Farryn

Chapter 4 Part 4

The realization came to Farryn in slow trickles, and then all at once. Cordelia, pregnant. Engaged to Lord Nevan. Lady Trison had threatened her in the library. "I would hate for anyone to hate him." Hate him for what?

A woman like Cordelia would never get pregnant. She was engaged to someone rich,  powerful. They were meant to be married. They were meant to be in love. Lady Trison was protecting her son. It was his fault.

Farryn stood there, hidden away in the hall, trying to unravel her thoughts. The revelation that Cordelia was carrying Nevan's child would ruin both of their reputations. But Nevan was dead now.

Why would Lady Trison be threatening Cordelia, though? What secrets was she alluding to? Why would "anyone hate him"?

She knew that she could only get that answer from one person.

Quietly, she crept away from the door and marched down to the kitchen. It was winding down for the night, but Farryn didn't stop to make small talk. She spotted Claud at the other end, scrubbing dishes.

"You rat." she spat at him, grabbing his arm. He jumped, and then averted his eyes when they met hers. Full of rage, no doubt. "What are you-" "You knew about Cordelia. You found Nevan's body. You'd better give me the answers I want before I kill you." He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know what you're-" "

Don't lie to me!" she hissed. Someone in the kitchen turned to them, and she lowered her voice. "I know you're lying. I'm giving you five minutes to finish those dishes and answer me." She let go of his arm and marched out of the kitchens but waited by the doors. 

Five minutes passed. Ten. She would kill him. She would. She found her fingers itching to stab him like she'd stabbed Serval. The memory of that made her blood cool down a bit, though, and fifteen minutes later, when he finally appeared, she was no longer vibrating with rage.

"What happened with Nevan and Cordelia?" she demanded. Claud was staring at the ground. "I-" "You have one chance. I will find a knife tonight and make sure that tomorrow morning you perfectly match Nevan." 

"I don't know much." he conceded, cheeks colouring. "I know... he bragged about it." "To you?" a single, timid nod. "I didn't know what to say. And then the next day I saw her crying, banging at his door. He refused to open up. She was saying she was ruined." he continued to study the floor as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. Farryn found that her urge to stab him was growing.

"No one knows except me," he muttered. "Nevan called her a stupid... he said it was her own fault. He wanted to break off the engagement because of it, convince his mother to have her father send her far away." "And what does this have to do with my sister?"

Claud kept silent, but by now his face was an ugly, bumpy red. "You god-forsaken arsehole." she snapped. "How many people did he do this to? How many!? Is that why you couldn't even remember his murderer's name!?" she demanded. No answer. "Answer me!" she screamed, shoving him hard.

"I don't know," Claud said. He was crying suddenly, tears streaming down his face. "I don't know. It's not my fault, Farryn, I swear-" "Farryn!?" she spat out, mouth agape. He stared at her too for a moment, both of them trembling with emotion in the darkened hallway.

"How do you know my name?"

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Farryn felt numb all over. "You knew my sister," she said. They were sitting outside now. She didn't know how she'd gotten here, but she was grateful. The cool air bit more than the revelation did.

"We were friends," Claud murmured. "She worked in the kitchens with me. She knew that he'd demand I come 'clean' his chambers. Nevan was my friend. The best one I had." he admitted, rubbing the scar on his head. "He paid my mother's hospital bills once. He sent a cake for my sister's birthday. But he was cruel," his hand followed its familiar pattern. "Sometimes he'd get really angry and..."

Farryn did not give him the grace to stop. She stared at him, her eyes so thick with tears she could see little more than his silhouette. "He'd hit me. Throw things at me, stab me. Then he'd laugh and expect me to laugh along with him. He was my best friend and he was the worst person I knew." he laughed and wiped at his own tears. "Your sister was the only one who could understand me. I never asked her about him. I never asked him about her."

"He was a monster." Farryn choked out. "She killed him. Why would you want to kill her?"

He didn't answer, and Farryn realized he couldn't. Such a fool. He couldn't understand himself. Nevan sounded as bad as Serval, and she had no regrets about killing her. She didn't dream about the happy summers she'd spend at her aunt's house before everyone had died, the cold treats her aunt would make them in the kitchen on hot days, the songs she'd taught Liviana. She just remembered her cold hard stare, and her cruel words afterward.

Farryn shook her head. "You're a fool," she told him. "I don't care. She deserves to die too. We had a system. He was-" "He was a monster, and he deserved to die." Farryn said simply. "And I'm done with this mess," she said. She stood, straightened her dress out. She'd find Liviana herself. She didn't need any intel, any help from someone like Claud. "Where is Luli?" "In the servant's quarters," Claud said numbly. Farryn left without another word.

She had to shake Luli awake softly. "Where are we going?" Luli murmured, half asleep. "I don't know," Farryn admitted. "But we're leaving now."

She crept back to her room and grabbed Liviana's folder, tucked it under her dress. She led Luli outside, to where the mules and simple carts were hooked up. She put Luli in the front seat of the smallest one, and tried to figure out how to hook the mule up to the cart.

"I can help you." Claud was darkening the doorway, holding a bag. "Take one step and I'll kill you," Farryn said, but she didn't have any weapons, just her money. Luli whimpered on the seat.

"I know where she is." "If you did she'd be dead already, wouldn't she?" She tried to hook the donkey's harness onto the cart, her mind racing for an escape plan. Kick Claud, run him over?

"I can help," he repeated. "I'll sort out my own issues with Liviana." "You won't sort anything out with my sister. She didn't kill him. Cordelia did." He stared up at her. "What?"