Fatefall - 3

Chapter 3 - Adrian

It started when we asked ourselves what gave them power over us. What made the Fates our rulers? Why did we bow to them? And then the question arose: could we claim this power as our own? The answer was yes.

The last thing Adrian wanted to see when he woke up with a pounding headache was his sister’s face. Especially considering they were twins. 

“See, I told you he was alive,” came a distant voice. Adrian registered it as belonging to Miles, the young soldier he’d paid to monitor the arrest of the assassin. “Just a little beat up is all.” 

“Yes,” agreed Ada, wrinkling her nose as Adrian’s eyes flew open. “If that's what you call someone who looks like a dead fish.” 

“Hey,” Adrian protested, pushing himself into a sitting position. “You forget that we look alike, Ada.”

Miles squinted his eyes. “Nope, you definitely look more dead than she does.”

Adrian shot the younger boy a glare, trying to ignore the smug grin that Ada was sending his way. “Why did you bring her here, anyway? I thought our deal was that you wouldn’t tell anyone what I was doing-”

“I didn’t,” Miles argued, offended. “But when I found you unconscious and your … prisoner on the loose, I figured someone in your family ought to come and pick you up.” 

Adrian tried and failed to come up with a rebuttal. Okay, so maybe his attempt to capture an assassin and force them to reveal the prince’s murderer had failed miserably. But to be fair, he hadn’t been expecting the assassin to be a girl probably younger than him, nor had he expected anyone to actually come for her. And his temper … he shuddered at his inability to control his anger. 

“I can walk home on my own, thank you very much,” Adrian sniffed, trying to recover at least some of his lost dignity. 

“Yeah?” Ada challenged. “What do you plan on telling Mother and Father?”

Adrian frowned, his mind struggling to come up with an adequate lie. Ada smirked in response to the silence. “See, this is why you need me.” 

“Fine,” Adrian relented. “I assume you have some cleverly crafted story already available?”

Ada nodded but the grim look on her face sent guilt tugging at Adrian’s gut. 

“Father won’t bother asking,” she said softly. “He’s too concerned with the Tournament, so as long as we stop by Koda on our way home, he won’t notice. But Mother … she asks questions, Adrian. Which is why we slept at Asher’s grave last night.” 

Fates. Adrian cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair. “Is that really the only thing you could think of?”

Ada hung her head. “I don’t like it anymore than you do, Adi. Just like how I don’t like lying to Father every time he asks me if Asher is getting better. But …” Her voice trailed off. 

But it’s necessary, he could have finished for her. 

“Wait, you haven’t told your Father about Asher’s death?” Miles interjected, disbelief shiting his voice several octaves higher. “You haven’t told the king of the Fates-forsaken Kingdom that his son is dead?”

Ada and Adrian shot Miles identical glares. 

“With the Tournament dominating most of Father’s time, Mother decided we shouldn't tell him until after the Tournament is over,” Ada explained. “Even though he’s the king, he makes rash decisions when he’s angry, just like someone else I know.” She shot a look in Adrian’s direction and he ignored it. “If Father knew that Asher was murdered, he would tear the kingdom apart. Literally.”

“Which is why this is top secret,” Adrian continued, emphasizing the secret part because apparently Miles wasn’t very good at keeping secrets. That was evident enough through Ada’s presence at the prison. “Mother had Asher buried in the city graveyard, and she’d believe that Ada and I slept there, though she won’t be happy.”

Mother and Father hated when Ada, Adrian, and Asher interacted with non-royals, though Adrian was never really sure why. He blamed it on Father’s paranoia, but his mother could be equally strict when she wanted to be. 

“Well, I suppose we best get going,” Ada sighed, handing a cloak caked in dirt to Adrian. At least Ada was prepared. “If we want to have time to stop and visit Koda quickly, we should leave as soon as possible.”

“Great,” Adrian said before turning to Miles. “I’ll send you your payment in a few days. Just … don’t tell anyone, okay? Please?”

Miles nodded, and for once he seemed sincere. “I promise.” 

Ada tugged Adrian forward before he could wish Miles goodbye and soon they were hurrying through the streets. 

The sun peered over the tops of the buildings that lined the streets. Adrian and Ada tugged their hoods over their faces, trying to avoid the merchants as they prepared for a busy day in the market. Their feet flew over uneven cobblestones and despite the aching in Adrian’s ribs, he felt enlivened. 

“What were you even doing in the prison, anyway?” Ada hissed at him. 

Adrian groaned. “I knew you were gonna ask that, so I’m just going to come right out and tell you that you really don’t want to know.”

“Oh, no, I think I do,” Ada shot back, the playfulness gone from her voice. 

“Fine, you want to know? I’m doing what you and Mother don’t have the guts to do,” Adrian growled, just loud enough for Ada to hear him. 

She didn’t slow her pace, though she did falter. “Adrian … no! Don’t tell me-”

“I didn’t ask for your permission to begin with, and I certainly don’t need it now,” he said. “Don’t you want to see Asher avenged?”
“Of course!” Ada burst. “But it shouldn’t come at the risk of your life!”

Adrian scoffed. “My life isn’t on the line, Ada. I’m being safe.”

“Oh, yes, how could I forget that we found you unconscious on the floor this morning,” Ada shot back, shaking her head with exasperation. “I don’t care that you want to find Asher’s killer. Fates know I do too. But don’t you think capturing an assassin is going a little too far?”

“It didn’t work anyway,” Adrian grumbled, kicking a stray stone. 

“I could’ve told you that,” Ada sighed. “Did you find out anything useful at all?”

“Besides the fact that the assassin was young, female, and as stubborn as a mule? Nope. In fact, I probably revealed more information than I gained.” He blew out an angry breath, expecting Ada to attack him. 

But when he looked at her, he found that her lips were pressed into a thin line and her pale brow was creased with worry. Her dark hair hung limp at her shoulders and her eyes were rimmed with shadows. She opened her mouth and closed it again, and then stopped walking abruptly. “We’re here,” she stated simply, pushing past Adrian and making her way up the steps to Koda’s door. 

Adrian cursed himself for being so careless. Ada’s frustration with him was clear and he couldn’t blame her. He should have known better than to recklessly pursue an assassin. With a sigh, he pushed his worries to the back of his mind. 

“Come in,” a muffled voice called from inside the house. Adrian and Ada hurried inside before anyone could recognize them under their cloaks. “Cloaks on the hooks, wipe your shoes on the mat!” 

“Always a stickler for organization,” Ada grumbled, but a tiny smile twitched to life on her face. 

Adrian grinned too and removed his cloak, hanging it on one of the pegs by the door. Even though Koda was the same age as Adrian and Ada, he owned his own house and business. Sometimes Adrian envied the freedom that Koda seemed to forget he had. 

The house was in rough condition, of course. Koda worked straight on the bottom floor and lived on the top one. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly under Adrian’s weight and every flat surface was blanketed with a fine layer of dust. You would have thought that someone so obsessed with organization would have been more concerned with general cleanliness, but not Koda. 

Adrian found Koda rearranging his medicine vials in the back room.

“What, we’re going reverse alphabetical now?” Adrian asked, startling Koda so he almost dropped the bottle he held. 

Koda didn’t even spare him a look. “By the chance of internal combustion, actually,” he replied, voice monotone. 

“Of course,” Ada chimed in, perching on Koda’s worktable. “I should have guessed.” 

“I assume there’s a reason the two of you chose to interrupt my work,” Koda sighed, finally turning to face them. A pair of goggles sat lopsided on his chocolate curls and his warm eyes narrowed on Ada. He waved her off of his table, brow creasing as he flattened the papers she’d been sitting on. 

“Adrian got himself injured again,” Ada explained, crossing her arms. 

Koda didn’t even blink, which Adrian found mildly offensive. “What’s wrong with him this time?”

“Besides the fact that he’s completely missing a brain?” 

“I got a little beat up,” Adrian interjected. “You don’t need to take away the pain or anything, I just … my parents can’t see the bruises, okay?” 

Koda raised an eyebrow. “What kind of secret affair ends in bruises?”

Ada snorted at that. “Bold of you to assume my brother could ever find love. No, he decided it would be a great idea to go after an assassin alone.”

“Look, if you’re going to be rude to me, I’ll just leave,” Adrian complained. 

“Give me a minute and I’ll heal you,” Koda said, finally satisfied that all of the creases had disappeared from his papers. “Did this have something to do with Asher?”

Ada dropped her gaze and Adrian lowered his voice when he spoke. “Yes.”

Koda’s brow wrinkled as he finally made his way to where Adrian was standing. “Are you being careful?”

“That’s what I asked him,” Ada muttered. 

“Look, I wasn’t thinking straight, okay? It was a stupid decision. Next time I’ll make sure I take on an untrained assassin. What more do you want from me?”

“For starters, sit down,” Koda ordered, pushing Adrian onto a tiny stool by the window. “Now hold still.” 

It wasn’t the first time Adrian had been healed by Koda, but that didn’t make him enjoy the experience any more than usual. Koda placed his fingers on Adrian’s temples and closed his eyes, humming softly under his breath. Hot pain flashed across Adrian’s vision for a moment and then cleared. Koda opened his eyes and took a step back, his fingers trembling and his skin gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat. 

Adrian tested his limbs, surprised to find no lingering aches. “I said just the bruises, Koda. You didn’t have to take away the pain. I probably deserved it.”

Koda shrugged, wiping a hand across his brow. “It’s the least I can do.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Ada decided. 

“I might have to take you up on that offer,” Koda mumbled, giving Adrian a rueful smile. “Lately I’ve had to cancel some of my appointments and I’ve been ditching classes left and right. Honestly, I’d take a warm meal and we can call it even.”

Adrian and Ada shared a frown. It wasn’t like Koda to skip classes, especially when he’d paid so much to get into the university in the first place. 

“What are you working on, anyway?” Ada asked, turning to the papers on the desk. 

Koda quickly scooped the papers up and tucked them away in a bin in the corner. His cheeks flamed with color. “Something for your father and the Tournament, actually.” 

“Consider my curiosity piqued,” Adrian noted. The Tournament always intrigued him, though he’d never actually dreamed of participating. He had more than enough money and glory, and the risk that came with losing was not something he was willing to face. 

Koda grimaced. “Let’s just say that I do not envy the competitors this year.” 

“So you think the games will be more interesting this year?” Ada asked, not bothering to mask the excitement in her voice. 

“I don’t know about the Trials,” Koda answered. “But I know that the king has stepped up his game in terms of punishments.” 

A bolt of fear slid down Adrian’s spine. Koda was dealing with the punishments, then. But why would the king turn to a teenage boy with an interest in alchemy and a Grace of Life? His thoughts shifted to the assassin from the prison. She’d had a Grace of Life too - Adrian knew because she’d tried to use it on him. Would the king be using Koda’s Grace or his skills? Certainly there were adults better equipped for both. 

“Anyway, the only people who compete are those with nothing left to lose,” Koda sighed, turning his attention back to his precious shelves. 

“And cutt-throat killers,” Ada snorted. 

Killers, Adrian realized. Assassins. Maybe he didn’t need to capture an assassin - there would be plenty competing. 

“I see that look on your face, Adrian, and I don’t like it,” Ada said, her dark eyes narrowing. Understanding seemed to hit her a moment later. “No. Absolutely not. Letting you roam the streets at night is one thing, but this is something else entirely.” 

“What stupid crap is Adrian doing now?” Koda inquired, squinting at the labels on the shelves. 

“He’s signing himself up for the Tournament - or at least he thinks he is,” Ada scoffed. “Even after you just told him that the punishments are going to be worse than ever before.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re a prince, Adrian. You can meet with assassins whenever you want.”

“No one except competitors are allowed behind the scenes in the Tournament,” Adrian argued, frustration swelling in his chest. His mind recognized the risks of competing, but his wrath-filled heart whispered otherwise. “C’mon, Ada. Asher’s murderer could be competing and we would never know if we didn’t investigate from the inside.”

“Yeah, and what happens when you’re working side by side with a killer?” Ada countered, twirling her hair around her finger like she always did when she was nervous. “Do you even hear yourself, Adrian? It’s not worth it.”

“I’m not doing it for me,” he muttered. “I’m doing it for Asher.” 

Ada blew out a breath, hugging herself with her arms and averting her gaze. Fates, now he’d done it. 

“Well, as enlightening as this has been, I have work to do and your little sibling quarrel is getting a wee bit distracting,” Koda remarked, finally glancing up from his work. 

“Thanks for the healing,” Adrian managed, trying to ignore Ada’s iciness. “We should probably get going anyway. Mother’s probably tearing apart the castle as we speak to search for me.” 

He was nearly out the door when Koda called after him. “Remember what I said, Adrian. This Tournament is going to be the worst one yet. I pity the competitors.”

Adrian spared a glance at Ada’s retreating form. He knew she wanted only to keep him safe, just as he only wanted to compete to find Asher’s killer. Still, the opportunity beckoned to him, a call he couldn’t simply ignore. 

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he lied, offering a final wave to Koda before heading down the hallway to gather his cloak. 

The only people who compete are those with nothing left to lose, Koda had said. 

Adrian had a lot left to lose. His sister, his parents, his kingdom. Was he willing to sacrifice those for a chance at finding Asher’s killer? 

“Don’t tell me you’re actually considering this,” Ada whispered as they stepped outside. 

“I need to,” Adrian reminded her. “It’s for Asher.”

Ada bowed her head. Adrian could sense the grief aching inside of her - he knew it all too well because it lived inside of him as well. “If I can’t stop you, then I’ll help you,” she murmured. “Let me at least save one of my brothers.” 

Adrian laid a hand on her shoulder. “You won’t lose me too, Ada. I’m still here.”

She shoved his hand away, her voice cracking when she spoke again. “Don’t make promises that you won’t keep.”

Author's Note

Is the dialogue between Adrian and Ada is realistic for siblings?