Guardian (Sequel to Fearless)

Chapter Twenty Nine

Kayde looked confused, but answered her question anyways. "Eda. Your house in Eda. Do you miss it?"

"Eda is not my home," Iris said, a little quickly. "Not since I buried my father. Eda is where my parents died, where my sister got kidnapped, where my first betrothed took a whore to bed and shamed me indefinitely, where I was humiliated for not being enough, where my aunt became a drunkard, where my father received a draft note, and where I had no friends. It's full of stagnant people and gossip-mongers. Eda is where I wasted away for years. Eda is shit." The words were surprisingly harsh.

"Ouch," Kayde said, clucking his tongue but understanding. "What is home, then, to the mighty Iris? Might I guess?"

Iris smiled. "You may."

"I would say the road." His eyes roved her face. "That's where you found yourself. The road means adventure --and I believe that's what you wish of life. To wander. To find yourself here and there, doing what you do best --helping people that you can help. I believe the road is your home."

"A good guess," Iris commended. "But a wrong guess."

"Oh?" Kayde raised a brow, his mouth curving up a corner.

"I'll tell you what home is," Iris said with confidence. "It's where you go to feel better --to regroup. To rest. Home can even be a person. And when my father was alive --he was home. That's why I stayed in Eda." Iris couldn't help but smile. "Home is the person or the place that holds you together when you've fallen apart. Home is where you go to escape when the world is too much to bear --where you run off to when you're tired."

"And you came here," Kayde said. "To the sanctuary. Is this your home, Iris?"

"Another good guess." The rogue clucked her tongue. "A sort of right guess. The better answer would have been my friends." She beamed at him. "Both you and Hench are my home. You both have done a really good job of keeping me together --keeping me motivated. I don't know what I would have done without the both of you."

"Not a problem." Kayde chuckled. "That's what guardians are for."

"What about you?" Iris asked, "what's home to Kayde Vorantis?"

"You know," the guardian looked off into the distance for a few moments. "I'll let you know when I figure it out."

----

This was it --the last ditch effort. This was the last thing Zayn Rothstead could possibly do to find Iris's sister. As he knocked on the door for the third time, he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that Renna might have been right; Cricket could very well be a lost cause. How did one possibly find a girl that had been lost for over twenty years? Gods, he must be some sort of madman for even attempting the search.

He knocked again, yet there was no answer to be heard within.

Silence festered for a long time, and he wondered if anyone was at home at all. Zayn almost turned away from the cottage when someone finally answered the door. It was a man with a freckled nose and two rather tired-looking eyes. "Yes, what do you want?" The words were straight to the point.

"Greetings," Zayn said, giving a customary nod. "Are you Arthur?"

"Mhm," was the response. "And you are?"

"I am General Zayn Rothstead," he offered his name. "Do you have time to talk for a minute?"

Arthur straightened at the words, quickly dusting off the shirt he wore and throwing his fingers through his disheveled hair. "Of course, sir." He moved aside, letting Zayn step through the threshold. Once the general walked in, he couldn't help but notice the house was seemingly empty. There were no sounds... no proof anyone else lived here. "Have a seat wherever."

General Zayn took a moment to do just that. And when he found a sit in the common room of the small cabin, Arthur joined him.

"Sorry about the wait, I just woke up. I work at nights so it's hard to stay up during the day," Arthur finally said, "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I need to talk to you about a missing little girl." Zayn cut straight to the point.

Arthur heaved an obvious sigh and sat back in his seat. For a moment, he looked alarmed, if only a little. "I can only tell you what I told several people before you. This is about Cricket, isn't it? The little girl I ran off with at the festival." Zayn nodded. "Then you know that part. She wanted me to run off with her and so I did. We were foolish children. We ran and danced in the woods." Arthur's dark eyes looked past the general now. "And then I saw him. I still remember him just like a painting. He was tall and lanky. He had half a beard and yellowing teeth. His hair was dark brown and shoulder-length. He was pale... greasy. And he looked at us --looked at her with this smile that..." Arthur shuddered. "His presence felt wrong. It was a gut feeling that I can't explain other than he felt wrong. I ran from him nearly the moment I saw him walking toward us."

"Did she run?"

Arthur looked down. "I... I have no idea. I didn't stop to look for her." When he saw the look on Zayn's face, Arthur shook his head. "I was a child and I was afraid."

"I said nothing." The general shook his head.

"It was a coward's decision to leave her behind," Arthur said. "I know that. Only a coward leaves a girl to fend for herself. And when I was young? I was a coward. That's what my father told me at any rate," he continued. "I'm going to regret that until the day I die. Child or not, I'm at fault for another child's disappearance."

"You're not to blame," Zayn said, waving it off. "You were a child. It's just --gods, I wish it were more to go on."

"I wish it were," Arthur said. "But I have no more to give you. You're not really trying to find her, are you?" he asked, "Not that I don't want her to be found... but she's been gone since I was a child."

"I am," Zayn answered. "Trying. At least."

"Why?"

Zayn didn't know the direct answer. He offered his little reasons. "Because she deserves a semblance of a life, if I can give it to her. Because her remaining family deserves closure. Cricket deserves to be remembered." Zayn sighed, "And because she's the sister to Iris Gwenneth --my previous betrothed. Because I need to feel like I'm helping Iris in some way --I need something to distract me from the fact that she's not here right now. This is as good of a project as any, I figure." He cut off any other explanation.

"I see," Arthur said. "I've heard a lot about Iris. I had no idea she left Eda. Eh, I don't suppose I keep up with much anymore, though."

"She'll be back eventually," Zayn said, but he wasn't sure if he believed it. Three months had been a long damn time.

"Just..." Arthur didn't know what to say. "Good luck, sir. "

Zayn stood, ready to take his leave. "I'll leave you to rest, then. Thanks for your story." Arthur let him get to the front door before calling him back.

"If you find out what happened to her, if you find out that she's dead... tell me. Please. And on the chance that you actually find the girl alive," he said, his voice quieter than before, "let me know. If you find her... send her here. If you can. If she will."

"Here? "

"Yes. Here," Arthur said. "Chalk it up to closure. If she lives... I'd like to apologize to her. For running away without looking back --for leaving her there that night." The man paused. "Maybe it would have made a difference. And on the other case, where she no longer lives, I want to know that it's over. But that's if you find her or anything about her."

"I'll do my best."

Those words had a double meaning.

A/N -- Thanks for the read, ya'll!