"𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚊 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝟹.𝟷 - 𝙰𝚡𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎'𝚜 𝙷𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝"
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
What could break you apart more? The past, the present, or the future? It was hard to tell from what Cyprus was telling us. The past was already done, it was history but it broke Keira apart knowing that she was in the same house as the man that probably destroyed her family.
Wylan was broken from the present. He couldn't bear watching Keira in pain when he knew that his father might've been responsible for her entire life struggle.
I was broken about the future because I knew nothing, but I wanted to know more. Will my life get worse day by day? Or would I end up dead very soon when Mama realized that I betrayed her? The future was uncertain, the past already done but all we could do was focus on the present.
"Keira, is Miles...is he in this house?" Cyprus asked, his eyes darting around the room for Miles. He conveniently ignored Keira's tears and pressed her for information.
"Why should I tell you? I don't even trust you..." Keira muttered between tears as Wylan tried to console her by placing his palm on her hand.
She removed her hand from his faster than lightning.
"Okay. I understand that you're feeling horrible about this whole ordeal but your brother's alive and well. So don't need to worry about..." Cyprus explained, his voice more soothing than his acting voice was. I understood that he had some relation or some motive to be doing this but I wasn't entirely ready to trust this man. He nearly tried to capture us last time. Scratch that, I trusted him 0%
Keira at this point was at a dangerous low, her anger bubbling from deep inside her. "You understand? Really? I lost my entire family over this. My parents were killed. My brother was put in an institution and tortured. There were times I wished I was dead. I need to worry about Miles. And I don't trust you at all."
Wylan tried his best not to look at Keira, his eyes squaring on Cyprus's face instead. At Keira's outburst, I saw a small hint of remorse on his face.
"I'm sorry," he said," I didn't mean to dismiss your pain. We care very much for your brother."
Wylan interjected immediately. "And why would you help him? You're a Verid after all. Why would you do anything for a former Death Marcher?"
Cyprus scoffed. "For Jackson Cooper's son, you're slightly stupid. Why do you think I faked my death, lived under a false identity, and worked as a Verid? It took me twenty years to become a Major and suddenly...I found an opportunity."
His words rang hollow to me, but Keira seemed to be considering them. She wiped away her tears, her expression hardening. "Why did you try to kill us then?"
Cyprus nodded solemnly, his gaze unwavering. "Because I wanted to get back at Madame Henderson, his father, and save you."
Wylan got up from his seat and glared at Cyprus. "How did you do that?"
"Simple really. I knew that Madame Henderson was leaving that day. I watched Axelle having an argument with her about leaving the house. She told this little girl that she was going somewhere the day after. Also happened to be Market Day and you are always out on Market Day. Keira was outside every day so the only thing I had to do was lure you all to the same place."
"The alleyway," I added, remembering how I followed the fake Verids away from the main streets and made my way to the darker alleys. I found it odd that they followed me everywhere but I swiftly assumed it was Mama.
It wasn't. Instead, it was Cyprus.
Cyprus nodded, confirming my suspicion. "Yes, the alleyway. I knew it would be the perfect spot. Worked like a charm," he picked up the cup of tea in front of him. "If y'all didn't hit me in the head, I'd have explained it all to you."
Keira's eyes narrowed, "You told them to detain us so obviously, we'd try and escape."
"They would've detained Axelle and Wylan, not you. I'd have taken you to see your brother."
Wylan scoffed, suspicion evident in his gaze. "So, what? You just want to save us from Madame Henderson and my father? Why should we believe you?"
"Because we know a way out of Veridonia."
At this, the room fell into a stunned silence. We didn't know what to say, our voices still caught in our throats. It was something we had suspected. Maybe...there was a way out of here. There was a world where everything was better.
"A way out of Veridonia?" Keira repeated, her voice hoarse. "How?"
"It's there but it's impossible." Cyprus sighed, his expression pained. "There's only one person in Veridonia that can tell us that information.
He turned his head dramatically to face me, his expression faltering for a moment. I knew who knew this information now, of course.
"Melissa Henderson."
As Cyprus uttered those words, my heart skipped a beat. Mama is the enigmatic figure who seems to hold the key to so many secrets, including the possibility of escape from Veridonia. The thought of asking her scared me, but I knew that if there was any chance of finding a way out, we had to take it.
Even if we had to manipulate her. Or threaten her.
Keira's eyes widened in surprise, her expression a mix of hope and apprehension. "Madame Henderson?" she echoed.
Wylan sighed. "Who's Caity?"
At that name, Cyprus jerked forward and choked on his tea. His cough rang throughout the entire room. I figured from his reaction that Caity was an important figure indeed.
"Caity?" he repeated. "How do you...did your father tell you?"
Wylan crossed his arms. "No. We found her name in a diary entry to Madame Henderson."
"Caity. Caity Stirling was a tour-de-force. The top of the class. She was friends with Melissa but she studied Materials Science Engineering. She did her thesis on the air and the sky, sending rockets up into the atmosphere."
Cyprus stopped there, his eyes staring at the ceiling. "She was in love with Kaz Henderson."
And there it was—a classic retelling of a love story gone wrong. Caity loved Papa, Papa loved Mama. Mama saw Papa as an opportunity to get into the Council.
As we got the clues, the questions still lingered. What happened to Caity? Why was her name hidden away in Madame Henderson's diary? And did it have anything to do with escaping Veridonia?
Cyprus seemed lost in thought, his gaze distant as memories flooded back. "Caity's disappearance was mysterious," he murmured. "No one knows what happened to her. One day she was there...releasing her rocket into the sky and the next day, she was gone. Everyone in her family disappeared."
The weight of his words hung heavy in the air. We all understood one thing —a person could disappear without a trace but how could an entire family do that? The more likely scenario was that her family was killed.
Wylan hesitated, opening his mouth and closing it again. A second later, I watched his expression shift as he asked Cyprus, "What's Vancouver?"
"Vancouver?"
"Yes, Caity mentions it in a letter she wrote to Madame Henderson," Wylan added.
Cyprus nodded to one of the fake Verids who were intently listening to this conversation. "When did Caity write this letter?"
"Just before Madame Henderson was elected to the Council," Wylan stated, "Why?"
Cyprus looked up at us, astonished. "I don't think Vancouver's a thing," he said, his face solemn. "I think it's a place. A place not in Veridonia. A place in the outside world."
Keira gasped, "And that means...Madame Henderson got Caity and her family out of Veridonia. Madame Henderson was the only person that Caity contacted."
Wylan turned to me, his hands flicking through one of Mama's older journals. "I think your mother knows more than we think."
The question remained glued to my mind. I picked up Baby Alissa from the kitchen countertop where she managed to climb and held her close to me.
Mama was more dangerous than I thought.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃: 𝟷𝟹𝟸𝟹 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂
𝚃𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃: 𝟸𝟾𝟾𝟻𝟽 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂