Fable - Ask Rebellion Bloodline

[Zana]

"Well... your vitals are all fine," the medic frowned as Zana pulled on her shirt. "I can't sense any disease or infection but if you continue to be sick I'd like for you to come back and we can look at running some further tests. I'm going to recommend you stop your... Your visits to Cain too. It might just be you are being overworked with your new duties at the Guard. Despite what they say about Dreadlords, your bodies are still only human and magic takes a toll," Zana tucked in her shirt and tried to keep her face blank, even though the news of not having to go back to the dungeons for her vision training. What was more concerning was she couldn't tell what was wrong with her either. One moment she had been running some new Luana Dreadlords through their latest training programme and the next moment she had been waking up looking at the sky with people calling for a medic. She had been feeling more tired. She had been feeling sick. And she had been pushing herself perhaps a little too hard trying to train a group of Guards to fight Dreadlords whilst trying to teach Dreadlords how to be as ruthless as possible.

It was a lot of magic.

"I am due a weeks holiday after today, perhaps you are right and it is just fatigue," Zana picked up her blade and nodded to the man who was busy scribbling his notes on her paper. She tried to keep the panic out of her face. If there was something wrong Ashur might take her off the Guard to focus on Luana.... Swallowing she gave a sharp bow and then did everything in her power not to bolt from the room.

Out in the streets Zana walked until she got to an alleyway she could duck into and take a breath away from prying eyes. Her back hit the wall and she drew a deep breath in and then out trying to ease the feeling of nausea she was convincing herself was just worry. Quietly she sent a small plea down the bond towards Talus to come and get her. She needed him to help her get out of the city without throwing up. At least now they had been working together for nearly three months they didn't need to have excuses to be seen in public with one another.

She had barely opened her eyes when she caught the sudden wave of magic. It was subtle. Professionally done with stealth that only a senior Dreadlord would have caught and Zana only had because it was magic similar to her own. Her eyes snapped to the mouth of the alley and then curiously she followed the trail. It took a while but eventually she pinpointed it to a hooded figure who was subtly stealing from the market stalls which were heaving with people and setting it on a wagon with the use of telekinesis.

What were they doing...?

 

[Riley]

They were expecting her back at camp in the next few hours. She could still picture how Kaius' eyes drilled into her, hands firmly on the outsides of her arms as he told her for the umpteemth time to be careful.

For fuk sake, I'll be careful, she'd huffed.

Sometimes she wondered if he only saw her as a child. She'd told them - insisted that she could do this run on her own. Just some food. Too dangerous for any of the rest of them to show themselves in a city full of zealots and xenophobes. The small cart tied up to a horse blacker than the blackest night stood nearly ready.

Perhaps some bread?

Riley wove through the ebb and flow of the river of people in the streets. Boot caught something fluttering on the ground. It was a wanted poster.

Of her.

She frowned and shook her head.

Foosty gobshytes got her nose wrong.

With a flick of her fingers, she eased one of the bread loaves free from the corner of the booth. It sailed quickly through the air and into the folds of her cloak. She turned, head partly tilted down as she made her way toward her cart.

If she'd known there was a second-level dreadlord watching her, she might've shite her pants.

 

[Talus]

Talus was on the edge of the city in one of the Guards' outer towers. Opposite whim stood Aldwaith, the two of them having been in the midst of conversation when he'd felt the quirk through the bond from Zana. A frown flickered over his features and he held up a hand to his head.

The odd queasiness felt by his love flickered over to him, and he could arelt hear Aldwaith ask if he was alright before Talus shook it off and nodded his head. "Long day."

Talus explained with a wave of his hand as he cast a glance towards where he knew Zana would be in the city. After a moment more he turned towards the General of the West and made a small excuse.

"I have to speak with Belle, let's continue this tomorrow." Aldwaith nodded his head. Belle was the fourth level Dreadlord Talus' first lieutenant had concinced to craft weapons for the Guard. Thawne had told him the mission had been a great success with a smirk that told of something far more than the simple exchange that the meeting had meant to be. Talus had thought it expedient not to question the man too much. Though Zana had shared a giggle with him when Talus had told her of what he'd suspected.

Bidding Aldwaith a quick fairwell Talus grasped the hilt of his sword and quickly made his way down the towers steps.

Getting to Zana would take sometime yet, he didn't want to use his magic in the midst of the city during the day, but he sent a quick impression through the bond that he was on his way to her.

 

[Zana]

People smartly cleared out of Zana's way as she strode through the crowd. There was a certain air that Dreadlords gave off and it was even worse when they were annoyed or, in Zana's case, feeling as though she was about to throw up what was left of her breakfast.

"Stop," her voice cut through the market noise and people half froze in what they were doing to cast a fervent look towards her. They relaxed when they realised it wasn't them the Dreadlords attention was on and then their attention turned instead to try and see who it was who was about to suffer Zana's ire. The hooded figure kept moving, apparently oblivious to the fact Zana's words were for her and she picked up her pace, one hand moving to the hilt of her blade that rested against her hip. The dragon forged blade seemed to throb at her touch.

"I said, stop!" a pulse of telekinetic force rippled out from her, aiming to trip the other woman up.

 

[Riley]

Riley heard and felt something. She'd never felt anything like it. Well, except once. One time when she'd still been at the Academy, probably when she was around sixteen. One of the instructors had taught them how to ride.

A fierce young woman who shared a similar power to Riley's. Of course, they'd tried to keep their magic a secret from the others in their class. Everyone knew it helped during the trials.

Trials Riley never showed up for. She'd run away the morning she was supposed to take them. And funnily enough, it was about the two year anniversary on that.

And here she was. Shopping in an Anirian market and attracting the attention of this....Riley turned and pushed her palm forward, pushing her own wave of TK instinctively at the one headed for the backs of her legs.

A popping sound crackled through the air as the two energies met each other. Didn't take long for Riley's hazels to fall upon Zana.

"Oh fuk," Riley swore, the loaf of bread dropping from her cloak and plopping on the ground. Other hand came up and the market stalls so nicely lined up in rows between her and Zana would suddenly lurch together, blocking her path to Riley as she spun and ran, ducking, shoving, and dodging her way through the crowded streets and startled people.

"Move it, move it, move."

 

[Talus]

Talus moved through the city at a lax pace, or at least that was how it started.

He wanted to reach Zana, but he also didn't want to be seen rushing across the expanse of Vel Anir towards her. It was a small game that he had to play for the spies he knew were watching him. The two of them could be seen together now of course, Zana had been working with the Guard for months, but it was still important to show that the two of them weren't too close.

It wasn't until he felt the spikes of anger through the bond that Talus began to hasten his steps.

He had no idea of the source, no idea what could have drawn Zana's ire in such a way, but the ripple of anger touch the edge of Talus' consciousness as soon as it appeared. Hma frown flickered over his features, and he immediately broke his step to move just a little bit faster than before. His path cut through alleys and side streets, unbeknownst to him setting his path directly into Riley's.

 

[Zana]

Zana uttered a curse beneath her breath. Market stalls came crashing into one another and people screamed as they scrambled to move out of the way of the mix of goods, food and infrastructure as they were hurled into one chaotic mess.

"Excuse me, move!" the Luana Dreadlord was not some amateur at this type of magic and just as quickly as the market stalls were pressed together, they were just as quickly parted. Wood scraped over the cobbled street, fruit went flying, and so did people as Zana broke into a run. Now she was even more annoyed. It didn't take her long to catch sight of Riley once more. In front of Riley the street would begin to shift literally beneath her feet, twisting out of the ground and trying to throw her off balance just before the opening of the alleyway Talus was coming out of.

Zana, Talus and Riley collided into one heap a second later.

In the same second, as her hand closed around the girls wrist, the vision hit her. Except it was... backwards.

She was looking at a family room and there were two children sitting at the table colouring. A woman bustled about the tiny kitchen, her face tired and worried. It looked as though she had been crying. There was a noise outside of the door and she froze. Slowly she turned, her hand going to a knife on the kitchen side, but she relaxed when a man walked through taking off his flat cap to reveal a mop of blonde hair. He was a spitting image of the boy at the table, of Talus, Zana realised with a jolt.

"They're coming," his jaw clenched in the way Talus' did when he warred with himself over something big. The woman began to cry.

"Mumma why are you crying?" the two children at the table had stopped what they were doing and were looking up now at their mother. It was the little girl who had spoken. The little girl who was as much a copy of her mother as Talus was of his father. The little girl whose wrist Zana was now holding...

 

[Riley]

The street buckled and Riley went flying. Hood tumbled off her charcoal-haired head. So opposite Talus. So opposite their father. But Riley didn't see Talus even as they entangled in a clump of flailing limbs and broken cobblestones. Well, didn't really see him - who he was. She just saw the Dreadlord insignia on his clothing. And that grip around her wrist was like a noose around her neck.

"Let go you goddamned muppets!" Riley growled and kicked and punched, limbs trying to hit anything in her way. Magic drew around her as she released a pulse of energy radiating 360 degrees out from her form like a small blast.

 

[Talus]

Talus was stunned.

Utterly.

Completely.

He didn't move an inch as the reality of the vision washed over him, didn't budge a single centimeter as what Zana showed him collapsed onto his mind. His face drew into confusion, consternation, confusion. He looked at Zana, his eyes catching hers with a mixture of complete terror and concern.

Then the wave struck him.

Everything suddenly scattered. People, pets, carts, everything went flying out and away from Riley including Talus. He was swept away, thrown just as the realization of what he had seen dawned on him. His fingers tightened, his lungs breathless as he was sent tumbling back through the air.

What Do I do?. The desperation in his thoughts rang through him so deeply, so powerfully that Zana would feel it reverberate through the bond. The love of his life would feel the strum of emotion. His panic reached him so completely that she would know him, see his need, realize what it was that he wanted.

The girl was his sister.

She needed to be kept safe.

Talus didn't know how. Didn't know what to do. With a loud thud his body crashed against the wall of the alleyway he had just come out of, the crack of bone resounding as he found himself simply too dumbfounded to use his own magic.

He only hoped that Zana was faster than he.

 

[Zana]

Zana wasn't necessarily faster but she was most definitely angrier.

Her eyes met Talus' for a brief second before the ripple of energy hit them both and exploded outwards. Unfortunately for Riley, Zana had been trained most prominently in telekinesis; not only in how to use it but also to defend against it with her own magic. Her arms came up and pressed together as though forming a shield and the energy rolled off and around her as she gritted her teeth. The use of her gifts was making her feel even sicker and that, combined with the horrifying thought her own magic was developing again, really pushed her into seeing a red mist.

As the ripple of magic came to an end Zana lowered her shield and offered Riley one, witheringly dark look, before grabbing the girl by the scruff of the neck.

"Ghost, now," Zana snapped the words as she hurled the girl towards Talus. He wanted her safe but if they were there when the chaos cleared she wouldn't be. "Get us out of here Talus," she hurled her fiance to his feet with her other hand and shook him a little too.

 

[Talus]

Zana's touch snapped him out of his daze.

Talus wasn't entirely sure about any of this, wasn't entirely sure what he'd seen was real, but...well Zana had never been wrong before. He'd had no idea that she could see the past, but her powers had developed in leaps and bounds while they'd been together.

Who was to say this wasn't something else new? There was no reason to doubt her, no reason to doubt what he'd seen. Yet the truth was...well the truth felt entirely and utterly impossible.

Despite that though, her touch dragged his thought back into reality. The moment he heard her words Talus reached out. One hand grasped the little girl that had crashed into him, the other softly wrapped around Zana's waist.

A second passed, and then reality snapped away.

Riley and Zana both would find themselves in a twisted wispy ghost world. They wood stand there as mirror images of their souls, and then suddenly they would feel a sudden tug as this new world was bent and shifted around them.

Strange Tendrils grasped at the air, dragging, pulling, snapping the three figures through the ghostly ethos far faster than any horse could have carried them. Within seconds they were outside the city, within minutes they stood in a field.

That was when they snapped back into reality.

The moment they all reappeared Talus turned and half buckled, vomit spilling from his lips and onto the ground.

 

[Riley]

"The hell," hazels widened in frustration, fear, and surprise as Zana remained close. Before she could even react she found herself dragged and stumbled forward into the other one.

Wait. Did she say Talus?

"Wait you goddamned cabbage I...," she lost her voice as things suddenly changed. Her skin tugged and the world shifted. Everything was backwards and her stomach twisted. Eyes watered as they moved. Shuttered?

Oh fuk.

Legs shook in the tall grass of that field and she jerked away from the blond man and took one...two staggering steps before collapsing on her hands and knees in the grass, following the cocksplat's example. A heave and then a shudder. The quick wipe of the back of her hand across her mouth as she pushed to a swaying stand once again.

She'd barely been a toddler when he'd been taken. And the guy vomiting his guts in the grass didn't resemble the stringy older brother from her childhood. He reminded her more of her dad. Muscles filled out. She thought he'd been killed. Or sent to serve on one of the fronts.

She honestly never thought she'd see him again.

Still. Her hand had already pulled a dagger from her belt and she held it, tip wavering between the other two. Her limbs still rattling from...whatever the hell he'd just done. There was a wild look in her eyes - like a wild animal backed against a wall.

"Talus?" Riley repeated the name Zana had spoken unsure if it was a trick or some form of torture. Why weren't they dragging her ass back for execution or re-education at the Academy? Why had they come...here?

 

[Zana]

Well that had been a terrible mistake. Zana was the last one standing as the two siblings collapsed heaving and spluttering to the ground. The older Dreadlord managed to walk a few paces away to the clump of trees, lean her hand up against the branch and then vomit the rest of her breakfast up in a bush. She had travelled in the manner before but for her it had merely aggravated her morning sickness. Her eyes closed as she leaned there for a moment. Her dark skin had taken on a slight sheen of sweat and looked more grey than its usual vibrant golden brown.

When she finally looked up it was to see the wobbly knife being pointed towards her and her lips pressed into a thin line. With a flick of her fingers the weapon went sailing into a nearby tree.

"He just saved your life and that's how you want to thank him?" her icy green eyes narrowed towards the girl as her temper flared but she shut them and tried to sooth her unreasonable temper. "We need to keep moving..." her eyes scanned the field about them and recognised it as not being far from their cabin. He'd brought them to the safest place he'd known. "Let's go home," she gentled her voice and moved unsteadily to Talus, cupping his cheek and checking he was ok.

 

[Talus]

Talus nodded his head for a brief few seconds as Riley asked her question. "Yes."

Then Zana flicked the knife from her grasp and sent it sailing half way across the clearing. His head jerked to the side, as if snapping out if some sort of trance. He nodded his head slightly as Zana came to stand besides him, checking to see if he was alright.

He smiled at her briefly, whispering that he was alright and that taking them both had simply been exhausting.

Talus had never taken two people with him before, and he'd certainly never moved that fast. His entire felt like jelly, muscles tired and his head swimming. Though truth be told he wasn't entirely sure that was because of the magic. A breath filled him and he nodded as Zana spoke of going home.

"Riley." He knew her name. He didn't know from where, didn't know how. It hadn't been in his vision, but Talus knew it was right. "You need to come with us."

She had gifts, like he did, well more like Zana's, and if she was found they would take her. Hell they'd probably already tried.

"You'll be safe. I promise." He tried to be diplomatic, tried not to yet touch on the thought he was sure both of them were having.

Mostly because he was pretty sure if he acknowledged it right now he would break down.

 

[Riley]

Riley looked down at her hand where the dagger had been. There was no need for Zana to do what she did because Riley would've dropped it anyway at Talus' admission. Foosty Gobshytes. Now she last a fukin good dagger.

Her brother.

Troubled hazels snapped to Zana. "Maybe my life wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't drawn attention to me." Riley snapped. Speaking out of shock, fear, and a little wooziness still from that weird-arse teleportation thing Talus had just done.

She looked over her shoulder at the field. The city in the distance they'd...snapped away from. The treeline. She could run for it. Try to get back to the rebels. But Talus' voice brought her back.

She kicked at the grass and would follow them, though lag a little behind.

"You're not going to turn me in? And brother," she cleared her throat, a heaviness but not malice in her tone. "We both know safety is a goddamned illusion."

 

[Talus]

Talus stopped in his tracks for a second as Riley spoke, a frown pulling at his lips.

The words struck him closer to home than his sister could ever have imagined. For the last few weeks Talus had been considering the subject again and again. Not because of Riley of course, but because of the children he now knew Zana and he would have.

Neither of them knew the truth of what already was of course, but the fact of the future had already cemented itself in his mind. Talus knew that he and Zana would have kids, and he knew that he would protect them with every inch of his life. That's as why he'd been training harder, doing his best to get stronger and expand his magics. It was probably the only reason he'd managed to carry them all the way out here.

"Not with us it's not." He told her firmly.

Between himself and Zana Talus was confident they could kill an Archon or two. Anyone that came for their children, anyone that now came for Riley would find themselves facing far more than they asked for.

He wasn't sure how he felt about being called 'brother' just yet, but for now he decided to ignore that spike of emotion when she'd said it. "No one is turning you in."

So they'd gone after her before. Was she a runaway? Talus had had no idea, no one had ever told him, though...that wasn't exactly odd he supposed.

With a frown he turned back towards Zana, touching the small of her back in a soothing gesture as they continued down the path. Eventually their cabin came I to view, the humble home slightly larger than it had once been.

 

[Zana]

Zana grimaced at Riley's pointed jibe towards her actions. Subtlety was usually something she was more good at; the Luana Dreadlord had a reputation to uphold and she knew once someone identified her as being one of the Dreadlords on the scene she was going to be hurled in for questioning. Nobody had seen Talus given he had been coming out of an alleyway so hopefully they could go looking for her at her quarters first. When her fiance came and brushed his hand against the small of her back she smiled reassuringly at him then turned her gaze once more to Riley, her features softening.

"That is a fair point. I am sorry, it is hard not to act on instinct still at times," her light green eyes wandered back to Talus and she gave him another apologetic look. The way they were together... it was different. Like two normal humans instead of Dreadlords. The gentle touches, the looks...

"Talus is right though, we won't turn you in," as they walked inside the Cabin Zana went straight to the kitchen. "Can I get you some tea?"

 

[Riley]

She'd been on the run for so lung, hiding in camps, living in the woods, in alleyways, on the road, tucked away in the backs of barns, it was strange to step into a house. And one that was, apparently, her brother's. She felt out of place. And it reminded her of home.

A dull pain throbbed in her chest as she walked slowly around the small space, fingertips running along the tops of chairs, taking in the home of Talus. And, apparently, Zana.

Tea?

"Okay," she looked to Zana. Any fight she had against the woman was quickly fizzling out. "What...how...," fingers pinched the bridge of her nose and she leaned against the cabin wall, by the window. Still close to the door. "I thought you were dead or off in the front somewhere," eyes lifted to Talus. "Don't hear much when you're in the Academy."

Nor when she'd run away and joined the rebels.

 

[Talus]

Talus glanced at Zana for some sort of guidance, hoping that the love of his life would be able to say something smart or perhaps point out what he was supposed to do. When nothing immediately came he realized that this was a situation that neither of them were really prepared for.

His fingers tightened for a second, and Zana would feel an extreme amount of anxiety floating through the bond as Riley began to ask her questions.

"I graduated." He said, pointing out the obvious. Talus still remembered the boy he'd slaughtered on the tower. How his sword had felt when cutting through his throat. It made goosebumps e trail across his skin, stomach churn. "Got lucky with my Mentor."

Talus knew that he very easily could have ended up like Hal or Ademar. One wrong decision, one person thinking he was interesting and he could have been a pawn for House Virak or one of the others. He was thankful for Feb, thankful that he'd been able to make his choice. "Swore to the Guard."

An action that made made waves through all of Vel Anir.

"Met Zana." He glanced over at his love for a moment, watching as she made tea. "Now..."

Well now he was here.

A frown touched his lips, fingers tightening as he looked at her. There was a bare wisp of a memory, not the vision, something else. He couldn't quite tell what, couldn't quite remember. It was so barely there, the thought seemed to almost be gone. "Riley...I didn't even know you existed."

The words were an explanation, a plea of sorts. Why hadn't he known? Why hadn't he been able to help her? Why hadn't he come to find her? Guilt overwhelmed him.

"I don't remember our parents, I don't remember you. Our childhood. I can just see...see her crying when they took me, mom." Even now that image was barely there. "They made me forget. Beat me. Broke me. They made me forget."

Talus repeated as his voice cracked.

Another thing they'd taken from him. Another piece that they'd forced him to leave behind. Despair and rage roiled within him like a storm. "I'm sorry."

 

[Zana]

Zana quietly went about preparing the tea; boiling the kettles, measuring out the leaves she would need. When Talus looked to her she offered the barest of shrugs of her shoulders. She didn't know what to do. She wished she did, especially when she felt the turbulent emotions rolling through the bond. But she didn't know. She had known she was an only child and her father had died whens she was still at home and her mother had been killed soon after she had been taken. There would be no sudden sibling for Zana to discover.

As Talus spoke the water came to boil and Zana was able to finish making the pot of tea. Quietly she came in with a tray and set it down on the small coffee table with three big steaming cups, sugar and milk. She took her own mug and curled up in one of the arm chairs nearest the fire which started with a small murmured spell.

"You ran, didn't you?" her own memories - or perhaps it was this new backsight - flooded her of a young TK she had trained once or twice leaving on the day she should have sworn to a House.

 

[Riley]

Riley looked about as awkward as Talus felt. She looked to Zana, hand coming to rub at the back of her neck. Her fingers were smudged and dirty. She stepped over and took one of the mugs, smelling its contents cautiously as she sat in a chair opposite Zana.

It was clear it was hard for her to relax. She sat on the edge as if she'd bolt at any moment. Posture was stiff and wired. Riley didn't know what to do with Talus' apology. She was as surprised as him to see that he...well, still existed. And more than that, that he wasn't another brainwashed muppet like all the others were.

Hazels shifted to Zana, fingers tightened along the warm mug. A quick, short nod. "The morning I was supposed to take the trials. I just couldn't...," jaw set. "I couldn't be a part of their goddamned brainwashed machine."

Riley had help. She wasn't sure if it was safe to talk about Sierra. A part of her still had a hard time Talus and Zana were being authentic and weren't just going to turn her in after the tea was finished. Then again, they were admitting to their relationship and if she remembered things from the Academy, that was a big no-no.

She looked to her brother.

Gods her brother.

"We moved after you were taken. I don't remember much. Went to the coast. Dad got into ship-building. There was an accident on the rigs one day, when I was about ten, and that's when I...used my magic. They came for me the next day. And like you, they just gave me up," Riley's voice was bitter. She remembered more about their parents. Living with them. She also remembered the bag of gold her mother had accepted when they took her.

She doubted they had much choice but it still fuking hurt.

 

[Talus]

Talus' jaw tightened as Riley explained that she was a runaway. It made the situation difficult, though not impossible. She would not be able to stay here, but they could most certainly get her out of the city and ensure she would be safe.

That much he was confident of.

In the back of his head Talus already thought of a thousand places for Riley to go to. He knew that Thror would take her in at Karak, knew that he could take her to the safehouse. A thousand other things ran through his mind, and then she mentioned their parents.

Talus froze for a moment as Riley spoke about them, their fate. His fingers tightened, and a scowl set down on his jaw. He remembered the conversation he'd had about his parents with Zana, the talk about finding them.

He was glad he'd decided not to now, though at the same time filled with rage that he hadn't for the sake of Riley.

"How long have you been on the Run?" He asked. "How have you survived?"

Talus decided not to dwell on their parents, knowing it would only make him more angry.

 

[Zana]

Zana's cool gaze swept from one to the other as they spoke. Now that the immanent danger had gone of being caught and she had discovered ... Riley ... was not a threat she could actually examine the similarities between the two of them. There was something about their eyes, the stubborn way they both clenched their jaws, and the way they both held themselves that was definitely familial. She took a sip of her tea just as the wave of rage rolled through the bond.

"Talus," the name was softly spoken and full of love. "Why don't you sit down, this is a lot to take in?" She stood, setting her cup of tea down and gently guiding him into the seat she had vacated instead. A soft stroke of her knuckles down the side of his face and then she disappeared back into the kitchen.

When she returned this time it was with a plate of snickerdoodle cookies which she set down, stole one for herself and then perched on the arm of the chair Talus sat in.

 

[Riley]

Riley eyed those cookies with suspicion but also longing and hunger. And a bit of wonder. She hadn't eaten a cookie since...hell, since before she was taken. Maybe when she was eight...or nine. She'd been living off game in the woods...wild edibles.

Fukin bread was a luxury.

She blew across her tea and took a small sip. It helped chase some of the chill from this morning away. Even in summer it could be a little chilly in the mornings when waking up after the campfire had dwindled to the last coal.

Brow scrunched up along her olive skin as she thought about Talus' question.

"Bout two years. I," hazels shifted down to her tea. It wasn't her place to share about the rebels. Nor about Sierra. "On my own at first. For a long time," eyes lifted. She thought about being discovered in that barn by Ademar. How scared she'd been that he'd successfully drag her back to the capital. How she always had to look over her shoulder when she went in town.

But even all that hell from moving place-to-place and being mostly on her own was heaps better than the torture of the Academy.

"I met some others who want change like I do," she kept it vague on-purpose and her jaw set like stone. It was clear she wouldn't be saying anymore on that. At least for now.

She saw those little touches between them. Zana and Talus. Gaze shifted to Zana. She stared at her for a moment longer, before realization struck across her eyes. "You taught one of the riding classes. Years ago. But you two...," she frowned. "How're you two different? You aren't a bunch of goddamned muppets like the rest of them."

Gaze narrowed.

"Are you not turning me in only because Talus is my brother or because you might not anyway?"

 

[Talus]

'Some others', Rebels.

Talus couldn't help but frown as Riley explained that part, mostly because he was positive she was not speaking of anything except those who would see Vel Anir burn.

Strangely enough, although many would argue, Talus did not see himself as a Rebel. What he was doing with the Guard was not technically...well it wasn't technically against the law. They wanted to take the power from the Great Houses, but in theory the Great Houses weren't even in charge, the King was.

And the King took his power originally from the people. At least that was what was claimed in the old stories. To his mind they were usurping the usurpers. That was all.

Of course, no one in the Great Houses would think that way, and if pressed Talus would likely even realize that Zana didn't think that way. Yet it was how Talus thought of it. He wasn't a rebel, he simply wanted the people to rule themselves.

A naive perspective perhaps, but one that he held truly.

The idea that his little sister was running with Rebels, and that she was putting herself in danger did not sit well with him at all. Talus bit his tongue slightly, frowning for a moment as he shook his head and sat himself down as Zana suggested. "I got lucky."

He would not answer for his love.

"They didn't see me as strong, and so I got more freedom than most. I got to...see things that most of us don't." Things that changed him. "It gave me...perspective."

He would not tell her everything, if only for her own sake.