The tension was so thick that she could cut it into two with a knife, she thought as she took the first step onto the Leapmaster. Brennus and Ailill basically avoided her gaze, and she didn't feel like looking them in the eye anyway. But she knew she had to face them sooner or later anyway.
Behind them, a Level Six prodigy shouted at them to hurry up, which spurred the three of them to life. It happened all at once.
"Everglen," Brennus yelled, causing the crystals to start to spin, but Evelina interjected halfway, shouting, "Crescent Path!"
She didn't want to go to Everglen again-it meant facing Fitz and Aurelia, and somehow, she felt that the two parents didn't have a really good impression of her now, judging by what happened at the Celestial Festival-compared to going back to her house, where there was no one there except the gnomes and Vertina, it was much safer. Of course, there was another reason why Evelina chose her house . . . but that was going to need full cooperation with Brennus and Ailill-especially Ailill.
The light of the Leapmaster crystals whisked them away to the familiar grass green pastures of Crescent Path. Evelina sighed, the resigned note swirling together with the gentle, gloomy breeze that blew quietly around the weeping willow trees dotting the sides of the fields. Her mind instantly flashed back to that time she'd returned here from that fateful visit to Everglen, after the intense hurt had flashed across Brennus's face, making her feel queasy . . . then she had laid down on the same grasses she was standing on right now, and Sophie had come, lying down with her . . . that was one of the only times she really felt like one of her family.
But that was the time when she was also deeply ignorant.
Evelina had once thought that only Fitz was to blame. That was the false truth that her mother had spun up for her, pushing the blame to Fitz when the real truth was, both of them were to blame.
Now that she knew the real truth, her mind had been in a mess, spinning and whirling around so much that she still felt dizzy. Maybe yes, both of them made unforgivable mistakes that shouldn't have been made in the first place, but maybe they were blinded by love. Love that was forced, making them believe each other was their soulmate.
But how could they not be soulmates? According to Vertina, they were Cognates. Two Cognates that held the most potential to be super compatible. And surprisingly, they had gotten quite low rankings on each other's matchmaking lists.
Evelina didn't know how matchmaking lists worked, and she most definitely did not understand love. Love was something so complicated, so tangled together that she didn't want to delve inside to explore this new realm.
A tiny voice inside her head kept chanting Brennus, Brennus, Brennus, but Evelina smothered that little voice ruthlessly, shaking her head vigorously-as if that would get rid of the weird thoughts that had entered her head. She filled her head with logic instead, thinking firmly to herself, you just have a teeny-little crush on Brennus-that hardly counts as love. Besides, he hates me now-which I think he totally deserves to. Anyway, I did hate him with a burning passion before everything happened-you could say it's his turn now.
"Evelina, can you snap out of it?" Someone's voice filtered through Evelina's ears, making her blink. She snapped out of her reverie, and smiled awkwardly at Brennus and Ailill.
They didn't smile back.
"Why did you bring us here?" Ailill asked, his dark teal eyes filled with nervousness that somehow made Evelina feel better, but then, not really too.
He didn't look like he hated her, but at the same time, he didn't look like he was totally okay with her too.
"I can go back any second," Brennus warned, his voice as dark as his hair. He cast a challenging look at her, holding up his home crystal to the light, creating a light path that shone on Evelina's worries.
Panicky anger suddenly flaring up, she didn't think twice as she lunged forward a step, ripping his home crystal from his grasp before he could react.
She could see her eyes glint dangerously as she stared at her faint reflection in the crystal. For the first time today, she looked at Brennus directly in the eye-ignoring her heart as it missed a beat-and gave him the most threatening expression she could muster. "You are listening to every word that I speak-and trust me when I reiterate that it's the most important piece of news I can give you. And Ailill too. It concerns you more than anyone else." She paused for a while before adding, "And if you even try to escape, trust me when I say I will confront Sophie and Fitz on my own instead, and it will not be pretty." She looked at the two of them long and hard. "So, you in?"
Brennus and Ailill exchanged a confused, but calculating glance with each other, then Ailill replied, his voice betraying his curiosity, "I'm in."
Evelina turned her piercing questioning gaze to Brennus, waiting a few long seconds before he mumbled, "Okay."
Her lips curled up slightly as she nodded in approval, casually stretching out her arm to hand Brennus back his home crystal. Brennus hesitated for a moment, then gingerly reached out to take it, his fingers accidentally brushing against Evelina's as he did so.
The two of them stiffened, their eyes meeting each other's for a split second before looking away quickly. Evelina kept her face straight, despite the loud thudding in her chest.
He was uncomfortable, that she could obviously tell-and to be honest, she was, too. She had hurt his feelings when he found out that she kissed him not because she liked him, but because of her own selfish reasons.
However now, he had accepted Evelina . . . for now. And Evelina was determined to hold on to the last, frayed strands of trust that he still had for her.
She forced her legs to move-which was no easy feat considering that her body felt like it was made of lead-and led them inside the mansion, trudging up the spiral staircase heavily as her heart filled with trepidation, its sinking beat syncing with the rhythm of her too-loud footsteps.
Normally, the elegant spiral of stairs brought Evelina a sense of calm, a sense of tranquility as she started up it-save for the times she spied on Sophie and used it as a form of hurried escape. But this wasn't any normal circumstance, and Evelina could feel every part of her fill with dread as she stole a sideways glance at Ailill.
He didn't look too good himself now-what would his reaction be when she broke the shocking news to him?
And what about Brennus?
Would he feel angry and fearful like Evelina often did-because he'd been living a lie this whole time, like her? Or would he feel disgusted because the person that he'd been so jealous of, was actually much closely related to him than he'd initially thought? Or would he scorn Fitz for cheating on Aurelia?
She shook the brooding, troubled thoughts out of her head, drawing in a deep breath to steel her nerves as the three of them climbed the last stair and walked toward Evelina's bedroom. Evelina pushed the door open, letting Brennus, Ailill, and herself file into the room before locking the door behind them twice.
The ominous sound of the click as the lock settled into place sent shivers down Evelina's spine, and she could see Ailill exchange a fearful look with Brennus-since when did the two brothers ever get so close, that they were to the point of exchanging secret glances with each other?
"Alright." Her voice held a slight tremor as she knelt down onto the floor, sliding her satchel onto the floor.
Before she could change her mind, she eased the zip open, and with trembling fingers, took out the emerald green ring box, and undid the golden clasps, revealing the aquamarine ring.
Even with the dim shafts of light filtering through the blinds, the teal jewel sparkled and glimmered radiantly, as if his love for her hadn't at all died yet.
And that haunted her.
"Why do you have a ring, Eva?" Ailill asked after a stunned moment, finally calling her by the nickname he gave to her. She looked up at him, her mind processing his question too late before she found what she should do.
Evelina smiled bitterly, feeling the sourness under her tongue as she felt for the latch in the aquamarine gem, undoing it gingerly. The jewel halved, and revealed the little slip of paper hidden inside.
Evelina exhaled a shaky breath as she unfolded the letter for Ailill and Brennus to read. She had absolutely no idea what their reactions would be-and she didn't know if everything she'd schemed would go down according to plan. During her Foxfire lessons, she'd used her best wits as a mischief maker and a master at payback to think about what she had to do in order to garner or elicit the reaction that she wanted them to have.
She knew there was a huge chance that nothing might work at all-but she was hoping for the best.
She watched carefully as both Brennus and Ailill scanned the letter, their faces turning darker by each passing second. Evelina bit her lip.
She had expected them to be angry alright, but anger caused varying reactions, and she didn't dare to let her guard down.
After what seemed like an eternity of silent moments, Ailill looked up and remarked, "Huh, I didn't know his middle name was Roy. That's weird."
Evelina rolled her eyes, inwardly snorting at his reaction. "That's beside the point, Ai." But she knew he was only cracking the joke in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"I know. But still." The crooked smile on Ailill's face didn't meet his eyes.
"What does he mean by lying to Sophie?" asked Brennus quietly, not looking at either of them. His expression was neutral and flat, like he was hiding all his emotions behind a mask. Evelina could feel his anger and confusion swirling furiously inside of him, making him feel conflicted and helpless.
Evelina cast a concerned gaze to him, but decided it wasn't the time. "I honestly don't know. Dame Marella told me the opposite-that Sophie lied to Fitz about the matchmaking scrolls, not the other way round. Or there's still something I don't know about."
"That we don't know about," Ailill corrected, looking at Evelina pointedly. "We're in this with you, now that you told us this much. And what do you mean by your mum lying to my dad? More importantly, how do you know so much information? Where you'd even find the ring?"
Before Evelina could answer him, Brennus held out his hands, staring daggers at Ailill. "Whoa-he's not your dad."
If only they knew. Evelina sighed deeply, and shot a death glare at Brennus. "We are so not doing this now."
Brennus held her gaze, his teal eyes blazing with a fire she'd never seen before-but even with that, she could tell that he was struggling with continuing to put up his act of bravado. Even though Evelina was cowering inside, she'd done acting a million times, and had no problem with the ones Brennus was facing. Besides, Brennus was acting childish, and she had no time for his whiny acts now.
At first, she thought he would transmit something to her, something to insult her, but when he stayed stubbornly silent, Evelina sighed and transmitted, Please.
It was the softest tone of voice she had used with Brennus in a while, and Evelina knew it had affected Brennus as his eyes widened, his fierce gaze dissipating instantly.
Eventually, Brennus blinked, and tore his stare away. "Fine. Okay. Whatever. But I expect everything you know-"
"You mean we expect everything Evelina knows," interjected Ailill.
"-and you obviously seem to have some plan brewing in your mind, so why not share it after we're in the clear about everything," Brennus continued, unabashed by Ailill's cutting-in.
Evelina shrugged her shoulders. "Exactly what I was planning to do in the first place." Exchanging close-to-normal conversations with the two boys made the weight crushing her gut lessen a little. Without further ado, she poured out every detail that she'd scoured from her long-time investigation, including the intimate conversation with Lord Cassius, how Vertina helped her-she hadn't needed to include that, but she felt Vertina ought to be honoured-her stiff exchange of words with Fitz, Keefe, and Sophie, Dame Marella's generosity in giving her so much desired information, how Fitz was supposedly broken with guilt after the break-up and Sophie had to heal him, and basically everything she'd observed due to her empathic abilities and her perceptive view of things around her.
Along the way, Ailill and Brennus asked lots of questions, and it took all of Evelina's running-thin patience to answer them as thorough as she could. The two of them reeled in shock at the unbelievable revelations Evelina dished out, and occasionally expressed their disgust and anger at Sophie, or Fitz.
Normally, Evelina would have agreed with them-but this time she just felt a little sick. As much as she hated the way they acted sometimes, she knew they weren't at fault-like Dame Marella had said.
And Sophie was her mother. Related by flesh and blood. Regardless of what she did, she still loved her.
And if Sophie loved Fitz . . . then Evelina might be willing to give Fitz a second chance.
But if he did anything traumatic again-either to Sophie or Keefe or Ailill or Brennus . . .
Then well, it would be serious payback time, and if-when-that time came, she knew she wouldn't be holding back anymore.
"I can't believe you never told us any of this before," Brennus said, crossing his arms as he stared at Evelina accusingly-but Evelina knew part of his mind was still fixated on all the stuff she had just told him about.
"Actually, she did tell me about her mum and my dad's relationship in the past," admitted Ailill, making Brennus whip his head to stare at him incredulously. "But she only did that because she needed to include me in her plans to, er, stop them from dancing. You know, that time at Havenfield. When, uh, she-um-kissed you."
Evelina flushed as Brennus's face darkened a few shades. He cocked his head in a rather mocking way as he surveyed her up and down. She felt uneased under his stare, and shifted uncomfortably as she mumbled, "I know you probably hate me for that-but let me explain. Ailill . . . he was right-I kissed you to attract their attention and stop their dancing-but . . . what you don't seem to see is that I wasn't fully aware of my feelings then."
She took a deep breath, knowing what she said next would probably embarrass herself for the rest of her life. "And a little while before that-I'd started developing a somewhat crush"-she cringed-"on you, and my heart would always flutter whenever we look each other in the eye.
"But during then I didn't want to admit to myself that I'd actually fallen for a Vacker-because before I knew anything else, all I knew was that Fitz Vacker broke my mother's heart and I could never like anybody related to him. However, during the Celestial Festival . . . um . . . you know what happened, I brought myself to face the reality, and I actually accepted it quite easily. And-um, pretty ironic how an Empath can't realise her own emotions, but . . . yeah. I'd always liked you, even when I wasn't aware of it myself."
Cold. Silence.
Brennus's face was unreadable, and Ailill had turned away from them such that she couldn't see his face-like he knew that this was kind of a personal moment and he shouldn't interfere.
After what seemed like an eternity of cold silence, Evelina finally swallowed the growing harsh feeling of quiet rejection, and muttered under her breath, ". . . Sorry. I-I shouldn't have bothered-"
Suddenly, Brennus jerked his head up, shaking his head quietly as he fumbled for the right words to reassure Evelina. "No! It's not what you think it is. It's just . . . I'm shocked. In the best way, I assure you." He managed a smile-a real smile-and Evelina thought it was the most beautiful thing to grace his lips ever. "I never thought . . . you did actually return my feelings." His teal eyes were shimmering with happiness, relief, and gratification, and Evelina let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
Could someone be more perfect than him?
"Sorry to interrupt your . . . um, romantic moment, but we're getting slightly off-topic." Ailill coughed awkwardly, but there was no mistaking the mirth in his eyes as he turned around, a slight smile curving his mouth.
But all humour from his expression disappeared as it was replaced with fear, sadness, grief, uncertainty, and much, much more. Evelina didn't even need to read his emotions to know that he was really upset-and she knew he had perfectly good reason for it. He'd just found out who his real parents really were-and it had turned his world upside down, like-like he didn't know who he could trust anymore, who was actually on his side.
"Everything's just a mess in my head right now," he whispered, staring down at his hands. His voice was so soft that Evelina had to strain her ears to catch what he was saying, and seeing how upset he looked, she reached for his hand, patting his back comfortingly as he let out a soft sob. "And it's not really helping my fledging telepathic ability right now-even though Sir Tiergan said I'm a natural. And ugh, speaking of me being a natural Telepath-it finally makes sense. Both my biological parents are two of the most powerful Telepaths in the Lost Cities-why wouldn't it make sense?"
"But wait-does that mean the favour Dex and Linh did for Sophie and Fitz was to hide Ailill away-out of sight, out of mind-until my father was ready to adopt Ailill to take him under his wing?" Brennus inquired, his voice solemn and quiet as he stared at Ailill like he'd turned into a completely different person.
"I think so. It should be." Evelina sighed for the millionth time this day, running her fingers through her dirty-blonde hair-the same shade as Ailill's-and squaring up her shoulders as she took out the Cognate book for them to see. "This was the book on Cognates I was talking about earlier on-Dame Marella said that it was very well-known and she'd memorized everything in it-though I have no idea why she would."
Brennus shook his head helplessly, like he thought Evelina was an idiot. "Of course she would. The author of this book is the Former Magnate of Foxfire-Leto Kerlof. He was the one-along with Sir Tiergan-Ailill's Telepathy Mentor-to successfully raise a potential pair of Cognates-none other than Sophie Foster and Fitz Vacker. When they became Cognates, they also became the Lost Cities' most wooed couple. And when Fitz Vacker resigned from the Council, he proposed to Sophie Foster. But then . . . you know the story now-although I know, yes, there's still something missing that you haven't uncovered yet."
Evelina gaped at him, her grip on the book loosening. The heavy hardcover slipped from her hands, and tumbled onto the wooden floor with a loud thud. "All this time, you knew they were Cognates? A-and yes, I am fully aware that Fitz lied to Sophie about something. Just like how Sophie lied to Fitz about their rankings on the matchmaking scrolls."
Brennus gave her a flat, dry look-the same look he'd given her when he looked at her as if she was an idiot. "Of course I knew about them being Cognates. Everyone knew. Okay, maybe except Ailill-but that's beside the point considering he's technically only a month old. Probably less than that. So he wouldn't have known. Dad and Mum didn't like the attention Dad and Lady Sencen got, anyway."
Evelina flinched at her last name. It was weird, very weird to realise that her mother was still Keefe's wife-regardless of everything that had went on with her and Fitz.
"Hey!" protested Ailill indignantly. "I am not a month old, or less than that. I'm twelve years old, Jerkface. I just got my memories erased. Which really sucks by the way. You wouldn't understand."
"Actually, I think he would," Evelina interjected, hardly believing that she was actually standing up for Brennus-but she knew she needed to get this in Ailill's head. "I got my memories washed too, remember? That time I hit my head and fainted? I got a washed memory back-obviously it had to do with Sophie and Fitz. Considering Brennus is Fitz's son, he should have some memories wiped from him as well-but probably not, because he's not the great detective I am-"
"You mean, the great nosey," Brennus corrected, his face twisting into a scowl as he folded his arms crossly.
"-But my point is, you're not alone here, Ailill." Evelina ignored Brennus, instead turning her full attention to look at Ailill, gently clasping his hands in hers as she whispered, "We're all even here, believe me. Trust me. And if you lived with Dex and Linh for almost twelve years, you definitely would have met their children. Hywel probably remembers something-but I don't think he cares that much as he's always into making potions and alchemy stuff like that-he'd be too distracted to notice anything, to be honest. And . . . about Erina, I heard Sophie, Dex, and Keefe talking about a huge possibility that you might remember her, so take note of her. She may very well remember you-but we can leave that for later. But whatever it is, remember who you are. You are, and always will be Ailill Vacker, regardless of what may happen to twist your thinking.
"Now"-she let out a sharp breath, fully aware of the tone of finality in her voice-"it's time to confront Sophie and Fitz. Question them for everything that they've done. Challenge them if what they did was the right decision. Try to right the wrongs that they have imposed on us. And most importantly, help them. Help them to realise their mistakes, help them to find back their footing in life, and help them to forgive, and forget."
She looked the two in the eye to make sure they were fully listening before she continued. "They talk about this process as if it's bad, it's filled with hatred, and I can't deny that. Yes, it can be bad. Yes, it can be filled with hatred. And we can't do anything about that, because everyone is entitled to their own thoughts, entitled to their own emotions. Being both a Telepath and an Empath, that was the first thing I'd learned-though I did lose sight of the thinking several times when I was blinded by rage and the bitter feeling of injustice. But we can view this as a huge helping hand for them. And give them a different perspective to look at things, to feel the pain we feel because of them, give them a taste of their own medicine, and let them grieve, let them change. "
With that, Evelina smiled, bittersweet emotions coursing through her veins as she spoke the very same words she'd been thinking on that fateful night, before everything in her world had turned upside down,
"It's payback time."
And I plan to make it a total nightmare.
***
A/N: That title reference though. :P