7

- Was it really all? she drawled in bewilderment. Venira and I were in a huge, by my standards, library of the estate, in which I spent almost non-stop all week.

“You've said that phrase twenty times in the last six days. You have in your hands the records of eyewitnesses of the Lithuanian-Maskinian war. Is that not enough for you? You don't believe in the diary of the aristocrat who managed to escape from Marner, either? In the end, the Maskin scrolls should have convinced you that this is all a real story, ”Venira said displeasedly.

“That's not the point, I just can't believe Marner managed to pull all of this up and hide it from everyone. But what about ordinary soldiers and ordinary people? After all, a bunch of eyewitnesses knew for sure that Augusta was not crazy.

“And what do you think these eyewitnesses should have done?” People talked and forgot, believe me, they were more worried about whether they would die of hunger today or hold out for a couple more days. And the military,” Venira said thoughtfully, carefully looking out of the large window overlooking the backyard of the estate. “Marner was feared and got worse over the years.

“It turns out that the artifactor made a mistake, and his invention could not completely suppress the power in women?” Otherwise, you and I would not exist, - I said and saw the mockery in the eyes of the dark one.

“Lyan was wrong, of course, but not in what you think. We believe that he did not intend to help Marner, he wanted to destroy the dark ones. Not only did Augusta go mad and die after the ritual. The sealing killed almost all of the women who came into power. But that's not all. The first girls born after the activation of the artifact did not live up to twenty-five. Whether he did it on purpose or not, we will never know. Lyen and his son were no longer alive by that time, Marner executed them immediately after Reed's death. But what he was wrong about was the power of his brilliant invention,” Venira said with a grin. “Over the years, his strength has been depleted, and from time to time, girls gifted with darkness began to be born. At that time, the governor of the Western Lands was the grandson of Magnus, and he decided to force the sealing.

“Karim Reed,” I remembered the legendary name. “He is the founder of the Order of Darkness.

“Yes, he’s still a pervert,” Venira said with disgust. - He had six wives and forced them to give birth almost every year, and that's not counting his mistresses. The Reed family tomb is half filled with his newborn children and wives. He then had the first catcher.

“Tell me more about the Seekers,” I asked, trying not to betray my curiosity. No one here knew about my encounter with one of them.

- What can I say about them? the dark one was indignant, continuing to look out the window. I knew perfectly well that a training session was taking place in the backyard. In addition to developing the gift, the girls trained endurance, practiced close combat, and someone even learned to fight with swords. Hope I can join them soon. “I call them reverse darks. The first such blond freak was born to Karim Reed. They are not affected by darkness, they painlessly pass it through themselves, moreover, they can drink any dark one with one touch. Catchers have excellent health, they are faster, stronger and more resilient than any person. This is the most dangerous creature in the Western Lands, and indeed in the whole kingdom, if you meet such a person, run.

So they didn't exist before?

— No, at least there is no mention of them anywhere. The most interesting thing is that such a freak can be born in any dark one, no one is immune from this. They are especially honored in the order, someday the artifact will completely exhaust itself, and then only the catchers will stand between the dark men and women.

“Lien managed to destroy all his work,” I nodded, remembering what I had recently read. “But what will prevent them from charging an already existing artifact again, or asking for help from Maskin’s artefactists?”

“We will interfere,” Venus said confidently, looking into my eyes. “Moreover, our king has very tense relations with Masquinha.

- How do you know? I have never heard of this anywhere,” I said thoughtfully.

"Doesn't matter," she waved him off.

"You know what's the weirdest thing about catchers?" Venira immediately changed the subject. “They don’t sleep with women, they aren’t interested in them at all.

“Uh…” she drawled in bewilderment. For some reason, Reiner's very eloquent look at my bare chest came to mind, and I blushed. Venira, fortunately, took this reaction in her own way and laughed.

“Don’t blush, my friend, you won’t hear such things yet, bashful naive fools don’t live long.

- If they are not interested in women, maybe they indulge in pleasures with men? I kept up the conversation. Venira's face stretched out and became extremely funny.

“Great theory,” she praised. - We need to tell this version to the others. Venira suddenly recoiled sharply from the window, as if she did not want to be caught peeping.

Mira, I'm glad you're with us. I hope you make the right choice,” she said and hurried out of the library.

Tormented by curiosity, I looked out the window and did not see a single girl there. Part of the back yard was occupied by a lawn of rich green color, adjoined by a small area lined with large stones. In some places the paths were framed by decorative shrubs and flowers unknown to me, and behind the left wing of the estate there was a small garden. The path leading to the garden was perfectly visible from the window of the library, so I managed to notice a male figure moving along it. It was there that Venira, who had left the house, went.

I have noticed her more than once in the company of Kane, from the outside they looked rather strange. He was twice her age, a whole head taller and had the imposing figure of a warrior, which is not surprising, because Kane trained all the inhabitants of the community. Black-haired and dark-eyed, like all dark ones, Kane did not have an attractive appearance, his features were rough and predatory, moreover, an impressive scar crossed the right side, pulling the corner of his lips down. But Venira looked at Kane as if she saw the most handsome man in the world before her. And I didn't understand why he always avoided her. It was noticeable even to me, who was here for only a week.

In addition to Lane and Venira, about thirty people with a dark gift lived on the estate, among whom were both adults and children. They teamed up with only one goal: to destroy the artifact that suppresses the darkness in women. Caroline Lint, who was the head of this small community of the dark ones, who called themselves the Sisters of Darkness, ran everything here.

It was she who told me the story of how, a century and a half ago, several men, saving their loved ones from being sealed, were able to escape from the Western Lands and take refuge on the other side of the kingdom. Magnus Reed hunted them down, and they had to hide and constantly change their place of residence. But they managed to survive and even keep the crumbs of the remaining dark gift in their future daughters. Among the fugitives were Caroline's ancestors, who wrote down all their knowledge of a special martial art. All these years, the fugitive dark ones passed on knowledge from generation to generation, and stubbornly trained men in whom the dark force still remained. Then gifted girls began to be born to them, the darkness of which, although not great, still gave hope.

The monsters from the tales of dark women took on flesh and blood, they smiled at their husbands and children and did not look crazy at all. There were several couples, and one of them was Lane's parents, the way they looked at each other kindled conflicting feelings in me. The Dark Ones did not hide their desires at all, husbands hugged and kissed their wives in public, however, women did not lag behind them. All this demonstration of feelings and desires frightened me greatly and forced me to be on my guard all the time.

The head gave me a week to study their archive about the history of the dark ones, more precisely, about the children of Darkness. That's what they originally called themselves. After that time, I had to decide if I wanted to join the resistance or just live out my dark age on a common estate. I suspect I never really had a choice. Besides me, there was another girl found in the shelter. Venira. She was one of the first found about three years ago. Lane and her parents became a family for her that she never even dreamed of. Venira was assigned to look after me for the first time, and she did not even try to hide her discontent about this.

“I could have spent this time usefully, training, after all, and now I have to hang out with you in the library all day and answer stupid questions,” Venira grumbled. Now she looked like a ruffled sparrow.

“I’m not forcing you to hang around here,” I stated.

"I know," she sighed wearily. - What else do you have? The sooner we finish, the sooner I can go to practice.

“Tell me about yourself,” I asked. “Well, the part where you were found, and most importantly, how.

“Three years ago, the artifact malfunctioned, and people from the order picked up small bursts of power in different parts of the Western Lands. They organized a raid on villages, shelters and small towns. All dark-haired and dark-eyed girls were tested. In big cities, checks are carried out regularly, and it’s difficult to miss newborn dark ones, firstly, there are few of them, and secondly, the mother must necessarily be the bearer of darkness, and they control their women to the fullest. They still found one dark one in a shelter almost on the border, you already know that the Order has special daggers that react to a dark gift. At that time, resistance already existed, and Caroline Lint turned to interested people for help. They promised to help and after a while provided an artifact that could deceive the dagger. This is how they saved me when the order came to check.

“Wait, wait, is there a traitor among the inspectors?” What other people are interested?

“I can’t tell you such details, take an oath and you will find out everything. That's it, I'm tired of you, I'll come back later, - Venira jumped up from the sofa and rushed away in an unknown direction.

I tried to remember to the smallest detail the day when the inspectors arrived. Reiner was far enough away from me, and he does not look like a sympathizer of the resistance, like his dark dad. Fear then confused my thoughts, but I remember Lady Melissa standing behind me. Exactly, because the girls were discussing some kind of Mel. So this is who I have to thank for my salvation. And the mysterious interested assistants, obviously, have Maskian roots, since they are able to provide an artifact. Somehow it's very simple. I don’t believe that Venira let it slip by accident, she doesn’t look like a stupid talker.

The next day, the summer heat gave way to the long-awaited coolness. In the morning, with the rain drumming on the windows, I took a blood oath to Caroline Lint. Then she told me that betrayal would turn into a painful death for me. Nice.