The Path of Giants

that missing piece.
But that desire could be dangerous if I was wrong about her.

CHAPTER NINE
I finished my bath quickly and noticed Kataleya out in the garden, alone. I figured Hadley was still washing off her many layers of dirt, so I went out to join Kataleya. She was staring at the grass where her father died, a blood stain remaining. I didn’t know where they had put his body, but I imagined it was somewhere in the mansion.
The whereabouts of Trevor, on the other hand, were more of a mystery. Had he left in a rage after she’d denied his proposal, or was he still around somewhere?
“I’m guessing Hadley will be ready to leave soon,” I said as I came up on Kataleya’s side.
She didn’t look up from the grass for some time, but eventually she glanced at me. “I wish you wouldn’t talk about her like she’s anything more than possibly a dangerous witch. It makes me nervous, Jon.”
I thought back to the tone I had used. I supposed I did sound as if I was speaking about an old friend.
“If you’re coming with us,” I said, “you don’t need to worry about me letting my guard down too much. We will keep each other safe until she is within the castle. Then the king will know what to do with her.”
It felt strange discussing Hadley as if she was a threat. I found myself looking over my shoulder, hoping she wouldn’t overhear.
I barely knew this girl. Why did I feel like it was up to me to protect her?
Wait, no, it was Kataleya who was playing with my emotions. Hadley was trusting me to protect her. She had volunteered to come here, and she seemed eager to help us.
“I am coming with you,” Kataleya said. “But I’m not sure I will be able to stay at the castle for long. I want to arrive at the castle as quickly as possible, however.”
“Then it’s a plan. What about Trevor?”
She scoffed. “I cannot even think about marriage right now. Trevor understands. He says he will come for me in a few weeks.”
“Come for you?” I asked.
She looked at the ground again. “I believe he still thinks we will marry.”
I chose not to say anything.
She put up her hand. “I know how all of this sounds. I’d rather not speak about it, even with him. I mostly nodded along to his plan after he heard the news about my father. I can figure out what I feel later.”
The fact that she was going back to the castle, at least for a short time, was good enough for me.
The female servant who had taken Hadley to her bath ran toward us in a panic.
“Lady Kataleya! That foul girl has gone into the cellar against my wishes!”
“Why is she going into the cellar?” Kataleya asked.
“She wouldn’t say. I told her she wasn’t allowed. She didn’t care. She pushed me when I tried to block her. I came here right after.”
“There must be some explanation,” I offered.
Horror struck Kataleya’s face. “My father’s body. She must know it’s in there.”
“She wouldn’t dare,” I said, as I felt the same horror I saw in Kataleya’s expression.
“Get the guards!” Kataleya told the servant as she took off running. I hurried after her.
We rushed through the lavish rooms of her house, skidding across the rugs and knocking down a vase, but it didn’t slow down Kataleya.
The door to the cellar was open. Kataleya flew down the stairs with me right behind her. It was a large cellar, lit by a few lamps on tables. There was one main route through a collection of furniture, porcelain, and other items of storage—all of which combined were worth more than my house in Bhode.
At the end of the cellar stood Hadley with her back to us. Whitley’s body was laid on the table, a number of tools and containers with fluids nearby. A cloth covered him, but Hadley had it lifted as she leaned over the body.
Kataleya screamed, “What are you doing!?”
Hadley slipped something into her pocket and slowly turned around. “Nothing,” she clearly lied.
Kataleya stormed toward Hadley with great aggression. I thought about restraining her, but I had never seen Kataleya put her hands on anyone in anger, and it was difficult to imagine she would even now.
“Show me what you put in your pocket,” Kataleya demanded.
“It’s just a moonstone,” Hadley said as she took it out and held it up.
Kataleya tried to snatch it out of Hadley’s hands, but Hadley was quick. She moved it behind her back.
“It belongs to me,” she said.
Kataleya practically growled as she pushed Hadley out of her way. “Stay there. Don’t move.”
Hadley shot me a nervous look. I gave her back a “what the hell did you just do?” with a jolt of my neck.
Kataleya looked closely at her father’s body as if checking for anything amiss. He appeared just like he was sleeping, probably treated by a skilled embalming priest.
Her face broke when she turned back to Hadley, her eyes glistening with tears. “Tell me what you did to my father.”
“I didn’t do anything to him. He’s gone, and nothing I did changed that.”
“Jon—” Kataleya began, but I knew what she was going to say.
“I know,” I agreed with Kataleya. Then I told Hadley, “Let me see the moonstone.”
She held it up for me nervously, no doubt worried I would take it from her. Kataleya was going to ask me to cast an ordia spell that I hadn’t practiced very much. I had used Identify on the red diamond earlier, but it hadn’t told me anything. I did the same here, and just like with the diamond, I couldn’t decipher what my mana was trying to tell me.
It was like listening to a whisper in which I couldn’t make out any of the words. There was a message there. I could almost feel the intention of my mana. This was something powerful. I had no idea what it was, though.
“I can’t