The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

26 Faceless Attack

~Tamia~

Sylvester finally asked me to follow him to Lucland to meet his mother. After meeting Dominic at the club, I wasn't looking forward to the meeting.

I learned the woman was strict and had her sons on a tight leash.

Even though Sylvester had confessed his feelings for me, what if she did not approve of me?

I was scared, but since Sylvester insisted and told me I had nothing to worry about, I decided to take him up on it.

We ate breakfast in our room and prepared to leave.

Linda was the most worried for me because there were only two things that could happen; she could either be unreasonable and ask her son to choose between her and me, or give me a chance. I hoped she would give me a chance.

Leo did not have parents when we got together, so this was new for me.

We got dressed to visit his mother.

On our way out, Silvester stopped.

"Marcel needs me for a minute. Do you think you can wait for me? The matter seems urgent; it is about Bane and the East," he said, and I was a bit worried because of Leo.

"Link me when you are ready to leave," I told him, and he nodded. I decided to go to Avery's room.

I found Avery in her room, embroidering a piece of fabric. It looked horrible, but it seemed to be her new pastime. I had not seen her that morning because we didn't eat in the dining room.

"Hey, you guys haven't left yet?" She said, putting down the hoop that held the scarf she was marring with her needlework.

I noticed a diamond ring on her finger, and she smiled at me.

"He proposed an hour ago. I did not think about it; I just said yes," She said, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"I can't get it wrong twice now, can I?" She said, and I could hear the nervousness in her voice. She was afraid.

"Why did you say yes?" I asked her, picking up on her fear.

"Because I love him, and it will be great to have a life with him, but deep down, I am scared fated will show up and mess me up again," She said, and I went to hug her.

She pulled away and nodded, wiping away her tears.

I now understood why she was in her room working on an embroidery hoop instead of socialising in the eastern garden as usual.

"I have to take this leap of faith, or I might keep guessing and live with regrets. Marcel is a great guy and a great catch. He is a step up from that arsehole, Max. This is a good thing," she said, wiping her tears.

"Feeling afraid and being happy at the same time is a weird mix of emotions," She confessed, and I smiled.

"Has Sylvester told you what is happening in the east?" She asked, changing the topic, and I shook my head.

"We were heading out when Marcel called him for a meeting about Bane and the east," I told her, and she nodded.

"That bastard," She said, and I wondered why she was pissed.

"Bane has successfully divided the east. Leo isn't in full control of the East anymore. A part of the East has joined the south. I also learned he might go to war against Leo to take over the East completely. I just picked bits of Marcel's conversation. I am sure Sylvester will tell you what is going on in case I heard wrong," She said, and I was in shock.

How could the Eastern Alphas allow Bane to use them like this? I was worried. I hoped Leo was getting all the help he needed to push back. It was one thing to willingly join up; it was another to be forced into it.

I sat nervously in Avery's room for almost two hours and decided to return to my room. I wasn't in the mood to hang out in the garden.

"Where are you?" I linked Sylvester.

"Still in the meeting," he said, and I felt bored. I sat and prayed for Leo's safety. Eventually, I got tired of waiting and fell asleep.

LATER THAT DAY.

I woke up to a commotion in the corridor.

I looked out the window, and it was evening.

I wondered what was happening. Sylvester did not return.

The meeting had taken all day. What was happening?

Some guards entered my room, and I sat up in bed, worried because they were northern guards. No one had ever barged into Sylvester's room like this before.

"Sylvester", I linked Sylvester but met silence which meant he was not around. To my surprise, Dominic walked in, looking angry.

"Bind the bitch; she has questions to answer," he said, and Kaira began to growl.

"It will be in your best interest to comply, or your actions might be seen as treason", he warned me, and I looked at him angrily.

"Does Sylvester know about this?" I asked him, and he did not care.

"I do not need his permission to question a prisoner. Fucking him does not change what you are here. A crime has been committed, and we require your full cooperation to solve it," he said, then the guards clamped the silver cuffs around my wrist.

"What happened? At least I deserve to know what happened." I said while the guards dragged me out of the room.

"You will find out during questioning," Dominic said, and I tried to link Marcel and Theodore, but they were not around too.

"What has happened to Sylvester?" I asked, afraid something had happened to him, and Dominic stopped and slapped me on the face.

"You should not speak his name. He is lord of the north, whore!" he growled. What had happened to make him like this?

"He trusted you. I warned him. Our mother was attacked today and is currently fighting for her life. She was attacked in the afternoon, and she was in the company of one of a council elder.

Unfortunately, the elder did not make it. The surviving warriors identified the men as a mix of eastern and southern mercenaries. I know you are affiliated with Bane, so the council wants us to question the newcomers, especially you. Bane had dared to attack twice now since you got here. It must mean something," He said to me, and I felt it was ridiculous.

"We have all sworn to serve the Alpha," I said, avoiding mentioning Sylvester's name.

"How can we work against him? Why should we pay for Bane's crimes?" I asked, and he looked at me with rage in his eyes.

"I will tell you why. I warned my brother to be careful with you, but he wouldn't listen. Too bad I am here to help him think when he is carried away. Since our father was murdered, our mother has hidden in Lucland successfully without event. You are the first outsider to know she lives in Lucland, and then this happened. I also won't forget that Bane had tried to take you from the north. You were supposed to visit her today; they might have as well come to get you and decided to do some damage when they did not find you there," he said, and my eyes widened at his wicked angle. Putting things that way made me seem suspicious.

"I won't say anything until I see my alpha," I said, and he turned to look at me and slapped me again.

"You will afford me the same respect. I have permission from the council to use force if necessary. I would not want to damage my brother's toy. Do not push me," he said, and I remained silent, knowing this was a difficult situation. As much as I hated Dominic, I could not dispute the fact that he had a point.

I was carried to a cell and locked up.

Soon Avery and Linda were thrown into the same cell with me. Linda had a bleeding nose, so I figured she resisted.

We were too many for them to afford private cells.

Other women that were brought from the East were locked up, too; some were bound in silver chains and made to sit on the floor because the cells were full.

"This is highly unfair. After swearing to serve the north, they still treat us as prisoners," Avery retorted, and I nodded.

"Let us wait for Sylvester to return. I am sure he will put Dominic in his place," I told Avery, and she shook her head.

"I doubt it is that simple. If the council is backing Dominic on this, then Sylvester would have to allow the investigation to run its course," she said, telling me something I already knew.

"Why did Bane attack their mother and kill a council member?" I asked Avery, and she frowned at me.

"There is a war, remember?" She said, and I shook my head. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

"There is nothing substantial to gain from that," I said, and Linda shook her head.

"He could destabilise the lord and the north. If she dies, Sylvester might act irrationally, giving Bane the opportunity he wants," Linda said, and I shook my head.

"It still doesn't sound Like Bane's mode of operation. I think someone did this to make it seem like Bane," I said.

"It doesn't matter; we will still have to answer questions. I wished we had something useful to give," Avery said, knowing what happened to prisoners that were useless, and we sat there.

No one attended to us. We spent the night there.

"Who gave you the right to barge in here and do this!"

I heard Sylvester's voice. He was livid. I had woken up from sleep in the cell they kept us in.

"So what if Bane attacked mother? Does that mean you should take it out on Tamia, Avery and Linda and the innocent women from the East? What crime did they commit here?" He asked, and I heard Dominic's voice.

"The Council gave the order. I am just carrying it out," Dominic said, trying to justify his actions. I could hear a tinge of fear in his voice too. Sylvester was outraged. We all felt it.

"You are just being malicious. You could have as well asked them whatever question you wanted to ask without degrading them like this. You wanted to hurt them, and I do not know why," Sylvester said.

"Degrade them? They are prisoners. They should be in a cell and not in your bed," and I heard a punch, and then there was an uproar. Sylvester was beating his brother up.

"Please stop; I am fine," I linked him quickly. I did not know if it worked, but the unrest stopped. I heard footsteps, and then I saw Sylvester in front of our cell.

"Open it!" he yelled at the guard, and the guard was so afraid that he dropped the key twice before opening the cell.

"They will have to answer the council's questions," I heard Dominic say.

"When that time comes, it will be done with respect," Sylvester said, and as soon as the cell was opened, he rushed towards me and carried me out of the cell.

I honestly wanted to walk, so I made him put me down. He was afraid and worried.

"I am not mad at you," I said so he could relax.

Avery and Linda were ushered out.

"I am sorry I did not return on time," Sylvester pleaded with me, and I told him it was okay.

He asked me if they had hit me, and I lied that they didn't. The last thing I wanted was for Sylvester to go berserk and beat his brother.

"What happened?" I finally asked him while we walked towards the room.

"My mother's home was attacked. She was injured while a council member was killed. Bane soldiers left a message demanding I send you to him," He said, and I was stunned.

Dominic's anger made sense.

Why will Bane do something like this? What was his deal?

"So he knew where your mother lived all along?" I asked, and Sylvester looked at me and searched my eyes.

"That is the second issue. No one knows where my mother lives except the council members, my brother, and me. It was a surprise that Bane knew to attack there and also knew we would be visiting," Sylvester said. I realised the situation was a puzzle.

It was either Bane had an informant and knew more than Sylvester thought he knew, or the attack wasn't Bane but was made to seem like it. I dared not say these things but hoped they would solve it soon.

"How is your mother?" I asked.

"She is out of the woods and healing nicely," he said.

He stopped to open the door, and I walked in.

"Do not worry about the council or my brother, Tamia. He is just an arsehole. You have nothing to prove to anyone. Marcel and Theodore are already investigating the incident," He told me, and I nodded.

This development also meant I won't see his mother anytime soon.