The Thirteenth's Legacy

Chapter Eight

Aria walked quickly through the mansion, searching the rooms she came across for her father. He had told her to find him when Rune awoke but she had gotten so caught up in conversing with Rune that she had nearly forgotten to talk to him.

Aria checked another room but to no avail. Rune had said some interesting things when he had woken up. The only reason she listened to his absurd story of how he had finished off the bandits was because of the warning that her father had given her after she had told him of Rune's tale and mission. Aria picked up her pace. She had to tell her father of the new development.

Aria burst into the library to find her father, Lord Maxim Lightwood, and her best friend, Adrien Steelgold, sipping tea by the fire roaring in the fireplace. Entering the room with a purposeful stride, the men had turned their attention from their quiet conversation to Aria. "He's awake." Lord Maxim shot up from his seat, almost spilling his tea in the process. "He's awake? Was he able to tell you what happened?" The lord shot questions quickly at Aria who was calmly fixing herself a cup of tea. "Yes and yes," she replied, taking a sip. "However, he went back to sleep as soon as I left," she spoke to her father's retreating back.

Lord Maxim stopped in the doorway and turned to face his daughter. "You didn't tell him that I wished to speak with him?" "No, he needs the rest. He is obviously fatigued." Lord Maxim sighed. "If that is what he needs, then we shall provide him with it. God only knows the hardships he has been through recently." The lord walked back into the room and over to the fireplace, where he stood looking deeply into the fire as though it could reveal all of the world's deep dark secrets. "So what happened to you both when the bandits attacked?"

Aria set down her cup of tea and slumped into the chair her father had been occupying. "Well, they ambushed us, something I should have seen coming," Aria started, mentally kicking herself once again for being caught off guard. "We fought most of the group together until I got knocked unconscious by one of the bandits. Rune told me that he was able to fight off the rest before passing out right after the guards arrived." Her father, staring into the flames, nodded. "Is there any more he told you about the fight, for instance, how the blood got on the cross when he was found without any scratches on him?"

Aria glanced over at the Adrien who was sitting quietly taking in their conversation. Lord Maxim noticed the lull in conversation, caught a glimpse of the glance that Aria was giving Adrien, and sighed once more. "It's fine to speak freely around him. After all, he is just as much involved in this as you or I or Rune." Aria gave her father a strange look but continued on. "He said his cross transformed into a dagger which he used to kill the last bandit with." She shrugged. "It sounds like he may have been imagining it as a coping mechanism for the killing he committed. After all, there's no way he could do that. Right?" Aria sat up and looked over to her father standing still looking into the flames. "Right?" she asked again, a little more anxiousness to the tone of her voice.

Lord Maxim turned and looked at his daughter with a hint of guilt in his eyes. Aria slumped back into the chair again, mind running a million miles a minute. The lord turned back to stare into the flames before quietly beginning to speak. "The boy with the silver cross, I knew him when he was young. His mother was a close friend of mine. We had gone through much together in the years past and I helped her escape when she was being hunted down by the Cimmerian. She was a strong woman and her child was the light of her life. We lost touch, but I made a promise to her that when she thought her son was ready, I would train him for the battle ahead." The lord paused to look at the two young people listening intently to his every word. "Just as I will train both of you."