Chapter 136 - Dhampir Knight

Theora wasn't sure when she had begun to cry, but her dad's letter had broken a dam, and now, she couldn't stop sobbing. That letter had triggered something cathartic. Maybe it was the words she'd been waiting for since her mother's death. She had never blamed her dad for dealing with his own grief, but sometimes, she had resented how absent he was. He had never been the same after her mom's death, and at times, it felt like she had lost a parent and a half. That letter was as good of an apology as she'd get for all the years he hadn't been truly there, and it was more than enough for her. She re-read it, smiling every time he called her his baby, and her heart aching every time he mentioned her mom. He had barely mentioned her since her passing, and Theora could only guess how painful it had been to bring her up. It was also strange to realize that, after all, her dad was as afraid to lose his daughter as she was to lose him as a dad. They had always known that another man had fathered Theora, but somehow, it had always felt inconsequential until now. She wondered what he and Yanheim had talked about. Had Yanheim told him how far Theora most likely was in her search? If her mother had confided in the traveler about things, would Hamel realize how close Theora was to her biological father every time she was in the north? Would he be happy that she'd met her mother's family? Theora forced herself to take several deep breaths and calm down, stopping her crying as she grabbed some of her new writing set. She wanted to answer right away, and she needed the letters to be ready to hand to Cylea the next day. Plus, she wanted to finish writing before her roommates came back, or she'd definitely get sidetracked. She was already a slow writer, and she had several letters to write before dawn, so she got started right away.

Her dad's letter felt like the hardest to write, but she still forced herself to reply to that one first. She began telling him about the things he'd heard from Danell: her life at the Academy, her friends, her past missions, which classes she enjoyed, the instructors they all loved to hate, and even how she'd overcome her fear of horses with Mischief. Strangely, as she wrote, she felt her younger self coming out, her words flowing like she was a child again, excitedly telling her dad about her days. Once the ball started rolling, the sentences wrote themselves, and she got to the tricky part, the vulnerable one. Since her dad had been brave in writing his side, she decided to be brave, too, and told him she loved him, and no matter what, she would always love him. Theora felt like it was fair to let her dad know a few things, too, so she let him know that she knew who the 'other man' was, and that they were aware of each other's existence, although she hadn't met him yet. She didn't mention her half-brother, but she did tell her dad that she'd met her mother’s cousin, and that he was a nice ‘uncle’ to be with. Then, as if it had been regular news, she simply moved on to tell him about her cousins and the Capital. Theora didn't want her dad to feel like her finding the hidden half of her family was big news; it was, but it wouldn't change anything between her and her dad.

She tried to finish the letter casually, promising more letters to come and inquiring about her dad's days, but she did sign with 'your baby girl who loves you", and hoped it would put his worries to rest.

After that, writing back to Merigold and Danell felt far easier. Since the kids couldn't read, she asked Merigold to thank them on her behalf, and of course, inquired about the whole village. She wrote to Danell last, because she knew putting his worries at ease while not mentioning everything risky would be a bit trickier. Theora also wasn't sure how much her dad and Danell talked, but she encouraged him to exchange information with her dad, and tried to reassure him on every front she could. She told him that, most of all, her mother's secrets explained everything, and that she was trying to uncover things on her side. She told him that "another man" had appeared in her life, and while she hadn't met him yet, they were first trying to establish some boundaries, and again, to ask her dad for details. She couldn't risk putting her actual father's name into the letter, but with her dad's explanation, she knew Danell who was far smarter would easily piece things together. She also apologized for being so cryptic, telling him how much she missed her best friend. She did want to see him, but she didn't want him to ruin himself for this trip. However, if he did come, she wanted it to be truly justified, not just for her sake. Theora also suggested he ask Cylea for help; Theora rarely played matchmaker, but she couldn't help but silently root for the pair.

She was just finishing her letter when her friends came back with impeccable timing.

"Theo!" Selvie squealed, diving in for a hug without warning. "I'm so happy you're here!"

"Fancy a beer?" Keffen asked, already nudging a bottle in her direction.

"You guys brought beers back to the dorm? How much trouble are we going to be in?" Theora chuckled, taking the beer with one hand and patting an obviously drunk Selvie with the other.

"Whatever, Red was drinking with us," Themid shrugged, sinking down on the opposite bed. "I doubt we're going to be in trouble for having a bit of fun on the last day."

"They had so many beers!" Selvie chuckled. "There were so many different bottles! Because of the fair, you know? And they were so good!"

"Try a lot of them, did you?" Theora teased her.

"Light-weight, that one," Kleis chuckled, leaning against the door frame.

Theora noticed that all of them had bottles with different labels on them, each showcasing information about the brewery with nice colors and drawings. She wondered why Cylea and Mymesia hadn't dragged her to that guild's stand, but she remembered they had only shared one bottle of wine between her uncle, her aunt, and herself for her birthday, and neither of her cousins had drank any.

"You guys going to be alright waking up for the train tomorrow?" Theora teased them.

"Not sure about Selvie," Charle chuckled. "We might have to carry her."

"We'll be fine," Elexei shrugged. "We didn't have that many. They were just selling the leftovers from the fair at a nice price and we bought a bunch to share."

"You should see Red and Ricki," Themid scoffed. "Those two are hammered. We almost had to carry them back!"

"We dropped them in their rooms before Darim saw anything," Keffen whispered.

Theora chuckled, amused. Their little group went on to tell her about their rocky evening with the crowds at the end of the fair, and while Theora tried to ignore the sour memory about the Engineers' Guild, she told them about how her cousins had whisked her away to celebrate her birthday. Once her friends knew it was her birthday soon, Themid and Elexei left for a few minutes to raid the Military Hall's kitchen, coming back with some food for them to share to celebrate, and hopefully, help a drunk Selvie sober up a bit as well. Their group chatted late into the night, having fun, finishing their beers and eating the food the boys had grabbed. Once Selvie fell asleep, though, they decided it was time for them all to get to bed as well, and everyone split up, promising to wake up those who wouldn't hear the alarm clock the next day.

Despite the general excitement, it had been a long day, and it didn't take long for Theora to fall asleep. What she hadn't expected, however, was to be woken up by a firm hand on her shoulder. She frowned, turned around, and in the darkness of the room, immediately recognized the pair of dark amber eyes staring at her.

"Reylan?" she whispered, taken aback.

"Get up," he simply said.

She watched him leave the room, still utterly confused. The clock in their room showed it was a little after one in the morning, and she couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour. She had almost forgotten about his promise to show her something, and the timing was odd. Still, Theora groaned and tore herself away from her bed, getting dressed quickly to follow him out of the room quietly. Once the door was closed behind her, she frowned at Reylan, who was waiting for her in the corridor, his arms crossed.

"Missed me?" he teased her with a grin.

"What the hell?" she replied. "I haven't heard from you at all. I thought you'd forgotten."

"I got to the Capital this morning. I should have been more precise when I said our missions overlapped... Only the last twenty-four hours of yours, the first of mine."

"You could have warned me," Theora hissed. "I spent the evening drinking with my friends."

"Well, I'm sure what I'm about to show you will sober you up soon enough."

Theora frowned at that ominous sentence, but Reylan turned around and, without further explanation, led her down the corridor. It didn't take long for Theora to realize that they were leaving the Military Hall and that she probably shouldn't. Kleis would be mad enough that she'd escaped her surveillance, and Darim would be furious. Yet, Theora couldn't resist the twitch of curiosity. No matter how bad what Reylan wanted to show her was, she wanted to see. She wanted a glimpse into his vision of the world and why he hated vampires so much. It wasn't easy to infiltrate a Military Hall, which students and resident knights always guarded, but Reylan seemed to excel at getting into places he wasn't supposed to be, and getting out was far easier than sneaking in. In a matter of minutes, they found themselves in the streets, although Theora knew she really shouldn't have been out of her room at that moment. At the very least, she would have an easy way to get back in; she could pretend she'd been out drinking all along since the knights guarding the gates had changed between when she'd come back and the ones that had let her friends in and probably hadn't seen her among them. If she got caught, however, she would be in serious trouble, but that was a problem for later. For now, she was focused on following Reylan. Although it was late, the last day of the fair had brought quite a lot of visitors to the main streets, and a lot of people were still celebrating in pubs, successful sellers and excited customers mixing under the lights of well-lit streets and sticking to crowds. Nevertheless, it seemed most people were still very aware of the existing danger, for as soon as they took the darker streets, the crowds thinned considerably, and it didn't take Reylan long to lead her into dark and empty streets.

Theora couldn't help but feel nervous. She had never told Reylan about her secrets, but she was well aware that this was not the kind of place she was supposed to find herself in, given her current safety concerns. Kleis would have definitely objected, even if she'd been here. At the very least, Theora knew she was somewhat safe with Reylan by her side. He always gave that impression of being untouchable, and as far as she knew, he was. He'd never lost a duel back at the Academy, and he was top-ranked among his rank, too. Still, Theora didn't feel too good about this escapade; they were taking streets she'd never been in before, leading her south of the Capital. It wasn't like they seemed to be in a particularly dodgy neighborhood, as some of the houses actually seemed wealthy enough, and they were getting away from loud streets and into quiet, residential ones, but she couldn't see what they were looking for. If anything, she felt out of place, the streets looking extra clean, the pavement neat, the trees well-kept, and some houses had high hedges, which, if she'd learned anything from her mission this time, meant a really nice house behind it. More surprising was how Reylan acted like they weren't supposed to be there, moving quickly, shoulders high, glancing in all directions. It was like he was nervous to be kicked out of an open area, which confused Theora greatly. Twice, they changed streets to avoid patrolling knights, which was even weirder.

Finally, they saw the lights of a large dark building, obviously a commercial establishment, and Theora frowned at the large sign.

"...A casino?" she whispered.

She couldn't understand why they'd been acting so secretive on the way to an establishment that was clearly a public one. Two men were guarding the entrance, most likely private security, as she didn't recognize their uniforms. They could hear lively music coming from inside the building, an excited crowd visibly animating the building, and there was a line of carriages outside. While the establishment clearly seemed to prefer its clientele to be in the upper bracket of taxpayers, Theora couldn't see why they should have hidden their presence. People were going in and out, and the men at the entrance merely nodded or bowed, not checking identities. Some were even wearing masks and long capes as if they were going to attend some costumed event.

"I'm guessing we're not taking the main entrance?" Theora guessed.

"We're not going inside," Reylan said, taking an adjacent street.

Theora frowned but followed him, and after making a loop in the streets around the casino, Reylan stopped in front of another building and, without a word, started climbing the wall.

"They only let people with money in," Reylan explained as they reached the roof of the building. "If you come walking and dressed like we are, they can tell we're not nobles nor wealthy, and we wouldn't get anywhere but the ground floor. And your eyes would be far too complicated to hide."

Theora didn't really like that, but she didn't say anything. They had climbed the only building around that was higher than the casino, although it wasn't nearly close enough for them to jump from one roof to another. It didn't seem to be the plan, though, as Reylan took her to one edge of the roof and laid himself flat. Theora realized why once she did the same by his side: that unique corner of the roof gave them a view inside one of the open windows of the upper floor. All she could see for now were rows of chairs facing an area of the room she couldn't see and people in masks sitting or standing. That room had nothing to do with the lively one below: the voices were hushed, the ambiance intimate and dark, with only a couple of candles lighting up the room and no other decor or furniture than the fancy chairs and heavy drapes lining up the walls. She soon realized that quiet ladies wearing golden masks and pouring drinks were most likely staff, while the guests were all wearing dark or fancy masks. Although the room was dark and the night around them dark, Theora's dhampir eyes could see perfectly fine, and her ears were picking up the quiet conversation, too. However, everything sounded perfectly polite and casual, if just excited about whatever was about to happen.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"It's going to start soon," Reylan said with anger in his tone. "...The Auction."