Hiram had let them into the churches lands, and now Nova found herself a part of the pack she was enemies with just days ago. If Tavi were to find out, it would surely piss her off.... Not that the elder cared. Octavia, in her opinion, was not fit to lead, had not treated Nova the way she expected, and that's why she'd left. The question, however, was how much to tell her new alpha should he ask. Surely he would care about the welfare of his son, would want to know about him, and that was nothing she planned on keeping from him. Tamborine was a lively, happy child, and nova truly believed Reek should be able to bond with the child he'd helped create. Stark had been, be it intentional or not, moving up in ranks and growing closer to both the mother and boy. Would the Cardinal be offended?
The real question was, would Nova give up the secrets of Marauders Keep should he ask?
If it was the Daystars will, then yes. She would, without hesitation. Grace would, one way or the other, be safe, she'd give her own life to be sure of such things. That, and surely Raas wouldn't kill an innocent girl? Grace had never committed sin, had never lied or hurt unless it was in self defence. As far as she could tell, Grace was a pure soul, and prayed that Raas kept her safe through it all.
Padding along her new home, the dark faced elder sat at the shore and pawed at the water. Her spectral eyes scanned below the surface, but were infocused. Her thoughts still didn't calm, a whirlwind in her mind.
Days had passed since Hiram had accepted to the priest and his follower, and as time passed, a question burned deeper and deeper into his mind. The old woman, she had been a messenger bringing news of the son the Cardinal had yet to meet. Tavi had made it clear that she did not want him around, but he wanted to know... No, he needed to know the whereabouts of his boy. Raas had led her to him so she could impart the whereabouts of his son, Hiram was sure.
Raas had been so pleased with him, the He saw fit to reunite this poor man's broken family.
Believing it to be the will of God, Hiram followed the woman's scent to the lake. She seemed deeply focused, but it was of no deterrence to the Cardinal who took his place at the woman's side. He hmmed to grab her attention. "Sister," he said. "There is something I must ask of you." Turning his head to rest his gaze upon her aged features, Hiram's eyes lit with earnest.
A few weeks ago, nay, days ago, Nova might have said that her thoughts manifested the Cardinal. Now, it was the thought of God that filled her, and it was He who brought Hiram to her. It was a sign to open up, tell him, she hoped. Heart hammering in her throat, the fae turned her black-tinged face as he sat and called for her attentions. The dark man reached out to her, asked her for a favor without disclosing details. For a long moment, she stayed silent and kept her eyes locked onto his.
"Is this about Tamborine?"
Her voice shook slightly, but it was not that she was afraid the man would hurt little Tam. It was her loyalty to Warbone and his laws that made her loathe to break a promise to someone who showed her nothing but kindness. She wouldn't go back to the willows, not ever, and that was out of fear for her life. The golden woman was afraid of dying, and even more so afraid of a painful death.
Both of which would happen if Octavia ever found her and knew of her involvement. The Rose was too old now to be fighting, especially weak after the famine. She'd never stand a chance.
For a moment, the Cardinal wondered if the woman would ever speak. It seemed she was quite content just to stare back at him. Hiram's brow scrunched awkwardly, but his expression soon went slack as soon the older woman spoke. As soon as Tambourine's name passed her lips, the Cardinal's face brightened. His son -- whom he loved without condition despite the fact that his eyes had never even fallen upon his face.
Had it not been such an easy assumption to jump to, perhaps the cardinal would have believed the woman to be incredibly perceptive. Intuition or not, however, the woman had been right. The cardinal nodded. "Of course it is," he said plainly. "He's my son."
With a sigh, his eyes fell downward. It was all his fault -- his sin split his family apart the seams. It would take a miracle to repair what had been broken, but in Raas, all things were possible.
Hiram confirmed her guess, and for another long moment Nova went quiet. She turned her own sooty face away towards the lake as his eyes fell, and she could feel the guilt pulsing from him. Who was she to keep him from his blood? What would he do, though? If he went and took the pup from Tavi, it would be wrong to keep Tam from her too.
Turning her face back to him, the golden woman tried to meet his eyes. Did he miss his other children? From what Grace had told her, the man before her had three other children with the woman who'd turned her away. Did he not care as much for them, or had something happened to keep him from the white womans brood?
"What about your other children? With Saena?"
Nova still struggled with herself. How did one keep a secret and still reunite a family? It was clear in the fidgeting of her white paws that she was unsure of many things, not to mention the quaking of her tone. Brows furrowed in thought, Nova pushed her thoughts. Was giving him directions and telling him to follow the scent that still clung to her coat breaking her promise?
"I wish to see your family brought back together, Carninal Hiram, but I swore an oath not to tell the location of my daughters home. Is there a way I can do both without going back myself?"
For a moment, the woman did not speak. An expression of contemplation fell upon her face as she slowly turned away. The cardinal did not pry any further, and instead, he fell silent. Anything concerning Tambourine was a delicate subject. It was no mystery to him that Tavi intended to keep his son from him by shrouding her location in secrecy. Secrecy that Nova Rose was surely bound. However, the woman was no longer bound to her old master -- now she answered to Raas... And though it may have been a loose interpretation at best, Hiram believed it was the will of Raas that she fork over all the info she had.
She returned her gaze to him and spoke, but revealed no whereabouts. However, the subject matter of her speech was just as surprising. His brow furrowed in confusion. Saena. Immediatly, Reek cut her off. "How do you know that name?" Whatever she said after was lost on deaf ears. She meantioned his children -- the children he wholly believed to be dead. How could she possibly know the guilty burden that followed him.
"By the will of the Daystar, you must tell me," came his command. A part of him was unsure if it was truly God's will or his own selfish desire to know the fate of his children -- either way, he needed to know.
Hiram cut her off and commanded her to release the information she had on the pups. Her ears wilted back and irritation flooded her, but she fully belived his words: It was the will of Raas that she tell him. And so she went back to times in the Keep, those long night walks with Grace. What'd she say about Reek and Tavi?
Reek cheated on a woman, his wife, who carried his pups. The Beta, Octavia, and they were kicked out not long before Grace herself became a phoenix. But that's not the important part: Saena and her puppies. What'd Grace say about them?
"My adopted daughter, Grace, she became a phoenix not long after you and Tavi were sent away. She tells me everything."
What else? Nova knew there was something else. What was it? The Maplewood pack left before the Dragons could kill them, thats what. Where were the pups now? Who knows. But Grace said they were on the move, yes. She'd met one of the nomads, watched the direction they'd gone. Where they'd settled, she had no idea.
"Saena and Luke decided that war was something they didn't want, and they left before the Dragons fell upon them. Heading to the South West, if they stayed on the track Grace saw them going on. I'm sorry I don't know more, Cardinal, but the three pups were with them when they left, though young."
The elder spat the name Luke like a poison, lashing her tail and averting her cold eyes to her paws for a moment. She hated that man with all her soul. If she knew he'd been taken down by a cat, well, she might have laughed. After her words, she turned the spectral orbs back to the ragged man. She was glad to drop the subject of Tam for now.
Her irratation was of no concern, especially when the matter was as pressing as this. It was simply something she would have to understand, and he was sure she would if she had children of her own. The grim fate of the Cardinal's pups was the burden he bore heavily on his back. Raas had lifted the weight of guilt from him, but a scar remained on his soul that could only be mended by returning to his family. Perhaps Raas intended to not only offer forgiveness -- but to heal him in full.
He listened intently as she explained. The name of her daughter was not known to Hiram, but she soon explained her place among the Phoenix wolves. For a moment, the Cardinal felt sorry for the woman, because surely her daughter had perished alongside his own family. Her death, along with the rest of the maple-wolves, was on his head. He averted his gaze as he realized Grace would be another name that would haunt him in his sleep.
But soon, his face lifted. He looked to Nova Rose with joy in his eyes as she explained that they had relocated before the wolves of Drageda could do any harm. The Heda had lied. "My babies," he muttered. A joyful tear streamed down his cheek. "They're alive?" Asked the man in disbelief. He wanted to shout with joy -- to praise the name of Raas from where he sat. The emotion was overpowering, so much so that he didn't even feel anger at the meantion of Luke's name.
Southwest. He would need to go in search of them -- atone and show them all that he had changed. "Is there anything else you can tell me about their whereabouts?" He asked.
The Cardinal seemed sadder than she'd ever seen him, as she spoke, though he payed close attention. When she told him that they'd made the first move, escaped, Nova was convinced that the words alone began to heal his heart. The dark coated man teared and his eyes sparkled as much as his happiness, and he whispered to himself in doubt. In seconds, Reek was practically begging for more information. What else did she know?
"Grace said Luke had claimed both Saena and the puppies as his own, so I can't imagine it will be easy. If this is the will of Raas, for your family to be together, surely he'll light your path."
Nova fully believed in her words, and she wracked her brain for any other information that could help Hiram on his search for them. Little did she realize that the bluenose was dead and Saena had left her young behind in the Teekon Wilds.
"I'm afraid I know nothing else of the Maplewood wolves, Cardinal."
Her second meantion of the demon, Luke, caused anger to stir within the Cardinal's breast. The bluenosed wolf was the physical embodiment of the Heartless One -- he had to be. Luke had stolen everything from him, his pack, his wife, his children. Lurking in the shadows, the man had waited for Reek to be currupted by sin. Then, he moved in to take advantage of the situation stealing away everything Reek held dear. The fate of the blue-nosed man, but the Cardinal hoped it would be by his own paw that the demon would be purged from this earth.
He rose to his feet. "That man is not their father," he spoke, shaking his head. "I must take back what is mine." They were his own flesh and blood. His. "May Raas bless you with his light, Nova Rose -- you have done me a great service."
"I must go," said the Cardinal after dipping his head in thanks. He turned his gaze away from the lake and his feet soon followed. Preparations needed to be made, but he would leave for the unknown as soon as he could. His children could not wait.
Nova's thoughts were filled with the same thoughts towards Luke, assuming him evil and heartless, not to mention clearly not under the influence of Raas's light. All of the tiny scars that blemished her face and chest were marked borne from the Bluenose, and though they were mostly covered by her thick golden coat and fully healed she felt them just as painfully as the day they'd been inflicted. Lied to her, treated her with unjust disrespect and aggression when she'd done nothing wrong.
Hiram was determined, and the elderly soot faced woman smiled.
"I agree with you, Hiram. I wish you luck, and may Raas bless you on your journey. Return to us safely."
The feeling that washed over her was glorious, and was what she invisoned as Raas's warm breath heating her body. She was proud to have reuinited the reborn man to his long lost children. Clearly, he hadn't known they were alive, but how she didn't know. Perhaps the Dragon's leader was trying to look stronger from their departure, or was the alpha holding something over the Cardinals head? Nonetheless, the dark man would find his family, should He truly wish it.