Private Tales Read between the lines

[Talus]

More murmurs rushed over those at the table, but this time their voices did not raise above a small discussion. None of them wanted the Governor interrupting them again. Most were technically his superior, but the politics of Vel Anir were still more than a little strange.

"Nassau had the means to do such a thing."​

The Archon said, as though it was enough clarification for everyone at the table. "What was the Dragon like at the Siege, General?"

Talus asked curiously, a slight frown touching his lips.

"Ordinary, as far as they reported. Four legs, no wings. It showed none of the...illness that you described."​

The expression on his lips deepened as he thought about what the words meant. There were many dozen different types of Dragons all over the world. Some more powerful than others. Telling them apart wasn't difficult, and even from this brief description Talus had his doubts the two were one and the same.

"So he's enslaving and...twisting dragons." That much was clear. "But why?"

Talus asked. "What's the point?"

 

[Zana]

"Because they're powerful of course!"

"He means to bring an army of dragons against us, to destroy the republic! He must be stopped!"

"No, no, Nassau loves Vel Anir, he would not wish to see it destroyed."
​

The argument soon began to raise in tempo and grew more than a little heated between those gathered. The Governor's brother-in-law seemed particular aggravated and was pounding his fist on the table to punctuate his words. Zana tuned it all out and thought about what they had learnt about Nassau, and what she knew of her wider studies on dragons. Suddenly, her face began to pale.

"Their magic," she said softly then turned to look at Talus, obvious distress cracking the mask she had been wearing. Her fingers touched the dragon-wrought bracelet she wore constantly. "He's trying to syphon their magic," and if he was able to and then to use it for his own devices... those creatures would be the least of their problems.

 

[Talus]

As Zana said the words everyone at the table fell into silence, their faces twisting into a mixture of fear and concern.

It was only one face however that Talus was watching. The Archon's expression seemed to falter for the first time. He had thought her maybe a part of this, in league with Nassau. There was no reason for it, no logic behind why he would suspect her.

Some long held prejudice against those who had stood with the Houses and nothing more.

Yet the moment that he saw her face Talus knew that it wasn't the case. He could see the same fear in her eye that danced through all the others. The genuine panic at the thought of someone like Nassau gaining even more power. The woman showed it for only a brief, flickering second, but Talus had seen it. "I think you're right, but I don't think he's trying."

Talus added quietly, glancing over towards Zana with more than a small amount of concern.

He had known the man was powerful, even by simply reputation, but he could remember the feeling of that room. How confident the man had been.

"This is...Parliament must be informed!"​

One of the courtiers at the table said, standing up and pushing back his chair as if he himself would be riding back to Vel Anir.

"A man with such knowledge of our city? With that much power?"

"He cannot be allowed to live!"

"The Guard must go after him!"​

 

[Zana]

Zana felt sick.

How hadn't she made the connection before? Nassau must have syphoned the magic until the beast had been drained entirely of its essence. But what of the disease? The dragon had not just been dying, those eggs had been something other entirely and she did not think it related to its magic. Which only meant one other possibility.

"He is not working alone."

It was not Zana who spoke but the Archon. She sounded as though she were musing over which tea to have not discussing two Archon's being at large and causing havoc across Arethil. She kept her eyes on Zana as she continued.

"Nassau was quite close to another, Archon Adelaide."

Whispers began to circulate.

"She was executed wasn't she?"

"For her... experiments?"

 

[Talus]

”Before the Revolution.” Talus added. She had been executed when he had still been at the Academy. He’d remembered hearing the news, the ripple that it had sent through everyone.

Archon’s had always been something else, something above. To Initiate’s at the Academy the thought one would be executed had practically been earth shattering. He could still remember now whispering in the library with Hal and Sierra. All three of them having some sort of conjecture on what she had done.

“I am afraid not.”

The words should have been like an anvil striking a hammer, but any surprise to them had already been taking out. Figures

Talus thought bitterly to himself.

The Houses would never throw away something, or someone, they thought of as useful. An Archon with her talent was very much so. Arms crossed over his chest, and the former Dreadlord made no effort to hide the displeasure on his face.

“She escaped, during the Revolution…”

His jaw tensed, fingers tightening.

Another problem that could have been avoided, stopped before it even started if it wasn’t for greed and wrought ambition. This was why he had left. Why he had wanted to take his family so far before. Nothing ever changed.

 

[Zana]

Zana could feel her anger simmering into a lethal edge and her hands curled into a fist.

"She was no danger until the Revolution," the Archon continued, pointedly looking at the two Dreadlords who had been commended with spearheading the whole thing. Of course the truth was deeper. The Generals had been the ones to recruit Talus and her both, but Blackforge pointedly looked away. Zana's jaw clenched further.

"If you're implying it is our fault, then I think--"

"Nobody is saying that, Lady Zana," one of the politicians she didn't recognise said, urgently glancing between the two women. Archon Jaezrel smiled.

"Of course not," she said in a way that told everyone she very clearly did. "But perhaps, as you two have seen the chaos first hand it is... something you might like to see through."

 

[Talus]

Talus' fingers formed into a fist, fingers scrunching into the wooden arm of his chair. The strain of it seemed to swell for a moment, a quiet crack splintering the carving beneath his hand. For a few seconds he stayed quiet, the tension in the air practically thick enough to cut with a knife. "I would be happy to."

He did not volunteer Zana.

He would not take her away from their children for any more time than he needed to. A part of him knew that she would most likely not allow him to go alone, but he would not drag her into this if she did not wish it.

"But." Talus' lips broke into a smile. "My time is valuable, and I will need the proper supplies and people."

"The Republic will be more than happy to pa-"​

"No, General." Talus said, waving Blackforge off before he could speak.

"This is not the Republic's burden to bare. The decision does not lay with them. It was the Houses who kept the monster caged. So it is only fair that they should pay." A few murmurs flickered over those at the table, but no one else dared speak. He slowly turned his gaze back on the Archon. "So who was it, Archon? Sirl? Virak? Luana? Or did they all agree for once?"

He asked bitterly. "Who was it that decided that a woman who tortured children, carved women to madness, and turned men to monsters should be allowed to continue her work?"

Because they all knew that was what it had been.

 

[Zana]

Zana's head snapped towards Talus with her brows raised when he accepted the subtly veiled order then slowly sunk into the chair next to him. Her anger still simmered and no doubt shone through cracks in her neutral expression, but she did not interrupt him. Anger quickly turned into surprise and then cold amusement at Talus' suggestion instead. From the look on the faces gathered nobody had assumed that. The Archon's expression had soured to the point it looked as though she were chewing on iron and Zana's smiled only deepened.

"Well..." Lord Umbra cleared his throat once the other Lord and Ladies who had made the journey looked away. It seemed the guilt lay at a few feet. "I suppose it was indeed one of the few things we agreed upon, though she was kept in Weiroon territory..."

"Yes, and she wasn't the only one, was she, Lady Greavard?" Sneered the Lord from House Cressin. The woman, who hadn't said much of anything until now, merely sniffed and held her chin a little higher.

 

[Talus]

Talus stared at them.

If looks could kill they would have all been sliced to ribbons in that moment. His eyes holding the intensity of death itself. "So it's decided."

His voice was cold steel. There was no arguing with his tone, with the way that he looked at them all. His gaze sweeping over them and each one in turn looking away. All of them save for one, the Archon. She met his eyes, looking at him with pure hatred.

Because that's all you have. Talus mused to himself. Hatred.

Nothing else.

"I will put together an expedition." Talus said, his lips thinning and his fingers slowly unfurling from around the chair he had been clutching. Killing not one, but two Archon's would be no easy feat. Even if Zana did choose to join him, it wasn't something just the two of them could pull off.

No, they would need help. Other Dreadlords, Guardsmen, maybe even mercenaries. Talus wouldn't take any chances. He would make sure he had everything he needed.

He would go home to his children.

 

[Zana]

After that there was little else to discuss. The logistics, a few suggestions by the Generals on people they believed would be able to help the Dreadlords further in their mission, and then discussions turned to other internal issues including the worrying news a rogue group of Proctors had attempted to stage their own version of the old graduation method. Zana suspected there was far more to the story than those gathered would say in front of Talus and Zana and she made a quiet note to send a letter to Ella.

In the end the Governor invited everyone back to the keep for proper food and a more fitting celebration of their arrival.

"I'm afraid we must be off," Zana said as they stood outside the tent, Zandors reins in her gloved hands. "We have matters to attend to before this... mission," she glanced to Talus.

 

[Talus]

He nodded, having remained mostly quiet during the discussion on logistics.

The only thing he'd internalized from the whole thing would be ensuring the Houses did pay, and then noting a few of the suggestions Blackforge had made. Putting together the expedition properly would take time, likely a week or more, but it would be worth it in the end.

He pushed himself up, offering a terse thank you to the Governor and mentioning to Blackforge that they would speak later.

Before long he and Zana found themselves wandering away from the tent, his expression more than a little dour. "I'm sorry."

He said softly, staring out onto the plains ahead of them.

"I shouldn't have risen to the bait." Talus knew that, but in the moment his anger had gotten the better of him. And if truth be told, even without the Archon's provocation...he had wanted to do this anyway.

It felt like unfinished business, and despite wanting to go home, despite wanting to see his children more than anything. This entire thing bothered him. It seemed wrong. As though everything he and Zana had fought for was being picked apart.

 

[Zana]

"Don't be ridiculous," Zana shook her head and stopped trying to guess what was inside the brown papered boxes Blackforge had slipped her when he had given her a bone crushing hug goodbye. For the berns, he had whispered into her ear, before turning and striking up a conversation with Lord Eeyr, a Minor Lord who had apparently risen to quite some position in the chaos of the revolution.

"You were far more calm and collected than I was, I was so close to..." she sighed and threaded her hand into his. For once, she had chosen to walk beside her husband rather than ride Zandor. "I hate what they turn us into every time we're back here."

 

[Talus]

He nodded his head quietly in agreement.

This place, Vel Anir and the lands around it seemed almost like a burr in their side. Something they couldn't quite get rid of. A poison that ran through them. Talus would be rid of it, but the lines that connected them couldn't be denied.

As much as he wanted to. "One last thing."

He said softly, more to himself than to Zana. A part of him hoping that it would actually be true this time.

"You should stay when we're there." Talus said softly. "Be with the twins while I go."

They would venture back for a little while of course, but when it came time to go once again. Once the expedition had been put together, it would be best if both of them did not go. Not the least because a small thread tugged at the back of his mind, one that wanted to see his children safe.

A task that he would only ever leave to the two of them.

 

[Zana]

Zana suddenly stopped. She had known in her heart that this moment would be coming; he had specifically not volunteered her in the tent. But as much as she loved her children and every second apart from them was agony, Talus was an integral part of her. Their souls intertwined on a level nobody else understood. To not go with him into this would be to lose half of herself for however many months it took.

"Would you stay behind if I asked to go?" she asked softly, turning her face towards him so she could see his expression fully and took his hand to press it to her heart. "If something happened to you, I..."

 

[Talus]

"No." Talus didn't have to think about the answer of course. There was not a chance that she could have kept him at bay. They both knew it, and they both knew that he had to make the request anyway.

A small smile touched his face, fingers curling against her chest. "I would not stay."

He agreed.

"But I had to ask." Talus said softly. "For our children, for my own fears."

He had known that she would never agree. Had known that not even a dozen Archon's could have kept her from his side. It was their nature, the bond they shared.

It just meant they had to win.

 

[Zana]

Zana turned her face to press a kiss to the inside of his wrist, conveying without words that he need not explain himself further. The pair of them had been through hell together. Facing any further threats alone was simply out of the question. Besides, she thought to herself, two Archon's working together was a threat to their children as well as those of Vel Anir.

And a threat to dragons.

It was a strange fascination Zana had formed with the large and rare reptiles down beneath the mines. Her fingers brushed the bracelet around her upper arm forged from the breath of one she had once sung a song for.

"I think... we need to go into the tunnels. Perhaps the dragons know something about their missing brethren."

 

[Talus]

Talus frowned. Not because it was a bad idea, but because it was another detour. Another few days that they would have to spend away from their children. The idea was almost painful, but at his core he knew that Zana was right.

"It might offer some insight." He admitted quietly.

They had encountered the Dragon in the Spine, and it stood to reason that those living beneath the home of his dwarven family would know something. He doubted they would have any insight into the creature Nassau had presented at the Siege, but one step was better than none.

"We'll go." He said softly. "Ask what we need to ask."

A smile touched his lips. "It'll give me time to think of what I'll be asking the Houses for."

 

[Zana]

Zana shook her head with a quiet laugh; knowing her husband the way she did, he would probably ask for a lifetime's worth of pasta and chocolate cake.

The journey to the portal stone was not long and the dwarven hold not far from the portal stone they travelled through. However, it was still dark when they finally arrived outside the doors and Zana was beginning to feel the tiredness built up from the last few days of politics and fighting. How she had managed to live that life was beyond her.

"Talus?" the dwarf who met them cried incredulously. "What are ye doin' here?" he glanced past them as if to make sure they hadn't brought back the band still looking after the twins. "I thought you'd have kicked the others outta yer house by now," he snorted a laugh.

 

[Talus]

"Afraid not, Vorak is still stuck with them." A small smile touched his face, cutting through some of the weariness which had stemmed from their journey.

Portal Stones were a fantastic way of traveling, but the journey was still more than a few days. Coupling that with everything that had happened, Talus could feel exhaustion creeping in on him. Just as it did with Zana. The dwarf before them chuckled, shaking his head.

"We need to speak with the King." Talus offered. "Tomorrow, if possible."

Tonight they would rest.

Surprise flickered over the Dwarf's face, but he nodded his head.

"Aye, I can send word. Is everything alright, lad?"​

The question made Talus frown. Mostly because the answer was not a simple yes or no. For a moment he hesitated, and then finally spoke. "The Family is fine, but there is trouble, and we need advice."

Talus explained a little more as they walked through the grand tunnel leading to the city, the dwarf nodding along and assuring the two humans he would set them a meeting in the morning. After all, the King would never deny his adopted son.

 

[Zana]

"Well... that's quite a dwarven armpit ye got yourselves into," their guide - Lork - said whilst scratching his balding head. Zana nodded in agreement. "Didn't the dragon yer spoke to... collapse the tunnels?" Another sad nod. That particular predicament had been what had occupied Zana's mind for the last few days of travel.

"It shouldn't be too hard to move some of it," she admitted, looking down at her hands as purple energy flickered across them in the same manner a trickster might roll a coin across his knuckles. Her magic had been increasing day by day since the start of this mission and a voice told her at the end was her absolution. "It's if he decides to burn me alive before letting me speak that I'm more concerned about..."

 

[Talus]

Talus shook his head. "I don't think we should remove the collapse."

There was a reason that the Dragon's had collapsed the tunnel after relighting the forge. A separation had been put into place, and they were already risking something by going down there once more. It would be better to cross fewer lines.

"We should just step through it." He told Zana. "It'll take some effort, but I can get us to the other side."

After some rest anyway.

"I think it best we start off on a good note." Talus said as their guide continued to lead them, opening the small door within the main gate and seeing them into the city.

 

[Zana]

Zana grimaced at the prospect; no matter how many times Talus used his magic on her, it always made her stomach feel queasy.

"'ere, he ain't going to bring the mountain down on us is he?" Lork joked but there was a touch of worry in his tone that made her gently brush his shoulder and give what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"We just want to talk, his brothers are dying and I do not know how far this Archon's powers reach. They could all be in danger here, too. We're on the same side," she just hoped the dragon saw that too.

 

[Talus]

Lork nodded, though it was obvious he was somewhat troubled by the prospect of toeing anywhere near the dragons. His people and those who dwelled below had only recently come to a peace, one that benefited both side a great deal.

The idea of anything breaking that would not be too popular. "Alright."

Talus said as they finally reached the city streets.

"We can take it from here, thank you." The Dwarf nodded, offering his goodbyes before eventually turning and heading back towards the gates. Zana and Talus cut off immediately to the right, heading deeper into the inner-city.

Eventually they found their home away from home. The heavy door swinging open, and the warmth of the naturally heated home washing over them.

 

[Zana]

Zana let out a breath she had been holding since the mission began. Despite the twins not being there this place was still home and brought as much comfort as it could without their children being near. She felt safe here and that feeling was a commodity the ex-Dreadlord would never take for granted after a living a life of such danger.

She kicked off her boots in the hallway and set her bag down on a nearby table.

"I'm starving," she declared and wandered through to the kitchen. "Why don't I cook us some dinner? One more night won't cost us anything and we've travelled far. Plus, I've missed that bath upstairs," no matter what they had tried they had simply been unable to recreate the work of dwarvish magnificance in their own home on such a scale.

 

[Talus]

Talus ran a slow hand through his hair. "One more night."

It was true.

There was a sense of urgency lingering over them, a thirst for the knowledge they would need to end all of this. But a day didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Vel Anir couldn't provide him an army with the snap of his fingers, they could not gather those he wanted in a week. Time was something they had.

Even if it benefited their enemy too.

"Take a bath." Talus said as he walked over to Zana, grasping her hips and kissing her forehead. "I'll cook."