There’s a way that Borrond knows you, and you don’t want him to recognize you. Tell me what that connection is.”

Ky hesitated.

“Make no mistake about this, Ky,” Aleth continued. “I can, and I will, figure this out – with your help or without it. Your choice now becomes whether you’d like to be in my good graces or not when I do figure it out.”

Ky looked at him for a long moment. His jaw was set, eyes harsh as he looked at her critically. She wished that she could be out of his graces entirely. Obviously, she didn’t want to do anything to provoke him to hurt her again, and yet, being in his good graces didn’t even seem like a pleasant existence.

“How do you know Borrond Mikaelson?” Aleth repeated.

“He brought me to the castle,” Ky answered, sighing again. “He was in charge of overseeing the abduction.”

“I see. Well, that sounds like a half truth. What’s the rest of the story?”

“What do you mean? I can’t have him recognizing me – he met me when I was still Kylia. He’d tell the king if he recognized me.”

“Mm, yeah, but how many children were in his watch?” Aleth questioned. “You seem certain that he’d recognize you. Which means you did something to make yourself memorable. You’ve certainly had to do something naughty for Makata to recognize you. I doubt he even remembers he has a stable boy most of the time – but he knew your face. What did you do?”

“I… he stabbed my father first,” Ky said defensively. “…And then I stabbed him.”

“Spunky.” Aleth’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he almost looked approving. He gestured at his own chest. “Where?”

Ky moved her right hand up to touch her left shoulder.

“I see. So, I presume you were aiming for his heart and missed?”

Ky hesitated a moment, and then nodded curtly.

“What happened then?”

“He beat me up.”

“Understandable response,” Aleth answered, nodding. “And then?”

“I… let the boys go,” she answered quietly. She sighed again, so frustrated to be reliving those hours after her capture, yet again.

“Oh?” Aleth asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Do go on.”

“They had the boys tied up in a different part of the camp from the girls,” Ky said. “Borrond decided to make me pass out rolls to all of the soldiers and prisoners, as punishment for stabbing him, I guess. I don’t know. But all the boys were tied together in a long row, and I got my hands on another knife and cut them free, and they all made a run for it.”

Aleth’s eyebrows shot up again. “I’m surprised you’ve lived to tell that tale.”

“All but one of the boys were recaptured within the hour.” Ky shrugged again. “And Borrond tried to convince the king to execute me.”

“That’s how Makata recognized you,” Aleth concluded.

Ky nodded. “He decided he’d rather I go to his harem than his executioner.”

“Ahh.” Aleth nodded knowingly. “So, you didn’t just dress as a false sex to get a spot in the stable. You did it specifically, explicitly, to disobey Makata. That does heighten the stakes, doesn’t it?”

Ky rubbed her face tiredly. The abduction wasn’t a memory she enjoyed dwelling on, and his questions were causing feelings she’d long since buried to resurface. She crossed her arms tightly across her chest once more, wishing Alcan was here to give her another hug.

“How’d you end up in the stables?”

“Borrond got angry that the king wasn’t going to execute me, and had someone else escort me to the harem so that he could be through with dealing with me. That person cut my hair and gave me some trousers and introduced me to Alcan – gave me a chance at being a stable hand.”

“And who was that person?”

Ky was silent for a long moment, wondering how she should answer. Rifkin had kept his end of the bargain of not telling anyone her true identity; she needed to return the favor and not let anyone know that he’d helped her escape the harem. Now that she’d been found out, he was particularly unsafe.

“Was it Rifkin?”

Ky’s eyes snapped towards his face, panicked. “No.”

“And… by ‘no’, can I assume that you mean ‘yes’?” Aleth asked condescendingly. “Because your body language is definitely saying that I’m right.”

Ky’s heart raced so fast she could feel it on her ribcage. Her mouth went dry, mind spinning for an answer that would satisfy Aleth without having to betray her friend. His face was as self-assured and patronizing as ever. He knew. Oh gods, he knew. “He’s going to be killed if the king finds out.”

“Who said anything about the king finding out?” Aleth asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Ky looked at him miserably. “Please don’t tell him.”

“I don’t plan to,” Aleth said simply. “I’m in the business of collecting information, not giving it. You’re the only one who is currently in danger of getting hurt… why did Rifkin want to help you?”

“He liked me.” Ky shrugged. “Said something about me being the only one brave enough to do what all the soldiers wanted to do to Borrond.”

“Not a popular fellow, I take it.” Aleth smirked. “So, Rifkin was on the dispatch that retrieved the children from your sector?”

Ky nodded.

“Very well,” Aleth said. “I suppose that brings us back to your sector, so… how about you tell me about your family? How many siblings do you have?”

“I don’t have any siblings.”

Aleth narrowed his eyes for a long moment, searching for any sign of deception. “Rather uncommon to be an only child in a farm town, isn’t it?”

“My mama died giving birth to me.”

“And your father?”

“He died when Borrond stabbed him.” Aleth not knowing about Father’s existence was the only way she could ensure that he stayed safe. No one else was going to hurt Father because of her, like Borrond had. No one.

“Ky, my patience has just been exceeded with you lying to me,” he snapped, brow darkening. “I have been forgiving up to this point, but you had better not lie to me again. I swear to you, you will regret it, if you do.”

Ky looked at him wide-eyed, fear coursing through her veins. She wondered if she’d done something to give herself away, or if he was just bluffing to see if she’d admit to the lie. She couldn’t bring herself to insist that it was the truth.

“Your father?”

“Is a basket weaver,” Ky answered quietly. Aleth looked at her expectantly, as if he wanted her to continue talking about him. “He was disabled in a farm accident. I started looking after our farm, and he took up weaving to support us.”

“What’s his name?”

Ky was silent. A fresh waver of panic jolted through her once more. She definitely didn’t like his inquiries into her home life. She wasn’t willing to risk putting Father in danger. It didn’t matter what Aleth did to her – nothing would be as bad as living with the guilt of knowing that she was responsible for helping this monster find Father, if anything bad happened to him.

“Well?” Aleth asked impatiently.

Ky looked at him, mouth clamped shut. She might not be able to lie to him convincingly, but she could certainly refuse to answer his questions. He looked at her harshly for a long moment, then slowly a look of understanding crossed his face, and he nodded.

“Being difficult. Ah, I see,” Aleth said. “Well, I have a cure for that.”

Ky’s stomach fluttered. Aleth pulled out a length of rope from under the cushion.

“Only people who answer my questions get to ride in the carriage,” Aleth said. “Everyone else follows behind.”

He yelled at Tadaaki to stop the carriage, then with his help tied Ky’s ankles together with just enough rope to allow her to still be able to walk. They wrestled her out of the carriage and then tied the other end of the rope to the back of the carriage. Aleth climbed back inside, sticking his head out the window as Tadaaki urged the horses back into a trot. “I do hope you can keep up. We’ll not be stopping.”