Fate

Chapter 9

An hour later, she was wide awake with the stale taste of fear in her mouth. She patted her bag, making sure she still had her clothes. She felt for her money and reassuringly touched the wad. What had woken her? She threw back the covers, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and felt for her soft slippers. The same taste of fear had awoken her when her house was on fire. She smelled the air; there was no trace of smoke. She felt for Kat, and found her reassuringly warm body under the covers, rising and falling softly as she breathed.

What had woken her?

Ella sat down on her bed in the darkness and put her head between her hands, elbows resting on her knees. Sleep was far now. Restless, she stood and dressed. It was only the sixth hour. No one would be up. She would go to the forest-park and walk around, it would clear her mind.


The shadows threw strange markings as Ella made her way in the park and slipped between the trees. Already the cool morning air and stillness calmed her nerves. Until they were jangled again as the fear rose like bile in her mouth once more. It was too quiet, too still. Ella sat down in the shadow of an oak tree, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, holding the air in a little before slowly exhaling. When she opened her eyes, a figure had entered her field of vision. A young woman, simply dressed, though the dress was too clean for her to have been low-class, stealthily made her way across. She often glanced behind her, afraid of being followed. Her face turned towards Ella’s, and though she didn’t see her, Ella caught a good look at her and her breath caught: It was Ana. Sebastian’s sister. What was she doing here, especially at this hour? The low-class girl was petrified, not wanting to be seen.

What happened next was a blur: A human-shaped figure dropped from an overhead tree while another stole out from the bushes. They were dressed in dark rags with a mask to shield their identity. Steel glinted as knives were drawn and held to Ana’s throat. Ella heard them mumble, and saw Ana shake her head. Wrong answer. It only served to anger them, and with a decisive slash, they cut Ana’s throat before carefully marking each of her joints with a similar cut. The blood pooled beneath the high-class girl, staining the earth darkly beneath her. The men searched her, overturning her dress and feeling along the hems. Frustrated, one of them kicked her in the stomach and ribs before the other urgently led him away.

Ana never screamed.


Ella was rooted to the spot. Her mind refused to process what she had just witnessed, even though Ana’s body was there for all to see. The minutes ticked by, and before long, a middle-aged couple walked through. The woman screamed and pointed, while her husband broke into a run, dragging her away. Only then was Ella able to stand and quietly slip away, back the way she had come. However, as she reached the limits of the forest-park, she found the entrance and exit blocked by wood barricades and patrols. A small, angry crowd was gathering. Ella slipped back between the trees and listened: a guardsman was addressing the crowd.

“…sealed for now. An investigation is underway. Now move along peoples, move along! Nothing here to see!” he prodded them with a baton.

“I’ll betcha it was a boy from the slums who did it… Question is what was she doing in the park in the dead of the night?” she heard someone say.

“I dunno Marie, sounds like it’s some high class girl that’s been—” the words were lost as a shot exploded over their heads. Ella covered her hands with her ears and tensed.

“HE SAID MOVE ALONG!” roared a voice. A familiar voice. Ella looked around and saw an imposing man joining the guardsman: Sebastian’s father. She retreated further behind a tree, anxious for no one to see her. Xander of Dasz, followed by Sebastian, strode into view. Ella’s heart jumped in her throat as she saw Sebastian. His face was ashen and drawn. Her heart pounded in her chest, so hard it hurt. She hid under a bush, knowing she was the only witness, and knowing she didn’t want to confront the Dasz family yet. Let them see what the men did to Ana, let them feel the grief at losing another child, another sister, before she came out.


Ella woke a little while later. She had not planned to fall asleep. She listened carefully: the forest-park was silent. Not the fear-filled silence before Ana’s murder. Just…silence. Ella stood and carefully made her way to the edge of the park once more. The crowds were gone, the wooden barricades still up. Two guardsmen patrolled. When they both looked away, Ella slipped past, anxious to meld with the daily crowd, to lose herself in it. Luck was on her side, and she made it back to Sty’s unnoticed. It was midday, and a lot of the girls were up. Ella went to her room; thankfully, Kat was gone somewhere. She sat on the bed, still numb from what she had seen.

The next day was a haze. Ella worked in the evenings with no recollection. Kat was scarce and Stevie had all but disappeared. The days slipped by. Wild rumors floated around the disorderly house about the murder, speculations Ella knew to be just that, filled with false suppositions.


A month later, Ella was walking down the street towards the busy market. There were food and clothes to get, and she needed to get out into the fresh air. Of course the forest-park would’ve been better, but she had not set foot there in a month. The pain was still there, slightly buried, and the place was now soiled because of the murder. No longer would she remember it as a place of relaxation, nor of happiness. She still had not been to the Dasz’s with her testimony. And there was no reason for them to contact her: after all, she had told Sebastian she didn’t want to see him anymore.

Ella perused the stalls, idly listening to the morning gossip.

“…and have you heard of the wedding?”

“Of whom?”

“The Dasz son!”

“What? No!”

“So soon after his sister’s death?”

“Grief has driven them all to madness…”

“Surely it won’t be a big wedding?”

“I heard he was already married.”

“Nonsense, it is set for the week’s end.”

“And how would you know?…”

Ella’s heart constricted painfully as she overheard the conversation. ‘It was to be expected after all… And Ana had told me his father was looking for a suitable bride…’

It was with a heavy heart that she turned to begin walking back to Sty’s. She kept her head down, letting her feet guide her—and knocked into someone.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled, and pushed past. A hand caught her arm.

“Ella?” she looked up.

“Oh.” She said, trying to quell her quickening heartbeat, “How…how are you? I’m sorry about Ana…” she blurted.

His face darkened.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and looked down.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

She glanced around, and quickly shook her head.

“I’ve no time,”

“Can I come see you?”

“No,” she looked at him, “no,” she repeated softly.

The look of hurt on his face made her choke up. She turned, wrenching her arm free, and hurried down the street, once more leaving a perplexed and heartbroken Sebastian.


But as fate would have it, she would meet him again. As much as she struggled to put him out of her mind and heart, he persisted and stayed. Deciding herself one morning, she carefully washed herself and dressed well: It was time to tell the Dasz family that she had witnessed the murder.