CHAPTER 480: TRUST

It took Arabella twice as long to read each map as her head buzzed with voices and images from earlier hours.

Arthur’s memory wouldn’t leave her alone, but then tugged Allegra’s smile from a different side... Those fought with nearly equal force for her attention, driving her insane in the process.

Arthur had been kept prisoner for a good while, wouldn’t the prince keep him for a while longer as a bargaining chip? But then again Cedric did give her an ultimatum and a time window. He did not exactly state that Arthur would be dead if she did not join him on his journey back to Lustris but on the other hand... By the time she came up with a plan to save her brother, Allegra could be dead too...

The knock on the door startled Arabella out of those maddening thought trenches, "Yes?Come in!"

It was Ada that appeared inside after the permission to enter, "I was told you’ve asked to see me,"

"Right! I have!" she leaped off her chair at once, nearly dropping it behind her.

"Is... Is everything alright?" Ada asked with a lot of reluctance in her voice.

"Silas is out of the manor for the time being, but hopefully nobody will be eavesdropping on our conversation since most the vampires are out there too,"

"Alright. I am even more worried now," Ada found a chair and plopped her weight down without breaking eye contact with Arabella.

"You are the one I trust the most under this roof and as such, I’d like to show you something, but I am going to need you to promise me not to scream or run out of here," the serious look on her definitely didn’t help quell Ada’s fears, but that mattered very little right then and there.

"I...," Ada trailed off, forgetting to even blink.

"I am also going to need your word that you won’t utter a thing of this to anyone else," Arabella too did not blink.

"Alright, you win; I am scared," Ada clutched at the wood of her chair.

That response caused Arabella’s demeanor to mellow a tad, "Please. I need to know that I can trust you with this. I have no one else,"

Ada’s head started nodding furiously before any words followed, "Yes, of course, I promise you. You do have my word that I won’t be breathing a hint of this to no one,"

Arabella sat back down and opened the desk drawer in front of her before picking the small white box out of it. The same one Cedric had "gifted" her.

She held onto it for a moment without pulling its lid off, "The prince gave me this before leaving. He made sure Silas wasn’t around for it and you will quickly understand why,"

Ada, at the very edge of her seat, clearly boiled with impatience at the reveal, but when Arabella exposed the content of the box, her eyes, expectedly flickered away and started blinking wildly as her hand flew to cover her mouth.

The gagging followed shortly after that as the woman bent forward while her second hand clutched her, null doubt, aching stomach.

"I know, I know, I truly am sorry to do this to you," Arabella placed the box on the desk then rushed to Ada’s side, patting her back soothingly, "I have no other choice for the time being," she cried.

"Who...Whose ear is this?" Ada nearly choked on the words.

"My brother’s," she bit on her lips, "Arthur,"

Ada’s teary eyes opened so big that Arabella managed to behold her own full, miserable reflection very clearly.

"Oh my dear Lord!" it came out in a whisper, "Are you sure it’s his?" she did her best to drown out her rising sobs.

"This cut here," she pointed at the reverse triangle carved out of its helix, "My brother sustained it when we were kids,"

"Yes, but...," Ada straightened up, still clutching her stomach, "If your father knew about it then this cut would have been the easiest thing to reproduce. You haven’t seen your brother in years. He’s probably changed and grown and no offense to you, but you are no expert when it comes to telling ears apart," her eyebrows had completely knitted together as her eyes remained wide.

"Yes, I know, Ada," calm, Arabella merely gave her a nod in response, "That is exactly why I need your help,"

That had the merit of getting Ada to simmer a tad.

"I can’t leave the manor without it being reported back to Silas but he wouldn’t mind you visiting KasselMoon if not alone,"

"That is still going to be hard after what happened with Allegra, but why do you need me to visit KasselMoon?" from time to time, Ada’s eyes would involuntarily flicker back onto the ear laying at the velvet heart of that box.

Arabella took the nearest pair of scissors which lay on the desk as part of the cartography and navigation tools anyways before isolating a more discrete strand of her own hair and chopping it off.

"You wish for me to take them to a witch, don’t you?" Ada’s eyes narrowed.

"That is the only way to find out whether this ear belongs to a close member of my family,"

"What about the doctors under this roof or better yet!" Ada’s shoulders shrugged seemingly uncontrollably as she fired suggestion after suggestion, "What about the fact that madame Morgana herself is present here as we speak?"

"I can’t," Arabella simply shook her head, "They will tell Silas about it,"

"I fail to see how that is a bad outcome, to be honest,"

Arabella took a moment and a deeper breath, shutting her eyes very momentarily before reopening them, "I will tell him everything eventually, of course, but I’d like to keep this a secret for a while, just enough to think about the most optimal solution. Please, Ada. Will you help me?"

Ada’s lips moved as though she was about to say something, but nothing came. Instead, and after a few seconds of silence, her answer was uttered with a nod, "Yes, I can,"