Charis
I waited patiently until Kael’s breathing deepened and evened out, signalling he had finally fallen into a deep sleep.
His face looked peaceful now, not twisted with the fear and confusion I’d seen earlier. Carefully, I slipped out of the bed and pulled the covers up over his body before quietly walking out of the room.
The house was surprisingly quiet for the ti of day. Usually, I could hear servants moving around or the distant sounds of activity from the grounds. Today, everything felt still and hushed.
My stomach rumbled, reminding I had skipped my breakfast. I decided to look for a snack in the kitchen.
When I entered the large, modern kitchen, I found Isolde standing at the marble island, chopping vegetables on a wooden cutting board. She looked different without her usual formal clothes, wearing a simple apron over a comfortable dress, her scarred face partially hidden by the angle at which she was working.
As soon as I entered, she looked up and smiled warmly.
"How’s Kael doing?" she asked, setting down her knife.
"He’s fine now," I said. "He’s fallen asleep."
She nodded and turned to stir a pot on the stove. She gave an apologetic smile. "I’m trying to make dinner. The cook has the day off, and I thought it would be nice to prepare sothing myself."
I nodded and stood at one corner of the kitchen, watching her work. She moved efficiently, chopping vegetables with ease and adding them to the pot. The sll of herbs and simring broth filled the air.
After a while, I couldn’t hold back my question any longer. I ca forward and asked, "Aren’t you curious about what happened to Kael?"
She stopped chopping and took a deep breath. "Of course I am. I didn’t want to pry. If you want to tell , I’m happy to listen."
I leaned against the counter and told her everything Kael had shared with . About the vision of the woman in chains, the blood dripping from her eyes, her claim that she knew his mother. About how she said the organisation had stolen him as a baby, and most importantly, about the ntion of soone who knew the truth.
As I spoke, I tried to observe Isolde’s expression. The boys had warned that she was manipulative and might be hiding things. But all I could see was genuine shock and concern.
"The poor boy," Isolde said, her voice filled with worry. "That must have been terrifying for him."
"He seed pretty shaken up," I agreed.
"Is he alright alone? Should I send soone to check on him?"
"He’ll be fine. He needs rest."
Isolde nodded, but I could see she was still troubled by what I’d told her.
"There’s sothing else," I said, watching her face closely. "The woman in his vision ntioned a na. She said soone at the academy knows the truth about what happened to him as a baby."
"Who?" Isolde asked, turning to face fully.
"She called her Raina. Do you have any idea who that might be?"
Isolde was quiet for a mont, her brow furrowed in thought. Then her eyes widened with sudden recognition.
"Raina," she said excitedly. "Headmistress Vale’s first na is Raina!"
My eyes widened in surprise. "Raina is Headmistress Vale? How do you know that?"
"It’s in her official records," Isolde explained. "Raina Vale. She rarely uses her first na - everyone calls her Headmistress or Ms Vale. But I saw it when I was reviewing the academy’s board mber information."
I felt my heart start beating faster. If Vale knew sothing about Kael’s past, about the woman in the vision, then everything was connected in ways I hadn’t imagined.
"But why would Vale know anything about Kael?" I asked. "He’s a hired fighter for his Master’s organisation and would have had nothing to do with school but for the investigation. What are the chances that Vale knows him?"
Isolde set down her spoon and turned to face completely. "Charis, there’s sothing you should know about the academy. Vale has been there for over thirty years. She’s seen generations of students co and go, and she has access to records that go back decades."
"What kind of records?"
"Admissions files, pack registrations, family histories. If Kael were involved with the academy in any way as a child, Vale would know about it."
"But Kael didn’t attend the academy as a child," I said. "He only enrolled two years ago."
"That we know of," Isolde said carefully. "But what if there’s more to his history than he rembers? What if the organisation that raised him had connections to the academy?"
The thought made my head spin. Everything felt like it was connecting in ways that were too complicated to understand.
"The woman in Kael’s vision," I said slowly. "She ntioned sothing about underground cells. About a baby being taken from soone who was imprisoned."
Isolde’s face went pale. "Underground cells?"
"Yes. Why? Does that an sothing to you?"
She was quiet for a long mont, stirring the pot while her mind clearly worked through sothing.
"The old academy building," she said finally. "Before the current campus was built, there was an older facility. It had underground levels that were used for... various purposes."
"What kind of purposes?"
"Storage, archives, that sort of thing. But there were rumours that so of the lower levels were used for other things. Holding cells for students who needed discipline, research facilities for supernatural experints."
"That sounds horrible," I said.
"It was a different ti," Isolde said quietly. "The laws protecting supernatural beings weren’t as strong as they are now. People did things that would be considered cris today."
"And you think Kael’s mother might have been held there?"
"I don’t know. But if Vale was working at the academy during that ti, and if sothing happened in those underground cells, she would definitely know about it."
I thought about Kael sleeping upstairs, haunted by visions of a woman in chains saying he knew his mother. If Vale really did know sothing about his past, would she tell him the truth?
"What should we do?" I asked.
Isolde turned back to her cooking, adding more spices to the pot. "That depends on what Kael wants to do. If he decides to confront Vale, he should be prepared for whatever she might tell him. The truth isn’t always kind."
"But he deserves to know where he ca from."
"Does he?" Isolde asked, and there was sothing sharp in her voice. "Sotis the past is better left buried. Sotis knowing the truth only causes more pain."
"You don’t really believe that."
She smiled sadly. "Don’t I? Look at you, Charis. You ran away from your past, created a new identity, and tried to beco soone else entirely. Would you really have been happier if you’d never escaped? If you’d stayed and faced the truth of what your father wanted for you?"
Her words hit harder than I expected. She was right - I had run away from the truth of my life. I’d chosen a comfortable lie over a painful reality.
"But I couldn’t move forward until I faced what I’d been running from," I said. "Maybe Kael needs the sa thing. Maybe he can’t be whole until he knows where he ca from."
Isolde studied for a long mont, then nodded slowly. "Perhaps you’re right. But if he does decide to seek answers from Vale, he shouldn’t go alone. She’s a powerful woman with many secrets. Confronting her without support could be dangerous."
"I’ll go with him," I said imdiately.
"And the other boys? Rhett and Slater?"
"They’d want to be there too. We’re all in this together."
Isolde smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Unity is important. But be careful, Charis. The more you dig into other people’s pasts, the more you might uncover things you don’t want to know."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that everyone you care about has secrets. Everyone has done things they’re not proud of. And sotis, learning those secrets changes how you see them forever."
There was sothing in her tone that made think she wasn’t just talking about Kael anymore. She was talking about herself, about Vale, maybe even about .
"I can handle the truth," I said firmly.
"Can you?" Isolde asked. "Then tell this - when you discover that soone you love has lied to you, manipulated you, used you for their own purposes, will you still be able to forgive them? Will you still be able to trust them?"
The question hung in the air between us, heavy with aning I didn’t fully understand.
"I don’t know," I admitted. "But I’d rather know the truth and deal with it than live in comfortable ignorance."
Isolde nodded and turned back to her cooking. "Then I hope you’re prepared for what’s coming, Charis. Because once you start pulling at these threads, everything might unravel."
I didn’t say anything and turned to leave when an odd thought struck . I turned to face Isolde again. She had gone back to the chopping board. She must have felt staring at her because she looked up.
"What?"
"How did you know about the old academy building and about Vale? You didn’t speak like soone who had recently joined the board; she spoke as though you had been in the system. Why is that?"
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