Private Tales The Links That Bind Us

[Daria]

Daria's eyes widened subtly, his statement shocking her. For a long time she said nothing, her silence almost understandable as she consumed and mulled over his words.

What if her father got rumors of their attempts with no context? Her chest squeezed at the possibility, would he have faith enough in her for the benefit of the doubt? They were meant to act as Dreadlords. Composed. Poised. Powerful mages.

Not quivering, weak, fearful traitors to their cause. It was almost unstomachable, the concept of taking on that persona. Not to mention the small thought that this could be Talus' own way of trying to break out.

She ground her teeth as she weighed the risk of it all.

And then finally, she gave a subtle nod of her head.

"It could work. But you're not leaving my sight."

 

[Talus]

Talus scoffed, instantly knowing exactly why she said the words.

Paranoia and fear.

Perhaps it was a mark of the Crane family. Giving into the former and always causing the latter. Igot had done it, and Daria's father certainly did as well. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but eventually answered her. "Fine."

Talus wasn't going to run, not now. For the first time he was away from the Academy, away from the Proctors. His mentor Fenrith Lavarus treated him well enough. Called him an idiot, goaded him, but there were no beatings or anything of the sort.

His life was good.

"Just." He shook his head. "Just don't give us away at the first sign of trouble."

 

[Daria]

Daria snorted in a silent puff of air.

But then that got her thinking.

How did a run away Dreadlord act? Her brows furrowed and her mouth worked, the girl struggling to conceptualize a perceptive that was not her own. One could almost say it was her first time trying such a mental feat.

Mostly because it was.

"...It is easier to blow things up," she confessed, that listless edge to her voice ever present. But it was hard to deny that her father had been priming her for a more tactful position now that her brother was gone. A concerning enough prospect, she recognized the value in gaining experience where she could.

"...I will try my best."

Mentorless, she'd take this as just another chance to prepare for her trials. She didn't know how acting might save her up there on that tower, but all skills had use.

Maybe that was why her father was sending her out on missions before her time. It was all a test in the end.

 

[Talus]

Talus nodded as they approached Vel Inra.

The city seemed to be alight as they approached, dozens of torches and lanterns lit all over the place. Talus wondered briefly if it was safe to have so much fire in a city made entirely of wood, but he thought voicing the concern would mark him as a moron.

Without a word to Daria he motioned her towards the side of the road, pulling his horses reigns to bring them to a stop. "We should let them go."

He said quietly as he slipped from his mount.

"Horses are expensive." Did she even have any concept of money? Talus hadn't when he'd first left the Academy. "They'll draw attention."

 

[Daria]

She didn't.

She slipped off the horse without hesitation, having not attachment to the beast or the belongings on it. She wordlessly prepared herself then. Her cloak went over her shoulders, masking the sword from immediate view. A secondary bag was strong around her shoulders, carrying the bar basics that someone might dare to run off with. A flint stone. Coins. Her lip ring.

She struggled to think of anything else that her money couldn't buy. In truth she felt fine as she stood. She directed her horse towards farm fields in the distance and gave him a firm rapt on the ass. The well trained beast protested for a moment, but after a few more hits, left.

She turned to him, composed. "Now the question is... if you were to find help, without wanting to tip other Dreadlords off, how would you do it." The concept was impossible to Daria, who was very very very use to being surrounded by superiors that seemed to know everything.

Ever try lying to her father?

Ha.

Daria didn't do sneaky.

 

[Talus]

Talus did the same to his mount, sending it galloping away after he grabbed a few of the supplies to make it seem like they were genuine travelers.

The last thing he took from his saddlebags was a dagger. He frowned at the weapon for a moment, glancing up at Daria with a frown. It was the weapon he'd used to slit Igot's throat. Funny that.

Without a word he strapped the weapon to the small of his back, removing his sword from his belt and crouching down by the side of the road. He pulled some reeds over the weapon, kicking some dirt on top as he answered his fellow apprentice. "I'm not sure."

It was truthful.

"I'm fairly sure that they find you, not the other way around." It was likely not a satisfactory answer for her, but before she could say so Talus began. "I would start as far away from the Garrison I could go."

He said quietly. "Somewhere rumors of rebellion are common."

Every city had one of those, A tavern or the like where people aired their grievances against the Ruling Houses, the King, and of course the Dreadlords.

 

[Daria]

"Well then-" Daria wound up and brought her fist across Talus' face with no warning, a powerful force behind the blow.

"Let's be convincing."

If he went for her back, there would be no resistance. Two Dreadlords apprentices escaping without a scratch on them were rare. Plausible, of course. But covering bases certainly wouldn't hurt them here.

 

[Talus]

Instinct very nearly took over.

It was hard to pull yourself out of what you had been trained to do, and the moment that she snapped her fist back Talus very nearly slipped into the use of his magic.

Somehow, even without warning from her he managed to control the impulse. He felt her fist connect with his cheek, scraping over his skin and bruising it in a near instant. Blood filled his mouth as his teeth cut along the inside of his lip.

Talus lulled for a moment, then glanced at Daria, spitting blood onto the floor.

Suddenly, with the same amount of warning she had given him his dagger flickered out of it's sheath and sliced across her shoulder.

A convincing enough graze of an arrow.

 

[Daria]

The hot bite of pain blossomed over her arm, sharp and pure. Her half lidded eyes widened to full, a sense of life returning to them as she glanced down to her shoulder.

Convincing indeed.

Her attention pulled back up to Talus, her lips twitching upwards in a small smile. She nodded to him, a edge of respect gained from her in that moment.

"Let's go."

She pushed passed him, allowing her arm to bleed freely as she walked her way back onto the streets.

 

[Talus]

Talus rubbed his cheek as he returned his dagger back to it's sheet, a slight frown as he grasped his jaw and moved it slightly.

In truth he would have preferred a cut across his arm or even stomach to an aching jaw. His face would undoubtedly swell and that would make talking more difficult. Annoying, given that Daria seemed to have no communication skills whats so ever.

"Warn me next time." He grunted.

There was no smile on his face, mostly because he didn't enjoy getting punched. Briefly he wondered what it would have been like to actually choose your partner.

The idea sounded nice.

"Come on." He said gruffly, releasing his jaw as they traipsed through the street. "Let's find some rebels."

 

[Daria]

"Life doesn't come with warnings," she echoed, unapologetic.

It was easy to look lost. In some ways, she was in this moment. But Talus had given her a bit of direction, and as long as she had something to move towards she would not stop to mull.

A tavern where there was dissent... So follow the drunken hollers? She did, pausing in front of a particularly poor looking establishment in an equally ramshackle street.

Inside? She gestured.

 

[Talus]

"Yeah but punches to the face can." Talus commented dryly as they happened upon a tavern that seemed to be of ill repute.

He glanced at the sign.

The picture hanging above the door was that of a rat toppling a cow. The Dreadlord tilted his head slightly in an attempt to decipher it, frowning for a moment before shaking his head and motioning for Daria to go ahead.

Might as well check.

As soon as they got inside Talus witnessed a man punching another in the face, a crack of breaking bone ringing out.

"FUCK THE KING!"​

The man who did the punching called out in full display of everyone.

 

[Daria]

Daria raised a brow, watching the punched man spill limp across the ground, knocked out cold.

"See. No warning."

She pressed deeper in, her gaze pulling cooly about as she scanned the contents of the tavern. A heavy political conversation echoed from one corner. Something about proper heirs and assassinations. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she brought them to the bar. There she sat, back rigid, her hands going to press at the stain growing through her cloak.

The pain kept her grounded. Reminded her why she was here.

She waved over for an ale with a bloody hand.

 

[Talus]

Talus did not do the same.

Instead he sat himself down quietly, his gaze fixed on the men who were speaking of outright assassinating the King.

He had never considered himself particularly loyal to the crown. Dreadlords rarely swore themselves to the King, but it was not unheard of. Talus had always thought he would simply swear to whatever House his mentor had pledged to, yet talk of killing the monarch did not sit well with him.

A frown touched his face, and then he realized his own mistake.

"Them." He said quietly to Daria. "I need to talk to them."

Outright talk like that...even if they weren't connected to the underground, there was a good chance that people who were listened to their conversation.

 

[Daria]

Daria nodded subtly, clearly opting to keep her seat here and play the part of a weary traveler.

It was not that she didn't want to help him, it was just ... a part of her froze as she realized what would have to come next would be her talking. She wasn't good at talking. She wasn't good with people or words or-...

She tilted her chin, her hair falling to cover her face as she watched Talus. While she didn't say it, she had quickly adopted the position of watchmen. What Talus said next was just as important as her catching who reacts to what he said.

She mindlessly went to play with her lip ring, only to be be caught up by her tongue hitting an empty hole.

 

[Talus]

He paused for a second, observing her with a frown. "You need to come with."

Did she not want to?

Was this a possibility that she hadn't prepared for? Igot had been so loud and boisterous about getting things done he had always assumed that Daria was much the same. Yet instead of charging ahead she sat there quietly, almost frozen.

"This will only work if we operate together." He said quietly, leaning over the table so that she could hear him more clearly. "If I come at them alone and they're who I think they are...they'll wonder how I've managed to survive."

Lone runners never lasted long.

No one to watch your back. No one to help you with your injuries. No one to keep you sane.

 

[Daria]

Daria's eyes went tense and wild, not so much afraid of trying and speaking, but afraid of the failure that could follow.

She was a fighter. She would always be a fighter. She was very good at fighting. So why was it everyone around her was pushing her towards sly acts and politicians. It was as if her whole life had been preparing her for one thing and one morning she woke up to find the rules of the game had changed.

Igot's gone. Find out why.

I'm going to take over this house. Now you will be the one to help me.

Go capture these runaways. Now act like one yourself.

At least Talus' request made sense in the terms of this mission. It still felt like she was being squeezed into a box of skills she didn't possess. A set up for failure, and inevitably-- pain.

Daria swallowed hard and nodded, determined to adapt. The whole event had boiled down to a small moment of hesitation-- a quick glance at a weakness. But baring weakness was like loosing blood-- a single drop of could be smelt by her peers a mile away. Daria casted Talus a wary glance as she walked with him.

 

[Talus]

He didn't looked back, couldn't.

There was no doubting himself, not in this moment or ever again. His time at the Academy had been filled with so much doubt, so much questioning himself. Every action, everything he'd done he'd always looked back.

Not this time. Fen had instilled some sort of hope in him, confidence that he could do this. "Oi!"

Talus called out to the men at the table, all of them suddenly stopping their conversation as they turned and looked at the two apprentices. Talus' heart skipped a beat, his fingers tightening as he had to force himself not to draw his dagger.

"I hear..." He trailed off. "The King's been takin more than his share of kids."

He thought it a good opener. "More Dreadlords for the pyre."

The men stared in silence, one of them chewing something as he mulled the words.

 

[Daria]

Daria followed him up, her eyes wide and nostrils flaring. Perhaps it was appropriate that she was so fearful of talking. It shone in her eyes, panting a more convincing picture of a scared refugee than her dead tone ever could.

She felt the men's gaze trail across her, landing heavily on her bloody shoulder. She clutched at it instinctively, uncomfortable with a vulnerability being left bare.

Behind them someone's chair scrapped, a step of footsteps approaching.

"Yeah? What'd you care about dead kids. More coin on the street for you," it challenged, feeling them out.

 

[Talus]

Talus decided this was a gambit moment.

He knew that these men might simply be outlaws, people who wanted to see the Kingdom burn just for their own sake. Yet something told him it was more than that, something whispering in the back of his ear.

Intuition perhaps, a skill gained from his new Mentor. Fingers tightened, and then he reached up to grab the collar of his shirt. He unlaced the string that drew the shirt close, pulling down the cloth.

"I have an interest in snuffing out the pyre those kids burn on." As Talus spoke he revealed Ana absolutely massive scar on his chest.

His skin there had obviously never properly healed, puckered and marred flesh taking the appearance of a star burst, odd fleshy tendrils reaching out over he rest of his chest from a point sitting just above his heart. One of the waitresses behind the men gasped as she saw the once wound, and a few of the men closed their mouth into tight lips.

There was really only one thing that could make a scat like that; Magic.

He stared at the men. "Understand."

The men stared back, and after a few moments one of them Slowly nodded.

"Aye lad, we get it. Sit down, the both of ye."

Talus let out a small breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. With deft hands he relaced his shirt and then motioned to Daria to sit down besides him.

 

[Daria]

Daria cast a slow look over her shoulder, noted the faces that lingered too long in their direction. For the first time she considered the implications of their little stint. This might not just be a chance to bring back the traitors.

They could bring down an underground network too.

For a moment she pictured what bringing that news to her father would be like. How pleased he would be. He might even reward her. A flood of anticipation flashed through her stomach, a seed of hope catching in her throat.

She turned her head back to the men before them and sat down.

“We’re new to town,” she added, a bit of hoarseness entering her tone. What would her brother say here? Not for the first time, she tried to channel him. “We don’t know much about the place. Where to eat. Where to get news. Where to ... sleep.”

 

[Talus]

The man seemed to look them over for the longest time, as if he were still trying to decide something. He listened to Daria speak, and then he slowly nodded.

"I can help you out."

Talus briefly considered that this could very well be a trap. These men could realize what was happening and plan to slit their throats. Paranoia gripped him, but he did not let even a hint of such thoughts cross his face. "It would be appreciated."

Fingers tightened.

Some of the other men at the table watched Talus, their eyes fixed on him as if they were trying to gauge something. After a little while the man directly ahead of the two Apprentices whistled, saying something quietly to the waitress.

"I'll get you some food now, and there's a place outside the city you can sleep..."

There was a pause, and Talus took in a slow breath.

"...Someone will want to meet you there."

 

[Daria]

Daria’s nostril’s flared, a subtle tension entering her body. Talus’ mistrust was shared, the constant need to look over your shoulder in the academy translating just as easily into this mission. In a way, there was a sense of comfort over that.

It was a steadfast truth not to trust anyone, and you always knew what to expect. However, this mission went against that logic, requiring a skill the academy had not taught her.

Trust Talus. Trust these men.

Trust her father not to catch the wrong wind of rumors and come in swinging.

She’d rather trust herself.

Either way, she smelt the potential trap as strongly as Talus did. Not yet out of the academy, she was no more willing to trust he’d protect her than he was willing to think the Archon’s daughter was any better than the son.

She managed a subtle nod, her fingers dropping from her bloody shoulder.

And that was all she had to contribute to that, her gaze snapping uneasily from Talus to the men.

 

[Talus]

"Eat up first."

The man said as two plates of food were brought out to the table. Talus peered at the waitress a moment, an attempt to see any deception on her face. All he saw though was a middle aged woman with a beaming smile.

As soon as she reached the table the waitress began to dote on the two Apprentices. She spoke of their long travels, asked after their health. The stranger offered more kindness than Talus had experienced in a year.

He blinked slightly. "Uhhh."

Head swiveled towards the man almost as if he were trying to gauge his own reaction. The man only shrugged his shoulders as if Talus' reaction was common.

"Thank you." The Apprentice said as he glanced down at the food.

It was a roast chicken leg with some herbs. The smell of it caused Talus to realize just how hungry he was, and without much more hesitation he began to dig in.

 

[Daria]

Her mistrusting look skipped to the waitress, who then also received nothing but a furrowed brow and silence in response to her series of kind engagement.

"..."

She uttered no thank you, her gaze still cautious of those around her as she slowly ate her meal. It would quickly become apparent that he would have to be the talkative one of the group. Daria showed little inclining to take charge or lead, the girl more setting up to be reactive to their situation than proactive.

She left the last bit of juices of her meal on her plat, tucking the slab of bread into her waistband.

"...Ok," she murmured under her breath.