Chapter 68 Masking Power
Chapter 68 Masking Power
The flame of the candle got really big. It was moving around a lot. The candle flame started going crazy.
Aria felt something cold go down her spine. She did not show it. She just stood there. "How?" she asked Rowan.
Rowan cleared his throat then said, "Kael usually talks when he drinks. The thing is, Kael drinks a lot now. He thinks that your pregnancy is making you weak."
A slow and really scary smile spread across Arias lips.
The person is wrong.
Rowan stopped for a moment then continued, "He is planning something. This thing is called a flag attack. He wants everyone to think that Bookthorn did something bad to some neutral packs. When the other packs get angry and try to fight back he will come out. Say that he is the good guy, the reasonable ruler. Then he will try to get all the kingdoms to work together against Bookthorn."
Aria closed her eyes. She just let everything go and closed her eyes. Aria felt better when she closed her eyes.
So that was Kael's game.
"Where and when is that happening?" Aria asked him because she did not know the place and time for the attack.
"The southern caravans is where it will be happening. We will be going there in three nights from now." Rowan said.
Aria nodded. She said, "You have to go to Kael now."
Rowan stiffened. "I was going to say something..." Rowan said.
"You've to go back to Kael. You've to let him know that all his plans are safe, that Bookthorn kingdom knows nothing about his plans. That Lucian is distracted with building and that I'm fragile." Aria instructed Rowan.
Rowan looked at her. "And what are you going to do?"
Aria leaned forward. Her silver eyes were shining a little bit in the dark room. "I am going to make him hurt badly without even touching him with my claws " Aria said about the person she wanted to hurt. Aria was really upset. She wanted to make this person bleed.
When Rowan went back into the darkness, Aria let out a breath slowly. Her hands were shaking, but it was not because she was scared, it was because she had to hold herself back.
She really wanted to tell Lucian about this. Badly. She wanted to tell Lucian everything that had happened.
Gods, she really wanted him to know about everything.
But she couldn’t.
Lucian was the Alpha. He liked to fight out in the open where everyone could see. He was really loud about it too. Lucian would always protect her by standing in front of her when there was danger around. That was something she just could not afford to let happen. Kael would definitely take advantage of that weakness if he got the chance.
Aria decided to say nothing all. She picked being quiet, over speaking up.
That morning, she sat beside Lucian at breakfast. He was talking about border patrols and reconstruction plans with the council. Lucian joked with the pack. She could not help but smile. She felt happy when Lucian was happy. She reached for Lucians hand under the table. The warmth of Lucians skin made her feel better.
Lucian said to her "You are really quiet today " and he squeezed her fingers.
"I'm just thinking about things," Aria said in a casual way.
“About what?”
She looked into his eyes. Was honest, with him but only a little bit. "About our future."
His smile became really gentle. "Then we are thinking about the same thing."
The feeling of guilt hurt Aria more than any knife could. It was like the guilt was an object that cut into her heart and it would not stop hurting. The guilt was a painful thing for her to deal with.
That afternoon, Aria went to see Maeve. She did not go there to learn about magic spells. She went there to gain some knowledge from Maeve.
Aria said "Tell me everything you know about masking power". She really wanted to learn about masking power. What is masking power? Aria thought about this for a moment. She asked again, "Tell me about masking power. I should know a lot about masking power."
Maeve's face scrunched up. "That is not something simple you are asking for." Maeve said. Maeve looked really concerned about the request.
"I do not want something that's easy. I want something that's not simple. The thing I am looking for is not going to be easy to get. I want a thing. This complicated thing is what I am looking for." Aria said.
Maeve looked at her closely. "You are hiding something from me " Maeve said to her. Maeve thought that Aria was not telling her the truth about something. Maeve was very sure that she was hiding something.
Aria did not say it was not true. She said, "I need to go without anyone seeing me. I do not want Kael to see me. I do not want the ancient forces to see me. I do not want my mate to see me."
That really caught Maeve off guard. She asked, "Lucian does not know?"
“No.”
Maeve was quiet for a long time. "Then whatever you are planning is not safe."
Aria’s voice was steady. “It is necessary.”
Maeve finally nodded. She said "Well... But know this. Every secret has a price." Maeve wanted to make it clear that secrets are not free. Every secret has a price that you have to pay. Maeve was serious about this. She meant that people should think carefully before they share a secret or keep one. Maeve said it again. "Every secret has a price."
"I'm already paying it." Aria replied.
Maeve taught Aria an old ritual. This ritual was very old. It needed some things to work. Aria had to have blood and moonlight. She also had to be in control of her emotions. That night, Aria did the ritual by herself. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. Aria was cutting parts of her aura. Pushing them inside herself. This was so she could hide from people who could detect magic.
When she was done, she fell to her knees and started breathing really hard. She was out of breath.
The thing actually worked.
The moon was not watching her anymore for the first time since her awakening. This was really strange because the moon always watched her after she awoken. The moon was always there. Now it was not watching her.
Time went by. The days passed.
Kael's caravans were on fire. It was not Bookthorn who started the fire. Bookthorn did not burn Kael's caravans. Someone else was responsible for burning Kael's caravans.