Chapter 36

The full unfiltered version of what's been happening to Onda is hard to hear, but I listen. His treatment by Jay and Kael has been a constant part of his life since he met them as a kid. When they came to the camp and Ivan came into the picture, it only got worse. Koa trying to step in is what caused them to get dragged into the mix.

Last night was just another night of the twins and Onda getting picked on. It had been bad before, but their bullies seemed particularly pissed off after Kennedy got involved. They were forcing Koa and Coa to stand at the back of the tent not letting them fall asleep.

If their eyes closed for too long, or if their bodies swayed, Onda would get hit. Apparently, this wasn't a new type of torture, but this night was different because of the bodysuit. Ivan, saw the bodysuit I made for Onda and demanded he hand it over. Through all the torture that they had suffered in that tent, Onda had never once stood up to them or refused a request. Except that night.

He refused to give the bodysuit to Ivan. They beat him relentlessly. If Onda tried to get up or fight back, Kael was there to push him back down or restrain them. After Ivan landed a blow on the temple of his head, and he didn't get back up. The rest of the night was spent trying to figure out what to do and what to say.

And as expected, Lieutenant Tallmaul was getting gifts from Kael and Jay’s family. So, that means they’ll push for the death to be ruled either an accident or suicide. Whichever sounded better in the report.

Worst yet, is that delivering Onda's body back home would fall to Kael and Jay since Onda is from a branch family of theirs. That means that they'll get rid of his body the moment they can.

I'm sitting on the floor of my tent with Koa and Coa around me. Hearing about what happened is sickening. But they had to watch it. Not just last night, but everyday they’ve been here.

“If we can, I want to make sure they don't get rid of Onda's body. Maybe we can at least negotiate for that. Say we’ll keep quiet if they send his body back home.” Koa says to us as he grips the lose strands of his hair.

“It won't matter what we ask. We're in no position to negotiate, and their first goal is to remove any evidence,” I explain.

“That's impossible though. We saw what they did.” Coa points between him and his brother.

When I nod, I see Koa’s eyes grow bigger registering exactly how dangerous this situation is for them. They grew up as nobles, which means their basic understanding of these situations is different from mine. If I, a commoner would have seen a murder, they would have gotten rid of them immediately.

Nobles often expect some type of legal formality to keep them alive. But this camp provides the perfect opportunity for the perpetrators to avoid that. After all, in the middle of nowhere, accidents happen.

Koa bites his nails as he tries to think of solutions. There aren't any easy ones. Technically, we could hold out long enough to get it stationed out of here before anything happens, but that doesn't help Onda.

“Maybe we should write home and ask dad to help,” Koa says. It's the first time I'm hearing about their family.

But his brother shakes his head. “We were informed not to contact him anymore.”

As always, Coa’s reasoning is sound without any nuances. But that does answer a question for me. If they end up in a dire situation, we can't depend on their family’s assistance.

“First things first, let's try to get sage to buy us some time. If he can keep Onda's body away from Jay and Kael, then we can wait until we get opening.”

“What opening? For what?”

I don’t answer Koa as I leave him and his brother behind in my tent. Is it the safest place since Kennedy can come back at any time, no. But it’s the safest place I know right now.

“Hey Sage.” I catch sage just as he's leaving a tent.

“The answer is no. I'm not helping you.” Sage being the intelligent man that he is shuts me down immediately.

“I'm not asking you to help us do something that'll jeopardize you and your job. I just want you to stall. Give me a couple of days.”

“No. Unlike you I'm a commoner. I'm not getting involved in any business between nobles and royals.”

I close my eyes trying to gather my thoughts. What he’s saying makes sense. Before I got here, I would have said the same thing, but I need his help.

“The do it for Onda.” Sage who has been briskly walking away from me stops when I say his name. “Please. If it gets to a point where you’re in danger, then do what you have to do to protect yourself.”

Sage doesn't turn around. I'm not sure if he's going to say yes or no. If it’s a no, I can't blame him. I'll just have to go with plan B which is stealing Onda's body and putting it somewhere temporarily, but I'm really hoping I don't have to do that.

As I wait for Sage to make up his mind, someone walks up next to him. This is the third time I'm seen him and I still know his name. I forgot to ask it earlier.

“Hi. My name’s Em. Thanks for earlier.”

“I'm Sequin. Sorry about your friend. I'm in the tent next to them, so—”

So, he knew. Being an animorph, his hearing is better than humans.

I bob my head up and down choking on my emotions. Even if he heard, there's nothing he could have done. The twins were there and they couldn't do anything.

“Two days. That's the most I can give you.” Sage rasps out. I can hear the strain in his throat as if he too is holding back something. Tears or anger I don't know. I can't even figure out what I'm holding back.

“Thank you.”

Sage walks off without giving me a backward glance. Sequin nods in understanding before following Sage. I don't know how they know each other, but I am glad to see that Sage has another ally here.

I head towards my next destination, the shop. It's already past lunchtime and neither I nor the twins have eaten. If we're going to think clearly, we need to stay well fed and get some sleep.

When I get there there's a line and I do something I'm not proud of. I cut in front of somebody. The person behind me wants to protest, but since they're a commoner, they don't. I really don't want to be that person, but I'm pressed on time.

The risk that came with leaving the twins alone in my tent is that if Kennedy comes back and sees them, they're dead. If Nocturne comes back, they're also still dead. Anna agreed to keep a lookout to see if either of them come back and signal the twins to leave, but I'm still nervous.

Clutching two bags of random food I run back to the tent. When I get there, I don't see Kennedy. Instead, I see curly blonde hair and the weasel face of the man I want to kill.

Kael is standing off to the side while Ivan hovers over the twins. Koa is protecting his little brother while clutching his side.

I thought we were being smart by hiding them here because I thought the threat of Kennedy would keep them away. When I step into the tent, both Kael and Ivan turn towards me. While Kael seems bored, Ivan is beaming as if he just found a mountain full of gold.

“Welcome back. We were waiting for ya.” Ivan then lands a punch across Koa’s cheek who was distracted by my entry.

I snap. It takes one, maybe two seconds for me to drop the bags of food, sprint over to Ivan, and slam his head on the ground.

There's a sickening crunch that lets me know I broke something. Ivan has bravado but nothing else. He's the same rank as me, and he's not a mythic, which means that in a fight, I win.

I grip Ivan’s brown hair that's tied up in a short ponytail and drag him away from the twins. Through each step, my eyes stay locked on Kael. He neither flinches nor looks away as I approach him.

Less than a couple of feet away from him, I drop his unconscious friend on the ground by his feet. “I don't know what's crazier. That you had the audacity to walk into this tent knowing who lives here, or that you were willing to take me on.”

“I think that's my line. I don't know where you're from, but here in Ceto Dere, rank matters. As a noble who’s probably been thrown away by her family, you should have known that the best thing you could have done was kneel and shut up. Who do you think you are standing up to me?”

My hands clench and unclench into fists as I keep from lashing out unnecessarily.

“You're not wrong Kael. But in this argument, I think she wins.” Dropping from the top of the tent, Kennedy lands between Kael and myself. This time, he flinches. “That's twice. And I never repeat myself without consequences.”

Kennedy doesn't even have to tell Kael to leave. He turns around and heads for the exit. Kennedy grabs the back of Ivan's shirt and tosses him at Kael. They both go down in a heap onto the muddy ground.

“Don't leave that trash in my tent,” Kennedy warns forcing Kael to drag Ivan out with them. If I could wage a bet, I wouldn't put it past Kael to drag Ivan far enough away from the tent to where we can't see him and then drop them in some muddy patch.

My gaze goes to the twins checking them over for serious injuries. Koa tilts his head letting me know that they're all right.

“So, you want to explain why those two are in our tent.”

I don't answer immediately as I think about what to say. Kennedy isn't going to care about Onda nor is she going to care about the twin situation. How can I explain to her what I'm doing and why?

“Because I have something to protect to the bitter end. Rank, divinities, nothing's going stop me for making sure I get justice.”

Kennedy smirks as she reaches into one of the bags and grabs at a chocolate bar I brought. “Justice is a strong word for someone as weak as you. Now if you're going to say something about revenge, that would have been interesting.”

“I’ll get both.”

Kennedy’s smile spreads across her face. “Really? What would you give up to make that happen?” Kennedy stands up and gets close enough that only inches separate us. “What if I give you the opportunity take your revenge? Even if it’s a death sentence, would you take it?”

It's my turn to smirk. “I'm born under the Divinity of Chaos season. My life is constantly being lived with fifty-fifty odds. If that's what you're giving me, I'll take it. If I die, I die.?

“Huh.”

That's it. That's the only response Kennedy gives me before she leaves the tent. As soon as she's out of earshot, I Koa’s scolding begins.

“Are you crazy? You just threatened royals, to….to Kennedy. Do you know who her family is?”

“No,” I admit. “But I know who she is. She doesn't back down from a fight, and she respects people that don't either.”

“But you—”

“Instead of worrying about Kennedy, I suggest we focus on what to do to keep both of you away from Kael and Jay. I can’t believe they walked in here. Where's Anna?”

“She saw them and ran,” Coa clarifies as he stands up helping his brother to his feet.

“She must have went to grab Kennedy.”

I feel a headache come along as I rack my brain about how to keep the twins alive long enough to figure out what to do about Kael and Jay.

Ahh, I would love for Rumi to be here. Schemes were always his thing.

“What are you thinking about?” Koa clutches his side as he goes up to his brother and yanks the bag of food I got out of his hands.

“I’m thinking that this is going to be a rough couple of days for us. And I’m also thinking about the best place to kill someone and hide the evidence.”