Chapter 6: Of Old Friends and Lies

"It's such a pleasure to see you, Hayden," Lord Lukas greeted warmly. "Why didn't you tell me when you got in?"

Hayden smirked at him. "Well, you looked busy with Lady Lara," he said. "I didn't want to bother you."

Under normal circumstances, Addy would have winced at the innuendo, but she could barely keep herself from spiralling. She prayed to Delos, Diamarra, and every other god and goddess out there that Hayden wouldn't be able to recognize her.

She had changed a lot over the last few years. She had grown half a foot taller, and cut her once long, silver hair and dyed it black. She had gotten a tan from the hours spent wandering the streets - or at least as much of a tan as her once pale skin would allow.

Her newfound muscles and sword skills aided in her disguise. Abigail Valadon would have never gone near a sword, and she was quite vocal in her dislike of all forms of exercise. And she acted differently, she knew. Her voice was deeper, she thought through what she said more, and she moved gracefully - Gavril had drilled the latter two into her, said that it would keep her alive one day.

If not for her distinctive eyes - blue with purple tints - she knew there was no chance she would be recognized. Not unless she made a very stupid mistake, like running up and hugging Hayden like every bone in her body wished to do.

Addy took a deep breath. She would be fine.

"Oh, you're never a bother, Hayden," Lukas said smoothly. "The King just recently told me how lucky he and his wife were to have you to help with... What's her name again?"

"Jessica," Hayden said.

Jessica, Addy thought. My baby cousin. She must be six, or seven now.

Lord Lukas seemed to remember that there were two other people in the room. "Oh, where are my manners. Girls, this is Lord Hayden Lochan, the former ward of the king and queen and the future lord of Galys."

He turned his eyes to the women. "Hayden, this is Lillian Garland and Addison Freeland. They're the ones that'll be joining you on your mission."

Hayden glanced at Addy and Lillian, almost sizing them up. "Honour to meet you."

Addy took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "All due respect, my lord, but why would you risk yourself on a mission such as this?" Through some miracle, she managed to sound only vaguely interested, though her head had been swarming with questions.

"The Amulet of Orion is an heirloom of my family. You could say I have a vested interest in reclaiming it."

He sounded indifferent, but Addy thought of the way she had heard him crying that night in the palace, and knew that reclaiming something of his family must have meant more to him than he could ever say.

Then again, it wasn't like she knew him anymore.

Addy simply nodded. Lillian did the same.

Hayden yawned. "You must forgive me, I'm simply exhausted. I'll meet up with you tomorrow." He wrote something down on a piece of paper - presumably an address - and passed it to Lillian, who immediately passed it to Addy. "Good evening."

And then he was gone.

~~

Upon returning to the inn that evening, Addy had tossed and turned for what felt like hours, and not just due to the moldiness of the room. She couldn't stop thinking about Hayden.

Addy had hated the way he had sounded, all stilted and formal. And she had hated herself even more for not blurting out who she was the second she saw him. Though Addy had grown to trust Lillian, and even considered her a friend, and Lord Lukas seemed harmless enough, and Hayden was what he was to her, she had good reasons for not telling anyone the truth.

Gavril was the only one who knew Addison Freeland and Abigail Valadon were one and the same, and he only knew it because it was unavoidable. To tell anyone else was to risk their life if the truth ever came out.

No matter how much she wanted to, she could never, ever be honest with anyone.

Sleep didn't come easy that night.

~~

The day of the Festival of Light, Abigail woke up at the crack of dawn. Her lady's maid, Mya, had looked more than a little miffed when Abigail had dragged her out of bed so early, but she needed to look just right for the day. Mya was the fifth daughter of a minor mountain house, and seemed perpetually cranky about being in the shining city.

Abigail didn't let bother her, especially not today of all days. So she was as polite and gracious as she could be while Mya did her hair and helped her pick out what to wear. Her long curls were braided and left to hang freely down her back, makeup was applied, and she wore a loose gold dress.

Since this was a formal occasion, she was allowed to wear a small tiara, and it was gold to match her dress. Abigail resisted the urge to squirm as she thought of what Eliza would be wearing - something similar in silver, most likely, as they had planned.

Luna would probably throw a fit at the idea of attending a public event, but mother would coax her into going. Luckily, with such huge crowds, Abigail wouldn't be on babysitting duty. There was something about her sister that had always made her feel... uncomfortable.

"You're all ready to go, your highness."

"Thank you, Mya." Abigail beamed at her lady's maid, who offered a small smile in return.

The rest of the morning passed in a haze of preparations. Then, finally, around ten, the festival began. It was happening all across Alura, of course, but the largest crowd was in the capital. The day began with prayers to Diamara, goddess of Light, in the great Sun temple.

Abigail knelt with her family in one of the front rows in silent prayer. Beside her, she could see Luna, eyes wide open, rolling her eyes at the spectacle. It was common knowledge in their family that Luna didn't believe in the gods.

Father had told Luna to keep it quiet, though. It was believed in Alura that Diamara was the one who granted their people the light-wielding powers, to protect their borders from harm. Abigail was certain it was true, but knew that Luna didn't like the idea of being beholden to any greater power.

After prayers, Abigail went to greet Aunt Mara - they had just received word she had arrived. Abigail bounded up the steps and ran towards her aunt, all sense of dignity abandoned. She could see her father shaking his head behind her, an amused smile on his face.

"Aunt Mara, it's so good to see you!" a breathless Abigail exclaimed.

"It's lovely to see you too, little one," Mara smiled. Just then, Abby noticed the bundle in her aunt's arms. "Come meet your cousin Jessica."

Abigail decided right then that the little girl, with puffs of red hair and piercing blue eyes, was the cutest baby she had ever seen, and told her aunt such.

Mara laughed. "I'm glad you think so," she said. She jerked her head to her left. "Now, go say hi to your uncle Leon."

Abigail exchanged greetings with her uncle, who looked more than a little amused, before noticing a fourth member of their party. It was a boy around her age, with blue eyes, freckles, brown hair, and a more than a little bit frightened look. He looked a bit like a scared puppy, she thought, and decided she liked him.

She assumed that was the Hayden Lochan her aunt had told her so much about. "I'm Abigail Valadon, the princes of Alura." She gestured to her tiara. "You must be Hayden Lochan. I'm sorry about what happened to your parents, but I really do hope you enjoy the festival. I love the festival."

The boy blinked, as if he was still processing what she was saying. "Um... thank you?"

"You're most welcome. The food is going to be incredible, they have the best tarts in all the land, and the shows will be amazing. You'll love it."

She wasn't particularly discouraged from the lack of response from Hayden, reasoning that he was just shy. Still, she couldn't stop herself from smiling wider when the corner of his mouth ticked up in a grin. She was glad he wasn't sad anymore.

"Hayden, why don't you go with Abigail. She'll show you around the city," Aunt Mara said, passing Jessica over to her husband and turning to hug Father.

Hayden barely had time to nod his assent before Abigail grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the city streets, guards on their heels. They were going to have so much fun.

~~

In the hours that the pair toured the city, Abigail learned that her first impression of the orphaned lord wasn't completely accurate. He loved to talk. It just took a while to get him to open up, and for the first bit, Abby felt like she was talking to a brick wall.

"My best friend Eliza isn't in the city right now, but she'll be back for the end of the festival tonight. Her father was called away last week to deal with the unrest in Mordan, and she went with him."

Silence.

Abigail didn't let that bother her, and soon moved forward to talking about her family. It was there that she finally got Hayden Lochan to speak, since it turned out that he was just as passionate about swordplay as Jay was.

Really. Abigail didn't get what was interesting about spending hours in the training yard, and now the boy beside her was droning on about technique.

"At least, that's what my tutor says," Hayden finished.

"Really? Well, I completely disagree," Abigail said.

"In what regard?"

"The prospect of having a tutor in swordplay at all. The whole thing seems pointless to me," Abigail needled him, laughing as her companion huffed.

She continued on. "I just don't see the need, that's all."

"What if you need to defend yourself?"

"That's what I have my guards and brother for."

"What if you're separated from them? What if the only person you can rely on is yourself?"

Abigail snorted at the notion, but decided to throw Hayden a bone. "I suppose we will have to agree to disagree." She held out her hand for Hayden to shake, and with some eye-rolling, he shook it.

Abigail was glad that her companion was talking now, and found that she rather liked him. "What are your opinions on healing magic?"

She shouldn't have asked.

But Jay would have loved him. They were so similar. 

~~

When Addy woke up from her night of tossing and turning, lost in old dreams, she could feel the cold air nipping at her ankles. Sitting up and looking down, she winced at the sight of her blankets, kicked off sometime during the night and pressed up against the mouldy walls of the room.

She could almost feel her eyelids start to drop again, but she went through the motions of her daily routine like a corpse, tying her hair back, and grabbing her weapons and possessions before departing the inn for - thankfully - the last time.

Lord Lukas had said last night that the trio would be departing Salt City at around midmorning, and that it would take an estimated nine nights to travel across Perrnath. Addy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at that news, knowing that she wouldn't have to be around Hayden for long.

Though she was happy to know he was alive, staring at his face last night, so cold and distant, was like an open wound she couldn't quite close. It reminded her of the life she had once had, of the girl she had once been.

Lillian and Addy stopped at a carriage selling food and quickly scarfed down a portion of greasy fish and chips, and a bit of ale. It wasn't exactly appropriate breakfast food, but it was cheap, and delicious.

"Why is it that fish in Perrnath just seems to taste so much better?" Lillian was saying, after her second portion, eyes alight.

"Fishing is one of their main industries," Addy said, her thoughts wandering. "Back when I was younger, I had the best-smoked salmon of my life here."

"You've been to the country before?" Lillian asked, surprised.

Addy winced internally. "Yes, my father was a merchant and he brought me along on one of his trips."

Luckily, Lillian seemed to sense her discomfort and gracefully changed the topic. "Would you mind going over the map for me? I think we've found that navigation isn't one of my strong suits."

Addy couldn't help giggling. "Of course."

Hayden had arranged to meet them outside a pastry shop in the better part of town. The pair's choice of attire and meagre supplies garnered more than their fair share of sidelong glances from the passerby, but Addy held her head up high and didn't bother trying to conceal the sword on her back. She had nothing to be ashamed of, and no reason to be worried about drawing too much attention to herself - not with the lord of the city financing her trip.

Their newest companion was leaning against the side of the cobblestone building, eyes half-closed and expression blank. His face perked up considerably when he saw them, and he stood upright.

He was wearing relatively high end travelling clothes, but nothing like the noble attire he was wearing the night before. Addy didn't register much else about him, as her eyes went to the sword on his back. It gleamed in the daylight, beams of light reflecting off the sapphire at the hilt shaped like an ocean's wave - his family's crest, she remembered.

"Nice sword," she said, cringing inside when her voice came out tinged with jealousy. It wasn't her fault, however. Most would kill to have a sword like that.

Lillian gave her a sideways glance, almost like: what are you doing antagonizing the rich guy financing our trip?

Addy gave her friend her best apologetic expression. Lillian looked slightly mollified.

Hayden raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready to go then?"

Addy and Lillian nodded their assent, and the group headed out of Salt City, in pursuit of the Amulet of Orion at last.

Addy sighed in relief. Soon, they'd be done. Soon, she'd forget any of this ever happened. She could live in isolation with her secrets and never risk hurting anyone again.

After all, it wasn't like one mission could change her life. 

~~

As a late Canada Day gift for you all I decided to post a second chapter today. I just started summer school so I have less time to work on this story, but I luckily have a couple of chapters in reserve. 

I hope you liked the insight in Hayden and Abigail's relationship, and Addy's feelings towards her past - she has some issues she needs to work through.