Completed Blood is thicker than...Paint?

She stilled as he answered her. Head hung low, her frock of dark-hair flopping beneath her. Obstinate lower-lip puffing out as she watched the ground move on by as she swayed with her brother's gait like a sullen sack-of-potatoes. FOR THE LOVE OF - all she'd wanted was maybe some inheritance. Then after knowing Alistair wasn't her dad, she'd been willing to settle for one free meal. And now she was in a whole LOAD OF TROUBLE.

But maybe, maybe it wouldn't be all bad?

Vel Anir was a big city. She was sure she'd have an opportunity to disappear again. If she needed to. Maybe Alistair was going to let her live with him? Perhaps that wouldn't be all bad. The problem was, she didn't know him. Didn't know if she could trust him.

And he was a dreadlord.

"Okay," she relented. "A blood oath then? If you swear you aren't going to sell me to the slave traders, lock me up in some prison, torture me, or kill me, I swear to come peacefully. Do you swear?"
 
He wasn't going to do anything like that to her, but he could make no promises for the Academy. The Academy was supposed to be nicer these days, so she should be ok. Without batting and eye, he spoke.

"Done. I swear."

By this time, they were nearing the front gates of the city where Alistair's horse was being tended to. The mount would certainly not like an extra rider, but she was a war horse. She could deal with it.

"You will live with me for the next few days. You will be fed and tended to. I will figure out the technicalities."

There would certainly be some paperwork that needed to be done for him to not only recognize her as at least a branch member of the family, while also getting her into the Academy. He was confident that his aunt and uncles would not like the idea of a bastard joining the family, but he did not care what they thought. Most of them were useless anyways.
 
For whatever reason, perhaps foolishly, she trusted in his oath. "Okay, I swear too." A resolute nod of her brightly-colored haired head. Plus, getting fed regularly didn't sound half bad. "Will you put me down now?" A meekish-request. She was tired of hanging half upside down with the blood rushing to her head. And being carried.

And she couldn't see where they were going. Was he about to stuff her inside some fancy, nobleman's carriage. Or take a horse? The former scared her. She had a fear of tight, small, dark spaces. She'd always picked to live on rooftops in whatever cities she'd gone to. Big, open spaces. Spacies where she could see what was coming and where she had room to move.

She didn't want to think about that one time in that dark alley.

A shiver involuntarily ran through her little spine.
 
Alistair chose to remain silent as he made the last few steps next to his horse. He would put her down just not necessarily how she thought. Marianna was lifted up and placed onto the horse.

"Don't move too much. Feldarin gets a little buckish if you move about to much."

That was a complete lie, Feldarin, like all trained war mounts of the Academy were some of the most well-trained mounts in all of Arethil, but she did not need to know that.

A stable boy came over, and Alistair handed off some small coins as a tip for watching over his horse before turning back to his new ward.

"Great, now let us go over some new rules. I will be feeding you and giving you a place to stay. In return, since you are in my home you will live by my rules. Second, treat the people you meet with respect. There are some that I won't tolerate you disrespecting them. Finally, if you run away, then I won't chase you down and bring you back. I will simply discard your body wherever I find it."

Mariana
 
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She swayed for a moment as she was righted and suddenly sitting up. Head shook, eyes squeezing out the rest of the dizziness that hit her. They opened, looking like a slightly different vibrant shade of blue. Leaning forward, she ran her hand through the majestic war horse's mane. "Hello Feldarin," she whispered.

She couldn't help think that his mane would look lovely in bright colors of red, orange, and blue.

Gaze traveled to look back onto her brother's. Face scowled at the word 'rules' but she listened, all the while petting Feldarin affectionately. She'd only been on a horse one other time in her life. It had been a much, smaller white mare. But it was one of the few memories she had left of being with her mother.

He last threat/promise made her swallow. "If I run away you would track me down to kill me?" Voice squeaked on the last two words. Part of her didn't believe it anyway. There was NO WAY he'd be able to find her if she chose to disappear again. It's not like he was a tracker dreadlord. Was he?

"And what about my things?"

They weren't much. But she had a few threadbare pieces of clothing. Some paint and brushes stashed away.
 
Alistair paused for a moment to think about it before shaking his head and lifting himself onto the horse to sit behind her. He reached out to her and grabbed the reigns, noticeably ignoring one of her questions.

"No need. We will go get you new clothes and whatever else you need when we get back to Vel Anir."

Whatever she had in her possession was likely not worth the time wasted going back to get it. He motioned Feldaris to exit the city and she started to move in that direction.

Thankfully, it would only take maybe a day or two to make it back to Vel Anir from Vel Lameus. With Feldaris' stamina then maybe he could push her to make it back in a day. Could Mariana handle that?"

"Do you have any training with a horse?"

Mariana
 
"But my favorite paint brush," she bemoaned quietly as he mounted up behind her. Deciding it best not to press him on explaining his threat. She also noticed that he'd been very careful not to let her out of his grasp. So it was clear he didn't trust her yet even with the blood oath. Well, the feeling was mutual. She wasn't the one going around and threatening about body-discarding.

el diablo

But even with the threats, she felt a moment of something she hadn't felt for a long time as his arms wrapped around either side of her for the reigns. She felt a tiny and very small spark of safety and protection. A feeling she quickly discarded as he asked his next question.

She looked over her shoulder and up at him. "Nope. Just once before...with mi madre," a quiet admittance. "A long time ago." Her tone, sad. "I guess with you we don't have to worry about bandits?" An increasing problem in this part of the country. Just not enough dreadlords to go around after the revolution, she supposed.
 
The 'just once before' comment was good enough for him, besides, the best way to learn something was by doing. "Hold on." A snap of the reigns and a sharp command had Feldaris blitzing away from the walls of Vel Lameus as they galloped down the road.

Alistair seemed to not mind the fast pace at all, paying attention to the last question that Mariana had asked.

"No, we will not."

It was said in a matter-of-fact tone. No boasting, or attempting to reassure her. It was simply just a fact that with him around, bandits would not prove to be a problem.

However, it was something she decided to remember. Dreadlords might not be as frequent as they had been, but the fact that security had grown poor in the outlier towns and villages was not a good sign. Maybe more normal troops should be sent out here to check on the situation...Was it a lack of resources or were the governors incompetent?

Mariana
 
A yelp rose in her throat as they took off with barely any warning. Leaning forward, her hands dug into the mane of Feldaris. Short-hair whipped behind her as the wind blasted her face.

She gave a whoop of delight, realizing how fun the speed was. How fun it was being in the open. Fresh air on her face and skin. "You get to do this everyday?!" She yelled back to her brother as they put more and more distance between them and the last place she called home. And the sun of the day was already getting lower, with the warmth of a beautiful sunset.

And she couldn't stop staring.

It never got old to her. Those colors. This was always her favorite time of day. That moment right before sunset and then right after when the sky lit up with those brilliant hues. And even though she was tired, she kept looking around. Clearly on edge. She hadn't been lying about the bandits and well, there wasn't a lot that screamed Alistair was a dreadlord. If he'd been wearing his uniform when they'd first met, she never would've come out of the shadows to meet him.
 
"Every day that I ride a horse." He said with a slightly raised eyebrow at the rather obvious answer to the question. Not every day required a horse, so why on earth would he ride a horse every day?

For all of Mariana's wildly looking around, Alistair's eyes never moved from the direction they traveled like he was staring off into the distance at a destination that they could not see at the moment. This continued on for several minutes until eventually entered the woodlands.

Several minutes after entering the trees, they came across a tree lying in the middle of the road. Next to that tree was a wagon with one of the wheels having fell off. The only rider of the wagon was a woman wearing showy merchant's attire. She waved them down.

"Please! Please help me."

Mariana
 
Mariana frowned. She shifted nervously in front of Alistair. Feldaris’ ears kept twitching back and forth. As if the horse was nervous, too. Perhaps because she liked art so much, she’d always had an eye for details. The woman had fancy clothes that didn’t match up with being alone. The tree didn’t look freshly fallen.

“I think-,” her whisper to her scary dreadlord brother cut off as an arrow whizzed at them from the trees. And then another.
 
Alistair sighed as with a wave of his hand a shield popped up around him that deflected the flimsy arrows. He looked around as runes started to glow across Feldaris' body.

"First lesson, Mariana. You have already noticed, but this is what incompetent banditry looks like. There is never a reason to fear someone that is incompetent."

As he said this, he dismounted from his horses and took out a hilt-like device from his belt. There only seemed to be twelve bandits in total, one being the woman merchant.

"I will point out the most obvious problem first. They overdid it. No reason to have the stranded merchant AND a fallen tree. That is just overly suspicious."

An arrow came whizzing towards Mariana, but another shield popped up to intercept. It was difficult to see with hits fur, but once they began to glow, it became clear that Feldaris was also covered in runes.

Mariana
 
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Most people had a strong fight or flight response. Mariana had ALWAYS had a strong FLIGHT response. For good reason. She knew she was smaller for her age. She knew in a fight, she just didn't stand a chance. So, she got really good at running and hiding. Or avoiding trouble.

But her brother was proving to attract it.

Even as the arrows hit an invisible barrier, she flung herself forward, smaller arms wrapping around the giant warhorse's neck. Eyes wanting to squeeze closed but one managing to stay open.

"You are trying to give me a lesson now? Estas loco." She yelped as another arrow aimed for her head, stopped suddenly. There was a rustle in the tree branch above as one of the bandits lept from the branch, sword raised with intentions of landing on Feldaris.
 
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Alistair seemed to have eyes in the back of his head as he always moved where he needed to be with a complete expression of calm. His eyes did shoot toward his beloved horse only to look away without worry. A bandit fighting Feldaris? Good luck.

The horse bucked out of the way of the coming sword with explosive speed followed swiftly by a powerful kick to the man's chest. There was a crack as the bandit went flying, unmoving as he hit the ground. And that was why you always paid good money for a war horse. Of course, the Academy had paid good money, not him.

"Next lesson. The incompetent may believe themselves to be competent, quickly prove otherwise."

Finally, Alistair's runesaber activated as the lavender blue blade case light in the area mixing with the soft orange and purples of the setting sun. Before the bandits knew what had happened, two decapitated heads were rolling on the ground and another bandit was gaping at a hole burned in their chest with no signs of bleeding.

"Fighting is all about timing. If you know how to do something, and when to do something then you will be untouchable."

At least, that last line had been something his swordsmanship tutor had often said to him when he was younger.

Mariana
 
She clung to the war horse, and began slipping as he moved. And went back to four legs. "Bien hecho," she murmured to him even as she lost her grip and slid off his side, landing in a heap on the grass, dirt, and roots. She quickly backed away so the hooves didn't accidentally trample her.

This did not put her in a good position. Head ducked as another arrow whizzed by it. But even from her disheveled position on the ground, she caught Alistair as his light-up-sword...thingy? Lit. And it was beautiful. And she knew she wanted to paint this exact scene.

Perhaps she'd call it Triumphant Scary Dreadlord Brother.

She was so distracted, she did not see the gap-toothed bandit sneaking up behind her and ready to grab her.
 
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Feldaris continued on his own little rampage. As he noticed the other weight no longer on his back, he ran off to kill another one of the bandits.

Alistair, on the other hand, was no longer moving and dodging incoming attacks. With the runesaber, there was no weapon the bandits could possibly have that would block any attacks, so he went on the offensive.

"Ok, we will take a step back. First, and most important lesson, always pay attention to ones surrounding."

As he finished the sentence he held out his free hand and a rune erupted across his palm sending a bolt of energy arcing towards Mariana before landing perfectly behind her and slamming into the gap-tooth bandit. For that entire display, he had never turned his head to look at them.

He would explain some of his runes later, but he would take the moment to show off a little to his new sister.

Mariana
 
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She yelped and curled in on herself into a tight ball on the ground as she felt the heat of the bolt whiz by. A quick, gurgling ahhhhhhh and then a thump as the bandit fell behind her on his back. His chest charred, open, and smoking.

Eyes open and dead, staring into the trees and branches above.

While grateful and still trying to process what she felt with her brother saving her. It was clear she was no fighter. She was scared and trembling. Her muscles tired and aching from the ride.

The very rare and full meal she'd just had sitting funny in her stomach as the smell of burned flesh tickled up to her nose. And as she uncurled herself, she backed up until her back was against a tree. Knees popped up to her chest and her arms circled them tightly.

There were a lot of heads rolling around too.

Shock and adrenaline was ripping through her system and she suddenly didn't feel so good. While she'd seen some bad things on the streets, she'd never seen this much death. And she knew it was necessary. These bandits were going to kill them. Some were still trying to. The smart ones left were starting to run away. The dumb ones still fighting were about to die.
 
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It did not take long for Alistair to clean up the rest of them as the entire situation had devolved into a slaughter. Noticeably, Alistair allowed the last of the bandits to run away without giving chase. He watched the figure finally disappear into the trees before he turned back around.

Feldaris had found a puddle of water that he seemed to be enjoying, but that was not the issue at hand. His eyes slowly fell on Mariana. She was shaking, eyes darting about, clear signs of shock. He would not be surprised if she through up soon.

It was fear, something that he had not had to deal with in a long time. Sure, there was a disappointment, sadness, or anger in those moments where he thought he would die, but never outright fear. That was the first emotion they took from you at the Academy.

"Come on. We need to get moving."

Feldaris seemed to understand the command and made his way over to Alistair and Mariana.

Mariana
 
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She couldn’t stop trembling. No matter how hard she squeezed herself together. No matter how hard she pushed her back into the tree. Head tilted up to look at Alistair as he came closer. Feldaris lowered his head, blowing a puff of hot air from his nose into her hair.

It seemed to do the trick to ease her nerves enough to unwind her arms from around her legs. Then stand. Then wrap her skinny arms around Alastair’s waist as she buried her face against his chest.

And started crying. Her little slip of a body trembling against him as she clung tightly to him. Later, she’d blame it on being tired.

“I’m…n-ot…Cry-ying,” she muttered against him suddenly. With a loud sniffle. “I j-just have some-th-ing i-in my eye.”
 
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"I know. A lot of dust in battle, it could happen to anyone." Alistair agreed awkwardly, not really sure what to do at this moment.

He looked over to Feldaris who was looking at him expectantly. What? Did the horse know something he did not? Alistair gingerly placed a hand on the top of her head. This was the closest thing he could think of as...reassuring.

"It gets easier. The first time is never easy for anyone."

Alistair remembered his first true battle, while he had not broken down into tears, he had stumbled his way through that fight like a lost puppy. He had nearly got his head taken clean off...that would have been anti-climactic.

He slowly picked Mariana up and placed her on Feldaris. A horse like that had a way of reassuring its rider as it towered over the rest of the field.

"Remember, you are above it all. It was necessary, but you will be safe because you are above it." Feldaris whinnied in agreement.

Mariana
 
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She clung to him tighter than a bingbay monkey clinging to a branch of a Savannah tree. One more wipe of her eyes against his shirt when she relented enough so he could lift her back onto Feldaris. "I don't like fighting," she said quietly as she sniffled again. Keeping her attention on Fel's mane instead of looking at the carnage left behind. Fingers brushed lovingly through his mane.

"You were very brave," a whisper to the horse.

And as Alistair got back behind her, she'd feel that strange sense of safety again. And could feel the shock of adrenaline and everything that happened began to leave something else in its place. A bone-weary tiredness. A yawn ripped through her throat as they traveled through the woods.

"Can I do magic like you can, does that run in our blood?" She asked as her eyes struggled to stay open.
 
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The horse bobbed its head in agreement at being praised for its bravery, while Alistair got back onto his mount.

A light urging and the horse was once again back down the trail, ignoring the recently deceased left in their wake,

"It isn't about liking something. Sometimes things must be done."

He hesitated at the last question. No, his runes were out of the question. They did not come from any sort of bloodline, but experimentation and torture, besides Mariana had her own magic to work with.

"Some, college magic can be taught to any with magical aptitude which you clearly have. As for the rest...no, that is not for you to learn. It is an old archaic style of magic that does not fit with your skills and abilities."

It was not always the case, but if he taught her rune magic and then sent her to the Academy then he would be condemning her to at least some form of light torture. The memories of some of his runes being burned into his skin would never be forgotten.

Mariana
 
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Some things must be done.

Those words buzzed around in her head but they didn't seem to land. She hated fighting and would never be a fighter like him. So, she supposed she was lucky he'd found her in a way. So far he was proving to be a safe presence. Then again, perhaps she'd never been in the situation with the bandits if he hadn't made her come with him.

But then she never would've seen his super cool and beautiful weapon!

Or been able to get to know him more.

Another yawn as her smaller frame began leaning back against his chest and to the side, half over one of his arms. Eyes struggling even more to stay open. "Magic ap-pla-maptitude," she muttered. "Ijustlikedrawingthings," a small sigh as she failed to fight off sleep any longer.

A thousand and one more questions swirling to ask her brother in her mind. She just hoped the nightmares wouldn't come this time.
 
Just draw things? Things that come to life and attack people, Alistair thought as he decided to remain silent and let her fall to sleep.

Whether she realized it or not, she would be perfect for the Academy. She was a blank slate with magical abilities, that is all they really wanted over there.

Alistair wished he could give her some leisurely life, but their family wasn't that strong. He was not that strong. She needed to be capable of taking care of herself. There was only one place he knew that could do that. It would be rough, but it would make her strong.

"Get some rest."

He whispered as he continued on down the road, into the night.

Mariana
 
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She woke from the sound of horse hooves on cobblestones. And more lights than the pitch wood and road with a starlit sky provided. The torchlight of a city just before early dawn. Shifting in the saddle, she sat up. For a moment, panick ripping through her.

Where was she?

Head whipped around, looking up at the man behind her.

Her brother. Alistair. So it hadn't all been a dreaming nightmare. One palm lifted, heel of her hand pushing the sleep away from her still very-sleepy eyes. "Are we there yet?"
 
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