Misplaced trust

Leaving the way we did this morning is going to drive my sisters mad, or at least it’s going to drive Artemis mad. When the wolves came back to Calder and me with the news that Sekreta and Salvi were no sisters. I have begun to trust Sekreta but there is still something she is holding back.

I can feel it from her. It's like she isn't being completely honest with us about all she knows. Travelling with her now is going to give me the perfect opportunity to suss her out, I just hope while we are gone Cynth and Arti work out how Salvi got her powers and if we should be worried about Sekreta too.

*"Why did we leave without saying goodbye Sel? isn't Artemis going to be pissed off "*

"Oh yeah she is going to be mad as hell"

*"So why are we doing it then ?"*

I can hear the worry in her voice when she holds Artemis in such high regard, I know why but Sekreta also needs to know that Artemis's word isn't the be-all and end-all when it comes to life. She is free to do as she pleases even if those around her don't agree.

"She isn't our keeper Reta we can come and go as we please. She isn't ever going to agree our plans are the best because she didn't make them. Artemis is the best fighter I’ve ever known, she has the biggest heart of anyone but she can be an overpowering big sister"

*"You sound like you haven't always gotten along"*

"I mean would you get along with the sister who stepped in to replace your mother and keep things from you. In all honesty, after our mum died, it was hard to accept her suddenly my cool big sister was the one telling me off. Our relationship to one another changed overnight we had to relearn how to live in balance with each other"

We keep walking through the forest to try to reach the edge of our lands and the brim of the uncharted territories.

*"I can't imagine what that was like when my mum died I had no one all I wanted was to be invisible"*

"I mean you managed it quite well you are alive "

*"I suppose I was alive yes but that doesn’t mean I lived"*

This feels like the perfect time to delve a little deeper into her past but I don't want her to know that's what I'm doing.

**Just be Subtle Selene you know to play it cool**

Seleste Chimes in as the voice of reason so I try to act casual stopping to take a drink before asking her.

"What was it like for you, Reta? I mean with Arlo and your mother ?"

She finishes her own drink before looking up at me. I know she has had this conversation with Artemis before and she may not want to tell me but if I’m to suss her out completely then this is the only way.

*"Well. It was miserable. There isn't much else to say, I mean he made out life hell and I spent every day patching up my mother or trying not to be visible"*

"What do you mean patching her up?"

*"Well when he would take her she would come back bruised with needle holes in her arms where he had taken her blood. If she tried to struggle he would hit her"*

She looks back at the ground visibly uncomfortable with the conversation so starts moving again, the sound of squelching mud under our feet as the floor is shielded from any sun. We continue on without speaking, focusing on reaching our goal.

*"You know one of those times with my mother.. when I was patching her up that's when my powers first started to show."*

"What do you mean to show?"

*"Well she was critical this time he had beaten her to a pulp, held her for hours taking her blood and injecting her with things. When he brought her back I thought she was going to die and so did she. I cried over her while his minions laughed and then locked the door. I begged for a way to save her and then I felt a warmth in my hands. It was like I knew what to do right away I just held them over her and she started to come around the pain she was in lightened"*

"You mean before this point you had no idea ?"

I guess in this way we are similar. I had no idea what I was until it was right in front of my face.

*"None whatsoever. She always told me I was special but she’s my mum I figured she had to say that to me "*

"How old were you when this happened, you were with Arlo a while"

*"I was 8 years old at the time and we had been with him for 5 years at this point"*

It dawns on me just how much time she has spent locked away from the outside world.

"You were 8 years old when you first found out you had power. That is so young"

*"I don't know why it happened but from then on I was able to heal her. I couldn't do it when anyone else was in the room but when they left I could help her. Never all the way though she would also need time to recover "*

"What do you mean recover ?"

*"Well, I would be able to heal the worst of it but she would still need to sleep and take proper rest. I did this for years but as it went on and on, I found that it helped her less and less."*

"So that's how she went eventually?. I mean that's how she passed "

*"Well yes and no. I couldn't heal her that much is correct but what he did to her that last time was worse than anything he had done before. It was shortly before he had started to fixate on you"*

"Wait, I'm sorry, you mean to say she was alive up until recently?"

*"She died about six months before Arlo realised there were more of us. He had always asked the mother about her sister but she would tell him her family was dead. It's a shame to think that she believed that she was alone in this world until the day she died"*

"She wasn't alone, she had you."

I don't know what compels me but I stop and pull her in for a cuddle feeling like she needs it. If I had just had to tell that story then all id want is a cuddle and some acknowledgement. She leans into the hug and for a second we say nothing. It's the first time we have really touched since she has been here and there's a weird tingling, the same kind I get when I hug my sisters.

She pulls away from me and we carry on walking. We don't speak for the next few hours stopping only to drink and eat a few times. When we reach a small woodland area, we stop and set a fire it's getting late in the day and because we are walking and not running we take our time.

I know we are out in the open and we anyone could see us but I’m hoping we will have enough notice when they try to break through the barrier I’ve put up, Of all the things I’m able to do this is the one I’ve managed to master the quickest although I’m under no pretence that I know everything. I know deep down that I've yet to even scratch the surface on all the things we are capable of.

Truth be told I want to get this book not only to try and find out what's going on but to see if it holds any more information about the powers we all hold.

*"Selene"*

The sound of Sekreta calling pulls me from my own thoughts I hadn't realised I’d been zoning out for a few minutes.

"Sorry I was daydreaming"

*"I could tell, I called your name a few times actually"*

She laughs and smiles at me, it's a shame that we both know I don't trust her fully. I think if we had met in another time and place we might have been great friends.
*"I was wondering why were you asking about my life, I mean you've heard all I’ve told Artemis"*

I could tell her the truth, I could tell her I don't fully trust her and that I think she knows more than she is sharing or I could just tell a white lie and not make her feel bad.

"I was just curious I get the feeling that some of what you told Artemis wasn't the whole truth "

**Selene that wasn't a lie or the truth. That was some weird floating island in the middle**

Cursing internally at Seleste for pointing out the obvious, I focus my attention back to Sekreta.

*"I mean there's some stuff I don't remember or I don't like to talk about but for the most part, I told her the entire truth "*

"I think you don’t give yourself enough credit you know"

*"What do you mean, credit for what exactly. I mean I haven't done anything except run away "*

I scoff and laugh simultaneously.

"You managed to escape from the craziest person on the planet and he didn't even catch you. You survived him for pretty much your entire life while he tortured your mum. I think you have the right to give yourself a little more credit"

We continue talking as the sun goes down. The wood around us becomes eerier and Sekreta puts the fire out noting it can cause unwanted attention. I listened to her as she managed her way through this place alone the first time.

I'm so torn on trusting her, one moment it's like we are old friends and I feel like I could tell her everything and the next, I remember who she is, where she came from and who she has been associated with.

Most of these things are out of her control. How was she to know the first person to call her sister was lying? She's been locked up pretty much her whole life. I've contemplated telling her what I know a few times tonight but I can't bring myself to do it.

What if she already knows and is part of this plan, and she's going to try to kidnap me with Salvi. It's a possibility Calder and I spoke about he even told me what to do and how long it would take him to get to me.

If I know him the way I do, I'm sure he has a few of his people not far behind us, he was reluctant to agree to let me leave.

*"I think I’m going to just try and get some sleep is that okay?"*

"Sure ill stay awake and keep watch while you rest"

*"Thanks"*

She rolls over to face away from me and I'm once again left with my own thoughts. I go over and over all the ways Salvi could have gotten her power, maybe she was really born with it, what doesn't make sense why she would hide who her parents are.

I mean surely she would be just as happy to have a family that would make her lie. She could have just been honest with Sekreta from the start, her hatred for me and my sisters could have been shared with her if she had been honest she could have made something up about our families hating one another.

Instead, she went with the sister thing why ?.

"Sekreta. Wake up "

I nudge her again as a shadow begins to emerge from the tree line.

"Sekreta wake up someone is coming"

She wakes up and stands right away. We stand back to back our eyes on the tree line but I can only see one shadow emerging.

"Someone is coming to Sekreta, Look"

We circled so she can see the line, the shadow still coming towards us.

*"ILDI"*

Sekreta practically screams his name and I feel her run, as I turn back around I see a man coming towards us.