Private Tales Read between the lines

[Zana]

His correction made her bite down on her bottom lip. That was even more unnerving. Her visions always seemed to happen for a reason; as if some force was trying to tell her something or because it wanted her in a place at a certain time. Had she been sent to the bookshop for the purpose of sharing her vision with him? Or was it all just coincidental?

"Right time, right place..." she hummed and nodded to his explanation. Or in Zana's case perhaps wrong time, wrong place, to be caught by the one person who could see something was so wrong with her. She should have been glad really it was a member of the Guard and not a Dreadlord from Virak; she very much doubted she would have left the bookstore alive if that had been the case.

"Sorry," she blinked and shook her head with a laugh. "I'm sitting here grilling you. It's just refreshing to have someone who is open to talking about their gifts."

 

[Talus]

"It's alright." He couldn't remember the last time he'd explained his magic to someone.

It was difficult to try, and he always felt like he was being seen as an experiment rather than a person. This time had been different. Zana had seemed curious, but it didn't seem like she was going to start poking at him with needles.

"Truth is." He took a breath and leaned back. "I'm not entirely sure what I can actually do."

For a second he chewed his lips. "I haven't exactly tested the limits."

Not since that day anyway.

 

[Zana]

Gods did she understand that frustration.

"Sometimes I stumble on something by accident. For example, I went drinking with some of the Dreadlords from our House after a mission and discovered alcohol reverses my visions so I get flashes of the past instead of the future," Zana rubbed the back of her neck as her cheeks reddened. It had resulted in a lot of drunken heartfelt conversations all of them refused to acknowledge happened to this day.

She leaned forward, hesitated, then completed the movement and lightly brushed her fingers over his hand which still rested on the table.

"Do you want... to experiment? I mean... I have half a second soul. It gives me some great gifts but if you wanted to try and play with that I wouldn't mind - this sounds very creepy doesn't it?" she gave a soft laugh as she replayed her offer over in her own head. She had meant it though.

 

[Talus]

"Trust me there are much better ways to play with me." Talus said, except this time there was no humor to it.

As far as he could understand, every aspect of his magic and it's interaction with the Soul would...not be pleasant. The woman he'd executed had suffered greatly when he'd tore her soul free from her body, and the rush of power he'd felt during the act still haunted him.

He'd known in an instant that he could have done something else with her soul. That he could have used it somehow to gain power or do something more. Instinct had wanted him to do it, a deep seeded greed that he was sure all Dreadlords felt. Instead he'd denied himself.

The slope was not one that he wanted to get on.

Not now, and definitely not with Zana. As she stroked his hand he slowly looked up, his eyes catching hers.

"I do not want to hurt you." He said calmly. "And I fear that is all that will come from it."

 

[Zana]

She searched his gaze quietly for a while to make sure he was happy with his decision if nothing else. Pain wasn't exactly a stranger to Dreadlords and she had told him enough that he must know she had more experience of it even now than most others, but she didn't press the issue. Sometimes it was more painful to be the person inflicting the pain - especially when it was someone you considered a friend or, like Talus, if you were attempting to become more human. She let the silence drag on before she gave a nod and squeezed his hand.

"It is an open offer should you change your mind Talus," it might even help them in the journey ahead. The thought made her add. "Should you need to change your mind," she had no doubt it wasn't going to be an easy road they were about to embark on, but it felt a hell of a lot less daunting to know she wasn't going to be doing it alone anymore.

"Have you spoken to the Guards about your desire for change in Vel'Anir?"

 

[Talus]

He nodded his head in thanks, though did not move his hand away from hers. It was oddly comforting, having another person touch you without the intent for harm.

Not something he was used to.

For a few seconds after she asked the question he had to consider. Did he tell her? It was a dangerous bit of knowledge, and though he had come to trust Zana there was no telling what Luana could do to her to drag something out of her.

Eventually he slowly nodded. "They know."

Technically, the desire for change was neither illegal nor treasonous. The Houses would certainly spin in that way, but the five Generals had been careful never to break a single law. They had also instructed Talus to do the same.

"The Generals are behind me." Some more than others, but they'd all agreed in the end. "They are loyal to Vel Anir, and would see the city rise above petty politics."

A task that some of them thought was impossible, but all agreed was necessary if all of them were to survive.

 

[Zana]

Zana breathed out in... relief perhaps? It was a comfort to know there was a figure of authority - five in fact - who shared in his ideas of change and had his back. Whilst she enjoyed having missions on her own and could lead - had done, in fact - there was something a bit disorientating about cutting the strings of a chain of command altogether. Zana was only just beginning to enjoy being her own master and it would no doubt take her time to feel confident enough to be that way in all aspects of her life.

"I'm glad you're not alone," she tucked her hair behind her ear. "It might come sooner than you expect - that vision...." she pressed her lips together and her eyes flicked between his. "A vision that strong I have never known not to come to pass. The city won't survive if we are not united."

 

[Talus]

"We're not ready by far." He said softly.

It was a fact that constantly hung in the back of his mind. He tried to push things as much as he could, tried to help out where he could, but Talus was only one man. The Guard had started to listen more, things were constantly changing, but none of it was easy.

The Army of the North had slowly begun to shift towards the Borders of Cortos, and things were slowly starting to look more and more like war. Once that happened the Great Houses would use it as an opportunity to seize even more power.

That had always been their way, but now...now it might end in disaster. "I will do what I can."

Just as he always did.

"Even as time runs out." Fingers tightened slightly.

 

[Zana]

Zana looked down at their hands and then slowly twined her fingers between his when he gave her a squeeze and ran her thumb down the side of his hand. Luana were at least looking towards the Empire already. Their deals with the Rous to try and topple them from the inside and start the disruption should at least help in weakening them a little in the upcoming wars but it was too little to avert this.

"You're not alone anymore, Talus," her eyes lifted. She took a breath. Did she tell him? She was already going quickly down the slippery slope of treason anyway when it came to Luana.

"The Empire is definitely on Luana's radar and steps... are being taken to try and unstable them. It would not be difficult for me to be involved more in that sphere of politics and give you information there," she was already involved heavily in the Rous deal; hell the Rous thought she was the link to the Head of the House, his right hand woman.

"Just... tell me how you think I can help."

 

[Talus]

He paused for a few seconds, wondering how much was safe to tell her. Trust was there, but paranoia and compartmentalization were at the top of his mind. Fen had always told him that things needed to be kept secret, just in case someone went down. "A few other Houses are moving as well."

Talus knew of Virak and Banick specifically, though rumor had reached the guard that at least one other was doing the same. He doubted they knew about Luana, they were generally too...cautious in this type of dealing.

That meant four Houses were moving against the Empire, though of course they were all doing it independently. Fools.

"Information." He said. "What Luana is doing, if they're pushing their House Guard to the Border."

His head shook. "The Guard needs to handle the war, the Houses just need to support us."

There was more, a plan that the Generals had drawn up, but he needed to speak with Aldwaith before he told Zana. He trusted her, wanted to trust her more, but her position was dangerous and Luana had more than a few Dreadlords that could break her.

Could break anyone.

The thought made him nervous enough to gently caress her hand.

 

[Zana]

Zana nodded at his words; it made sense that the other Houses were moving against the Empire as well. It was slowly but steadily extending its power Westwards and Vel'Anir was in the way. Despite the Houses differences nobody wanted their city to fall yet none of them would make the the move to work with one another to do so. Well..

She took a breath.

"Luana aren't exactly working alone," she paused, pressed her lips into a thin line. "I know Ashur is in talks with Pirian in terms of the Houses alone," she sighed and turned her head to the side to watch the rain outside the window for a moment. There was still a smear of flour on her cheek from their cooking earlier. "Nothing is being moved yet but I know there is... pressure from the other Ruling Houses to do so. When I tell them about my vision though I think that might alter - to which way I couldn't say," Ashur would probably move to keep their forces in the city but his father was more ambitious.

"I think.... I think I would be able to convince Ashur to support the Guards," she turned her face back towards him. "If I... embellish the vision a little in particular."

 

[Talus]

Pirian.

That made sense, and Talus almost let out a sigh of relief. Pirian was the only House that the Five Generals seemed to have a modicum of respect for. Aldwaith had even claimed that they would openly support the Guard's bid just because it was the right thing to do.

That assertion had been enough for Talus. Aldwaith was one of the most level headed of the five. He nodded his head as she spoke of convincing Ashur.

He had briefly seen the man at a Dreadlord Gathering, but never actually met or spoken to him. "Only do it if it doesn't put you in danger. Giving away our hand this early might come back to bite us."

This all had to be carefully planned and timed. If the Guard tried to grab too much power when there was no urgency it would likely not be seen well by any of the Houses. They couldn't take that chance.

A smile touched his face as she half turned, noting the smear of flour over her cheek. Without thinking he reached over, gently wiping it off her face.

 

[Zana]

"No it wouldn't, my visions -"

Zana broke off when she felt his hand on her cheek. She watched quietly as his hand came away with the flour on his hand and realisation flickered across her pale green eyes for a moment before continuing.

"What you saw was one of the clearer ones, usually they're like a bundle of sketches that someone is flicking through really quickly. I get a flash of an image or colour here or there. I have to see it a few times for it to settle into a proper stream of consciousness. They're only clear like that when it's my future directly," which meant she was at least going to live until this next battle, she thought with a touch of amusement.

"If I mention something about a Guard crest it might also make them more eager to send me to work with them to see if I can get any further visions," the thought was only occurring to her as she spoke.

 

[Talus]

"Okay. Then Do it." He said with a nod, trusting that she knew what she was doing. The fact was that they needed all the help they could get, and if Zana could bring Luana around...it would be a tremendous coup.

A deep breath filled his lungs, and for a few seconds he simply sat in silence.

His eyes cast every now and again to their hands, but other than that he was simply quiet. Silence was something he had always enjoyed, but in the past it had always been on his own. It was...nice to have someone else there.

As the seconds clicked buy, Talus closed his eyes. Simply enjoying the moment.

 

[Zana]

Zana returned his nod. It felt good to have a plan of action, something to work forward to at the very least. She had been drowning on her own with the task of changing things on her own ahead of her and finally she at least could see the way in which she needed to swim to reach the shore.

She didn't move as he had his moment of silence. He looked tired. Not from physical exhaustion but from having to be thinking at all times. It was a look she recognised on the faces of Generals when they were in a long siege. The weight of responsibility. Grey was snoring under the table. It was a nice moment, Zana thought. Probably one of only a few they were going to get over the coming months.

"Do you want to go have a lie down?" her voice was a soft murmur, not wanting to disturb the silent too much as she leaned over and brushed a few strands of his hair back from his face.

 

[Talus]

He smiled. "First trying to get me to strip and now into a bed?"

His head shook.

"They don't teach you Luana Dreadlords any decorum, do they?" It was a jest of course, but the truth of it was that a bed did sound nice. He had been looking forward to his own back at the Cabin, but now that he'd not reported to Aldwaith the General would likely send some Guardsmen there to roust him.

Duty weighed heavily on him, and in the back of his mind the task at hand still called to him. The mission kept him going, but her offer was more than Tempting.

His eyes opened slowly, clearly weighing if he should say yes.

 

[Zana]

Zana gave a soft chuckle.

"We're pretty much just all savages over there, it's why they don't let us out often," her fingers lingered on his cheek and when he opened his eyes there was nothing but concern in her eyes for him. "Come," she was making this decision for him. Perhaps he would enjoy not having to for a change. She dropped her hand from his face and used the one that already held his to pull him to his feet. Grey stirred, gave a yawn and padded after them.

She led him back up the stairs and into the room he originally would have gone into to find her old clothes. The bed was large and consisted of a feather mattress, plump pillows, and soft sheets. Anything to lessen whatever troubles she had trying to get to sleep. She let go of his hand and scooped up the dirty clothes he'd left on the floor.

"I'll be back, get some rest."

 

[Talus]

Talus stood in the center of the room, glancing at the bed for a moment as Zana scooped up his old clothes. Presumably she was going to burn them. They were so filthy that any amount of washing wouldn't really help rescue them.

Still, as she moved towards the door and told him she would be back there was an odd pang in his chest. He frowned for a brief moment, glancing down at his own hands as though there were some mystery there that he could find.

Fingers tightened. "Or..."

He began as he half turned to face her, wondering if she would even stop or just completely and utterly dismiss the notion all together.

"You could stay?" He asked.

 

[Zana]

Zana stopped when he began speaking and glanced over her shoulder towards him but turned fully when he asked her to stay. Her eyes searched his face for a long while before slowly she nodded. She didn't so much drop the clothes as they floated from her arms out the door - she hadn't been thinking to burn them but rather soak them so he at least had something that fit to wear home but they weren't really what was on her mind anymore.

"Ok," her lips lifted in a faint smile. She wasn't as uncaring as she was this time as she peeled off her jumper and leggings, throwing them onto a chair that sat in the corner of her room, and clambered into bed.

At least she had the decency to blush a little this time.

 

[Talus]

Shock painted some of his face as she stripped down, if only because that was not quite what he had meant...or been expecting.

For a brief few seconds he found himself utterly stunned. Not the least because this time he couldn't help but actually notice the tone and curves of her form. After standing there dumbfounded for a bit too long, Talus suddenly followed suit and followed Zana into bed.

The awkward shuffle to slide in besides her colored his cheeks to the shade of cherries.

 

[Zana]

"You don't have to look so scared I don't bite," she laughed softly and shifted so that she lay on her side facing him. "I can't sleep in clothes, when the visions start I get too hot," Zana spoke in the soft voice unique to the bedroom, as if she were afraid someone else might overhear. She bundled the pillow up around her, hugging it to her almost before resting her face in the crook of her arm with a sigh. She watched his amusement in mild amusement then bit her lip.

"Have you never....?" Zana raised both eyebrows. She was getting a flashback to when she was 15 and in the dorms back at the Academy when these secrets had been shared in whispers on the floor of their room despite the fears of being caught for being up past curfews.

 

[Talus]

He laid down besides her, pulling the blanket over him slightly as he got comfortable.

When she asked her question Talus only blinked at her. "Please."

"I'm not utterly helpless." His first time had been in the Academy, though the ending had been a tragic one. He still remembered her face, the way she had looked at him when they'd taken her away.

It had been his doing. His first sin.

The second that still haunted him. Shaking his head slightly, as if that would push the thought away he prompted her. "Have you?"

 

[Zana]

Zana muffled her laugh at the indignant look on his face with the edge of the pillow and then nodded in response to his returning question.

"Remember, uncivilised Luana Dreadlord. I believe it comes with the territory," Grey, fed up with being left out, jumped up onto the bed and sprawled at the bottom of their feet with a small huff. Zana glanced down towards him for a moment with a small smile before returning her gaze back to Talus.

"I don't think I've ever just been in a bed with someone like this though, it's nice," she sighed as her eyes closed, her body relaxing. She could feel the warmth coming off him and wriggled her way closer to take advantage of it.

 

[Talus]

"Ah I forgot there for a second." Talus commented with a smile, closing his own eyes just a few seconds after she did.

After a few seconds he felt her slowly scoot closer, the heat of her body casting onto him.

Lips thinned after, his toes wiggling for a second to ensure Gray did not fall asleep upon them. Hesitation hung within him for a few seconds, and then slowly Talus reached out to lay a single hand on Zana's side.

 

[Zana]

Zana fought the urge to smile at the hesitant way he laid his hand against her side. So gentle, like he was afraid she was going to burn him at the touch.

She was less shy and as he had made the first move she made the next. With a gentle nudge she made sure he was on his back before pressing herself against his side and resting her cheek upon his chest with a soft sigh. Her silken hair cascaded down her back and a few tendrils splayed across his chest.

"Is this ok?" she whispered, sleep heavy in her voice.