Fable - Ask Rebellion Bloodline

[Riley]

Riley dug into her meal, trying to check herself from eating it too quickly. And the bread. Riley couldn't help the happy sigh that escaped her lips, the watering in her mouth, the slightly rolled back and glazed expression in her eyes before re-focusing and blurting.

"For fuk's sake, this bread. MMmmmmnomfnomff," she instantly thought of Kaius and Riz. They'd love it. Goddamned foosty gobshytes, they'd love it all.

And then she felt a pang of guilt for being here. Enjoying this. Riley swallowed. She looked down at her plate before saying quietly.

"I like to hunt and fish. Explore the woods and sleep under the stars. I used to work on boats...before... anyway, one day, it might be fun to go on one again." A small admittance, hesitant as she lifted her eyes. Charcoal brows shot high on olive skin.

"Proposed? How did he do it exactly?" It was all...overwhelming. Hearing her brother's skills. The dwarves....a fire-giant city. Marriage. For two dreadlords? Hell, she'd never thought it possible.

Didn't stop her from stuffing another piece of garlic bread in her mouth though.

 

[Talus]

Talus decided to let Zana tell the story, mostly because he knew she never actually had been allowed to yet. He guessed that it was something she would enjoy, that probably any woman enjoyed.

So instead of speaking the young Dreadlord simply watched his sister.

It was almost...off-putting, just how much of himself he could see in her. The way she ate her food, how she responded to things. Even the slight lines of her cheekbones. It was like he was looking in a mirror of sorts. Lips thinned for a moment and he shook his head.

Was this how he looked when he ate?

Briefly he glanced at Zana, as if asking her the silent question.

 

[Zana]

Zana answered Talus' silent question with a ghost of a smile and amusement dancing in her eyes.

In truth it didn't bother her in the slightest - from Talus or Riley. Cooking as a passion of hers and there was nothing better than when someone enjoyed it like these two did. It made her wanted to feed them more, find new things that would elicit that reaction. Her eyes flickered to the chocolate cake she had baked the night before and wondered whether Riley would be as enthusiastic as Talus was about that.

"It was very romantic," Zana sighed and turned her eyes back to Riley with a grin. "We were on the top of a volcano over looking these beautiful lava rivers, and he hatches a phoenix which bursts into the sky then gets down on one knee," her eyes flickered back to Talus towards the end of the story and her hand lightly brushed over his cheek in an effort to smooth out his worried frown.

At that moment a grey wolf slunk into the kitchen, the smell of food having drawn the large guard dog from the forests outside to see if he could get any scraps from the table. Quietly he settled down right by Riley's feet and looked up at her with round blue, pleading eyes.

 

[Riley]

"A goddamned phoenix," a shake of her head and a swallow of the bread. The smallest of lopsided smiles on her face. Brief, quick, like a flash of lightning. It did like up her face just like lightning lit up a dark, night sky.

Leave it to her brother. Sounded elaborate. Her mind searched for a memory from when they were children but came up short. She'd been so young when he'd been taken. Left. Then they moved quickly after, to the coast.

Surprise flickered across her face at the casual entrance of a fuking wolf.

Not a dog.

Not a pet.

A FUKING WOLF.

Perhaps because she was a hunter and used to being in the wilderness, its appearance didn't startle her as much as it should have. And how it moved. How comfortable it was. Gaze flickered to Zana and Talus.

How they seemed completely at ease around its presence.

All these things caused Riley NOT TO PANIC.

Curiosity flickered in her hazel eyes.

Tentatively, she held out the back of her hand beneath the table, flecked with garlic butter and breadcrumbs, for the creature to sniff and perhaps lick. Hopefully not to bite it off.

"Do you have a name?" She breathed, her attention glancing up again at her hosts.

 

[Talus]

Talus smiled up at Zana for a moment, his hand gently stroking over her outer thigh as he let out a contended sigh.

A few seconds later he looked back towards Riley, noticing that Grey had made his way into the small Kitchen space. A frown pulled across his lips only briefly, his weight shifting in the chair as if he were about to move only to freeze when Riley reached down and threw Grey some food.

Well, that was one way of winning his love. "Grey."

Talus answered his sister as the Wolf greedily lapped up the garlic butter and breadcrumbs that had been offered to him. The Dreadlord had seen Grey bring down armored men, but here he moved as gingerly as a ballerina.

Perhaps weary of harming this new, smaller human.

 

[Zana]

Zana, unlike Talus, was utterly relaxed as Grey trotted into the kitchen and begged. In fact, she turned back to her food as if nothing unusual had happened. Perhaps it was the Sight that made her confident, or perhaps it was the hours of training she had done with him. He would only kill something or someone that threatened Zana's life and by extension Talus now. Perhaps there was a similarity in their scents that made Grey so trusting so quickly though.

Her lips twitched as he slobbered her hand and then put his large head boldly in her lap and whined.

"He is 90% stomach, 10% floof," the wolf's blue eyes flickered towards her at the sound of his mistresses voice but he didn't budge from the hopeful lap. "One of the units I was with in the Falwood slaughtered the mother who tried to eat our horses, when I followed her tracks back to the den I realised why she had been so desperate so as to attack livestock. He's been with me ever since. Scares the shit out of new recruits when they meet me," Zana laughed.

 

[Riley]

Riley's attention never left Grey's. She gently stroked his head. Scratched behind his ears and around his chin as that massive head took up her entire lap. Autumn-flecked hazels stared into those blue eyes of his as if to silently communicate: I know you.

I know what it's like to lose family.

To live and fight on your own.

Reluctantly, she looked up at Zana and her brother. Though, her gentle scratching along Grey's head didn't stop. A part of the guard she'd had up did begin to dissolve away. Reaching up to her plate, she shamelessly slid Grey another small mouthful of food.

"If you'd brought him when I was at the Academy...," voice trailed off. "I think I would've been enamored." A shy smile in Zana's direction.

"Was he...the only one you found or did he have other siblings?"

A small yawn escaped from her mouth. Her belly was full. She was warm. She felt...relatively safe - a feeling she hadn't experienced in...since being taken so long ago. And she couldn't help her gaze going back to her brother. Studying his face. As if she was making sure he was real.

 

[Talus]

Talus watched Riley, remaining quiet as he watched her.

There was...something odd about knowing that he had a sister. He had never expected a sibling to show up in his life, had never thought that such a thing could happen. The Proctors had told him he had no family, that all he could expect were his fellow Dreadlords.

His gaze shifted to Zana for a moment.

He had already found out what it was like to love someone else, to feel the emotions of wanting to care for someone besides himself. This wasn't so different, he thought. Fingers tightened for a moment and he took in a deep breath.

"There's a room for you to sleep in." He said softly in offer, glancing towards Zana for a moment again before once again looking at Riley. "We can get you a bed for next time, but right now it's just a sofa I'm afraid."

There was an odd pang to his tone, hope perhaps that she would agree.

 

[Zana]

Zana thought back to the fear on the Apprentices' faces when she had brought him to her cavalry training and her lips quirked a little. He was a different wolf on the field.

"He was the only one," she spoke softly, sensing the shift in mood and rising tiredness. She wasn't much better off herself. Quietly she rose from the table as Talus explained the spare room on offer and cleared the plates away with a little touch of magic. Empty plates rose and whooshed quietly over to the bowl of already hot soapy water and began to clean themselves even as Zana fetched some food for Grey and poured it into his bowl.

The wolf left Riley reluctantly but was soon wolfing down the food as quickly as wolfishly possible.

With the mutt fed she walked back to the table and brushed a hand over Talus' shoulder and neck, twining her fingers into the blonde strands of his hair.

"You're more than welcome, it is getting late."

 

[Riley]

Riley swallowed. She felt Zana's magic - so similar to her own. Of course, she'd never thought about using her own to do things like dishes. Eyes turned to Talus.

"Next time?"

Throat was suddenly dry.

They wanted her to come by again? Of course they'd talked about Zana training Riley - perhaps once a week. But she didn't know that it meant her brother wanted her to stay. Perhaps have a place for her. They'd said it was safe. And she knew it had to be...at least as much as they could make it because if anyone found out about them, it would certainly not be safe at all.

Pushing back her chair, she stood.

"I'll have to leave early. Before the sun rises." Kaius would send out a search party if she wasn't back by dawn. She was pushing it enough already. How would she explain this to them? They'd never understand...her having a brother who was a dreadlord. Just like she knew Talus and Zana would never understand who she was fighting with.

She couldn't tell either of them. At least...not right now. She needed time to sort things out. For shite's sake, she just found out her brother was very much alive. And engaged. And not a goddamned muppet.

Teeth chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought.

How would she explain training?

She looked to Zana as she pushed her chair in. "For training...if you're still up for it, I think we can start once a month. Don't think I can make once a week fly. Can we try that and go from there?" That way, perhaps she could stay longer...maybe train for a week once a month. She'd have to figure out what excuse she'd tell Kaius and the others so they wouldn't get suspicious. So they wouldn't worry.

 

[Talus]

"That's alright, we're both up early." A part of their training, he supposed.

Neither Zana nor he slept particularly late, with Zana sleeping even less than he did. Well, usually. With the manacles she could somehow force herself to remain in bed past noontime. Talus had never quite been able to pull off that particular trick though.

Perhaps too ingrained in him.

Fingers tightened for a moment as Riley talked about training, but he said nothing. Her abilities were not something that he could really help with, at least not passed certain tidbits of general knowledge. His own magic was vastly different than hers.

Something he found curious.

"We'll get you a bed." He repeated. "For that once a month."

Easy enough really, he could build one in an afternoon.

 

[Zana]

Zana cocked her head to the side as if considering it. There was a brief moment where her eyes clouded over with a white film but it faded just as quickly and then she was nodding.

"Once a month will be sufficient," at least from what she could see it would be if it was an intense weekend of training. If she could get the Guard up to being able to withstand mental attacks within a few sessions she had a good feeling she would be able to teach someone with her own gifts far quicker. Grey came padding back to the group licking his chops and then went to stand by Riley, hopefully eyeing up her hands for any sign of further food.

Gently, Zana laid her hand on the small of Talus' back sending a soothing sense through the bond.

"I think any longer and your brother will worry," she gave a playful smile towards her fiance and brushed a hand through his blonde hair. "She's a big girl, a month will be fine. I'm sure if she needs you, or us, she will let us know before then - won't you Riley?"

 

[Riley]

Riley's eyes traveled to Grey. She let him smell her hands them gave his chin extra scratches.

Sorry, no more crumbs. Fingers tentatively released from that fur and fell back to her side. For a moment, the large wolf leaned into her. Perhaps he knew she needed a moment of comforting weight.

"It's okay. I don't want to be a burden," she mumbled to Talus unsure of how to move forward. He seemed so eager but she...wasn't used to folk doing things for her. Hand lifted and rubbed at the back of her neck. Gaze snapped to Zana.

She responded with a non-committal shrug. She wasn't quite there yet. If she did need their help...well, she didn't know if they'd want to help with what she was doing. And if something happened to her...it might be too late to get their help anyway. If she was willing to lose her life for getting a better Vel Anir, she wasn't going to drag others down in the mud with her.

Hand fell from the back of her neck as her brother showed her where the room was. She turned in the door way to the pair once more, still clutching that blanket from earlier around her shoulders. "Thanks," she finally grunted, the word so foreign on her tongue. Accepting help from others was never really an option at the Academy and it was strange being so freely given so much in a such a short amount of time. Food. Warmth. Safe quarter....even if Zana had caused Riley to lose the food she'd been supposed to get.

Turning, she'd go to that couch and peel off her boots and socks.

For shite's sake - a goddamned couch. When was the last time she'd sat on one? Curling into a ball with the blanket wrapped tightly around herself she finally closed her eyes. Strange to not be in the open. Under the stars with the ground beneath her.

She was safe. She kept telling herself that. She was safe.

 

[Talus]

Talus looked over to Zana just after Riley left the room.

"I don't remember her." There was a slight bit of disgust in his tone, as if he were angry at himself. "I knew I had a mom and dad, I don't remember my fathers face, but my mom..."

His head shook. "I can see our mother in her."

Talus really only had the one memory of their mother, the woman's face when the Proctors had come for him. It was the barest hint of a thought, lingering there just beyond the abyss of his mind. He did not even know if it was actually real or something he'd invented.

Riley though? There was nothing of Riley.

At least not that he could remember.

"If I can't remember my own sister what the fuck else did they make me forget?" Anger spiked through Talus' chest, and his grip on the table top tightened as he took in a sharp breath.

 

[Zana]

Grey padded quietly after Riley after one look at Zana, jumping up onto the sofa as best as the big wolf could to act as a hot water bottle of sorts. Her eyes followed them both out of the room and then returned to Talus as he finally let his emotions begin to show. A small frown marred her brow and she stepped up behind him to wrap her arms about his waist and press her cheek to the expanse of his back. Her eyes closed and she simply squeeze for a moment as love poured through the bond.

"You were young," she knew it wouldn't make it better but she had no other excuse to give him. "Even children with a normal upbringing forget things and she is a few years younger than you," she pressed a kiss to his shoulder and stroked her fingers over him in a soothing touch.

For a while she just stood there, holding and supporting the man she loved as he tried to deal with his emotions for there was not much more she could or offer him.

 

[Riley]

It was early when she awoke, her body set to a different time. Always alert. Used to only grabbing a few hours of sleep here or there. She imagined it was still an hour or two before sunrise. Her arm had been thrown around something floofy. Hazels dragged open in the darkness, moonlight streaming through the window to come face-to-face with another large set of wolf eyes.

Riley smiled, savoring the warmth that the wolf's body provided with her blanket.

The smile got her a large swipe of his sandpapery tongue along her face and hair.

"Ugh, Grey," Riley sat up and wiped the slobber from her face. The beast wagged its tail once and gave her an innocent look as she stood and left the blanket on the couch. She didn't know if the others were up, nor would she wake them if they weren't. She'd pad quietly out of the room and back to the kitchen, searching for a roll or something else to take on the long journey back to camp.

 

[Talus]

At least one was awake.

Talus.

He sat quietly and calmly on the porch swing, where Zana and He had spent so much time. It was a calm morning, the rays of the sun just cresting in the far horizon beyond the trees. It was still dark mostly, though he did not seem to mind.

"Leaving?" Talus asked, his head turning just as he heard Riley step outside the house and onto the Porch.

A smile touched his face, a knowing one. He likely would have tried the same as her in the situation. Talus couldn't really place any blame.

 

[Riley]

"Holy shite," she started, nearly jumping from her skin at the sound of her brother's voice in the awakening dawn. Hazels flickered to his face as she was relieved to see a smile there. Smaller shoulders straightened, fingers coming to smooth that dark hair of hers behind her ears.

"Yeah," she grunted.

"Didn't want to bother you guys with leaving and I didn't take anything," she felt like she had to prove her innocence, for some reason. "Well," she admitted slowly. "I did eat a roll from the kitchen."

She finally admitted beneath her breath.

"Just...it's a long way back to...where I'm going." A long journey and one that certainly wouldn't be safe this far into Anirian territory. But it wasn't anything Riley wasn't used to. Weight shifted on her feet as she eyed her brother.

"I still want to come back...if that's okay?"

 

[Talus]

"Always." Talus said quietly, frowning for a moment.

He had not ever imagined a moment like this one.

A week ago he had not even thought it would be possible. A year ago he had never...well, why go down that path again? His fingers tightened for a moment and he took a deep breath. Slowly he stood up from the swinging bench.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small wooden signet.

It was the same mark that decorated the Kitchen table, the same that was located in several places all over the House. It was what Talus had taken to as his own Sigil, something that no one really knew of save for Zana.

He offered it to Riley. "I have one exactly like it."

Talus said, pulling out the sigil's twin and showing her the back. Upon it was a Rune, intricately carved.

"If you break it, this one will break as well and lead me to it's twin." It was the only way he had thought to keep her safe, the only way he thought to connect to her. An idea that had come to him from the bond he shared with Zana. "I can only find you if you break it, but...just in case."

He said quietly.

 

[Riley]

"Shit-spackled muppet farts!" Riley swore as she hit the ground, stomach and face first, tasting grass. Her shield of protection had cracked under Zana's own magic and pressure. Standing, the back of her hand pushed across her mouth. Lips parted and a wad of grass and dirt spit free to the ground.

Fingers twitched at her sides as she faced Zana again, heaving in air, lungs burning.

"Is this even fair if you can see the future?"

OH FUK SHE WAS SORE.

But she wasn't going to show it. Fingers twitched at her sides as she tried to pull her magic forward again even as she could feel it eating away at her strength. She'd been sparring with Zana for some time this morning. The sun was already higher in the sky.

And she tried not to let her thoughts center around what was for lunch.

With a push of her palm, she sent her magic as an invisible force to try and wrap around Zana's legs and trip her up.

 

[Zana]

"I don't need to see the future to see attacks as obvious as yours," Zana replied in that cool, cold manner of hers.

Despite her words she too was slick with a sheen of sweat. The summer was coming to an end and despite the cooler, autumnal air, strands of her hair that had escaped her long braid were plastered to her forehead and neck. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession and the loose shirt she had been wearing had begun to stick to her body. There was also a hint of a smile that kept playing about her lips that went against her strict and ruthless training regime. Riley might have been family, but Zana was not going easy on the girl.

As her attack came at her legs Zana reached down and caught it, then threw it back at the girl tenfold in one flick of her wrist.

She gave a soft snort when the girl went down.

"I think... that is a good place to stop for today," she wandered over to the girl and offered her a hand. "You are getting better," and there was genuine truth in her words. Riley picked things up quickly. If she wasn't fighting against a woman bordering on a First Level ranking she might have faired better.

 

[Talus]

Talus had watched most of the sparring match from his seat on the porch, sipping on an ale that he'd purchased from the local brewers in Vel Anir.

It had been an interesting thing to watch, though made him realize just how vulnerable both his sister and his wife would probably be. Zana was an exceptional fighter, both in offense and defense, but observing them from an outside perspective made him realize that if someone had magic like his own...

A shiver went up his spine.

No Dreadlord was invincible, not even the Archons, but...the idea of someone harming either of his family members did not sit well with him. Especially given what might have been coming in the future.

Some of their fellows had magics that none of them could contend with. Talus hated to think of that. "Well done."

He said with a smile, wondering just how they could train for every scenario. Even if it was actually impossible.

 

[Riley]

"Yeah, yeah...foosty gobshytes," chest heaved as she caught her breath even with her back to the ground again. Teeth ground in her mouth. Riley didn't like to lose and she rarely did. She had no doubt she would've passed the trials had she stayed for them...that year or so ago. But then again, she wouldn't have been fighting someone with Zana's power in 'em.

Huffing, she took Zana's offered hand and rose to her feet.

Her stomach rumbled loudly.

"You kicked my ass again." Riley stated plainly and her hands rubbed at her backside as if to demonstrate a point. She walked gingerly back toward where her brother was on the porch. "How about next time I stay on the porch with an ale and you two train?"

There was the smallest half smirk on her lips as she said it, looking between her brother and Zana. Who would be her...sister in-law soon. "What's for lunch?" A hopeful lilt in her tone as another rumble of her stomach broke through the moments of silence.

 

[Zana]

"Perhaps, after lunch," Zana mused as her eyes rested on her husband. The last time they had sparred it had been a very close call. The spirit bond that stretched between them unseen to the naked eye made it near impossible for either of them to hide their intentions from the other. Zana had only won their last spar because she had realised what was happening sooner than he had and had used a mental attack against him instead.

Grey had been sitting by Talus' feet watching the two spar but he hopped to his feet when Riley came over and jumped up to lick at her face.

"Oh nothing too big for lunch as I have a joint of lamb roasting for tonight, just some fresh flatbreads, some meats and cheeses, dips, fruits. I'll bring it out here," she tweaked Greys ear as she disappeared into the cabin. It wasn't long before she came back carrying a large tray of foods. When Zana said 'nothing much' clearly she hadn't been talking about portion sizes. There were spiced sauces, fresh crumbling ham, roasted chicken, garlic prawls, salads and vegetables and the flatbreads were still warm. She settled it down on the table she had long ago brought out onto the porch for such an occasion and sat down beside Talus with a hand resting over the slight bump of her stomach.

 

[Talus]

Talus stood on the porch with a smile. "Or not."

He doubted there would ever be a reason for himself and Zana to fight, but their abilities were mismatched in an odd sort of way. She could crush and wipe away entire armies without much of a thought, but he was more focused on the individual.

His skills in combat were lithe, quick.

Many Proctors had told him he would have served better as an assassin than a Dreadlord. He'd never quite been sure what to make of comments like that, but even now it was true. Talus was strong against a single opponent, but against many he was little more than an ordinary swordsmen.

"That sounds good, love." Talus said to Zana's offer of lunch. "We'll wait here."

He said, motioning for Riley to settle on the bench.

As the two of them settled down Talus was about to open his mouth, saying one thing or another but it quickly died on his tongue. He was still not entirely sure what he was supposed to say with Riley, an odd sense of awkwardness clinging to him.

Not because of her, but because of himself. More than a piece of him felt guilty about the fact that he had practically forgotten her, and even though he now rushed to make up for lost time there was still difficulty in it.

By the time Zana came back outside Talus and Riley had sat in silence, though the elder brother had offered more than a few reassuring smiles.