Chapter 42: An Ancient Heritage (Patreon)

It didn’t take one hour, it took four.

After the meeting had finished, my brother escorted me to his tiny quarters to rest—even though I’d insisted I didn’t need any. Too many unhappy thoughts and crowded my thoughts, and I had been too alert to sleep.

Or so I’d thought.

The moment my head touched the pillow, I fell fast asleep. The night’s activities had taken a toll.

Tap… tap…

Adalinda and you have slept for 4 hours.

You and your companion’s stamina, mana, and psi have been fully replenished.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of the soft knock on the door.

Tap… tap…

The knock came again. “Who is it?” I asked sleepily.

The door nudged open, and Soren peered in. “Sorry to wake you, sis, but everyone is waiting.” He held out his arms. “Here put this on.”

I studied the garment in his hand curiously. “What is it?”

“A hooded cloak,” he replied, unrolling it. “It will hide your face.”

“And why would I need to do that?” I asked, taking it from him.

He shifted uncomfortably. “Events seem to be moving fast, and no one thinks it wise have your identity widely known.”

I drew the cloak on and pulled the hood over my face. “That sounds ominous.”

“It is,” he said, making no effort to conceal the seriousness of the situation. “Tug it lower.”

I did as he asked. “This is not an excuse, is it?” I asked, looked at him suspiciously. “To give me some half-baked story and hurry me along.”

He shook his head. “I said I’d tell you everything I know, and I will,” he replied solemnly. “But I can’t promise you’ll be satisfied at the end. I know I wasn’t. There are still many gaps in our knowledge.”

Sighing, I followed him out of the room. “As long as there are no more secrets between us, it will have to be enough.”

“No more secrets,” he promised.

✵ ✵ ✵

The Raccoon hideout was buzzing with activity.

There were many more people about than earlier, and it was so crowded, Soren and I had to elbow our way through the central cavern.

“Who are all these people?” I shouted to him above the noise. They couldn’t all be Raccoons. I didn’t think that there had been this many to begin with.

“Insurgence members,” he called back. “The resistance leaders brought them.” He shrugged. “Space is tight, but we’ll manage somehow.”

I blinked at that. Soren had not exaggerated. Matters did seem to be unfolding rather quickly. We reached the corridor leading to the command center and the crowds suddenly thinned out.

“Phew,” Soren remarked. “That was unpleasant.”

I made to draw up my hood and he stopped me. “Wait. Keep it on until we get into the command center.”

Reluctantly, I removed my hand, and followed Soren as he strode past the guards at the door without stopping.

“You can take it off now,” he said after he’d shut the door.

Flipping the hood off my face, I studied the room. There were only two new faces.

Tommin and Maragret.

And while finding both here was a surprise, I’d expected a much bigger crowd. “Is this everyone?”

Eoman rose to his feet to greet me. “After much deliberation amongst ourselves, we decided to keep the audience for this meeting small. The fewer who know the whole truth, the same we’ll all be for now.”

“That sounds even more ominous,” Adalinda remarked.

“Ada!” I greeted, relieved she was awake. “Keep your wits about you. There are already too many undercurrents amongst these allies of ours. Who knows how many secret agendas abound.”

“You fear betrayal?” she asked.

“No,” I admitted. “But all these precautions are making me nervous.”

“I have your back,” she assured me.

Soren nudged me. “Sis?” he whispered.

Turning my attention outwards, I found everyone staring at me. “Sorry, I dozed off there for a bit,” I muttered, not bothered if they thought me scatterbrained.

“Perfectly understandable,” Eoman said genially.” I asked are you ready to start or is there someone else you wanted in the room?”

“What about Celeste?” I asked. “Why isn’t she here?”

Soren groaned beside me. “Better if you hadn’t brought her up,” he whispered.

I began to turn his way, then stopped as I noticed the darkening faces of the four seated at the table. Eoman, especially, seemed to be particularly enraged.

Since it seemed I’d already put my foot in it, I forged ahead. “Is something wrong?”

“She doesn’t know, Eoman,” Soren said abruptly. “No one has told her yet.”

“I see,” the Raccoon leader said, visibly fighting to regain control of himself. “In that case, a short explanation is in order.” He exhaled heavily. “Celeste is the traitor.”

My mouth dropped open. Celeste a traitor? Impossible!

I waited for Eoman to go on, but the Raccoon leader had sat back down. Folding his arms across he held himself stiffly. It was the most out of sorts I’d seen the man yet.

A moment of uncomfortable silence followed that was finally broken by Maragret. “That was an altogether too short explanation, Eoman,” she said gently. “I think the girl needs a bit more.

The Raccoon leader waved his hand irritably. “Tell her then.”

Magaret turned back to me. “As I understand it, when the Raccoon scouts returned to their main base, they found no trace of the woman known as Celeste. But her room was untouched, and all her things were gone. Others have also confirmed seeing her around the time you did, so no doubts your claim or that she is still alive.”

“But…” My mind flashed back to the broken woman I’d comforted, trying to reconcile that person with the suspected traitor. There was no way they were the one and the same. “…she can’t be.”

Eoman snorted. “Believe me, girl, she had me fooled too. For years, I suspected nothing, and there she was, all that time, right under my nose and privy to my every secret.” He sighed. “I didn’t want to believe it either, but there is proof—uncontrivable proof.”

“Still—” I began.

“Leave it,” Soren hissed under his breath. “Eoman is convinced and so am I.”

I nodded reluctantly, but this was a matter I vowed to revisit later.

“Sit, girl,” Odenna said. “You, too, Soren.”

We did as she bade.

“Now, I trust you remember Maragret and Tommin.”

I glanced at both, and they nodded in return. “Of course.” I hesitated. “I can understand why Maragret is here.” I threw the gnome an apologetic look. “But Tommin?”

He laughed, surprising me. “I’m a member of the Insurgence, too, dear. I have been for decades.”

My eyes widening, I turned back to Odenna. “Is that why you directed me to his shop?”

She smiled. “Yes. I may have left the resistance, but I knew he could still be trusted.”

I frowned, something occurring to me which should have before. “I thought the Insurgence hated all players. So why recruit Tommin? Or my mother for that matter?”

“We don’t hate all players,” Eoman put in. “Just Arinna and her ilk. Indeed, Tommin is not the only player amongst our ranks at the moment. There are others.”

My frown deepened.

“You will understand in a bit,” he said. “Once we’ve shared our tale.”

I nodded slowly.

“Back to Maragret and Tommin,” Odenna said, pointing out the pair again. “They are not just members of the resistance, they are amongst its leaders. Since both have already met you, it was decided they would represent the Insurgency’s interest in today meeting.”

“Which also conveniently keeps you from learning the identity of the other leaders,” Adalinda remarked.

“I see,” I said aloud. “What about you and Eoman? I thought you were amongst the Insurgency’s founders?”

“We were,” Odenna said, with an odd twist to her mouth. “But as you heard earlier, I am no longer part of the resistance, and Eoman…” Glancing at him, she invited home to explain.

“I have since been delegated a smaller role,” he explained. “Notwithstanding that, my role today is as the Raccoon’s leader. When I speak it will be with their interest at heart.”

“You were right, El. Lots of undercurrents here.”

“That leaves only you, Odenna,” I said lightly. I didn’t need to ask about Soren, of course. I knew why he and I were here. We were both offspring of the ‘great Penelope.’

“Why are you here? Who do you speak for?” I asked, only half-seriously, and not expecting an answer.

The old elf eyed me gravely. “I speak for Shanasyn. I speak as the guardian of the bloodline.”

✵ ✵ ✵

To say that Odenna’s answer shocked me would be an understatement. And not only me. I could feel my shock mirrored in Adalinda.

“Shanasyn,” I said, striving to control my face. “That’s an unusual name and strikingly similar to Shanis.”

“Really?” Odenna asked me with an amused glint in her eye. “Never heard it before then?”

“Never,” I replied with a straight face. I don’t know why I chose to lie, but around these people, lying was becoming second nature.

Odenna laughed then, more genuinely and openly than I’d heard for a long time. “You’ve become a much better liar, girl,” she said, approvingly. “I almost believed you there.” She waved her arm. “But your denials are unnecessary. Everyone here knows what your companion is.”

My mouth went dry. “And what’s that?”

“Shanasyn’s protector.”

“Ah,” Adalinda breathed. “Is that what I am?”

“The day you walked into my shop with her by your side, I almost died of shock,” Odenna said.

I said nothing, could say nothing.

“We thought we lost her, you know…” Odenna went on softly.

“Why’s that?” I managed to choke out.

“Because her ring was stolen from my safekeeping,” she said crisply, “along with the stone and book.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I will ever forgive your father that.”

I stared at her in consternation. “Stolen?”

She nodded bitterly. “Shanasyn’s Legacy was mine to safeguard. About ten years ago, ring, book, and stone were stolen from my keeping. Only a few people knew of their whereabouts. One of them was Haplo—your father.” She shook her head. “But I never suspected him, and for over a decade I mourned the ring’s loss.” Her gaze darted to my brother. “It was only after I chatted to Soren earlier that I realized what had happened.”

I glanced at Soren, and he nodded in confirmation. “After you brought Odenna to the hideout, we… talked and I told her about your initiation into the Game.”

“I see,” I said, my lips thinning. “And why shouldn’t my father have had those items?”

“Because he was not Shanis,” Odenna said heavily.

“That’s not true!” I protested. “He told me the items were family heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation. Why he even repeated tales his own grandma told him!”

“Your father was not Shanis, Elana,” the old elf said sadly. “Your mother was.”

“My mother?” I asked, startled.

“It’s true,” Eoman said suddenly. “I knew them both. He took her name after marrying.”

“She had the family eyes, same as you,” Maragret added.

“I remember that about her, too,” Soren whispered. “Although her eyes were a dark shader than yours, and less noticeable.”

“But… but…” I objected weakly, convinced despite myself in the face of the overbearing weight of evidence. “Why would he lie?”

Odenna shook her head. “I don’t know. I wish I did.”

Silence fell across the table.

“Perhaps it was for the same your mother exacted promises from Soren and Odenna,” Tommin said, speaking up. “To protect you.”

All eyes turned on the gnome.

“I don’t claim to know your parents as well as everyone else here,” Tommin said, looking suddenly self-conscious in the face of scrutiny, “but back then, it was common that your parents had widely diverging views on your upbringing.”

Around the corner of my eye, I saw Eoman nod in agreement, but my attention was fixed on the gnome. “How so?”

“Well, Penelope—your mother that is—wanted you to have nothing to do with the resistance movement or the Game. She felt that was the best way to protect you. Your father believed the opposite. He wanted you to be prepared as possible.”

“And you think that’s why he left her the artifact?” Odenna asked skeptically. “To prepare her?”

Tommin shrugged. “Why not? If the worst befell Elana, at least, she’d have somewhere to turn to for help.”

“Dad did always preach about the value of being prepared,” Soren murmured. “He was the one who me the sword.” His gaze darted to mine. “And you the dagger.”

“But why lie? Why tell me the items were his family’s heirlooms?” I asked, my voice aching with hurt. Lies. I was surrounded by lies on all sides. Everyone I knew and cared for had lied to me.

Soren. Odenna. Mum.

And now it seemed, dad too.

“Not me,” Adalinda said softly. “I haven’t and neither did Alon.”

“I’m sorry, Ada. I didn’t mean to imply—”

“Ssh, it’s alright.”

Tommin, meanwhile, was eyeing me sympathetically. “I can’t pretend to understand your father’s mind, but maybe it was to stop you from asking your mother about them and inadvertently revealing the items were in your possession. She would only have taken them away.”

I nodded slowly. That was true in light of what the others said.

“Whatever Haplo’s motives,” Eoman said, “there was no denying he was a brilliant strategist. Penelope might have been the one to execute his plans, but it was his plans. Without Haplo we would never have gotten as close to success as we did.”

No one contradicted him, not even Odenna.

Eoman met my gaze. “Your father was the only man whose advice I never questioned. Whatever his reasons for going behind Odenna and your mother, and leaving those artifacts in your care, I believe, truly believe, he saw more clearly than any of us.” He spread his arms wide. “And look at us now. The fact that we are sitting here, having this conversation speaks for itself. He chose right.”

I bowed my head, unaccountably comforted by the Raccoon leader’s words.

“Nonsense,” Odenna spat. “It was foolish and shortsighted both!”

My head jerked up. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Soren growled before I could.

Odenna didn’t back down from his stare. “The book and stone were less important. Their loss, while serious, was acceptable in the grand scheme of things. The ring, though…” She shook her head. “Shanasyn’s Legacy is priceless and in the wrong hands, in ignorant hands, it could spell disaster for the bloodline.”

I raised my chin. “Ignorant hands? You mean mine, don’t you?”

“Yes, child,” she said bluntly. “You should never have had the ring. And you should never have been allowed to bind her spirit.”

“Why not?” I asked defiantly, the same defiance that quivered in Adalinda too.

“Tell me, does she have her memories?” Odenna asked.

I flinched, and within me, I sensed Adalinda still.

Odenna sighed heavily. “Don’t bother answering. I can see from your expression she does not.”

My mouth worked soundlessly. “Are you saying I robbed Adalinda of her memories?”

Was my companion incomplete because of me?

“None of this is your fault!” Adalinda protested. “I told you we are in this together, no matter what.”

Her response comforted me, but it did not assuage my guilt, and I waited with bated breath for the elf’s answer.

“Adalinda… is that her name?” Odenna asked. “It’s lovely.”

“Don’t toy with me Odenna!” I snapped. “Tell me!”

She looked at me sorrowfully. “Do you truly wish an answer?”

“Yes, damnit!”

“Then, I’ll answer you. Yes. Yes, you did.”