The Raven & The Wolf
Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

I follow Drew into his office. He keeps looking over his shoulder to make sure I am following him. That or he’s checking on Gedric. His office is open, with no desk. There is a wall filled with books, with a window in the middle of the wall. The other wall has herbs and potion bottles, while the other is dedicated to what appears to be surgical tools. There is a bed in the middle of the room, that honestly seems out of place. It doesn’t seem like it belongs here.

“Sit down,” Drew instructs, motioning towards the bed while he goes to the wall with surgical equipment.

Hesitantly I sit down. “Is something wrong?”

“What really happened to Maya?” Drew asks, closing his door.

I hesitate slightly but decide to answer honestly. He knows enough of the Sheika, and the Fates, to understand what happened. “She was attacked by a creature that was conjured by the Fates. Then Gordon heal blocked her, so I had to physically be the one to heal her.”

“Did you know Maya woke up a few minutes ago?” He asks me, his voice going cold.

“She did?” I ask, excited by this news. That means I healed her correctly, and there is no more influence of the Fates in her. “How is she?”

“She’s fine,” he tells me coolly, bending down to lift my leg and place it on the bed. I wince when he starts to clean it. “But she doesn’t remember her conversation with you. She only remembers falling and then waking up here.”

I take a silent breath of relief. “I’m glad.”

He raises his eyebrow at my response. “Why doesn’t she remember talking to you?”

“I took her memory.” I answer honestly.

Drew tenses and sucks in a breath, not expecting my honesty. “Why did you do that? I thought it was against the Sheika Clan’s Values to do that.”

I nod. “It is, but she remembered what was designed to be her death, and the Fates scaring the living daylights out of her. She was terrified. She didn’t want me to leave her. She was scarred from it. I did it out of mercy to give her a normal life.”

“How could you do that?” Drew demands. “How do you know that those events would damage her so much that it would harm her that way?”

My eyes flash with rage as I glare at him. “You’ve seen the aftermath of what I’ve been through, I’ve lived it. I know more than anyone Andrew. I’ve seen what she has, and felt what she had. I’ve lived it. It’ll haunt her every moment of the day, and it’ll always be there, even when she accepts it. I don’t want her to live with the fear I have. She’s six. She’s innocent. She does not deserve that.”

Drew runs an understanding and appraising eye over me. “You only took away her visit from the Fates, but why her conversation with you?”

“She remembered what happened when she woke up, and she kept seeing what happened with the Fates over and over again, so it was necessary to fully remove it.”

“But she’s not going to know you healed her, unless we tell her.”

I give a one armed shrug. “I heal to help, not for glory.”

“That’s very…unselfish of you.”

Interesting word choice, but okay. “I’ve had to face a lot of things in my life. Selfishness rarely is self-serving.” I flinch a little when he starts rubbing powder on my leg. It’s starting to feel numb, so I assume that it’s design.

“I’m confused about something.” Drew begins as he starts to stitch up my leg.

“What are you confused about?” I ask, leaning back on my good arm.

“Why are you so stupid?”

I stiffen, “Excuse me?”

Drew looks up and his eyes are black. “Why would you be alone, when the Fates are trying to kill you?”

“Son of a-” I grunt as I kick Drew in the face, breaking contact with me. He flies back into his wall filled with surgical equipment, making the instruments fall. “I’m guessing Lometh?” I say, getting to my feet.

“Smart, now die.” She shouts, lunging at me.

I jump out of the way. “If you Fates are going to kill me, do it right.” I snap. “Now get out of Drew’s body and never return to it, Lometh.”

“You bitch,” she screams out while Drew starts to control his body, crashing into the bed.

He gasps as he straightens, his eyes wide as he stares at me. “Run. They’re not going to stop.”

“I figured,” I cry, catching my breath. “What is going on?”

“They’re going to kill you, which will make the shield fail and expose Gedric. Ari will kill him before he is trained enough to have a chance. The only one who can kill him is you. If you’re dead, and he kills Gedric, then you serve them.”

Fuck! “So they’re choosing to kill me now?” I demand.

“Yes! Because you’re weak.”

Double fuck. “Okay, I can figure this out.” I say with a forced calm. “Not that I don’t trust you, but how do you know this?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“You’re still talking to Articus?” I demand, horrified by this. “That man is a manipulative asshole.”

“You’re seeing him wrong. He has to kill you right now. He’s being controlled and watched by the Fates at all times. He’s trying to convince Gedric to force you into overload as we speak, because the Fates ordered him to. If you can’t move, you’re easier to kill.”

“No shit!” I yell. “And he’s on their side!”

“Natasha, calm down.” Drew hisses.

“Would you be calm?” I demand from him.

“Good point,” Drew says, stepping away from me. “You need to go. They’re going to keep trying to kill you. I don’t know what they’re planning next.”

“I don’t know, but they’re getting closer.” I say, keeping a far distance from him as we both circle the room, to keep space between us.

I open the door and race towards Stanya. She’s still watching Gedric. “We’ve got to go. Drew just tried to kill me…Well Lometh did with his body, but still.”

“What?” She screams, launching to her feet.

“Shut up, get the packs and Halthin, I’ll get the horses.” I tell her, pushing her away slightly. I lean down towards Gedric and look into his eyes. “Say goodbye to Articus. He’s distracting you while Lometh used your dad to try and kill me.”

Instantly, his eyes refocus. “What was that?”

“Your dad just tried to kill me. We’ve got to go.” I snap, still trying to pull him. “Articus is just distracting you.”

“I am not,” Gedric yells, his voice coming out morphed.

I immediately drop my hand and stomp my foot. I take a deep breath to steady myself. “Articus I will murder you. Get out of Gedric’s body now!”

“No, wait, Nat no!” He yells while I stomp out of the room.

I’ve had it with these Fates. The next time I see one, I’m going to strangle them. Once I’m outside I start running towards the stables. I need to get away from people. They’re determined to kill me, and I’m going to find a loophole to kill them if it kills me.

When I reach the stalls, I find the horses turned in for the night. The stable hand is very irritated by this, and is demanding to know why I’m here. I just ignore him and go to Macy’s stall. “We’ve got to go, girl.” I tell her, touching her sweet face with my forehead to ground myself.

I look to the stable hand. He has rust colored curls and hazel eyes, and looks irritated beyond belief with me. I can’t really blame him for that. “I’ll be taking mine and my friends horses. We need to leave immediately.”

He looks me over, seeing the urgency in my face, and takes a step back. “I’ll get their halters. Your friends took their saddles when they boarded the horses.”

I nod. “Thank you,” I tell him, opening Macy’s stall. “Glen go,” I tell her, speaking in Forest Folk tongue to make all the horses understand. The stable hand’s jaw drops while I just point for the horses to go outside.

After the stable hand helps me put their halters on, I pull Macy’s reins to lead her; the other horses following after her. I lead them to the inn, where Stanya is waiting for me. Halthin looks like he’s half asleep, but he’s geared up to go. Stanya hands me my traveling gear, and I silently run inside to change.

Once I come outside, completely covered, Gedric has shown up. Stanya has the horses saddled and ready to go. I walk past him and swing onto Macy, ignoring him completely. “Let’s go.”

“Why are we leaving so late?” Halthin yawns.

“Attempted murderings come to mind,” I say, looking back to glare at him.

“On who,” he asks, yawning again.

I give Stanya a look to demand if he’s serious. She gives me a tired look while she covers her face. “He’s still waking up, give him a break.”

“On me, Halthin. On me.”

His eyes widen. “When?”

“While you’ve been sleeping dear,” Stanya says, patting his hand. “I’ll catch you up later.”

Gedric touches my leg, making me look down at him. “Can we talk about what happened?”

I glare at him. “No. I’ve had three attempts on my life. You were able to stop Articus’s, but no one else in this city has a chance of fighting a Servant. So I’m limiting the amount of people that can kill me to three. Also, this reduces the number of possible victims that the Fates could create.”

“Nat, you’re not thinking this through,” Gedric argues. “What if they’re trying to force you out of the city?”

“If that is their game, they’re going to win this one. There are too many people who are going to get hurt if I stay. Your dad already fell victim to Lometh tonight. Maya was to Gordon. You were to Articus. Let’s not wait to see who the other two could be.”

“Stanya,” Stanya says quickly. “Allaric has been trying to get me for the last few minutes, but he can’t. Why is that?” Stanya asks of me.

I flash her a hidden smile. “Because of our bond. It’s the exact reason I can share my magic with you, and I can barrow yours when I’m so vulnerable. “

“Nat, I’m being serious,” Gedric says, gripping my leg harder. “They’re going to kill you if you leave.”

“They’re going to kill more than that if I stay.” I say, forcing him to let go. “Are you coming, or not? I don’t have time to argue about this right now. If I stay, this town is going to erupt into chaos. These people are entirely too unprepared for what is about to hit them if I stay. They could die Gedric.”

“So could you!” He nearly yells.

“Don’t you think I know that?” I snap. “Gedric, I might die, but they will die if I stay. The definite has made the decision for me. Now are you staying, or coming?”

Gedric hesitates and takes a step back. Silently he walks back to his horse and gets on. As soon as he’s in the saddle I urge the horses into a run, only stopping for when we leave the city behind us. I hate that we have to leave, but I’m not putting them at risk. I will not recreate this city’s past. Not if I can help it.

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