"Man it's crazy how rich people can be this useful." Rika says as she looks at all the things she had bought. Rika had bought absolutely nothing of use for an adventure. Just a bunch of things that had caught her eye.
"Thank you Ms, Nyla for all of the generosity you've shown us today." Dante bows to her. Nyla giggles. "It is really no issue for me." Nyla gracefully says. Dante stammers over his words before they can even come out and he bows.
Kaito hugs her and Nyla hugs him back. "Wow, it's crazy she even allows someone like Kaito to touch her at all, the Nyla I always saw around town made sure people never even came in contact with her." Dante thinks and then he panics. "Unless Kaito is dating the noble lady?!" His face is flushed with surprised and Rika side eyes him.
They follow Nyla and she is sure to treat them to the best inn in the entire town!
"This place is huge!" Kaito says as he runs into their room.
The room is a marvel to be hold, truly is nicer then anything else Kaito has spent time in, well ever!
As Dante and Rika run around the room. Nyla pulls Kaito to the side. "Are you companions aware of your lineage?" Nyla asks Kaito. Kaito shakes his head. "I haven't told them about it." Kaito replies.
Nyla nods softly, seeing he's nervous. "I understand. I am to blame for that hesitance I presume, I hope when they learn of it they are kinder to you then I was." Nyla says to him.
Kaito turns and watches Dante and Rika wrestle over things in the expensive room, a small happy smile stretches across his face. But the thought of him telling them, of his Kaya blood, and the possibility of him losing them because of it makes the smile fade.
"I hope so too." Kaito says, is unsure voice his telling for Nyla. She holds his arm comforting him. "I'll be awaiting your arrival back in my home." Nyla says.
She leaves the room and Kaito goes to join his friends. "How rich is this girl!?" Rika shouts as she looks at the ceiling carved out of gold. She then spots a hot tub. "Dibs on the tub!" Rika shouts as she sprints away.
Dante sits on the softest couch he's ever seen. He sinks into the plush couch. "You keep surprising me with stuff, you know that Kaito?" Dante asks as he rest.
Kaito sits next to him. "I'm very mysterious." He playfully responds.
That night Nyla rode in a small, lacquered carriage, two guards flanking her like shadows. The moon caught on the carriage's ironwork and threw silver at her wrists. The road hummed under the wheels; otherwise there was only the dry whisper of their cloaks. Silence had lengthened between the guards until Nyla felt it like a space she could step into.
"Had my father realized I'm gone yet?" she asked to break it.
"He's aware," one guard answered. "He's on his way now." The words should have relieved her, and for a breath they did. She let out a small, private laugh. "That's perfect. I won't have far to go to speak with him."
The guards laughed softly, too — a small sound that felt off in the tense night. One of them said, "Right, ma'am. Makes our job easier." The sentence landed like a stone.
Nyla frowned. The guards' voices had a new edge to them — too crisp, too casual. She leaned forward in the carriage and caught a glimpse of one hand in the lantern light. The palm and fingers were smeared darkly, the crimson slowly congealing at the knuckles.
Her heart slipped into her stomach. "May I ask where you're escorting me?" she asked again, but her voice trembled now.
The nearer guard's smile widened. "You're sharp, noble woman. Too late to be asking." His hand moved. The strip of cloth wrapped round the handle of his knife shone wet in the lantern light.
Nyla lunged — the carriage was tight, her scarf tangling — and the second guard hooked an arm around her. Cold iron pressed hard at the back of her neck. Panic flared so hot it threw words out of her. She grabbed the guard's wrist and scraped her nails, but he only laughed, and that laugh was not the laugh of a man in service.
A pin pricked the inside of her forearm. The world narrowed to a black point at the edge of her vision; the carriage hummed and then slowed, and Nyla felt a heaviness bloom behind her eyes like ink spreading. Her mouth tried to answer — a name, anything — and something like a plea came out.
"Kai…" she breathed.
The sound evaporated under the guards' footsteps. Nyla's body folded into the cushions; the last thing she registered was the cold, clinical smell of a stranger's breath before the world closed.
The next morning arrived and Kaito stretched, smiling ear to ear. "Good morning everyone!" He shouts. Rika also yawns, "I've never slept on a bed this nice in forever!" She shouted.
Dante too, he didn't even rub his back today, "I don't think I've ever slept this good at all." He said.
Rika giggled as she stuffed the pillow into her bag stealing it. "And I won't be letting this nice little thing out of my hands!"
Dante shakes his head. "Can't you go a day without stealing anything?!" He asks and Rika shakes her head no.
Kaito rolls onto his feet exiting the bed. "Alright Dante, where too next?" He asks.
Dante pulls out his book. "Lucky for us, The towns on the way we were going, we just have to change course after Veloria, which luckily is the next town on our lists." Dante says.
Kaito spins and leaves the room. "ONWARD!!" He shouted. The other two laughed as they followed behind him.
Nyla's father arrived in the town, his expression thunderous. He wasted no time barking orders at his entourage. "Spread out. Find my daughter. Now."
It didn't take long for the reports to come in.
Two guards were found dead on the outskirts, throats slit, armor stripped. A third lay barely breathing, his face swollen and bloodied.
Nyla's father knelt beside the man, gripping his collar. "Who did this? Speak!"
The man coughed, blood flecking his lips. "A boy… bright hair… traveling with two others… I saw them…"
His voice cracked, and his body went limp.
For a moment, the world was still. Then, slowly, the color drained from the noble's face. Kaito.. The name alone was poison.
He rose, trembling with fury. "Show me the surveillance."
A soldier rushed over, holding a crystal shard used by local guilds for recording. The faint image flickered to life, Nyla walking with Kaito and his friends, smiling. Nyla leading them to the inn. Kaito hugging her before they went upstairs. Then, hours later, the same inn, the same trio leaving before sunrise.
That was all. No struggle. No blood. But to a father who already hated Kaito's bloodline, the story told itself.
"She trusted him," one of the guards muttered. "And now she's gone."
Nyla's father's fists clenched so tightly the veins stood out like cords. "That monster tricked her. Used her. Took her from me."
"Sir, we can't be sure..." a younger guard began.
He was silenced by a glare colder than steel. "Don't ever doubt what I know," the man hissed. Then in his mind he furiously thought. "The Kaya have always brought ruin."
He turned to his men, voice echoing down the inn's marble halls.
"Find him. Bring me the boy. Bring me all of them!"
When the guards scattered, the noble stood alone in the golden light of the inn lobby, the same light Nyla had laughed under the night before. His hands shook, but his voice was steady when he whispered:
"Kaito Nakaya… for my daughter's sake, I swear on my name..... I will have your head."