One thing that bothered him, was how quickly it must have happened.
While he stared, Joren dropped beside the body, his voice already becoming shaky.
"No, no, no..."
He grabbed the man's shoulder and turned him over, as though searching for something.
Keane looked away for a moment. While he had killed a beast before, that was a monster trying to kill people, that was different.
These was a human being.
In he's days in this world, he had indeed pictured killing a person several times, but none of that prepared him for this. It wasn't by his power that he had this reaction, this was just instinctive.
He just looked at the horse again, then at the corpse. He walked around, looking for any signs of someone being dragged away or something.
'This for sure wasn't a robbery.' He thought to himself.
His eyes moved over the ground, and then he found something interesting, there were footprints… or more accurately, signs that someone had stepped on the grass there.
Most of the tracks were difficult to distinguish, but Keane's enhanced perception allowed him pick them up in better detail.
He followed the trail toward the trees while Joren remained beside the body sobbing now.
"Lina..."
Keane didn't bother to answer. He continued looking.
Following the tracks, one scattered, while the other was normal, it took him a few meters farther in, where he found what he could only describe as a knee pressed into the dirt.
Keane's eyes narrowed. He looked around.
Now he noticed new tracks, making them three now.
As he looked around, he noticed that the two tracks disappeared instantly after the place where someone had taken a knee, and only one continued, a third one.
Keane stared into the forest for another few seconds, then he turned around. "Someone took her." He said.
Joren looked at him, the rest of his tears barely contained in his eyes. "What? Then, where are you going?"
Keane started walking back toward the city.
"Keane."
He didn't answer.
Joren looked between him and the forest.
"What about Lina?"
Keane kept walking.
After a moment, Joren hurried after him.
"Y-You're not going after her?"
"No."
The answer was simple enough that Joren almost stumbled.
"What do you mean, no?" He couldn't understand, after all, they had come all the way here. "You just said someone took her."
Keane didn't slow down, however. "I'm going back to the city." He said, turning his head slightly to look at Joren, "go back to the Inn."
"I can't."
"Then stay here."
Joren stopped, opened his mouth, then closed it..
Keane didn't bother to wait or turn back again, he just continued walking.
He didn't feel particularly good about leaving him there, but bringing Joren along would accomplish nothing. The man was exhausted, emotional, and far too slow to be useful.
Besides, Keane had already decided what he was going to do. He wasn't going to follow a trail someone had deliberately left behind.
Elara, Sylvi, and Mara were involved with the Veil of Shadows. They had a reason to keep Joren under control. They had a reason to keep Lina from talking.
More importantly, they had the timing.
The tournament was still a month away. There was plenty of time to adjust their plans.
'If I follow the trail, I walk into whatever trap they've prepared.'
That seemed unnecessary. If they wanted him involved, then there was no reason to chase them, he could simply walk to the people who had already been manipulating him.
It was faster.
Keane increased his pace.
…
The city gates eventually came into view.
As for Joren, he had fallen far behind, and true to his word, Keane didn't wait. By the time he reached the inn, the morning crowd had started filling the streets.
He walked through the entrance and went straight to her room.
He didn't bother knocking. Pushing the door it opened for him easily, as even before he went in, the first person he saw standing before him, was Sylvi, who stood on the other side.
Keane stopped, and for a brief moment they stared at eachother. Her expression was as unreadable as ever, and for a few seconds, neither moved.
"Move."
Sylvi did not budge, but regardless, Keane a step forward, and only then did she finally moved aside after brief hesitation.
Keane walked into the room, and of course what a surprise, Elara was sitting near the window.
She looked almost exactly as she had the previous day. Calm… Composed… Like nothing in the world had changed.
"Keane," she said. "I wasn't expecting you this early."
"You have Lina." He said.
Elara went quiet for a second, and in that moment of time, Keane could see that it was the silence of one deciding what to say, and not necessarily of shock or confusion.
Then Elara leaned back.
"I do."
Keane stared at her, he had expected some form of deceit and manipulation, but this… this was easier than he'd expected.
"You admit it."
"There would be little point in lying."
'Why do I feel like something is off still?' He questioned in his mind.
"Tsk… why?"
"Well, it's no secret. The girl knows too much." She said as she folded her hands.
"Joren is becoming unreliable, the city is becoming unstable, and the tournament is approaching… there are several groups that would be very interested in using either of them against us."
"So you took her."
"I had her brought somewhere safe." Keane's expression didn't change.
"You killed the people escorting her." He said, and at that, Elara's eyes narrowed slightly.
"No… I didn't order their deaths." To that, Keane's eyes shifted for a moment to Sylvi, and then back.
"But that was for the best in the end… There are other people watching Lina." Elara said, her tone remaining calm. "Taking her first ensured she couldn't be used against us."
"So you kidnapped her for her protection."
"Among other reasons."
Keane almost laughed, 'women sure are scary…' though she was one he knew from the very first meeting.
"You make kidnapping sound very reasonable." He said.
"I'm not asking you to approve of it."
"No. You're asking me to accept it."
To that Elara smiled faintly. "Perhaps."
Keane sighed, then looked around the room. "You said she's alive."
"She is."
"She's unharmed?"
Elara paused… "Yes."
Keane waited.
"Completely unharmed," she added.
He studied her face, and for what it was worth, it appeared that she meant it.
That didn't make him feel any better, though. Perhaps, he had become more weary of her craftiness rather than Lina's situation.
"You're not going to hurt her." He said, and it wasn't a question.
Elara studied him for a moment. "No."
"Not threaten her."
"No."
"Not use her as leverage against me."
Elara's eyes shifted slightly.
"I said I wouldn't hurt her."
"That's not what I asked."
A small silence followed…
Then Elara nodded. "Very well." Her voice became completely straightforward. "Lina will not be threatened, harmed, or used against you."
Keane believed her, and that was the strange part.
In the end, Elara wasn't kind, she was a woman who ran a hidden organization that manipulated people, participated in assassination plots, and dipped hands in the bowl of deceitfulness.
But, when she made a promise like this, Keane suspected she would keep it… or was this all still part of her trickery…
Anyway, that was enough for him. Turning, he walked toward the door, Elara watching him.
"You aren't going to ask me to release her?"
"No."
"You aren't going to ask about the tournament?"
"No."
"You aren't going to ask where she's being held?"
"No."
Elara's expression changed slightly.
"What do you want, then?"
Keane stopped briefly and glanced at her.
"How about, don't touch her."
Elara held his gaze, then turning her head, she said, "I understand."
Keane nodded and left after that, shutting the door behind him.
Elara stayed seated, and for several seconds said nothing, then she looked toward Sylvi.
"What do you think?"
Sylvi's eyes remained on the door.
"He's dangerous, isn't he? He doesn't want to rescue her."
Elara smiled faintly.
"Not exactly."
Sylvi finally looked at her.
Elara leaned back in her chair.
"He wants her left alone."
Sylvi said nothing.
Elara thought about the boy she'd met several days ago.
At first, she'd assumed he was simply powerful, then she'd assumed he was hiding something… Now she wasn't sure either description was sufficient.
Nothing seemed to impress him, neither money, nor status, nor power… and now, when presented with the chance to demand Lina's release, he hadn't even bothered, he had drawn a line instead… A very small one…
And that was far more interesting.
…
Leaving the Inn, Keane ran into Joren who was waiting outside, or perhaps had only reached there some moments ago. He looked worse than before.
Keane stopped in front of him, watching the man breath in and out as if he had just outpaced a lion.
"It's handled."
Joren stared at him, still trying to catch his breath. "What?"
"Lina will be okay."
Joren's expression tightened.
"Where is she?"
"You don't need to worry, she's alive and well. When the time is right she will be released back to you. All you need to do is shut your mouth and stay clear, and all will be well."
Joren nodded as he stared at him for several seconds. He knew exactly what had just happened, and a ting of fear rose in him.
He knew exactly the kind of people involved, and since he came back to the Inn, Joren had pieced things together himself, just as he too had suspected.
Even then, not many were known to negotiate with the likes of The Veil of Shadows… And somehow, he'd walked back out. There might have been only one member present, but all know, that whereever the shadows are, there are a hundred… a famous saying people used to describe the operations of assassins.
Joren swallowed.