But I didn’t have the luxury of doing that. Especially when I turned the corner of the alley and spotted a group gathered outside of the older building, the large, burly keeper speaking with what looked like soldiers.
“What’s happened?” I asked, rushing up to the group. There was an older male who I thought lived on the floor above me, but I’d only seen him in passing. He’d only grumbled at me when I’d smiled once.
“A disgruntled renter,” he said, scowling with his arms crossed. “Broke into most of the rooms. Stole.”
My heart froze in my chest. My first thought was my notebooks.
I flew past and darted up the stairs of the brightly lit building. My floor was off the second-stair landing, and by the time I reached it, I was huffing from the exertion, my long day, and fear.
My room door was ajar.
“No,” I breathed. I rushed inside and saw that my ordinarily neat room had been tossed. My blankets and mattress were strewn and off the frame of the bed. My traveling bag had been opened, the broken handle lying on the floor next to it, having finally given out. The contents of the bag were spilled. Mostly old notebooks, which, thankfully, hadn’t been stolen.
Relief went through me when I got to my knees and rummaged through what was left. Luckily all of them were accounted for, but some pages were torn, as the thief been less than gentle.
My heart thudded when I came across an old sketch of Kaldur. One of the pages that had been ripped. It went straight down his face, hanging in two parts.
They’d been looking for?—
I froze.
I pushed to my feet and raced to the little dresser in the room. The bottom drawer was loose. I’d wrapped the money in an old scarf.
The scarf was there, but as I dove my hands into the material, what I’d already feared became a reality.
The money was gone. All of my savings.
I cursed myself for taking it out of the creditory.So stupid, so stupid,I thought, over and over again. But it had been the account I’d used at Kaldur’s keep. I feared it might be shut down when he discovered me gone, as retaliation for breaking the contract.
I sat on the floor, in my trashed room, my heart finally beginning to slow as I faced the reality of my situation.
My only saving grace was that I’d just paid Ikrin for a full week yesterday. And I had the pay from Kyndri’s for today, but the wages would barely keep me here. It wouldn’t cover food or expenses.
Especially with ababyon the way.
“Oh gods,” I whispered, tears beginning to build up in my eyes.
“You too?” came a voice at the door. The old man, huffing out breath on his way back up to his room. He was peering into my room, shaking his head.
“Have they caught them?” I asked hopefully, through watery eyes.
“Doubt it,” the man said. “This happens more than you think. Word of advice? Don’t keep anything you care about here. But you’ll learn that if you stay long enough.”
Then he hobbled up the stairs, and I stared at the open doorway in disbelief.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, contemplating what to do. But I knew I only had one choice, a choice I’d already been pondering all day once the knowledge that I was pregnant began to sink in.
Kaldur deserved to know, but it would gut me to ask him for help. I didn’t want to prove to him what he already believed about me…but I knew that this situation was outside of my control.
I would write the letter tonight, but I would sleep on it. If I still thought it was the right decision, I would post it in the morning. An express service wouldn’t cost much more, but I did have to be careful with my credits.
Pulling myself up from the floor, I grabbed one of my notebooks, flipping to a fresh page. Luckily my pencils were still here, though they’d been scattered across the floor. I hovered the tip over the paper for what felt like ages, my gut churning.
This needs to be done,I thought silently.
My pencil touched the paper.
To Kaldur of House Kaalium, Kyzaire of Vyaan,I began.
