Riddle of Fate

by Tania Johansson

  Peater gave a small smile. “Nope.”

  “Darn it,” Merrit said with mock disappointment.

  He was tempted to make a stop at the Prancing Pony before heading home, but thought better of it. If Khaya wanted to see him, she would expect him to be home. And he didn’t want to miss her.

  He closed the door behind him, leaning his back against it and feeling safer now that he was home. He jumped when there was a knock right behind him. Pulling the door open a fraction, he peered through. “Don’t tell me you are afraid,” Khaya said, quirking an eyebrow.

  “Just being careful,” he said, feeling his cheeks go crimson. He showed her to the sitting room, quietly rejoicing that she chose to seek him out. “I’ll boil some water for a cup of tea.”

  “Actually, I can’t stay long.”

  “Oh, somewhere to be?”

  “Brier will probably come over tonight and I don’t want him wondering where I am.”

  His smile became fixed and he made an effort to keep his voice light. “Well, what can I help you with, then?”

  “Did they ask you about it?” she said.

  “Yes. I didn’t tell them anything, though. I told them honestly that I didn’t know of a reason why she would have committed suicide.”

  “That’s what they asked you? If you knew of a reason?”

  “Yes. Why? What did they ask you?”

  “Phalio asked me where I was last night and if I knew where she lived. He asked me if we had been friends and if we’d had an argument recently.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “The truth. Apart from that I now know where she lives. And I said that I’d met you at the Prancing Pony last night. I told them that I’d come back to your house afterwards.” Her cheeks flushed.

  He sat down next to her and took her hand. “All will be well. Nobody knows we went to her house. And besides, we didn’t do anything wrong.”

  She swallowed and after a short hesitation, gave him a quick hug. “Thank you. I knew you’d make me feel better.”

  “Glad I could help,” he said, happy his voice sounded steady even though his treacherous heart was racing.

  “I have to go,” she said, pulling her hand free of his. It left his palm feeling cold.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said at the door as she strode away. He laid his head against the door when he closed it. How he wished that he didn’t like her so much.

  Chapter Six

  It Gets Complicated

  Khaya was glad to be home. She sighed with relief when she closed the door. She didn’t want to admit it to Merrit, but she was afraid. “Khaya,” a voice said right behind her.

  She gasped and swirled around. Putting her hand on her chest, she felt her racing heart. “Brier, you can’t do that. You frightened the life out of me.”

  He enveloped her in a hug and then held her by the shoulders at arm’s length. “No, you can’t do that to me. You tell me there is this incredible other side to your life and then you disappear. You weren’t here last night and I’ve been waiting here for hours tonight. Is everything well?” A deep frown pulled his eyebrows together.

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. She poked her nose into the air, inhaling. “Did you cook?”

  “It’s cold by now, but I’ll put it back on the fire and have it reheated in no time. Come, sit down in the kitchen and tell me what’s been going on.”

  He handed her a steaming cup of tea. “A woman I work with has been killed,” she said.

  “Killed?”

  “Yes. I think whoever did it wanted it to look like a suicide. It wasn’t, though.”

  “What makes you think that?” he said, stirring the contents of the iron pot slowly.

  “I was there,” she whispered.

  “What? You were there when she was murdered?”

  “No, no. Maybe I should start at the beginning. I had a foretelling that Leena was going to die –”

  “So, not that she was going to be murdered?”

  “No, but knowing that she was in danger, I couldn’t just ignore it. I went to her house after I finished work yesterday.”

  “By yourself? That was a bit foolish. Why didn’t you ask me to go along with you?”

  She hoped he mistook the guilty look on her face for remorse over not asking him to go with her. “I didn’t know how much time I had. I needed to get there as quickly as I could. Anyway, by the time I got there, I was too late. I saw someone leaving her house. And when I went in, she was dead in her bed. Her wrists slit.”

  “This person you saw leaving, did they see you?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so? Khaya, if this was the murderer, you have to be sure. Why didn’t you go to the lawmen?”

  “I’m pretty sure he didn’t see me. I didn’t go to the lawmen’s offices, because I think the Company might be behind this.”

  His head cocked to one side and he chuckled. “The Company? Do you have any basis for suspecting such a conspiracy?”

  Her mouth puckered into an angry pout and she folded her arms. “You don’t think it's a bit of a coincidence that she was there when I discovered my second ability and now she's dead?”

  “I think that could be a stretch,” he hedged.

  “Well, what about the man who left the house?”

  “He might have discovered the body and left to tell the lawmen. You jumped to the conclusion that he was the murderer. Have you considered the possibility that Leena did in fact commit suicide?”

  She chewed her lip, rubbing her ear as she mulled this over. “I was so convinced.” Her face lit up. “There were signs of a struggle! And I thought I saw him walk out with a blade in his hand. He even wiped it!”

  “Oh?” he said as he served up the broth.

  “There was broken glass upstairs. As if she had thrown something at her attacker.”

  He nodded slowly. “How far away were you when you saw him leave? It was dark, right? Maybe you didn’t see what you thought you did. And maybe, she was in emotional turmoil and threw the cups, or whatever it was, because she was upset. And then she killed herself.”

  She leaned back in her chair. Had she conjured up the whole thing in her mind? Did she take a twig, added it to a leaf, and decided it was a tree? Of course, she couldn’t be sure there had been a knife in his hand, since it was Merrit who had claimed to have seen it. Perhaps he was trying to scare her enough so that she wouldn’t go into the house.

  Brier pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. “It's been a difficult time for you. Maybe it's understandable that you’ve jumped to such wild conclusions.”

  Is this a sign of my impending madness?

  “Have some dinner and then I’ll heat up some water for your bath.”

  She gave a tremulous smile. “Thank you.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  The warm water eased Khaya’s tense muscles and soothed away her worries. She laid back, closing her eyes and letting the scent from the rose petals in the water carry her away. Footsteps thudded in the hall and the floorboard outside the door creaked. “I’m just going to be a few more minutes,” she called.

  “Brier?” she said when there was no answer. “Brier!”

  “Yes?”

  His voice came from downstairs. The sitting room, she guessed. “Were you just up here?”

  “No,” Brier said, his voice becoming louder and his footsteps audible on the staircase. “Is everything well?”

  She grabbed her towel and got out of the bath. Still dripping, she walked into the hallway. Brier was just reaching the top of the stairs. “Is anyone else in the house?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “I heard someone walking up here. That’s why I called your name.”

  Brier rushed around, searching the upstairs rooms. When he found no one, he hurried downstairs. He was soon back at the bathroom door. “There’s no one... I must say, Khaya, I didn’t hear anything. And I was in the
kitchen.”

  If someone had been walking in the hallway, he would have heard their steps clearly from the kitchen. “I’m sure, though,” she said.

  “You're tired,” he said. “You’ve had a long day. That’s probably all it is.”

  “Mmm. Probably.” She was far from convinced, but arguing with him over it wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

  Lying in bed, every scrape and whisper of a noise made her jump until she finally fell asleep in the early morning hours.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Derrin watched as Brier searched the house. He’d been outside when he heard Khaya calling Brier, with real fear in her voice. He had quickly ascertained that there was no one in the house besides Khaya and Brier. She must have imagined it. He didn’t believe this nonsense about her going crazy because she had two abilities.

  He’d been there with the last man to have two abilities. He was mad, that’s for certain, but he’d lost his mind long before gaining abilities. It was simply an unfortunate coincidence that one such as him had abilities in the first place.

  Something he wasn’t sure about was who the Order’s agent was. At first he had been certain that it was Merrit. But there was something indefinable about Brier that just didn’t sit right with him. He seemed too… calm. Either he was too optimistic for his – and Khaya’s – good, or he knew something. Or worse, was a part of what was going on. He was convincing in the role of caring partner, but maybe that was all he was doing: playing a role.

  Derrin had tried to keep his distance thus far, but now he was going to have to stick close to her. A matter made more difficult by the fact that, apparently, she could see and hear him. While he didn’t trust Brier, he doubted the Order would go as far as committing murder. That’s what he kept telling himself anyway.

  He’d considered whisking her away from this place, helping her hide once more. But how would he explain everything in a way that she would believe? Sometimes it sounded crazy, even to him. He’d tried to absolve himself of the guilt. To free himself from this sense of responsibility. It was a burden to him, but it was his to carry. He’d accepted that years ago.

  Sooner or later, he was going to have to convince Khaya to leave. If not with him, then on her own. Certainly not with Merrit. She would be safer on her own. A sad thought, but if it meant surviving then it would have to be.

  Feeling she would be safe enough for the night, he returned to the abandoned house he was staying in. It was on the outskirts of town, a quiet place. The way he liked it.

  He Vaulted to the flat roof – another of the reasons he had chosen this house. He lay down on his back, staring up at the multitude of stars. Thousands of twinkling lights looked down upon him. Was that where souls went when people died, he wondered again.

  He had believed these secrets would be revealed to him when he became a Collector, but he’d been sorely disappointed. He had never been allowed to see the Beyond. And now, after the incident, he worried that he never would.

  That, most of all, was what troubled him.

  He could bear the lonely existence, he could deal with spending the rest of his time hiding from the Order. But the idea of never moving on, being trapped for ever in the in between…

  He pushed the thought away. No use fretting over what you could not change.

  Chapter Seven

  Spiral

  The short walk from her house to the library seemed long today. The creeping feeling of being watched, followed, refused to leave Khaya, but when she stopped and peered around, there was no one. She tried to put it down to jitters left over from the previous night, but she couldn’t quite convince herself.

  As she climbed the stairs, she wished more than ever that she could take the door to the left, but as usual, Phalio met her at the library door. All notions of normality fled as he escorted her down into the basement. When she passed Peater’s office she noted that Merrit was in there, face pale and rubbing his hooked nose – a habit of his she’d noticed. He was nervous.

  His eyes met hers and her heart sped up. There was fear in his eyes. She swallowed and stumbled on. Had they been found out? Did the Company know that they went to Leena’s house, that they saw someone leave? Surely they couldn’t.

  She took her seat in the basement and Phalio sat down across from her. “We are going to try something new today.”

  She stifled a sigh of relief. If they knew something, she was sure they would question her straight away. Phalio opened a folder and pulled out a picture. “What do you see here?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “It’s a smudge. A child’s art project. You’ve put ink on the page and folded it in half.”

  “I can assure you this is no child’s art project. These are innovative psychological tests. Now, look at it carefully, and tell me what it looks like.”

  She pursed her lips. Whatever would they come up with next? “Umm, a flower.”

  He scribbled some notes before holding up the next picture. She lifted her eyebrows. “Really? It’s an inkblot. That’s what I see.”

  He looked at her a moment before putting the paper down and adding to his notes. With a blank face, he held up another picture. Folding her arms across her chest, she sat back. “A dancing dog,” she said, her eyes narrowing and her head cocked to one side. “An old man’s face,” she said to the next one. “Oh, and he’s missing a tooth.”

  “I would advise you take this seriously,” he said in a monotone before writing something down and then holding up another picture.

  “A winter’s cloud.”

  Soon, her mind felt numb and she started longing for the inane questions about dates and names.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Derrin positioned himself behind Khaya’s back. That way, he could keep an eye on Phalio while not being seen by Khaya.. He’d not come across this sort of thing before. He looked at the ink blotches alongside her. To him, it seemed a person could take the results of this test and twist it to say anything you wanted. ‘You saw a jester – it must mean that you are happy. No, wait, it means you are childlike.’ Phffft. Drivel if you asked him.

  Her back stiffened. Did he make that noise aloud? She turned in her chair. “Khaya,” Phalio said, “you must keep your focus.”

  She ignored him and look round. Derrin Leapt to her other side. She peered around at the small area behind her. “Are you feeling well, Khaya?” Phalio asked. “You are aware that you have an obligation to the Company to tell me if you begin to feel unwell.”

  She shook her head and swung back to face her interrogator. Derrin Leapt back to his previous spot. “I am feeling quite well,” she said. “Apart from the fact that you are subjecting me to this pointless test. And you insist that I am the one that's unstable. Liable to go mad at any moment. I tell you what, if I have to participate in things that lead nowhere, I might just lose it!” Days upon days of worthless tests were bringing them no closer to a solution and it was beginning to drive her up the wall.

  Phalio’s face was impassive. After a tense moment of absolute silence, he said, “I see it’s time for a break. Be back in fifteen minutes.”

  The chair scraped back as she stood. Derrin made sure to remain out of eyeshot. Without a word, she made her way upstairs and to the staff lounge. He stayed as close as he dared. He didn’t trust these people. Not her employers or her colleagues. They kept their distance from her as she walked in through the double doors.

  They might not know exactly what was going on, but even the man with one eye had noticed that something strange was going on with her.

  The strangest of the workers was Res. He had a tail like a cat and as soon as he saw Khaya it started whipping about in agitation. The Company employed him as a spy. The tail wasn’t his only cat-like attribute. He could see better in the dark than any human Derrin had come across and he had feline agility and stealth as well. He stood drinking milk and eyeing Khaya over the rim of his glass.

  In an apparent daze, Khaya didn’t seem to
notice her co-workers’ agitation. She picked up a slice of bread that was already buttered, poured herself a cup of tea and sat down. She lifted the bread as if to take a bite but stopped halfway to her mouth. Her hand dropped down again and she stared into nothingness.

  She eventually blinked several times and looked up to find the other people in the room staring at her. The moment her eyes came up, they all looked away, some walking out of the room. With a shake of her head, she threw the bread in the bin, lifted her chin and walked out.

  Merrit jumped up from his desk when he saw her. “Khaya,” he said, “we need to talk.”

  “I have to get back downstairs,” she said and continued walking.

  He placed a hand on her arm and leaned in close to her ear. “We need to leave this place.”

  She glanced around, scowling. “We can’t talk about that here.”

  “Meet me at the Prancing Pony after work. No matter how late you finish.” He waited for her to nod before returning to his desk.

  She returned to the basement to find Phalio waiting for her. With a dreary sigh, she sat down. Derrin stayed for the rest of the day. Watching and waiting.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Khaya was relieved when Phalio let her leave at her normal time. She nearly forgot to head to the Prancing Pony. For reasons she didn't understand, she’d somehow felt safer throughout the day. She was still worried about what might happen, but it was as though a guardian angel was watching over her.

  She found Merrit at the same seat as before. He had a pint of ale in front of him and several empty glasses littered the table. When he saw her, he gestured to one of the serving maids who had another ale on the table before she even sat down. “We need to leave,” he said as soon as the serving maid had scuttled away.