Lena sat across the desk from an empty chair. Dinner had been over twenty minutes ago, and she really wasn’t fond of hanging around in Daray’s office. It was a truly disturbing place; everything in it was decrepit. She didn’t exactly have fond memories attached to the office anyway.
Aside from the preserved skeleton of a giant feline lizard, there were many other oddities that evoked a sense of unease in her. There were mirrors that Lena couldn’t see herself in, artifacts that appeared to be made from human hair, books she couldn’t open, and even a shelf of skulls that didn’t have ear canals. The whole room reeked of mold, dust, and mothballs.
A door across the room opened, Master Daray stepped into his office, and Lena caught a glimpse of a small spiral staircase before he closed the door again. He was walking with a cane, but otherwise looking well. It wasn’t until he sat down on the other side of the desk that she noticed he was too clean—he had showered just before coming down. It was a show for her benefit.
He didn’t look directly at her, instead fiddling with the cane he used to walk. “Eden, I know—“
“Lena.” She corrected.
“—we’ve had our differences. I’ve had a good run, a hard fight, and it’s coming to an end. Griffin has been a good son to me, but there are things that even he can’t do. Family business. Which is why I’ve asked you here.”
The look in his eyes was getting deeper. However, Lena was still fairly sure he wasn’t going to die any time soon, no matter how sick he claimed to be.
“I had long hoped to pass this on to a grandson, and someday I expect you to pass it on to my great-grandson, but you’ll obviously have to do for now. I don’t trust you to keep them as they need be kept, so I’m leaving their safe keeping to Griffin in case of my death, as I am all of the artifacts that I have safeguarded. But you’ll need to access them, so you two will have to work that out for yourselves.”
Lena kept her anger checked. “That’s a very convenient arrangement considering your motives.”
“My motives? Oh, Lena,” Daray clucked. Lena was shocked that he had actually used her name. Her real name. “My motives are by far the least of your concern. At least you know my motives. If I were you, I’d be much more concerned with the motives of others. I’ve been nothing but forthright with you since our first encounter, and if you were a perceptive one, you might have noticed that all the lies—all of them—have come from the other side of your heritage.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Lena asked.
Daray turned and looked her in the eye. She immediately wished she hadn’t asked, because she was almost sure she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear. “I don’t know how you go on being so blind. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. Do you even know how Howard came to safeguard this family? I thought not. I used to spend long hours with your other grandfather researching and documenting Silenti history. Our children spent much more time together than I would have preferred, given your father’s…condition. As a young man, Howard was quite taken with my daughter. Much more so than your father ever was. I think it broke his heart when the two of them ran off together, and when she left your father he all but moved in here. She begged him to speak on our behalf in the Council when Thomas was murdered, and she’s the only reason he’s here protecting us now. It’s quite pathetic, actually.”
Lena looked down at her feet to avoid Daray’s intense stare. She wanted to believe he was lying.
“It’s all true, I assure you. You can ask him about it. In fact, I encourage you to ask. It’s time he stopped living the fantasy that you’re somehow his daughter.” Daray said with a cruel disregard.
Lena looked up. “You’re a liar.”
Daray ignored her and went on. “Since the origins of the Silenti, my ancestors have kept a detailed record tracking our history and the known whereabouts of the portal. Many of these precious volumes were burned to ashes with my own parents and wife in a fire several years ago.” He stared at Lena unblinkingly. “It was set by unbelievers with the intention of killing us all. Your mother and I barely got out alive.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Lena said emotionlessly.
“Not nearly as sorry as I was for the loss of my father and the texts he devoted his life to preserving. I wish to pass on to the next male in my line what remains of them. Some of them are so old that only those descended of the noble family line can read them, and these are the ones that I am particularly concerned with. Your mother was no great student, but I’ve noticed you have a certain aptitude for literature. In case of another…disaster, I need you to memorize what is contained in them.”
“Memorize?” Lena said with disbelief. “I don’t think so…”
“You need to know them. The older ones are in Latito, which Griffin or I will instruct you in. You will write the passages out in Latito, then translate them in English line by line until I am satisfied that the knowledge will not be lost.”
Lena rolled her eyes. “That’s the most time consuming, stupid, pointless undertaking I’ve ever heard of. I don’t even believe in the portal anyways, and I’m not going to do it.”
“You might change your mind after you’ve read some of them. And you’ll do it if you want to get onto the Council. And believe me, if that’s not enough, there are many other persuasions we can explore regarding your future here.” He shook his head with a sickly smile.
They stared each other down for a minute, and then Lena sighed. “Can I go now?”
Daray smiled. “I knew we’d work something out, Eden. Now, these are sacred manuscripts, and no one outside of the family can know about them for reasons of safety and security. You’ll start tomorrow.”
*****