Chapter 44: Silver betrayal
Daniel had left soon after he’d confided in me regarding his mother. But the cruel experiences of Portia Knight stayed with me. Part of me could not believe what Daniel had said, and the other part felt bad for denying what had happened to his mother. I’d never known Nicholas to be cruel or vindictive. Then again, he’d lived for centuries, and I’d arrived here a few months ago. What I knew about him was only a drop in the ocean of who he was. And as I walked to his room, I’d resigned myself to approach this in a very logical and very open-minded way.
“How dare you, you cruel bastard!”
*Or not*.
“Excuse me?” Nicholas muttered, his eyes were wide in shock, and I could see confusion slowly creeping into his grey irises.
There was a moment of hesitation on my side. I was fuelled up on anger and I knew that everything I would say now would stem from that anger.
“What have I done Ariya? Why do you look so disgusted?”
But I couldn’t keep in the information I’d now learned.
“Portia Knight… you killed her in cold blood! She had two children to look after and a whole life ahead of her, but you snatched it away from her!” I was breathless by now, barely able to believe what was coming out of my mouth.
Nicholas seemed to be in a state of disbelief too and for a while, he just sat there, unable to say anything. But when he did finally speak, he sighed and shook his head, “I agree that I am responsible for Portia’s death, but whoever told you the story of her death does not know the whole thing.”
I searched his eyes desperately, wanting nothing more than to believe anything other than what Daniel had told me. And so I asked, with tears streaming down my face, “Then tell me everything!”
Nicholas sighed heavily and then patted the space next to him on the bed. I nodded and sat beside him, eager.
“I wasn’t always this reclusive and subdued. After the war, my ideas aligned with Theo’s. We were both the black sheep of the family. Unfortunately, my immense power always made me a threat to my siblings and so Aura tried to keep a tighter leash on me. I wasn’t allowed to get away with everything that Theo could, but I still tried to defy her here and there. One of my acts of defiance being the company I kept. I was very involved with humans, and I tried to actively unite the two sides as best as I could. But I wasn’t as successful as Theo. Eventually, through my years I met a young woman by the name of Mave Knight. She was passionate and determined, she was dead set on helping her people and shutting down the servant markets. And so, I joined her, and that’s what we did. We’d rescue the humans and then send them off to Bouvardia where Theo had managed to create a safe haven of peace. Mave and I eventually became very good friends, and I considered her as my family. And then, in later years she introduced me to her daughter, Portia. Portia’s father had apparently died, and so Portia had to stay with her mother. I grew to care for her almost instantly and she became another member of my family. Unfortunately, not long after, Mave fell ill and Theo’s powers would not be able to save her. You see his powers only work on people who are stuck between life and death, in the uncertainty of limbo. He cannot interfere when a soul is absolutely destined for death…” by now Nicholas’ voice had become slightly shaky, and tears began to well up in the lids of his eyes, “and unfortunately, Mave was destined to die. But, no matter how sick she got, it never wiped the smile off of her face and it never stopped her from being there for Portia. And, in her dying breath, she made me promise to look after her daughter. And so I did. I’ll admit,” he said with a chuckle, “I had no idea how to look after a human. But with the help of Theo, I managed. She grew up into a strong, bright young woman, and just like her mother she had the determination and passion to make a change… but then she had the unfortunate fate of meeting *him*.”
Nicholas paused for a moment, a look of absolute disgust on his face. At one point, I expected him to spit, but all he did was shake his head and then continue to speak.
“His name was Lorenzo and back then, he was the leader of Wolfsbane. I have no idea how the two met or what he said to her to change her mind so drastically… but after she’d met him, she changed. She began to hate me and blame me for her mother’s death. She told me that I wasn’t making a significant change in the world and accused me of aiding servant markets and selling humans to other more influential lycans. And I’ll agree, I could have made a more impactful change if I’d stood up to Aura and pushed back just a bit more, but the other accusations were just−”
“−Crazy?” I whispered out, all too familiar with how Wolfsbane could twist something around and serve this crazy narrative for vengeance.
Nicholas nodded.
“I never liked Lorenzo, from the moment I met him, even more so after he’d convinced Portia to leave here. But I tried to be accommodating and I tried to be as supportive as I could, especially when I learnt that she’d fallen pregnant. But unfortunately, Lorenzo’s grip on her tightened throughout the years and I never had the opportunity to meet her children. Instead… something much worse happened.”
His hands were now shaking and all he did was stare out in front of him, as though his memories were playing out right in front of him.
“I remember it as though it had happened just yesterday… she arrived at the front door, a nervous smile on her face and with a polite greeting. I should have known then already that something was off. But I was just so happy to see her after all those years. She said she’d missed home and that she’d made a mistake by leaving just like that. I sat her down and we talked over a cup of tea, and although I could tell she was nervous about something, I still dismissed it… until I stood up from the table and turned away from her. Immediately I felt a stinging pain right where my shoulder and my neck met. I knew immediately that the blade was made of silver…” He turned to me, his eyes intense and serious, “It’s deadly to my siblings and myself... and Portia knew it.”