Bone Diggers - Chapter Forty Five

Loading... Chapter Forty Five

Champagne was gathered as people prepared for New Year festivities, but Lance's focus was on the guild's newest member. "What do you know about Rivera?" Lance asked.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, ready to comment 'plenty, and so do you' before he glanced over to where Lance was looking and saw the problem. Ah, Luca. The tiny new thief recruit that filled him with hope that things were going to be normal again. "They are a cousin of Lucas. I've heard the Riveras didn't want to lose ties with the guild. You should go talk with them."

Lance lifted a brow at Daniel's last word. He considered it for a second before stepping off to greet them. Luca looked over from the event board, growing curious at Lance's uncertainty. "Hello, my name is Lance Tarlé. I know it's been a little while since your family's loss, but I wanted to say it was an honor to know such a good person as Lucas."

"Of course," Lance said, catching the meaning. "If I could only be so lucky with another of the Rivera kin. Maybe we could see you tonight during the festival."

Daniel watched them contently for a moment. Even stalling what he had willingly planned to do today. Coming home meant confronting the past, before he could celebrate the future. It was a big day that Daniel planned to quietly spend.

The real show tonight was with someone else, and started long before this day. London built itself around Amilia, and stitched itself together with the cold of winter. Amilia locked the door to the bedroom before pulling out a box from under the bed. The collection didn't show a hint of dust as she removed its contents. Where many would store treasures, Amilia had a shirt fit for a male, trousers, and work boots that barely fit her small feet. She took in a large breath, and wrapped a scarf around her as she looked in the mirror. Her shaky hands braided her hair.

She was alone for the day, given whatever freedom her bitterly betrothed Viktor allowed. She pulled the braid forward, admiring the one thing that hadn't changed much over the years. Amilia retrieved something else and, with the mirror's help, put scissors to the bottom of her hairline. Curls bounced free once the braid fell away with a few rough snips. She ran her thin fingers through what was left, any thread of remaining length was cut. With a little more refinery, she would have looked just like Celio in his youth.

She then stripped away at the clothes she had been ordered to wear as someone else's accessory. When she looked back into the mirror, she didn't know the person in the reflection. Her lack of makeup showcased dark circles under her eyes, and would further help her pass for a homeless boy.

The coins she had managed to pull together were just enough to make a small rattle as she hurried over to the window to escape into the city. Amilia ran across the rooftops, feeling something build up in her chest, a well-deserved freedom. She looked like a bird, cageless at last.

London was pieced into different lands over time and distance until the landscape settled as Amilia looked up at the Spanish sun. Its rays beamed down on the valley ahead. At first, she hadn't cared where she'd end up as long as it was far away from England. But when a merchant mentioned he was going to Siguenza, she decided it would be best to return and clear out what was left of her old life. She hoped to sell off whatever belongings were left at her family's properties.

Ivan, the old man who offered her travel on his carriage, knew she wasn't the homeless child she had been trying to come across as. The trip was too long for her casual disguise to last, but he never questioned it. Ivan even helped in the ruse by calling her son in public. Even going as far as claiming her as his nephew who was lending a hand around suspicious strangers.

Once they reached Siguenza, he refused the coins she promised, citing his opinion that she helped enough. When Amilia reached her house, she didn't have the energy to do much other than curl up in her aged bedroom. The dust and spiderwebs crawled far further than she had imaged. Everything was still, as if waiting for someone's return. Only the spiders preyed on her absence. As Amilia fell asleep she made simple plans for the rest of her life.

Later, a coat was pulled over her wrinkled clothes as she headed downstairs. Teacups and silverware were plucked from the kitchen. The tour around the rest of her home was spent mentally dividing things into sell or ignore. Sentimental value would never translate into worth for anyone else. Her bag had no room for such things. What had been would never come back, so she shouldn't mourn it any longer.

There was a single item that her heart did want to find; the mask. She searched the house, but still hadn't found it. The room felt a little colder as she came downstairs again, but she didn't give it much thought over her disappointment. At least, not until she heard the weight of footsteps in the small room. With her back turned she pulled up her hood to conceal herself.

"I don't know why you are here, but you won't find anything you are looking for," a male voice warned and moved further into the room. "If you want to make it past this eve, tell me who you are."

Amilia's eyes closed the second she recognized Daniel's voice. Her hands trembled as she now regretted staying the night. She tried to disguise her voice. "You don't want to know."

Daniel pulled a sword. The metal helped close the space between them. The tip of the blade pointed at the bag across her shoulder. "Well, you're obviously a thief."

"At times." Amilia lowered her head, resisting the urge to look back. She slowly set down the bag. "We can both just walk away from this." Tearing down whatever he had built after losing her wasn't the intent. He deserved to continue his life as he wished, without more of her interference.

"Not until you tell me why you are stealing from the dead," Daniel pressed.

In her frustration, Amilia found herself wanting to question him. She swallowed hard before stiffening up. "I am where I should be. You, however, should leave."

She couldn't see his reaction, but she could hear it. His breath caught in his chest causing an eerie silence. "I know you," he said, despite the uncertainty there. "Turn around."

Daniel was skilled years ago. She could only imagine how much better his tracking was now. Which left her with only one civil option. Amilia turned around, lowering her hood before finally looking at him. "I never meant for this..."

Daniel was here and it meant something terrible. That she haunted him all the time. That he hadn't moved on as she had convinced herself. Her heart sank. She had told herself plenty of times that she didn't want him to be waiting for her as if she had never been dead.

It was unclear if Daniel was listening as he held still beside the roaming of his eyes. All the changes she had made to her hair and clothes, all the wear that added to the thinning of her face, caused him doubt. He lowered the sword as he stared for a moment longer. "How are you alive?"

"The hanging," she paused, reminding herself to breathe. "It was staged. I had to make a choice for my family, for you. It was either that or the chaos of watching everyone die." She blinked hard after realizing her words. Her family had died. She might have admitted the folly if Daniel didn't speak first.

"I watched you die." He wasn't so much questioning her as hearing himself say it out loud. It had been the truth, but now it wasn't. Nothing felt real or true right now. "I watched everyone die in front of me, and yet somehow you are here."

Amilia blinked. Who had he meant?

"I can leave," she found herself saying the words almost feverishly. "I can leave, and never come back this time. I won't presume to force my way back into your life. That's not why I'm here, Daniel. I promise."

"Then why are you?"

Amilia glanced back at her bag of things she deemed valuable in some way. Had she honestly come back because she needed money? She had the skills to steal whatever she needed to survive. This was a want. "I guess I wanted to see home once more; I wanted to see if things were..." She shook her head feeling rather foolish about the whole thing now. "Still carrying on."

"The world still turns."

"Why are—" Amilia started to ask, but his sober tone made her hesitate. "Why are you here?"

"Oh." Daniel exhaled, as if he realized that her being alive made him the intruder. "I uh, I used to come here after you...left. It was a way to see if I was getting over things, and a way to hold on. I haven't been in town for a while, and I thought this time I could visit without it feeling like it was a crypt."

"You're here because of me?" Amilia heard him, but almost didn't believe what she heard.

Daniel looked away, his breath wavering before he looked at Amilia again. Here. In front of him. Whole. "I guess I am."

Amilia started shaking her head. Everything was wrong. "I didn't mean for this. I didn't mean for any of this," she mumbled near incoherently as her eyes started to well up. She didn't know why she was feeling everything at once now. "I know I have no right to demand anything from you, and I didn't want to see you, but I'm just so happy that I am."

Out of pure instinct, Daniel took a step forward to comfort her, but stopped short when she flinched at his movement. Their world had aged two years, which was such a long time to just fall into each other's arm like idealized star-crossed lovers. "I don't know what to say. I'm glad you're alive."

He held his hand out, and Amilia had to blink a few times to clear her eyes. It was an invitation for something, but she could only guess what. Her hand fluttered up like a cautious bird before coming to rest in his hand. A smile graced Daniel's face, and he moved his hand slowly to test if Amilia's fingers fit between his like he remembered. If he had closed his eyes, it would have felt like years ago, but today looked much different.

"Why aren't you mad at me? I lied, I—" Amilia had trouble finishing that thought, even though Daniel knew what was coming next. "I know I hurt you. I could hear it in your voice that day."

Daniel wondered if they had haunted each other over countless miles of ocean. "I thought if I just showed that I didn't care about the truth, it would allow you to be free. All the signs were there, but love made me blind. Not acknowledging what was going on, and only offering platitudes was shallow comfort." Daniel slowly pulled his hand back, his fingers tensed before both hands fidgeted to rest on top of his head. He breathed in as if they had been running. "I know that now. I'll never agree with what you did, but I wish I had told you how I really felt about it all."

"Which was?"

His hands fell unceremoniously to his sides.

"I'm the one who owes you the truth," Amilia added before he misunderstood. "I've missed you with every cell in my body every minute of every day. I have no clue what to do about that now, but I'd like to find out."

Daniel smiled. "That sounds like a New Year's resolution if I've ever heard one."