Nadia was missing.
Belladonna had discovered that when she had decided to run some things with Nadia, so she would be able to focus on her mission during the day instead. Now, that she knew Lady Kestra was hot on her trail, she couldn't let any second go to waste.
Belladonna wanted to believe that after they had gone to the Cave, the Nahiri also went to the cave too, and that was what had led Lady Kestra there. But that was a wild guess and a stupid one to foolishly believe in.
Lady Kestra was with the piece of cloth that had her blood on it, she had definitely used that to track her down.
By Ignas, the situation was messed up and it got messier when she realized that Nadia was missing.
Of all the insane things to happen today, that just had to be one of them.
She just disappeared.
Belladonna had suspected Lady Kestra for her disappearance, and she had convinced Eli to have her Work Room checked. She just had a great feeling that she had something to do with it.
Eli had felt reluctant about that, the implication of the distrust of checking the place while on a trip to get an elixir for him, didn't sit well with him.
He communicated this and Belladonna had replied with very convincing words which made him eventually give in.
This explained why she had been frustrated, embarrassed, and angry when Nadia wasn't found in the room.
Colin had even been there to say he had seen her leaving the Castle late yesterday and she had told him that she wanted to see her Grandmother because she was scared of what she had done to Lady Kestra's tea. That needed someone to talk to about it.
She had also begged that he wouldn't say anything to anyone but he couldn't keep quiet now that her absence had caused so much suspicion to the Right Hand Woman of the King.
Someone who would never do the people any harm.
Seb had admitted that Nadia was that spontaneous with her decisions, although he had been surprised she was the culprit behind Lady Kestra's embarrassing moment.
How interesting.
Eli ordered the guards to fix everything back up. Thankfully, nothing had been destroyed but there was a high tendency that when Kestra got back, she would just sense that her things had been touched.
"I will explain things to her when she gets back." Eli had offered her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, a somewhat pat of understanding, that put Belladonna more on edge instead of making her feel otherwise.
Belladonna had hoped to punch holes in Eli's trust with Lady Kestra and rescue Nadia, instead, it had backfired.
If her claims were already proving to be false this early, it would be harder to convince Eli in the future about the real side of Lady Kestra. She would have prove then though, so maybe there was nothing to worry about.
"Do you know where her Grandmother lives?"
Collin gave her a curt nod.
"Then go there and confirm that she is there."
The Golden light from the large window gave Belladonna no choice but to stay behind. She would have followed him but the Nighttime drew nearer and it would soon be time for her to get the last item.
She was still having problems figuring out what the point of control she was supposed to attack was.
She would figure it out along the way.
"Yes, My Lady." Colin left and that reminded her that she had ruined her promise of an evening moment with Eli.
Argh.
She would have to make it up to him, before he would misunderstand the whole situation.
____
____
Sweat gathered on Colin's skin despite the cold.
The closer he moved to the house, the lonely house with no light in it as the sun set, the more his heart drummed to many unrhythmic beats.
His experience of very early this morning still made shivers run down his spine and he could feel his hands trembling by his sides as his boots dug softly into the wet mud on the floor.
The memory flashed in his mind, so much that he could almost feel everything again.
The rain beating down on him as he shoveled through the wet loamy soil.
The ache in his arms.
The thunder clapping and the lightning.
It all happened earlier this morning, still, he couldn't shake off no matter how hard he tried.
Nadia was dead.
He had confirmed it himself.
Lady Kestra had used up all her energy yesterday and had told him to go and bury her.
Colin had successfully left the Castle with her body and had gotten to where he could bury her without raising any suspicion.
He had dug the loamy soil well but when he turned around to roll the body into the grave, that was where the problem started.
There was no body.
Not just that, there had been a woman in a black dress and a hood. She called herself Granny.
She was the strangest.
She had left him there, giggling while she went back into the woods like she had seen nothing.
She looked nothing like a grandmother, instead, she looked fairly young and with innocent features that reminded him of his daughter.
Colin took in a deep breath, his knuckles hitting the door softly as he waited for an answer.
He knocked again but there was no response.
His heart started racing and he looked around him.
It was quiet, it would have been a little odd if this place wasn't the usually empty part of the Capital. The Black Forest was somewhere around here. No one liked living close to that, except Nadia's grandmother obviously.
Truthfully, Collin didn't know where Nadia lived, he had asked around. His conscience had pushed him to.
Her body had disappeared and his mind was running wild with impossible speculations.
It was darker now and still, there was no light from the windows, then he saw something move and his legs gave into a race he didn't process through his mind until he was out of the woods.
Nadia was dead. He buried her and he didn't meet that woman that reminded him of his daughter.
He would tell himself these lies until he believed them. So when Lady Kestra asked, his words would sound like the truth, even to him.
He felt his need to share his mind with someone nevertheless, someone he could tell the real truth and get missed his wife.
Like everyday since he had been without her.
He missed his daughter.
He missed his family.