NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 25.1 Location Aquired
The visitor was unexpected.
Not that Rick and the rest of the household didn’t expect visitors. They in fact had been getting a steady stream of people coming in and out of their home ever since Sade had been kidnapped. Most were fellow students, either to help pass along any information they may have picked up, or just stopping by to give their condolences. Others were strangers coming down because they heard through the grapevine that they were looking for anything odd that happened that faithful day.
No, what came as a surprise was that Ariwyn Rivenmoor herself was standing alone on their doorstep.
“What do you want?” He said tersely.
“May I come in?” She asked quietly, barely managing to look Rick in the eyes for more than a second.
He sighed. “You do realize that there is a very angry forest elf who lives here, don’t you? I highly doubt whatever you came here to say will save you once you cross this threshold.” It was mostly an exaggeration. Even with pregnancy hormones raging throughout her body, Tyr was hardly even more chaotic than her usual self. But he knew for a fact that she would wholeheartedly approve of using her as an excuse to send the high elf woman on her way.
“I wish to help you rescue Sade!” Ariwyn blurted.
It took half a second for her words to finally register in his mind, but once they did he noticed several things about their sudden guest.
Her normal golden waterfall of straight platinum hair looked somewhat disheveled, like she had just woken out of bed, or from gripping those pale strands repeatedly in frustration. Her clothing, while all of fine make, looked out of place and slightly mismatched. It was though she just slapped on whatever she could and ran out the door. Lastly, her eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot, as if she was recently crying.
“Come in.” Rick said simply once he took in all the small details and stepped aside to let her through.
“Thank you.” She whispered once the door closed behind her.
“Don’t thank me just yet.” Rick warned. “But we’ll at least hear you out.” He held up his hand and pointed towards a room opposite the kitchens. “Tyr should be grabbing the others so we can all sit in the common room.”
“Already did!” Tyr’s husky voice shouted from their destination.
“H-... How did she do that?” Ariwyn asked.
Rick shook his head in mild amusement. “She’s an elf with a skill that gives her enhanced senses. In all honesty, she may have heard you coming the moment you stepped on our driveway.”
“Yep! I did!” Tyr shouted from the common room once more. “Now get yer arses in here before I lose me patience!”
“You heard the lady.” Rick said with a smirk. “I suggest we do as she says.”
Picking up the pace, both of them power walked over to the door and stepped inside. Sure enough Tyr, Daniela, and Lilie were all sitting down on the couches and waiting for them.
“Alright I’ll bite, why in the ever living fuck are you here?” Lilie asked, breaking the ice in an absolute delicate fashion.
The young noble was momentarily taken aback by the harsh language but quickly recovered when she realized there was no malice in the shaytoni’s tone. “I-I wish to help you all rescue Sade.” She repeated.
“Ya said that already. So how are ya gonna do that?” Tyr said pointedly.
Ariwyn blinked in confusion before seemingly remembering her fellow elf’s incredible hearing. “Ah… yes. So… um… I-it was m-my mother who took her.”
“We figured as much.” Rick said.
“Wasn’t exactly the hardest enigma in the world.” Daniela added dryly.
“Y-you knew?!” Ariwyn shouted in surprise. “Then why are you all still sitting here talking to me and not out there with the authorities getting Sade back?!”
Rick was about to speak but Lilie held up her hand to silence him. “You think we haven't tried?” Lilie began, her voice ominously calm. “Do you have any fucking idea what it’s like to go up against a noble? Everwhere we went, everyone we talked to, every single mother fucking person of power. All of them turned their backs on us and told us to fuck off. And do you know why? Because your mother told them to. THAT is why we are sitting here, thumbs up our asses, while your own fucking mother is free to do who knows what to the woman we care about!”
Tears streamed from the corners of Lilie’s ruby eyes. Each new sentence caused her composure to crack and her voice waiver just a bit more than the last. By the end she collapsed back in her seat and sobbed quietly in her hands while Daniela and Tyr each tried to comfort her. Rick didn’t fail to notice both women also had streaks of moisture rolling down their cheeks as well.
Rick felt his own throat tighten painfully and his eyes start to water with emotion. He just barely managed to hold the tide back, not out of embarrassment, but because he knew that once he let his feelings out, he would be hard pressed to shove them all back in. “The crux of the matter is we have no proof of your mother’s involvement. She’s certainly seen to that. In fact, she covered her tracks and blocked the trail so well, we didn’t even know for certain it was her until you told us.”
“Then, what are you going to do?” Ariwyn asked.
Rick took in a deep breath to calm the raging emotions bubbling just below the surface of his thoughts. “If one avenue is blocked, then we simply go down another.” He stared into the eyes of the young high elf sitting across from him. “We need to know where Sade is being held. At this point, even if we have to storm your family's estate and fight, if that’s where she is, then that’s where we are going.”
“So chica, you know where mi amore is?” Daniela asked, her own stare as sharp as a dagger.
“I-I believe so.” Ariwyn admitted. “Ever since the tournament, my mother would occasionally get in an unmarked carriage late in the evening and go somewhere. So last night I followed it.”
LIlie raised a lone brow. “Wait, they just let their precious princess walk out the door alone at night?”
Ariwyn scoffed and shot the healer a look, seemingly regaining a bit of her original haughtiness. “Oh please, you think one in my position would not have figured out a way to sneak out?”
“Oh ho! A chika after my own heart!” Daniela cackled. “Let me guess, la casa got too stuffy at times and you just needed a few nights to yourself?”
The high elf blinked. “Actually… Yes. How did-?”
“LOCATION!” Tyr bellowed, impatience dripping from every pore on her body.
The whole room jumped at her outburst, Ariwyn most of all. She peered at the mountain of a woman and her already pale skin became a few shades lighter. “R-right! S-she took a lot of twists and turns throughout the city, but If I had a map I may be able to point right where mother stopped.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up in excitement. “I know just the place.” Rick said and beckoned everyone to follow.
They all practically ran up the stairs, a highly confused high elf trailing close behind. Rick practically shoulder slammed the door to the trophy room off its hinges in his haste to get inside. When Ariwyn stepped through the threshold her eyes widened in shock at seeing the wall.
“What is all this?”
“A map.” Rick replied while pointing to the half buried object in question. “I trust this one is sufficient enough to retrace your steps?”
“Oh… uh… Yes, I believe it is.” The young noble agreed tentatively.
She placed a delicate finger on the map where the Rivenmoor estate was already conveniently marked. As Rick explained earlier, lacking proof that the family was involved didn’t exclude them from being the prime suspects. She traced her nail along the wide boulevards of the noble district and past the border into the mercantile section. Her finger stopped at various crossroads as her mind struggled to remember all the random twists and turns throughout the sprawling maze.
Eventually, she stopped at a building not far from where she started but still within the more commercial section of the city. “Here!” She exclaimed proudly.
Rick stared at where she was pointing, burning the image into his memory. “Finally…” He whispered.
“Aye.” Tyr agreed, a wicked grin slowly blooming on her face.
The three companions all turned to leave at once, leaving an extremely confused high elf standing alone in front of the map. “Hey! Where are you going?” She shouted after them.
Rick stopped and turned towards their guest. “We’re getting our gear.”
“Wha-? Why are you all getting your gear now then?”
He looked at her incredulously. “Assuming you’re telling the truth, you just pointed us in the direction where my wife is being held. And you’re asking why we are suddenly grabbing weapons and armor?”
Ariwyn floundered in an attempt to come up with a counter argument until Rick held up his hand to stop.
“We don’t care. No matter what, either we rescue Sade tonight, or we die trying.”