Fable - Ask Rebellion Bloodline

[Riley]

"Grey," Riley grinned and wrapped her arms around the giant wolf as his paws remained on her shoulders for the lick. She squeezed the beast lightly before releasing him. Just as quickly, the sleeve of her tunic wiped the slobber away.

Riley gingerly made her way up the porch steps and plopped onto the bench. "Holy hell, I'm sore," she grumbled, letting her head tip back as she looked up at the underside of the porch. A small grin to her brother.

"What're you thinking about?" She asked her brother quietly as Zana joined them again.

A snort from the end of her nose at the plates of food.

"Yeah, nothing too big," she said beneath her breath as her mouth watered. "Sometimes I wonder why I leave here after each training session," she teased softly. She knew she was spoiled here. Safe walls. Warm blankets. AND OH THE FOOD. Riley waited to fill her plate though, too sore to move at the moment.

 

[Zana]

"You know you are welcome to stay."

Zana and Talus made the same offer every training session. She knew her new husband didn't want his little sister to leave; every time he did he would sit on the porch alone and think with that worried frown on his face. It didn't help Riley was still tight lipped about where it was she went when she wasn't with them. Zana didn't want to push her of course, but she could see the war in Talus every time as he tried to respect the fact she had her own life but reconcile that with his concern for her wellbeing.

The Dreadlord piled her plate up. Unlike Riley and Talus she didn't usually eat much but today her plate was higher than Talus' and fell into it with a ravenous hunger that was almost as bad as their own.

 

[Talus]

"Nothing important." Talus told Riley with a smile.

His fingers tightened for a brief moment, and he dismissed the dark thoughts that clouded his mind. They were not important now, not here. Better things could still be done with the time that they had left. Best not to dwell on these things.

He cast a glance towards Zana and the amount of food on her plate. "How are...those other things?"

Talus asked Riley, being rather vague about her other activities.

Mostly because he still had no clue about what they actually were.

 

[Riley]

"I know," she told Zana quietly, hazels flickering to the dreadlord woman's plate and the eating that followed. Amusement flecked within her golden-green hues. Giving her brother a quick, sideways glance, she finally moved with a soft grunt and began adding food to her plate before leaning gingerly back against the cabin's wall.

She thought quietly on Talus' question.

"Things are going...okay," she answered vaguely. She'd been back a few times already and she knew she had to tell Kaius where she was going....and soon. Being the only human in a rebellious band of elves presented her with enough trust issues. She didn't want anymore.

"There's someone that I think I want you to meet. Eventually." She'd been here enough times that she was starting to believe that Zana and Talus weren't just trying to set an elaborate trap for her. Or to sniff out other rebels. They'd shared enough of their own secrets to make themselves as vulnerable as she was.

"But before I do, I'll need you two to trust me. To promise that nothing will happen to...him."

To them, really. To Arwyl's people. To Arwyl. To Kaius.

She ate quietly, offering some scraps to Grey before looking to Zana.

"When're you due?" They hadn't told her but it was obvious to Riley. Have to be blind not to notice.

 

[Zana]

Zana merely assumed Talus had told her whilst she had been fetching the food so when Riley asked she beamed at her and paused in her eating to smooth her shirt down over the bump. It wasn't too big just yet, the loose shirts she wore hid it well but she didn't think she had much longer before it would become obvious. Perhaps three more months.

"They're due in the new year, pretty early on so... six more months? Talus is terrible with names," she mock scowled at her husband before nibbling on a bit more of a sweet cake.

"You should bring Kaius next time," a flicker of white across her eyes before she spoke. A brief vision but not the first she had seen of her and the mysterious elf. "Oh we can have a dinner party! I hear that's what normal people do," a small frown. "Is he vegetarian? I've read some elves don't like meat."

 

[Talus]

Keeping secrets from someone who could tell the future was hard. Something that Talus had experienced himself. He'd pulled it off, but really only with his own magic. Riley hadn't really known that of course, but it did bring a small smile to his face.

"No harm will come." Talus said.

He had no problems with elves. Not for a long time in fact. The Academy did it's best to instill hate, and there were many Dreadlords that fell for it, but his own conditioning had been broken in that regard. Even if some small pieces still remained.

Talus looked at his younger sister.

"You'll not have to worry about that." He was sure of that. Though of course being this close to Vel Anir there was always a chance something could go wrong. Perhaps more neutral ground would've safer.

"Names are hard." He countered finally. "The right ones anyway."

None of them had seemed quite right yet.

 

[Riley]

"They're," Riley's chestnut brows rose along her olive skin. A low whistle from her lips and a look given to her brother. Then Riley choked on her water as Zana name-bombed her. Those eyes of hers turning milky-white and far-off. Just like that time when they'd first met.

Riley hunched over and coughed and coughed and coughed. Eyes streamed with water as she tried to find that windpipe full of air that she so desperately needed. A deep gulp and she sat up, watery-hazels wide and on the pregnant Zana.

"Shit-spackled fucktrumpet!" Riley heaved a breath and sat up, looking like she was about to bolt. Heartrate seemed to calm a little as Talus spoke. "Goddamned seer," Riley muttered and crossed her arms stiffly beneath her chest and let herself relax A LITTLE BIT against the cabin wall.

A mock-glare to Zana.

"No, he's not vegetarian," she grumbled.

"So much for me keeping my secrets," thumb hooked to her own chest. A slightly more serious look to Zana. "Can you please try not to pry so much?" Riley sniffed, not sure how all that worked anyway.

And more quietly.

"I-um, want to bring Kaius. Eventually. Just had to be sure it was...safe."

 

[Zana]

Zana blinked at Riley in confusion.

"I didn't, we had this conversation after the harve--" the harvest, which was two months from now. The Dreadlords face crumpled and she ran her hands anxiously through the thick locks of her wavy hair. When she spoke she sounded like an injured puppy.

"I'm sorry Riley, they're getting more..." a shuddering sigh. She had never been able to control them but now they were coming without her even noticing them. "I'll try," Zana promised in a tiny voice and looked down at her plate, pushing a few bits around glumly.

It looked as though she were about to cry.

 

[Talus]

Talus reached out and put a gentle hand on Zana's leg, offering her a soothing touch as he took a deep breath. "It's alright."

He told her softly, glancing at Riley for just a brief moment with an apologetic glance for a few seconds. He knew how difficult it could get living with these visions. Zana did not mean to prey, and usually there were not problems like this, but it was getting more difficult.

His thumb slowly strokes over Zana's skin.

"I think it's maybe best we not do something like that here." Talus said as he tried to change the subject a bit. "And Elf twenty miles from Vel Anir would be dangerous, and at the home of a Dreadlord?"

That was just asking for trouble. "I think I have an idea for a more neutral ground."

 

[Riley]

"No," her olive skin paled for a moment. "Not here," she quickly agreed with her brother. The thought of dragging Talus closer to danger than they already put themselves in every day. The idea of potentially losing him when they'd just...

It turned and twisted her stomach. Made her feel ill. DAMNIT.

Part of her wished she'd never allowed herself to become so vulnerable.

But a larger part of her knew she'd always wish to meet him. To not turn their relationship away if she had another choice. And as she looked between Talus comforting Zana. She knew they felt the same way about each other. What they had was worth the potential pain and risks involved of loss.

And Riley found her mouth hanging open a moment as Zana struggled to...oh hell. Was ZANA ABOUT TO CRY?! Riley had never seen a higher level dreadlord about to cry. A hand came up to rub at the back of her neck, awkwardly, color returning to her own face.

"Hormones can be a real bitch, can't they? And Zana...," Riley hesitated then plowed forward. "I know-hope you didn't mean to. It's...okay." Hazels flickered between them both as she stuffed a pastry in her mouth and in between bites, "Harv...neutral ground? What neutral ground? And I still need to talk to him...see if he even wants to meet um you two."

 

[Zana]

The combination of Talus' soothing touch on her leg and Riley's reassurance wrung a shaky smile from her and despite the tears still clinging to her eyes, fracturing them into a thousand gemlike shards of green, she managed to laugh.

"Yes... a real bitch," she had heard one of the female guards use the expression once too. It seemed appropriate in this scenario from what she could gather of its use in normal conversation. Zana wiped at her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to rein herself back under control, and directed her attention back to the conversation.

"The safehouse?" Zana's eyes flickered to Talus, her head tilting slightly to the side. She knew he had one planned, had been planning it before the children but had stepped it up in the last month. "Or there's Kerak.." her lips twitched and her gaze shifted back to Riley. "Would you like to meet the dwarven king that adopted your brother? It is very... cute."

 

[Talus]

He frowned. "Maybe not Kerak with Kaius."

Talus was entirely sure that the Dwarves would be welcoming to anyone that he brought, especially someone related to him, but he knew that they could be...overwhelming.

"That, I think, is best for just Riley." He said with a smile at his sister. Talus was entirely sure that she would be overwhelmed by them as well, but that would be more amusing than anything else. Something that Zana had experienced already. "For this...cookout, I was thinking of something closer to the Falwood."

The Dreadlord said. "There's an abandoned estate I used during a mission once. I think we could go there."

He told them both.

 

[Riley]

"How the hell did you get a dwarven king to adopt a dreadlord?"

Chestnut brows lofted incredulously on her darker skin. This time she paired some cheese and jam with a cracker. She frowned as Talus spoke. A mission. What? To murder elves within the Falwood...before? She swallowed, suddenly finding a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Maybe. I need to talk to him first. See if he'd even be open to meeting." A small shrug of her shoulders. "I wouldn't want other elves to think...to do anything." Meeting that close to the Falwood could prove to be troubling for humans. Especially if the princess was watching.

"But I'll ask. So..," eyes went to Zana's. "What're you going to do when you have your babies? Won't they get taken from you?"

 

[Zana]

"No."

Zana's answer was blunt, cold and fuelled with conviction. Nobody was taking her children away from her whilst she still had air left in her lungs. Her eyes flickered to Talus, knowing his views on the matter were more violent than her own. She had once mentioned the idea that Luana would at least keep the babes safe and not let another house harm them, but he had thrown as close to a fit as Zana had ever seen. She took a breath and then decided to extend the branch of trust further to Riley.

"We... are leaving Vel'Anir," it took effort to say, not because she didn't trust Riley but because the decision still sat wrongly with her. Whilst she wanted nothing more than the house in the mountains that had occupied her visions the most recently, Vel'Anir was her home and everything she knew.

"After..." she glanced back to Talus, unsure of how much he would want his sister to be dragged in to the revolution.

 

[Talus]

Talus hesitated for a moment, glancing towards Zana. "After some thing happen in the city."

He told her.

"There are some changes coming, and if all goes as planned, we will be leaving." That was enough information. He did not want to embroil Riley in their troubles, not when she was already in danger just being here. "Somewhere quiet, peaceful."

His hand squeezed Zana's. "A valley, we think."

Knew, Thanks to Zana's visions, but there was no need to make that sort of distinction at this point. It would just confuse things.

"We'll build a nice house, train the kids on our own, raise them like an actual family." That was what they both really wanted.

 

[Riley]

For a moment, Riley saw that face of the cold, calculating dreadlord in Zana. The beings they’d been trained to be. Savage. Unyielding. Not the Zana Riley was getting used to knowing. And in that moment, Riley wished more than anything that her mother had been like that. Like Zana. She wished she’d been able to stop Talus being taken. Stop them from taking her.

“I’m glad you won’t let that happen,” Riley finally managed and swallowed. “And that you have the power to do so.”

She gulped down some of her water and paused.

“What things. What changes?” She eyed her brother over the rim of her cup. “And so...we probably have only a few more training sessions left here. Right?”

She’d been meeting them once a month. If the babies were due in about six more. It was probably for the best. Just coming presented enough dangers to Riley. If anyone saw her. Including those in Arwyl’s band. One group would assume she was a traitor and kick her out at best. The other group would drag her back to Vel Anir and execute her for being a runaway. And that was the BEST they could do to her. She’d heard stories about other runaways...their souls imprisoned forever to the anirian machine.

 

[Zana]

Zana's smile was sympathetic as Riley spoke: they had all been there and had been left wondering what would have happened if their parents had fought back. The truth was they probably would have died but nobody wanted to believe their parents didn't love them enough to try. The twins weren't even here and she knew she would fight until her last breath to keep them from that place.

"Not necessarily. You'll probably be safer visiting us than here - not that it isn't safe," she added quickly, knowing it mattered to the younger girl. "But it will be away from Vel'Anir and we won't be Dreadlords. Just... just your family."

 

[Talus]

"I think it best...we wait on that, Riley." He said with a smile. "There's things that if you knew them...it would put you in more trouble."

Talus nodded his head. "Maybe a bit farther, but you'll have a room and a bed."

The home they were building would already have more than half a dozen, at least in the little plan that he and Zana had scribbled up. What was one more? A place for his sister was the least that he could do for her, especially after all that had been taken from her.

From them.

"Might make the lessons a little longer." He glanced over to Zana.

"And you'll be surrounded by your nieces and nephews." Talus smiled. "A real family."

 

[Riley]

Riley paused between mouthfuls. Eyes narrowed on her brother for a moment. She wondered if he knew about her skirmishes already. Perhaps Zana had already seen some of that in her visions. Riley was glad her brother didn't know. She knew he wouldn't approve. And if he didn't want her in any more danger, well, it was better he didn't know about what she was already in.

The rebel and runaway looked to Zana and beamed. Her own hardened and stubborn heart melted just a little as she looked between Zana and Talus. A family.

She was only beginning to feel like she had one, stumbling into Arwyl and Kaius. But even there, except with Kaius and a few others, she felt like an outsider. Tolerated. Because she was human. And an Anirian.

This was perhaps another chance at a family. Ones she hoped she could trust more than her own parents.

"After this, I don't think I can come for awhile. The folks I'm with," she swallowed. "We're moving further away from Vel Anir. For now. And if they found out I was seeing dreadlords...even reformed ones that're my family, they probably wouldn't be too keen about it."

 

[Zana]

Zana's amusement flittered through the bond as Talus boldly stated there would be nieces and nephews. Just how many times did he plan on getting her pregnant? Her gaze flickered to him briefly and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. It wasn't that she minded in the least, she had seen how big their family was going to be one day, had seen many different children who might be one day depending on the future, it was more how suddenly he had settled into the role of father already.

"I think the things in Vel'Anir are about to come to a head soon anyway," her gaze returned to Riley. "It is probably safer if we send Grey when things are easier," she brushed her fingers through the wolfs fur when he wandered over in the hopes his name meant food.

"He'll be able to find you."

 

[Talus]

Talus nodded his head, his brow furrowing. "Do you know what the Portal Stones are?"

The question was an odd one, but he wasn't sure if Riley had reached that part of her education in the Academy or if she'd left before it. The Portal Stones weren't exactly a secret, but knowledge of them wasn't common either.

Mystical artifacts were usually avoided.

It was important though to see if she did know.

"If you ever need a place to go, not near us, safe." He told her. "There is a mark on the Portal Stone that looks like..."

Talus quickly scribbled out the mark which would appear on most every portal stone, the one that would take her to Karak. "Half a days ride to the east, the mountains there is a gate. Call upon it and say you are my sister."

She would be safe there.

 

[Riley]

"Grey can find me?" Looking to the wolf, she patted her leg once and offered a bit of food with the other hand. The wolf had wormed his way into her heart as much as Talus and Zana.

For shite's sake.

Head shook and she gave the wolf a scratch behind the ears after he thoroughly slobbered her hand to lick up any leftover bits of the food she'd offered the canine. Eyes tracked to her brother. A nod.

"Sierra taught me about them. She'd wanted me to use one to get away. Only...I obviously decided not to run away. Never made it to one." Dark brows lofted.

"That where the dwarves are that adopted you? And let's hope that I won't need it. But thank you. I still have this too," fingers plucked out a small symbol on a chain around her neck. It was the talisman he'd given her before. He'd said if it broke, he'd know where she was and come to her.

She'd almost thrown it away. Worried it had been some kind of trap when they'd first met. To follow her back to the elven rebels. To bring them all back to Vel Anir for execution. It was hard to shake the habits of distrust that the Academy instilled upon them.

She was glad she kept it.

 

[Zana]

Zana leaned her head back a little to enjoy the weak autumnal sun on her face as the two spoke. Everything felt so peaceful and calm in that moment she could actually forget for a while the troubles they still had to overcome. The end was in sight though. Her fingers tailed absentmindedly across the slight curve of her stomach as she thought about Riley turning up at Karak.

"They're lovely people, very friendly, but if you can't handle your drink be careful," Zana grimaced, a light blush covering her cheeks.

 

[Talus]

He nodded his head. "They will take care of you like family."

If she needed it, if they were not able to reach her in time. Karak would always be safe. In truth he would assume that even Dreadlords would have trouble breaching the cities walls, if only because they had been build into the side of a mountain.

There were few places in this world that he thought would be safe from other Dreadlords, but Karak was one of them.

"I just want you to have options." Talus explained.

Something that he'd never had much as a child; choice. The Proctors had ensured that they'd had as little choice as possible, and although Riley wasn't much younger than him...she was still his little sister.

That meant he needed to take care of her.