when she first woke up at his cavern. She glanced at the box he threw before her then – now all the pins collected and the box returned to the stack.
Wolfin noticed this and moved closer to her, meeting her eyes with a slight frown:
“I had my reasons to kill those Veluthians, Serena. They came for me. They came to kill me.”
“Why?” she wasn’t hoping to get an answer, as he didn’t reply to similar questions before.
This time, however, the man took a very deep breath and exhaled, before saying:
“After the massacre…” he gritted his teeth. “When your family died, taking with them all of the Bima-Liss traitors… I was one of those investigating this mess. The evidence I found, and the questions I’ve been asking made some of the allies to the Bima-Liss grow weary of my persistence. And while I was able to capture most of those who sent assassins my way, trying to silence me… others framed me for something I hadn’t done. I escaped Velutha only by chance. For years I was trying to fix the damage those traitors caused to my reputation. But my attempts weren’t as good as the influence of powerful families, who gained a lot from the death of Thara-Lyss and Bima-Liss families.”
“Who framed you? And for what?”
Wolfin looked away:
“I was framed for the murder of my wife and son.”
Serena’s eyes widened. The man stayed silent for a while, as if thinking about the times that passed.
“Wolfin?” Serena called him, seeing him flinch at the sound of his name. “Who framed you?”
“Salaar Dorn Kalun.” the man said, throwing a handful of water into his face. “The pieces of armour I showed you belong to the assassins that came after me time after time. At his orders. The last ones I killed two months ago, right here…”
Wolfin pointed at the bloodied rock with chains.
Serena felt something stirring in her memories, and decided to distract herself by taking a bite to eat. Thinking over something that bothered her, she caught Wolfin looking at her with a strange expression on his face again.
“What?” she tilted her head, noticing his eyes studying not only her face, but her body as well. “Got something to say? Say it.”
The man smirked:
“Who knew a scrawny little kid could grow up so strong and beautiful?” he saw her eyes squinting and cackled. “Relax, Scorpi. You’re my ward, not a woman I’d want in my bed.”
Serena forced down an irritated grimace from appearing on her face:
“Thanks, I guess.”
“I didn’t ask…” Wolfin squinted at her, watching her reaction. “How did you survive? I saw the recoding that was shown all over Velutha, but… no one could find you. I assumed, just like all the others, that you died… either by the hands of the traitors or by the assassins that might have been sent after you.”
“How much do you know?” Serena felt her teeth gritting against her will. “About that day?”
“We found your blood, lots of it, on the site. And the short recording came to the communication web a bit later. That’s it. No trace, no hint that you were alive after that.”
The woman looked at her left arm.
“Tekkern caught me by surprise.” she said. “He shot me, blowing off my left arm, almost up to the shoulder. I managed to grab my gun, but my father ran into the fight, shoving me away and ordering me to run.”
Wolfin saw her eyes becoming angry.
“Then what?” he encouraged her to continue the story.
“I followed the order. I fled.” Serena grasped her left wrist, clenching the limb hard. “I got to my ship and didn’t look back. Tekkern followed me, vaporising my right leg as the ship was taking off. He toyed with me.”
She finally raised her eyes, meeting Wolfin’s gaze with a very dark expression shining in her eyes.
“I shot his head off.” she growled. “And had to crawl to the medical bay. Lyssa found out that we were all poisoned by some complex toxin, which inhibited regeneration. So when I was suspended, the ship’s AI had to crack the toxin to help me regain my regeneration. It took a number of years for her to do that, since she couldn’t use the Veluthian servers to analyse the compound.”
Serena shook off her tension and grabbed the whole steak, taking a big bite.
“And I thought you were dead…” Wolfin sighed.
“About that…” Serena squinted her eyes at the man, her gaze becoming suspicious. “How? Why were you so sure I was dead?”
Wolfin silently raised his left wrist, showing her a familiar design of a bracelet – a thin wavy dark metal with a single small stone on it. Though, her own bracelet had the stone glimmering.
“This wasn’t a simple gift, Scorpi. I left something to keep an eye on you. It was supposed to let me know if you were alive or not.” Wolfin said. “If the stone was lit, it meant you were alright.”
Serena realised that when Tekkern shot her arm off, the bracelet was destroyed with it, showing Wolfin the dire news.
“You kept an eye on me?” the woman asked, trying to grasp at the concept of her past mentor watching out for her without even showing his face.
“I did. Every now and again I would inquire how you were doing in the academy and how well you were progressing in your studies.”
“Then why not face me? Why do all that and… not even know what I look like?”
The man smiled sadly:
“It was enough for me to know you were alright. Everything else didn’t matter. I didn’t want to ruin your life, so…”
“Ruin my life? The fuck you’re talking about?” Serena suddenly bared her teeth in anger.
“What did your father tell you, when I was transferred?” Wolfin remained calm, even though the woman looked like she was about to strike him.
“He said I was getting too attached to you.”
“He was afraid that if I’ll be with you while you’ll be growing up, you’ll end up seeking my company more than just that of a mentor.”
Serena was taken aback by these words, confused at the sheer assumption of her father being so short-sighted.
“The fuck?” was all she could say.
Wolfin smirked:
“Your father feared that eventually we’ll end up in bed. He didn’t want a no name like me ending up with his precious daughter. And he promised me that if he ever sees me again near you, he will do everything in his power to destroy me. He also promised me that he’ll ruin your
