"I…" she started to say, but her voice cracked.
"What is wrong, Lizzy?" Helen asked.
"I'm sorry, I was slightly startled," Lizzy answered.
"Are you sure?" Helen felt as though she might have heard Lizzy's voice shake slightly.
"I'm sorry, my lady," Lizzy apologized.
"What could have startled you; that I said we are getting off the train in a few hours?" Kheal asked.
"Where are we going?" Helen returned to the topic at hand.
"I promised I would send you to Sorventii, I just never said when. Sorry, it will take a little while," Kheal said.
"How long?" Helen asked. Her greatest fear was being too late. What if her husband remarried before she got there?
"I need to get somewhere and claim my inheritance. Only then can I return,"
"How long will this take?" Helen asked.
"Not long, a year or two," Kheal answered and Helen tensed. She was not sure how long Walter would be away. She was sure that wherever he was going, it would take him a few months.
"I heard that in Sorventii, Lady Khalsan of Sorventii will marry soon, how far away is that?" Helen asked and Kheal frowned at this.
"Why?"
"We agreed to meet before the marriage," Helen answered and Kheal laughed grimly.
"She will only marry if the disciple of the Black Hand. The Black Hand has yet to decide on someone so, it will take a while. Don't worry. You will be there before this wedding happens," Kheal said.
"Okay," Helen nodded and sighed in relief. But right at this moment, she frowned in worry. What happens when she gets to Sorventii? Can she even stop this marriage? She had been thinking of so many different scenarios over the past few days and as she thought through them again, her face only got uglier. As though Lizzy could see into her mind, Lizzy frowned under her veil.
"Power," she said and Helen looked up at her.
"What?"
"Everyone must bow before absolute power," Lizzy said and Helen nodded. No one would dare to marry her husband if she had absolute power.
"There are many ways to achieve this," Kheal answered.
"How?"
"You can get a powerful organization behind you, or you can gain personal strength. In Sorventii, society bows to personal strength," Kheal said.
"My martial arts is nothing to be proud of," Helen answered.
"Not martial arts, cultivation. Martial arts is only the beginning of cultivation," Kheal chuckled.
"I have heard of this in my clan," Helen said.
"I will teach you. It takes lifetimes to learn cultivation, but what I wish to teach you will be useful in Sorventii. But, on one condition," Kheal said.
"What?" Helen asked.
"Where we are going, you must pretend to be me," she said and Helen frowned.
"I know what you are thinking, but it is not as you think. It will be dangerous, but I will not let you die. Will you take this risk?" Kheal asked.
Helen looked at her solemnly for a few seconds, thinking things through. She knew that this was dangerous, but she had a chance to do something about her predicament. She needed to be able to do something when she got to Sorventii and Lizzy was right; power was the only way. It was farfetched, but it was the first hope she had had seen discovering the Lady Wickshire's plans for her husband.
"I will do it," Helen answered.