Lia was content. Besides the fact that she was no closer to figuring out who had tried to kill Cade, she was just glad to have her friend back.
She’d never seen him more alive. Back home, Lia could tell that he wasn’t happy and it broke her to see someone who deserved the world be so broken down. Life on the outside wasn’t meant for him. She didn’t know what it was back then but she’d always known that he didn’t belong there.
This new Cade though? He was vibrant; energetic, even. She didn’t want to ruin that by constantly reminding him that he was in danger.
She’d also picked up on his behavior toward the Queen. Lia didn’t say anything at the time but earlier in the room, he’d called her ‘Deianira’. Lia was by no means an expert on the customs in the Dome but she knew that calling the Queen by her first name wasn’t normal. And it was the way his face changed when he spoke about her. Cade liked her. Really liked her.
Though he had been in a few short ‘relationships’ outside of the Dome, Lia had never seen him act this way. Her feelings towards the Queen aside, Lia couldn’t have been happier for him. Cade was an empath and quiet as he may be, he was strong-willed. If he wanted to get close to the Queen then she trusted his judgment.
As per her request, the Queen’s guards arrived at noon to escort Lia through the Dome’s woodlands. Lia loved the outdoors and being cooped up in a room with two guys was quickly losing its appeal.
She didn’t like that she couldn’t be alone to explore, but she understood the Queen’s conditions all the same. She was a stranger, an outsider. It was reasonable.
Running her hands along low branches, a familiar high-pitched noise began to ring in her ears. Knowing what was coming, she stopped by the next tree stump and took a seat. Resting her head against it, she paid no mind to her guards. Here we go again.
“Please, hurry.”
“Are you sure, Miss?”
“Yes. Here.” A cloaked woman held her hand out holding a small pouch. Turning her back, she picked something up from behind her and returned with a small bundle of blankets, something moving inside. A baby.
“Take her to the school in the western sector,” she whispered urgently. “There’s a woman there. A teacher. She’ll be safe there.”
She gave the child a small kiss on the forehead, then handed over the small bundle reluctantly.
“Okay, but keep the coin. It’s on our trading route anyway.”
“No,” she insisted, her voice becoming thick. “Take it. Thank you for this. I can’t protect her here.”
The cloaked woman stood still, but her cloudy figure retreated into the distance.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
Lia blinked back into reality, wiping the sheen from her face.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just feeling a little nauseous.”
She let the guard help her up from the ground. As they began walking again, she tried to decipher what that vision meant. It didn’t feel like one of her usual ones. They usually came with a sense of foreboding, but this one didn’t. It was like her mind was trying to show her something. Something that had already taken place. That thought gave her pause.
Lia had only ever seen into the future. Why would her mind show her this? What did it mean? She ran it through her head again and again, trying to pinpoint something of significance. Then, it clicked. The school.
The sector. The teacher.
Lia was only weeks old when she was found behind the school in the western sector. Found by Eliza Alden. By Cade’s mother. The beautiful Eliza Alden had schooled her and raised her. Little Lia wanted Eliza to take her home more than anything, but as she grew older and became aware of Cade and his mother’s home situation, she knew that it wouldn’t have been possible. So the school was her home. She lived there until Cade opened his new home to her when she was only fifteen. Lia didn’t want to leave the school at first, it was the only way she could connect with Eliza since her passing, but she found that being with Cade was just as good. He looked so much like her after all. Eliza wasn’t just his mother. She was their mother.
Lia’s breathing became light as she began to put the pieces together. Whoever that woman was, she’d purposely sent her to Eliza. The teacher.
Who would do that? And why?
