@makesplans
katarzyna has never forgiven betrayal lightly least of all from one she considered a friend. and that had been what he had done. betrayed their order. leaving after his wife's death, the witch could forgive. even his actions which had brought pain unto his life she could understand. the knights were not perfect and accepted much darker actions by it's eldritch members and his family had known hard times like so many others of the age. he would always be one of her brethren even if he no longer filled the ranks of their order. but to have attempted to thieve from their vaults where such dangers were kept.. that had gone steps too far.
he knew, she knew he knew what such things could bring unto the world. how could he have left himself fall so far?
she had not gone to see him in the aftermath as he had been hauled away by their fellow knights though she had inquired after his daughter who had seemed to vanish. she had wanted to go in search of her for katarzyna had known the girl and come to care about her. she was so young after all. but that had not been her directive in her training. she was to remain and learn under zalan. she was not to worry about someone who had committed such crimes against the order or their family.
god, there was a reason a order which aided the shadow world also kept certain relics locked away!
some darkness was too corrupted for the world, some powers were ancient from a time very different than what the world had become, a time lost to the annals of history. some objects could harm both eldritch and mundane and were too dangerous to have unleashed on the world. edgin knew that!
how foolish was he!?
but katarzyna also understood, as she sat in the middle of the dusty home where she'd seen his wife laying dying with no power of her or her brother's able to save her from the red blade why edgin had done what he had. she understood what had driven him. what would she have done if it was her brother dead and such a relic as had been taken could bring him back? was the idea of such a relic not tempting to her, a chance to bring back the parents who gave their lives for her? yet katarzyna understood that such things would not come without a price. to use dark magics always came with a caveat. her and kasper's restored lives had come at the price of their parents and a whole village of people. and to use such a relic that edgin had sought would have a price too. a price that wasn't worth paying.
still, she had had time to stew over her anger, time further to allow herself to begin to understand and it is why when she heard of his escape she had known where he would go, using her power over shadows to bring her there before the rest of the order held the chance to. it had weakened her to use such magic, her body a fraction too pale, her reflexes slower, a slight shake to her that most who didn't know her couldn't perceive. she would recover in a days time or two but she had to come to him now. she needed to and she's not entirely sure why. she hadn't quite forgiven him, had she? maybe she had, maybe she hadn't. but the order was going to go after the red witch either way and she suspected (though the order seemed to resist the idea without proof) that forge had some sort of tie to her which meant kira (who she'd come to know was with him) was going to be in the crossfire and the order was too hyper focused on the larger threat to worry about the girl in the chaos.
maybe this was skirting the line of betrayal to. but not if they succeeded it wouldn't be.
she should restrain him and bring him back with her to the order. but she isn't going to. zalan would be furious when he found out and she thinks kasper will be too though she wonders if anika hadn't already known what she was going to do after their talk the day before. it had been her words which had given katarzyna the idea after all. for if her and edgin and perhaps others, for they might need others if such was to be accomplished, could save kira but also defeat the red witch then a new path opened. the order would not be able to look upon such with contempt. oh she wasn't fooling herself to think he would turn back into the person she'd once known him to be. but she knew he would fight for kira and she suspected both goals would now be intertwined if she was right about forge's alliance.
the door pushes open and her green-blue eyes meet his for the first time in so long. a breath is released and her lips part as if her words do not know how to work suddenly. she's so angry at him but she misses him too, she realizes. he had been one of the few people she had formed a bond with in those early days she'd come to the order, too much uncontrolled power and a new world so much bigger than what she had known thrown at her. he hadn't been cruel toward her like baris so often was though she still held no idea why the strigoi was so angered by her. katarzyna was still learning, everyday for she was still young too and barely had touched serious battle yet. zalan had said she wasn't ready. but she sure as hell better be now that she's taken the path she has. "kira isn't here, edgin." she states but she doesn't get up from the chair.
"i'm not here to fight you unless you force me to. the order will come for you. you know that. but right now there's something more important." she does get up then though the motion causes her to grip the top of the chair in a way she usually doesn't need to, she tries to cover it but he knows her. she's used too much magic to beat the order here and if edgin wanted to act against her in some bid to escape the situation she had no doubt he'd be able to. perhaps she hadn't been smart about this. had zalan's lessons gone in one ear and out the other? or maybe some part of her still sought to trust him even if he'd not given her reason to. "kira's with forge and i think he's working with a red witch."
