Serendipity: Jovana And The Duke

"My shadows followed every vial we sold for the Debutante Ball, and reported any effects, as usual. You will find my report on your desk in the lab. No signs of visible side effects, no victims." Keith said, and Jovana's shoulders slumped.

"But we didn't get the effect we wanted." She said, her voice barely a whisper.

"No, Jovana. We didn't." Keith answered.

"I had really high hopes for tonight. We've never sold so many vials, and I've never made so many variations." Jovana said, a sense of sadness in her voice. There was a long moment of silence before Keith reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You will do even more variations next time." Keith comforted, and Jovana sighed.

"Time… Time is not the solution. Time is the problem." Jovana quipped.

"I know….but I'm sure you'll manage to do it." Keith said, 

"I really hope so, Keith. Sometimes I'm not even sure it's possible," Jovana commented.

"Everything is possible when you face it with your kind of determination," Keith said, and they both took a sip from the short glasses full of liquor. "And speaking of problems, how was the ball?" Keith asked.

Jovana shrugged, "Well, it was a ball. Nothing different from usual," she answered.

Keith raised his brows, and said, "Are you sure? Because that's not what I heard." 

"Have you heard something?" Jovana asked.

Keith nodded, and responded, "Of course. It's my job. I heard you had the most wild success on your debut. Duke Clifford and Falcon Ridley are anything but easy prey." 

"Rumors run fast," Jovana commented, and chuckled.

"They do. That's why it is so hard to catch them." Keith said, 

"And that's why I have you. Did you hear anything else about the ball?" Jovana asked, curious.

"Many things, my dear girl. What would you like to know?" Keith said.

"Do you know if the King tried a vial?" She asked.

"He didn't. He's not interested in the serendipity as a personal experience. He just likes to speculate about its useful operations. About the serendipity of useful operations…. There is something you should know. That's the reason I came directly tonight. The King has plans for the vial." Keith disclosed, and Jovana massaged her temple as if annoyed. 

"Yes, I know." 

"You know?" Keith questioned, surprised.

Jovana nodded, and replied, "Yes. I heard something about it at the ball. The King has plans, and it will interfere with our operations." 

Keith looked around, wary. "I see. We need to talk about this, but not here. This is not a matter to be discussed in the living room," he said. Jovana nodded, and stood up.

"Let's go to the lab." Jovana said, as she and Keith descended into the bowels of the house and got back to the lab. There were no windows, rocks all around, and only one secret way in. It was the perfect place for conspiring.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Jovana asked.

"I'm worried about my shadows, Jovana. We've had a good run up until now, but with the King looking at us….playtime is over." Keith said, 

"I thought your shadows knew their trade," Jovana commented.

"They do. But they're my men, Jovana. And the risks may become too much for my taste." Keith said, his voice stiffening.

"I don't like to put them at risk either, Keith." Jovana said, and Keith sighed.

"Look, I appreciate your decision to put all the money we make from serendipity into the future of my men and family. I really do. But things are getting really dangerous out there. Sooner or later, someone will get caught. It's just a matter of time." Keith said, 

"Then we should come up with a new plan, a better one." Jovana said, unwilling to give up. 

"Yes, we should. I really want to help you, Jovana. I owe too much to your father to bail on this." Keith commented, and Jovana mused silently, 'Now that I think about it, he never told me what happened between him and dad.' 

"Keith." Jovana called out, and when he raised his brow at her, Jovana continued, "This is not the first time you told me that you owe my father, but you never told me what happened." 

"Yes, you are right. If we have to get through this whole thing, you should probably know the whole story." Keith said, and Jovana nodded as he went on with his tale, "I have a son— not one of my shadows, a blood son. And a couple of years ago he got hauled into the army because of that bloodshed going up north. And there was nothing I could do to get him out. I thought that he was going to die. I was desperate, Jovana. Truly desperate." 

Jovana listened intently, and asked, "What's his name?" 

"John. He's a good smart kid…and luckily for him, he ended up in your father's division. And, you properly already know this, but your father wasn't the kind of general that sits on a hill and watches his man die from afar. Your father was a front line warrior, always on the side of his men. And he saved John's life. He stopped a sword that would have gone through his neck and took John back home. And John told me. So I went to your father and I swore to him that I would take care of his family in the same way he looked after mine." Keith explained, and Jovana's eyes watered as her heart filled up with pride and nostalgia for her father.

"Thank you for sharing this story, Keith. I.. I'm really happy to know." Jovana said, her voice thick with emotion.

"You don't have to thank me, Jovana. You inherited many of your father's best qualities. You deserve to know." Keith said, and Jovana nodded.

"So, what should we do now?" She asked.

"Now that the King has decided to step onto the battlefield, we need to change things around," Keith commented, and Jovana raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She said,

"If we're going further into an underground war against the crown, we need to trust each other above anything else. Or we won't be able to withstand the fight." Keith said.

"But I do trust you," Jovana said with furrowed brows.

"We trust each other because of your father. He was a good friend, but now we need to move forward. You and me." Keith said, and since what he said made sense to Jovana, she nodded at him.

"You're right. It's up to us now. How should we proceed then?" She asked.

"To start, I would like to know how much time we actually have to save the one you're so worried about." Keith said, and Jovana's eyes widened as her thoughts raced, 'Of course he knows; he's a spy master. Knowing things is what he does. Maybe he even knows who I'm trying to save. But it doesn't matter, I don't want to give away Eli's secret with my own lips. I can't.' 

Jovana swallowed the surprise and did her best to get to the bottom of it without getting Elijah involved. "Keith… I'm just trying to finish the work my father started. It can do incredible things for the world. So, the sooner we complete our work, the sooner we can save anyone we want. Right?" 

Keith looked at Jovana, and shook his head. He didn't seem surprised at her words. He said, "I'm quite old for these games, Jovana. But if you want to play, maybe we should play true or false."

'He knows I didn't tell him everything. I guess he's going to test how much I feel comfortable sharing.' Jovana mused, and answered, "Alright, Keith. Let's play." 

"I know your mother died of a severe illness. And I know that your father built this laboratory in the last months of his life. And that's quite unusual, since he was a soldier, not a scientist. It's clear that he was desperately looking for a cure to save his wife. Am I wrong?" Keith stated.

"You're right, Keith. My father spent decades studying chemistry as a hobby, but went down the military path to increase the prestige of the family. When my mom got sick and no doctor could help her, he did his best to find a cure." Jovana explained, and Keith nodded as he went on with his story.

"So, while your father worked to find a cure, he discovered an incredible compound. A substance so powerful that it could change the behavior of the body in many incredible ways," Keith said.

"The basis for Serendipity," Jovana remarked.

"Exactly. But he didn't have time to tweak it, because the king launched a new military campaign, and he had to go. His wife died while he was at the front. He lost his will to fight and died in battle, leaving you and your brother alone. Am I right about this?" Keith said,

"Almost. There is one important detail missing. My father thought he was close to finding a cure, but he was wrong." Jovana said, a sad expression etched on her face as she disclosed, "His first experiments were just a drop in an ocean of possibilities and variables to explore." 

"What if he had had more time?" Keith asked.

"It would have been different. He was much more knowledgeable than me." Jovana said, and then clenched her fists as she hissed, "If the King wasn't so thirsty for blood and power, my mother and my dad could have been alive now." 

"Calm down, my child." Keith remarked, sensing the shift in her emotions, he decided to continue, "And this brings us to the final part of the story. You knew about your father's lab, maybe you even helped him produce the first serendipity, but after his death you touched nothing until six months ago." 

'How could he possibly know so many details?' Jovana mused.

"You put the lab back into operation and studied your father's research, scaling it up to a hundredfold. You went as far as contacting me and offering me all the earnings from the serendipity sales for my orphans." Keith commented, and Jovana nodded as she thought, 'Keith's street men managed the distribution flawlessly. They really are like shadows, quick and unnoticeable.' 

Keith continued, "I accepted because of my debt to your father and because it was a low-risk, high-reward operation. But now that the Secret Service is involved, everything's different." 

Jovana nodded to the inevitable truth, and thought sadly to herself, 'With the Secret Service involved, his men are in danger, Keith is in danger…and I'm in danger.'