Chapter 175: The Lost One

Reika stood beside the great stone table, flat hands against its face. The elders knelt thereupon, pinched faces etched and furrowed with hope and fatigue. "We've lost everything," Rowan gasped, his voice shaking. "She's turned our house into a hell. Rebels disappear in the dark. Conformists live in terror." "You stood up and let her do it and did nothing," Kael spat on Reika's shoulder. His gold eyes were afire with rage control. "You let her build a fortress. And now you plead the woman you defected to for your life?" dragging herself up Liora wept, brushing at a stifled tear. "We were idiots," she snarled. "We knew then. Reika, you could have had the crown at any moment. We should have obeyed you." Reika inhaled deeply, her expression calm. What they said was true, but would not change things with her forgiveness. The pain they had caused to her soul hurt her so much, but she was not alone in being hurt. Her people—she would not call them monsters—were still hurting because of Ariadne. She blinked once before she would speak. "If I help you," she said finally, her voice trembling, "it will be my way. I am fighting for the people. I am not fighting for your council." Hope sprang in Rowan's eyes. "That is all we ask." Kael growled in his throat and took a bitter breath and swore, "This is a blunder," His gaze never wavered. "It's the only choice." She was not offering him a choice, and before he could even try to object, one of the other younger elders—he who had been quiet—stammered out. His eyes flashed with something akin to fear, but not quite so far from being so. "There is more," he panted. Reika's brow furrowed. "What?" The old man strained to find room in his chest to breathe. "Your maid. Daisy. She—she disappeared. Reika's heart hanging in mid-air. Breath taken from her lungs, her whole body caught in shock. "What?" she somehow managed to croak, barely a thing at all out of her mouth. Rowan hung his head gravely. "She was seen fleeing pack lands two nights ago. She is unknown wherever she is at the moment. She was scared, Reika. She didn't trust anyone. Not even us." Reika's knuckles were white. Daisy. Sweet little neat Daisy. The woman who'd stood by her when the rest had fallen away. The woman who'd fled Ariadne's horrible ugliness and grasped her side, even when it'd clawed into her at last. And now—she was gone. "We need to find her," Reika gasped, her voice fractured ice. Kael laid a hand on the top of her shoulder, his gaze gentle. "Reika—" "No." She took a step back. "I don't care how much it costs. I have to get her. She's all by herself and in fear." Athena, who had not uttered a word the entire time, suddenly burst out with, "Then we get her." Reika moved forward assertively. "You're going to get up and come with me?" Athena nodded emphatically. "Sure thing. She's family." Kael took a deep breath. "Which is why I have to come." Reika smiled her thanks before continuing down the path of the elder. "You said she'd departed two months ago. Did you have any notion where she headed?" Vance knitted his brow in contemplation before responding. "The east woods. I'm certain." Reika did not tarry. "Then we shall start there." She spun on her heel, sending Kael and Athena ahead. But before she'd even shifted— "Wait, Reika." The voice had been summoned in crashing and booming cadences. Reika had gone ahead of Elira into the hall, her closest friend and healer. Her robes open and trailing behind her, she walked toward Reika, her green eyes furrowed with concern. But not with fear – in fear. "You're not going," Elira said, crossing her arms. Reika's glare flashing. "Elira, it's not a choice." The ring of deep and booming on the phone. "Yes, I am," Elira answered. "You're seven months pregnant, Reika. You can't be walking around out here in the bush for Daisy. It's not safe." Reika clenched her teeth. "She's on her own, Elira. I have to go and bring her." Elira sat in the room. "I realize you're besotted with Daisy. But pay attention—Ariadne got hurt. Does she just sit around licking wounds? No. She's formulating a plot. And if you're walking out of here today, leaving the coven, you're walking into one." Kael growled, "She's right." Reika turned on him. "Kael, not you." Kael threw his arms out to the sides. "Come on, I'd rather go look for Daisy than you. But if Elira's telling the truth, then leaving here now might be what Ariadne desires. Use your head, Reika. Not your heart." Athena, still not having uttered a single word, cursed. "I'd not care to say it, but I think so." Reika's fists clenched at her waist, sense and need fighting. Daisy alone and scared and helpless. But Elira had been right. Ariadne was not yet safe. What if she moved when she left the coven? What if this was her opportunity? Elira put a soft hand on Reika's arm. "Please," she said. "You have to think about your child too." Reika wavered. Her baby. She'd instinctively covered her hand on her belly, her mind reeling. She'd been so trained in the art of murder, in fighting that she'd nearly—she had a baby inside her. Ariadne wouldn't kill only her if she discovered. She'd kill her baby too. She opened her eyes wide and shivered herself in and out. "Then what do we do?" she finally said. Kael reacted quickly. "We send scouts. A few of them. They go fast, scope out the woods, and return." Athena nodded. "It's the best it can be." Reika disapproved. Disapproved that she couldn't bring Daisy along with her over there, maybe in peril. But more that she didn't think that she was strong enough to risk it—not until Ariadne returned from over there. She clenched her fists, then breathed deeply. "Fine. But you inform me the moment they decide, I want to know it when you do." Kael nodded. Elira braced herself on the floor, at least. "Thanks for listening." Reika did not say a word. She glided off into shadows. Outside, some way, Daisy was alone. And Reika swore to herself—she'd get her back. Whatever.