A Mothers Accusation

Narrator's Note//: Hey everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that this chapter is shorter than the others due to some issues I have been having with my ISP.

Also, if you haven't read my recent Change of Schedule, I have decided to change upload days from Wednesday to Friday for reasons you'll find in the CoS post.

Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoy!

JZ.

"WHAT?!"

The sisters all practically bore their eyes into John in shock at the accusation. John then says, "Quiet down! There still might be someone lurking around!"

The sisters all look at each other before quietly sitting down before John explains, "Listen, Myssera is only a one percent suspicion, but one percent is more than enough for something like this. Obviously, she doesn't have anywhere near the motive that the Knagstun's do, but think about this: Erya gets the Giant's Eye, and needs a sacrifice to save her. Myssera, still hating Terra for running out, hears about Terra and us in Reduna'z, so she decides to invite her back under the guise that she's gonna ask us for help. When we've agreed and let our guard down, she gets a group to kidnap Terra, and have her sacrificed to the Giant Queen to get rid of Erya's curse without any potential fuck-ups from us."

"Mother would never do that. She can be a horrible witch, but she would never sacrifice one of her own daughters!" Diane says.

Diane looks around the table, trying to get some support for her point, but to her surprise, none of the other sisters agree with her.

"Seriously? You all think she'd do something like that?"

"Well... you've heard the stories... we all have... " Manai answers, somewhat ominously.

"What stories?" Kyuala asks.

The sisters all look amongst each other, worry behind every eye. Sydna eventually speaks up, "Well, before our mother married our father, she was a monk for the Order of Emberskiln. They're a very, very secluded order with less than a hundred members for over two centuries. From the tales that have been told, their training is so extreme, they basically endure torture for twenty hours a day. The training from what we've heard ranges from being beaten with wooden poles wrapped in thorned vines to having to walk over the smouldering rocks of the Fohjil volcano."

"Our Mother gave us a watered down version of that training," Bislea explains. "Most of us quit very early on. We learned how to defend ourselves obviously, but the only ones who stuck out the training was Virra and Terra. Virra's training, from what we were told, became different to Terra's, but was still horrible."

"They never told us exactly what happened during their training, but they would always have welts on their hands, arms, back and legs. I don't think they went without wincing for a year straight," Sophia says.

Apollita is the next to speak, "Mother put them through hell. However, even all of that torture couldn't beat the bumptiousness out of Virra. Even with her brash attitude, she is an incredibly skilled archer."

"Okay? Why are you telling us this?" Amilia asks, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"To give you an idea of what happened before we learned the story of the Traitor to the Order," Apollita answers as she looks at Amilia.

"Our Mother became a member of the Order after a decade of torturous training. She had to endure some treacherous trials, but never explained to us what most of them were. However, she told us about one that she would never forget. Apparently, one of the sisters of the Order had been colluding with some other group, and the higher-ups decided that she had to be eliminated, but it couldn't be traced back to the Order itself. Our Mother was given that difficult task, but she would get the opportunity during a job they were given. She took the Traitor with her to secure an artefact from a group of cave dwellers and it went about as normal as you could expect. They dealt with the former owners of said artefact, but as they were climbing up to escape the cave... Mother had to enact upon the task given to her."

Apollita then takes a moment as the group realise where this is going, "As the Traitor was about the reach the top, Mother grabbed her by her broach, which signalled her allegiance to the Order. Mother then ripped it off before calling her a traitor and kicking her back down, causing her to fall to her death. Mother then left and reported the death to the higher-ups, giving her broach to them as proof. She got praised for it before going on her way like the loyal soldier she was. Mother then told us what the supposed collusion was... it was love."

Apollita continues, "She stated that she hated the traitor for abandoning their ways, and she never thought about her actions twice, even after meeting our Father. She started crying, saying that she hated the traitor, not just for betraying the Order, but for betraying her. We asked her what she meant, and that's when she said that the traitor was the one who trained her. She spent almost every waking hour with the traitor, yet, upon learning she was the traitor, our Mother said that there was never a doubt in her mind that she would make sure that her task was completed without any chance of failure."

The group are stunned, hearing about all this training, finding out about this Order, and most importantly, the newly learned ruthlessness of Myssera. Sydna then says, "So, if Mother could do that to a woman she trained with for a decade..."

"Then who's to say she couldn't do that to her own daughter..." Amilia says, causing the entire table to fall into a sullen silence.

Everyone now is now wrought with worry as it's begun to sunk in that they can't simply dismiss Myssera's potential involvement, and thus, she becomes a suspect in their collective minds.

"So... what do we do now?" Lani asks, but everyone is hesitant to answer.

There's a good few moments where they all look among one another, hoping that someone will speak up, so they don't have to.

Manai then finally decides to speak up and put an end to the silence, "Why don't we investigate them?"

A few confused looks and responses are directed at Manai, but it's Kyuala who continues, "It makes sense. We're stuck here til tomorrow, so we should make the most of this time, and make sure we're after the right person."

The table look amongst one another with them all seemingly agreeing with the idea. Apollita then says, "If we are doing this, then we'll have to tell the others."

"Uhh, hell no. The more people who know, the more likely we'll get found out, then whoever's got Terra will just work faster, and I ain't letting them hurt her!" Amilia says with a gumption that surprises the sisters and the group.

"I'm inclined to agree with Amilia here. If we tell every sister, then there's a good chance we'll get caught," John adds.

"But we'll need their help to distract Mother and Father." Bislea then continues, "If we can get them to keep Mother and Father out of the room, we can search inside their room and maybe her office."

There's a silence for a few seconds, but everyone soon begins to agree on this plan. Amilia isn't happy with it, but she agrees to it anyway.

"And what about Knagstun? Won't we have to break into his manor?" Sophia asks.

"Don't worry bout that darlin'. Breaking and entering is a specialty of mine," Amilia responds with a twinkle in her eye.

"Okay, so now that we've got a gameplan, we should break off into teams." John says before continuing, "We'll need some of the more quiet sisters to help Amilia with breaking into the manor. Do you think you could get a few to go with her, Apollita?"

"Definitely. Let's just say that Naura has quite a knack for sneaking out when she shouldn't be. But what about the team here? Won't they need someone to pick the lock for the office?"

"Actually, I recently learned that Erya has a few surprising skills of her own," John responds, getting a few confused stares from the sisters.

"Okay, one last question... how do we tell the others?" Diane asks.

TEN MINUTES LATER:

The rest of the sisters have now joined the group in the library and have just been given the quick rundown of the talk that the smaller group had not long ago.

As expected, almost all of them are gobsmacked, unsure of what they even heard let alone if they believe it.

They all stare blankly, trying to make sense of the information overload they have just received. However, throughout the silence, one of the sisters begin to laugh...

Naura.

Her laughter is the only noise heard in the entire library as the other sisters and the group just stare at the seemingly amused woman.

"That... is... hilarious. Tell me... was this conspiracy theory a team creation? Or did John come up with it all on his own?"

Everyone is silent as they continue to stare at Naura. After a few more moments of laughing, she realizes that none of them have joined her in said laughter. Naura then asks, "Wait, you're actually serious?"

"Does it look like we're joking?" Manai asks with a tone that indicates that she's used to this from Naura.

"Oh c'mon, you obviously are! This whole mystery whodunnit act is just an act to make yourselves feel better for not saving Terra like you should've."

The sisters immediately want to slap Naura, but it's Kyuala who makes a move, leaning over the table to grab her shirt, "Listen here, you little fu-!"

"She's right."

John's words cause Kyuala to immediately stop with a frightened Naura just inches away from the large orcish hand that currently has her shirt in its grip.

"I should've saved Terra. I should've been better... but I wasn't. Now, we're in a very uncertain predicament and have no control over what happens next. We all want Terra back safe, and doing this might help us with doing just that. So, are you going to help us? Or do we have to keep you locked down while we do what we have to do?"

Naura is shocked by the man's words as he's essentially just threatened her, and none of her sisters even batted an eye. Hell, they're looking at her with a similar gaze to John which tells her all she needs to know. She then thinks about her goal to prove to John that she's better than Terra, and so she answers, "Alright. I'll help. However, I expect some sort of compensation for my time, it is a valuable commodity after all."

"Your compensation is that your sister is brought back alive! What more could you possibly want?!" Kiera says with an aggression that surprises Naura and the rest of the table.

Naura is a little hesitant to answer, actually feeling a little bad about her words since Kiera, of all people, snapped at her. She then says, "Fine. What's the plan?"

Apollita then starts to lay out the plan, "We need to keep Mother and Father away from their room and from Mother's study. Father shouldn't be hard as he'll most likely be with Durat to plan the rescue. Mother shall be more difficult to keep occupied, so Kiera, Bislea, Diane, Virra, you four will have to distract her. Do what we did back when we were kids, T.M.S."

All of the sisters then say in unison, "Tea, muffins and stories."

"What about if Father wants to rest?" Erya asks.

"That's why Kova and Sophia will be keeping an eye out. If he gets close, we'll need you to distract him. Father melts like warm butter for you, just turn your innocence up to an eleven, and he'll be putty in your hands."

Sydna then takes over, "While you all are doing that, Amilia, Kyuala, John, Lani, Naura and I will break into Knagstun's manor. We'll need to do some reconnaissance first to see what the guard situation is like. So, you'll have to also distract them if they wish to talk to any of us."

"You make it sound so easy," Manai comments.

"Oh, trust me, I've learned some very useful skills during my time in Nillork. My wife and I have had plenty of time to develop my skills in thievery."

"Whoopty-freaking-doo," Kova mutters to herself.

"I'll stay behind when you four go in," Kyuala says, surprising the table. She then continues, "I know when a situation is not to my specialty, and sneaking isn't a great one of mine. We've got the ear pieces, so I'll be able to tell you if I see any changes in guard or if something's wrong."

"I hate to admit it, but it would be for the best," Lani says.

"Plus, if we need a distraction, who better than Ky?" Amilia adds.

"Alright, so... when do we start?" John asks.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER:

Apollita, Erya and Manai are currently in Myssera and Holvaeth's room, have rummaged around the entire room for any clues, but haven't found anything.

They've searched everywhere they can think of: Inside drawers, the walk-in wardrobe, even the bathroom, but they find nothing other than some hidden biscuits and some questionable... intimate items which would require a specialist to help them forget.

Eventually, after combing through every place that they can think of, Apollita says, "There's nothing here, not even a hidden compartment in the bedside tables or the damn wardrobe."

"Well, we still have the office to check," Erya says.

Manai then adds, "Plus, no way Mother would have any sort of evidence of kidnapping her own daughter in a room she shares with Father."

"I know that, but we can't be too careful. Let's just get to her study and hope we find something."

MYSSERA'S STUDY:

The trio are, once again, rummaging around. The study is smaller than the room fortunately, but they still have no luck finding anything.

Apollita searches the drawers of the desk, Manai scans the cabinet with the fancy alcohol in it. Erya however, has a different approach.

Erya is currently running her hands up and down the walls, tapping her knuckles against it. The sisters look at her a few times with Apollita asking, "You aren't going to find any hidden safe. Mother wouldn't be so cliché to have one in h-"

As Apollita is just about to finish her sentence, a hollow knock is heard.

Both Apollita and Manai's faces drop in surprise as Erya turns her head with a smug expression plastered on it, "Wouldn't be so cliché, huh?"

The other two then head over to the wall and begin to knock on it, with both hearing the same hollow noise.
Apollita then immediately slides her hand around the wall while saying, "There must be a way we can open this. See if you can find a groove or something."

Manai and Erya then follow their eldest sisters lead with all three now slowly moving their hands around the wall which would be cause for immediate concern if anyone were to see them. However, Kova and Sophia seem to be adept enough at keeping an eye out, so hopefully no one should walk in.

The trio continue to search up and down the wall, looking for anything they can whilst simultaneously thinking one shared thought...

"I hope the others are having better luck at the manor."