Private Tales New Places, New Faces

[Neveah]

"Maybe he and mother have changed their minds about me going out to the tribes," she said quietly and stepped out of bed. At least she'd gotten some sleep. Slipping into the bathroom, she quickly washed up and changed, coming with with a loose set of pants and a sleeveless blouse. Sandals were strapped on and a hand fussed at her dark-wiry hair for a moment before leaving the braids and dreads alone.

She looked to Kir, her hand on the door.

"Do you need anything before we go?"

 

[Kir]

Kir shook his head, though whether it was in answer to her first statement or the question was impossible to tell. "No."

There wasn't any use in trying to stall this.

A part of him still wanted to try and convince them all to just leave. It was clear that those...creatures were after the Royalty. He assumed they wanted to destabilize the region, although the tactic was a surprisingly...human one.

Not what he would have thought of for such beasts. "Let's get going."

He told her. "Maybe we'll find out more about the Vizier's involvement in things."

Kir mused.

 

[Neveah]

“Maybe,” she brushed the back of her neck, hand falling at her side. “Ready?” Pulling the door wide open, she’d glance at Kir over her shoulder, then step into the hall. The guards posted on the hall looked like they hadn’t slept. They were probably interviewed last night by the captain and her parents.

It didn’t take Neveah long to find her parents in the war room. Her father looked bedraggled and her mother was hunched over maps of the canyons. She hid her fatigue better but it was still there. And though she was glad to see her daughter, this time she didn’t sweep her into a hug. A stern, silent nod to Kir.

“How can I help?” Neveah asked as she went to join her mother.

 

[Kir]

Kir stepped in behind Neveah.

He was noticeably more careful than he had been the day before. His eyes flickered wearily around the room, observing some of the guards around them and watching with a small hint of paranoia.

It was a feeling that would not go away until they left this place. "How did the Interviews go?"

Kir asked plainly. He had no real authority to do so, had no real reason to, but at this point he was involved in this place. If they threw him out for asking questions, well then that was what they were going to do. The King and Queen had hired him to keep their daughter safe.

That was what he was going to do.

 

[Neveah]

It was like being in the shadow of a mountain. She tried not to glance behind her. Still. After what happened yesterday, she was….grateful. There was a small scratch on her neck. A reminder of what could have happened.

“Help?” Her mother sighed tiredly. “I want you to go to the tribes and update them.”

Royal gaze shifted to Kir. “There has not been any new information. Either the vizier and the second acted alone. Or, they prepared very well for this outcome.”

The Queen glanced back down at the maps. A frown pulling on her mouth. “I have sent your sister away.” The queen’s sharp gaze looked to Kir. “I trust you to keep Neveah safe?” Unlike the guards from last night. The Queen and king knew very well what Kir was. And she also had specific instructions for not returning to the palace after Neveah informed the tribes. And because she knew her daughter would fight her on it, she chose not to tell her. Only Kir.

 

[Kir]

"She will be safe." Kir said plainly, though it was clear he was unhappy with what had just been said.

He would of course keep Neveah safe, that was why he was still here, but the threats to this kingdom was far more dangerous than just a few assassins. Things were getting more and more complicated by the day, soon things would begin to fall apart.

Slowly he glanced to the Princess, then to the others. "We will inform them."

With his new instructions he was not entirely sure he could convince Neveah to leave, but...

Perhaps he would just be able to throw her over his shoulder and drag her away. The Tribes would want to fight, of course, but Neveah didn't have to. Not if she wanted to live.

 

[Neveah]

“I won’t let you down,” and for once, Neveah wrapped her arms around her mother and gave her a hug first. The Queen look surprised before she hugged her daughter back. But her gaze remained on Kir. Giving him a subtle, silent bid.

“Go, my love,” the Queen placed a kiss on each of her daughter’s cheeks. The King walked over and did the same.

“Help will be coming soon,” Neveah promised and stepped back. Looking back to Kir, she’d follow him back into the hall and toward the stables where her gryph still waited. But first they’d need to pack supplies.

 

[Kir]

Kir was almost entirely positive that this entire thing would end in disaster.

It was an opinion that he was sure no one in this palace would want to hear. Most people did not want to be confronted with the truth. In fact most people would much rather be lied to and deceived when it came to this sort of thing.

That was a fact he had learned in Neus, and he was sure it was only worse down here in the south.

These lands were soft. Not weak, but a shadow of the strength his homeland carried. "You should leave."

He stated plainly.

"Inform the tribes." Kir said plainly. "Do what you can, and then go."

Slowly his head tilted towards her. "You may just be able to carry on your line."

An honor that would be denied to many others.

 

[Neveah]

A sharp look up at him. “Leave my family?” Head shook as she lead them to a supply room. It was filled with almost anything they could want or need. Weapons, armor, riding leathers, packs and rations.

He’d have plenty of extra clothes to take from here. Or she supposed they could always stop at his house in town.

Grabbing a pack, she began filling it. She also snagged a pair of riding leathers and slipped behind a row of tightly packed spears to change.

“How could I live with myself if I just left my family at their time of greatest need? Would you do that to yours?”

 

[Kir]

"I don't have a family." Kir said blankly, not offering a further word of explanation.

There was a reason that he had left Neus.

"I do not mean to antagonize you." The werebear said plainly, clearly deciding that the best way to deal with this whole thing was with simple honesty. There was no politics to play here, no manipulating Neveah.

He would just tell her the truth. "But I am sure your family would rather you survive than die along with them."

Kir continued.

"I will do my duty, as I have said. Die if I must." He had given his word after all. "But my advice? Leave."

The Werebear said. "A kingdom is not it's land or it's cities, but it's peoples."

A people that at this rate would soon die.

 

[Neveah]

Her head popped out from behind the row of spears. A quiet, studying look to Kir. Assessing. "I know," she said quietly. And she believed him. He may have antagonized her a lot in the beginning. Like, A LOT-ALOT. But things felt different after she'd almost...died.

And she'd faced him truly within the depths of the werebear form.

She trusted him.

Stepping out, she had on her riding leathers and some light armor over her torso. "Like I said. I'm not sure if I could live with myself if I...ran away. It's not that you don't give good advice or that I don't trust you." She shrugged. How could she explain it? She feared more about losing someone she loved than death. Because she'd already gone through hell with one family member. What would it do to her to lose more?

Was living even worth it if that happened?

"You won't die," she said quickly.

She would make sure of that.

"Will you...tell me more about your family? What...happened to them?" And in her mind family was a loose term. It could go beyond blood as it often did. She sat back, waiting for him to get what supplies he thought they might need.

 

[Kir]

For a long while he didn't say anything. Didn't answer her question, didn't offer any sort of insight at all. The room was quiet, silent.

Then, finally, he offered a few short terse words. "I killed them."

The statement was a quiet, small finality.

Kir didn't elaborate. Didn't offer Neveah any more. The words seemed almost final, as though the topic simply had nothing more to be spoken of. From one of the walls he peeled a blade, but took no armor, adorned himself with nothing else.

There was no point, now.

He knew his fate, and he would greet it happily.

 

[Neveah]

The princess frowned and stepped toward him. For once her hand was gently as she rested her fingers hesitantly on his wrist. To still him. To hopefully have him pause and look down at her. She was willing to pause her fate. To pause what was quickly unraveling around them to listen.

"Tell me what happened? Please. I'm here to listen - if you need it."

And she meant it.

This was how she treated those close to her. She took the time for them. Even in the middle of a budding war.

 

[Kir]

Kir stopped.

Froze.

He knew that she meant it. Knew that she wanted to hear some deep truth. It was something that he had heard before. Something that others had told him before they understood. Before they knew what he really was.

"The beast took me." He said plainly. "Consumed me."

That was all it was. "And through it I tore them apart."

His eyes stared through Neveah. No truth hidden. No secret left.

"My wife. My child." Kir sounded distant, empty. "I slaughtered them."

Slowly he looked down at her. "There's nothing else to talk about."

 

[Neveah]

She stepped forward and wrapped her around him. At least, as far around him as she could get. "I'm sorry," she said quietly and squeezed him for a moment. She didn't think he wanted sympathy so she didn't stay there long. As quickly as she held him, she stepped back.

"If there's a way I can help. If you want my help. I will try," it was a royal promise from a stalwart princess.

She didn't know if the beast still took over.

But she'd spoken to him earlier and there was no way out of 'the curse.'

Still.

She wanted him to know that she was there for him. Even if he felt like he didn't need her. Strapping a whip and shortsword to her belt, she stepped away and slung a pack over her shoulder. One last glance at him, before she motioned to the stables where her gryph was waiting. "Ready?"

 

[Kir]

"They're dead." Kir said plainly, finally. "How could you possibly help?"

There was not a single consideration that she might somehow help him with his plight. That he could be 'better'. Kir had accepted his fate, knew what he was, what the beast within him wanted. In an odd sort of way he had made peace with that.

Even if he did not want to admit it.

Strapping on another piece of armor and taking what appeared to be a strangely curved sword Kir nodded his head.

Thoughts of his family were pushed away. Reminders of what he was were segmented in some deeper part of his mind. None of it mattered now. None of it would help him here. He was a warrior, a fighter. That was what mattered. "Ready."

He told the Princess with a nod.

 

[Neveah]

“By listening if you ever wanted to talk about them. Just being present,” she looked to him. Her loss was much more recent, but she was offering to be his friend. An ear to listen if he needed it. Or someone to help him forget if he wanted that. Someone who KNEW him.

She made her way through the halls and courtyard to the stables.

Her gryph pawed at the earth as she approached. A happy roar in its throat. A wary flick of its tail at Kir. Opening the door, Nev didn’t hesitate as she approached the massive cat with wings. Giving him a good scratch, she pulled herself up.

Looking down at Kir, she waited for him to swing up behind her.

 

[Kir]

Kir didn't respond to the last of her words.

He knew what she was trying to do, and he was not about to throw her out the window or anything, but he had enough friends over the years. Lost enough of them too. He didn't need someone else to meet the same fate too.

Without another word he followed after Neveah.

A weary glance was spared for the gryph, lips thinning as he approached the beast.

The creature within him still wanted to tear the thing apart and eat it for lunch. Only prickled further by the urge to hunt that had now settled within his bones. Fingers tightened for a moment, and then he slipped up behind Neveah onto the gryph.

No use in arguing, and the damned thing would certainly be faster.

 

[Neveah]

With a powerful push of paws and claws, they were airborne. The thatched and terracotta roofs of the city began getting smaller and smaller. The dryer, warm air of the tundra pushed across their clothes and skin. Soon enough they cleared the city. The smaller villages of the tribes dotted the horizon across the scrub and brush.

The canyon loomed further off. And as she stared at the darkness within, she could’ve sworn the shadows seemed to move. “Hang on,” she called as they banked right and began to descend for the tribe. Members scurried below, preparing for their arrival.

 

[Kir]

Kir didn't have to be told twice.

The beast they were riding on was about as unsafe as sailing a ship into the middle of a storm. As far as he was concerned he was already dead. In fact as they soared through the air the giant of a man clamped his eyes shut.

In his mind he recited a small prayer, calling to the ancestors above and bequeathing from them a fate that might not be his end.

His stomach suddenly turned as the Gryph began to descend, and Neveah would notice the tightening of his hands upon her body. It was a silly gesture, mostly because if he fell of, he would very likely be taking the Princess right along with him.

By the time they reached the ground, he was still clutching onto her, eyes closed.

Discomfort more than clear.

 

[Neveah]

Damn, his grip was strong.

On the border of crushing.

Even after the gryph had its paws back on the ground, tail flicking behind them and wings pulled in tight, he was still gripping her hard. 'Kir," she whispered. The hearthmother was making their way toward them.

Her hand went down and patted his own that had a death grip on her.

"Kir," she said a little more loudly and lightly smacked at his hand. "It's okay. We're down now. You can let go." She'd wait until he did and give his hand a lighter, reassuring pat before dismounting.

 

[Kir]

"Ah." Kir's fingers released almost immediately.

It wasn't that he minded flying. Wait no, that was entirely it. The whole process was entirely unnatural. Man was meant to keep its feet on the ground, not up in the sky. If it were otherwise then they would have wings. "Right."

He said.

The Werebear thudded onto the ground, landing on his feet and stretching his muscles.

"So." He motioned. "Informing the tribe?"

His face was completely straight, as though nothing had happened.

 

[Neveah]

Neveah pinched her mouth closed. She offered to spare Kir any attention to how he'd acted. Her golden eyes flickered instead, toward the hearth mother as she approached. And a few of the elders in tow.

"Princess. We didn't expect to see you back so soon-"

"Hearthmother. Can we speak in your tent? Privately?" Neveah didn't think the tribes would be infiltrated. But after finding out the palace guard and the vizier were, she couldn't be too careful. A flicker of her gaze to Kir. Was she doing the right thing? He had her back, right?

"Of course," gnarled hands swept them toward the familiar path toward her tent.

 

[Kir]

Kir's expression did not change as they stepped forward towards the hearthmother.

He offered one last glance back towards the gryph, his eyes narrowing slightly. I should eat you.

The Werebear thought differently, though he of course did not say it out loud. Even more so than in the city he thought such a sentiment would not be welcome here. Mostly because of those that were now surrounding him.

He frowned a moment, and then followed after Neveah and their host.

"How united are the tribes?" Kir asked as they walked, cutting through any question that might have been waiting on Neveah's tongue.

 

[Neveah]

The hearthmother paused as she entered the tent-flap of the small meeting area. Neveah followed behind Kir. She looked to Kir, then Neveah, then took a seat on some cushions on the ground. Neveah sank down next to her.

"We are all united. We have an aerial army that serves the King and Queen."

"The gryphs," Neveah supplied to Kir though he probably guessed already after his two rides with her.

"What has happened at the palace?" The hearthmother was sharp and knew something was going on. And she had a good idea it was because of the skorpious.