Private Tales There is Only One Motion

[Elias]

When respite from having to maintain a constant output arrived, Elias strode across the room and hunched over a basin to splash his face with water. He was no stranger to the workshop, as Ralene had conceived a method to utilize the celestial flame which he harnessed. It was all rather complex and had required devising a special runic formula from scratch, but she'd made it work and requested from time to time for Elias to lend his magic.

Just stand there and pump out a little bit of heat. Sure, easy enough.

Except for this time it hadn't been easy. And it certainly wasn't a little bit of heat. The process had left Elias without a single bead of sweat on his bare chest. Bent over the rippling water, Eli placed his hand over his aching chest and clenched tightly before letting out a quiet sigh and straightening up. He walked a few steps to retrieve the shirt that had been tossed over an empty workbench and wiped himself off as Ralene began to tinker with whatever new project this was.

He knew better than to disturb her at that point and took himself outside with a waterskin and sat out in the sun to continue The Winterspike Road.

 

[Samantha Black]

This was a particular project indeed. Though Elias had no idea he was assisting in the construction of the Runesaber, it would be his power that churned the heat within the belly of the forge that would make it possible. Despite Alistair's genius with runes and his penchant for working out new archaic formulas, there was more to this hilt than he knew. A special alloy made from a special selection of ores that would help to conduct and channel the specific energy signature of Krixus' magic.

She'd asked him for a phial of his blood and the natural response had been why. Annoying.

When she'd asked Elias for an extra kick of heat, he'd merely obliged.

So for an hour following Eli's departure from the workshop area she filled the air with the repetitive clang of hammer on metal. Then it went quiet for a time before picking up again.

As the sun began it's slow descent toward the early evening hours, Ralene finally emerged covered in sweat. Her upper body was bare save for the chest wrap and the myriad symbols of ink and scars adorning her flesh. She paused as a cool breeze kicked by, eyes closing to enjoy the feeling of sweat wicking off her skin, and opened them to focus on Eli.

Who was reading.

Interesting. Ral couldn't recall the last time she'd witnessed him do so of his own accord. She moved forward and picked a spot in the grass beside him to sit down, elbows propped up on knees, flagon of water in hand.

"Haven't seen you do that in a while," she noted, "what is it?"

 

[Elias]

"The Winterspike Road," he said, eyes glued to the text. Elias would have normally savored the sight of her like that, but he was uncharacteristically absorbed in the book. Didn't even spare a glance her way. "Some dumb story." He flipped a page, then folded the corner down and closed the book on it. When he finally looked Ralene's way, his eyebrows slightly raised up.

"Don't go around telling anyone that I can read, after all. I like that they think I'm a dolt," Elias quietly snickered to himself. "Anyway, how'd the thing turn out?"

 

[Samantha Black]

Not only was Eli reading, but the book was not just a book, it was a novel. Which meant only one thing: Elias Sirl was reading voluntarily. Color her dumbfounded.

She was staring at him when he finally looked up, a mixture of disbelief and confusion and maybe even a hint of concern. It quickly blinked away at his words, replaced by that rueful amusement he knew so well, "Right ... can't be tarnishing that polished reputation of yours as an idiot."

A snort followed, she pitched her gaze forward again and took a drink from her flagon, "It's getting there. Probably going to take a few more weekends to finish, might need your help once or twice more but I'm not certain. I'll let you know."

It struck her then that if she were to make another version of the Runesaber after graduation ... she wouldn't have Elias so handy. At least, she didn't figure she would, and that would prove to be an interesting challenge to work around.

"Where'd you get the novel? Don't recall them being available in the library."

 

[Elias]

Elias chuckled along with Ral at her quip.

Eli nodded and pursed his lips. A few more rounds of that? Sounded dreadful. Perhaps she wouldn't need as much out of him. It was concerning, though. Ramping the output of his magic up like that hadn't ever felt as taxing before.

"Sure thing, just say the word."

He brushed a hand over the cover and shrugged.

"Some girl gave it to me."

 

[Samantha Black]

A lot of people had difficulty dealing with Eli, but Ral didn't really care what anyone else said or thought - he'd turned out to be an okay guy. Dependability was hard to come by around here and to that she tipped her half-empty flagon of water in thanks before draining the last of it.

"Not like you to hold on to a gift from one of your girls," she remarked, recalling how he'd tossed things aside without care. But he'd kept a book of all things. Setting the flagon aside, she eased back into the grass to lean on her elbows, feeling the wick of her sweat in the breeze and the sensation of it cementing a layer of soot and grime to her skin. She needed a good soak.

"What's it about?"

 

[Elias]

"Ah, this one was weird. Had this awestruck look about her, was curious about my business... but I could tell, y'know? No chance of taking this one to bed." Eli leaned forward and offered the book to her, "Take a look. It's about a troubled housekeeper who sets off on a journey of some sort after her father and home are destroyed."

Elias narrowed a single brow. There were undoubtedly many lessons to take from the story as Prim, the daughter, walked her path of self-discovery and enlightenment. But Eli was one to take things too literally, and many of the story's more nuanced points often missed the mark with him.

"It's interesting, I guess. I can lend it to you when I'm done if you want."

 

[Samantha Black]

Ral took the book, the dubious curiosity returning to her expression as he explained. It all sounded very much like something Eli would never in a hundred years be interested in - so why now? Flopping back into the grass, she held the book over her with both hands, briefly reaching the embossed title on the cover and flipping it over to find a blank back cover.

She opened it and casually paged through, discovering the dog-eared page to be somewhere close to the middle.

"Not gonna lie, Eli, I never pegged you for a fiction fan," Ral continued to page through it, her eyes quickly skating over dialogue here and short paragraphs there, "but of all the hobbies you could pick up now this has got to be the most-"

Having paged back through to the beginning to see if, by any chance, the previous owner had left their name in the book as many were want to do, her eyes honed in on something extremely peculiar.

"-harmless."

E. Sirl

Now she might not have given that a second thought but there were several factors working against that. For one: Eli didn't own books, didn't read books, didn't generally seem to have any interest in or care for books. That he would put his name in the very first one that caught his interest struck her as unlikely - she doubt he'd even think to do such a thing.

Two: this particular signature was written in beautiful, calligraphic, neat and loopy handwriting. Ral had seen plenty of Eli's papers over the years and even gone so far to help him when he asked with edits and marks. Eli had obnoxiously neat handwriting. Quite possibly the neatest handwriting out of everyone in their class (even more-so than Meredith's), but it looked nothing like this.

This was undeniably a woman's signature. A noble woman's signature, if she had to guess by the flawless flowery calligraphy. The sort they learned in finishing school.

Ralene narrowed her eyes and licked at her lips, "Sure. I'll give it a go when you're finished. If you like this, I've got a set of journals written by a man all about his journey across Liadain."

"The girl you got this from, where'd you meet her?"

 

[Elias]

"I think you're really reaching there," Elias was quick to correct her, almost desperate in it. The last thing he needed for others to assume was that he was some bookish, novel-loving type. "I have plenty of hobbies as it is, anyway."

The boy cocked his head to one side and his brow shot straight up to the stratosphere, "What, like, some wandering sage? There are actually people like that?" He snorted, then leaned back onto his hands and sucked air in between his teeth. "Maybe."

He narrowed his eyes, "I met her on my last assignment. She was some nurse sent to the battlefield."

 

[Samantha Black]

She smirked, "Guess so."

But the nurse part got her own raise of brows. Nurse ... field medic. A coincidence perhaps. It was entirely possible Sirl had lent her book out to another nurse. She seemed the type to do things like that.

But he'd said she was interested in his business and, apparently, utterly uninterested in a romp in the sack.

"Did she have-" Ral eyed the signature in the book before closing it on her thumb. Her other hand casually reached up to itch at her cheek, "red hair?"

"Blue eyes?"

"Two scars over the left side of her face?"

 

[Elias]

"The fuck's with that, Ral?" Elias, who had turned his lazy gaze up towards the sky which had taken on tinges of bursting reds, snapped his sights onto her, "How'd you know that?"

 

[Samantha Black]

"Because Ed and I just pulled her out of Wissburg," Ralene thumbed the book cover back open to the inside page and placed it face-down on Eli's lap, "and her name is signed inside the cover."

"Congratulations, you hit on your own sister, Elspeth."

Well, that last part was a guess, but a highly educated one.

 

[Elias]

There was a delay. A long one. Like there were some synapses that just weren't connected. Elias stared down at the open cover, then looked up at Ralene. Then back down at the cover. And again at Ralene. Finally, back down at the book.

"What the fuck," he said in disbelief and pressed the palm of one hand on his forehead. Eli shook his head, and groaned.

Then, slowly, he looked back up at Ralene rather warily. He made no effort to deny her conjecture. She knew him well. Frustratingly so, actually. She was one of, if not the only person he allowed in. Even if it was just a foot in the door, she knew him better than anyone else. There was no point in trying to talk around the point. She hit the nail on the head.

"You... won't ever let me forget that, will you?"

 

[Samantha Black]

Oh this was good.

Savory, even.

Smugness became her as she eased back into the grass and propped her hands behind her head.

"Nope," she popped back at him and let that answer settle in before continuing, "but I could be convinced to keep it quiet."

 

[Elias]

"Come on, you can't be serious right now..."

 

[Samantha Black]

"Look at the signature, Sirl."

 

[Elias]

"Yeah, I saw it! Don't play games with me. Blackmail is for people like Lorel."

 

[Samantha Black]

He was right. Blackmail was a Lorel thing and Eli knew well enough how much Ralene disliked the blond. She dropped the grin and cracked an eye open at him with consideration.

"Come down to the shore with me tonight."

 

[Elias]

Elias tensed up, set his jaw, and let out a deep sigh.

A second passed.

Two.

"Sure."

 

[Samantha Black]

"I would have hit on her, too," Ral admitted with a facial shrug, "she's pretty."

That may or may not have helped with Eli's situation, but at the very least he could truthfully say he hadn't known who she was. With a deep sigh she rolled to sit up and pushed herself back to her feet. With a stretch and a lazy dusting off of her pants, Ral looked ponderous for a moment before adding: "Weird she didn't mention anything to you. She had to have known who you are."

 

[Elias]

"Yeah, I-I... told her that," Eli said with an ashamed shake of his head.

He watched Ralene, then closed the book and stood up with her. Held it a bit more tightly and carefully than he had been.

"I don't know. Couldn't get a read on her."

Eli lightly slapped the book in the palm of his hand.

"I mean, she could have just said that, right?"

 

[Samantha Black]

Ralene couldn't comment on the read part. In Wissburg they had been in a far different situation and circumstances had been rather dire. Elspeth had been in that city, on her own, hiding in plain sight under the noses of people who might have done her major harm for over a month.

On a battlefield in a triage tent? The girl had to have been in her element.

She frowned slightly, brow pinched. Familial relations weren't exactly her thing. She had none and she meant to keep it that way. All she could offer him was a slight shrug, "Maybe the book was her way of telling you. You haven't seen her since what? You were four?"

 

[Elias]

"Dunno. We weren't raised together."

Elias suddenly huffed, "Wait, that's fucking stupid, though. Is it just a high-born thing? Fucking, give a book with her name in it instead of just telling me." He had an irritated look as he stared down at the book cover, then shook his head. "I'm glad neither of us are like that."

 

[Samantha Black]

"Honestly," Ral raised her brows and smirked, leaning toward him, "it's kind of romantic..."

And a smart way to pass messages. One she'd not thought of before. Not that she had many messages to pass or even people to write messages to, but given the need to deliver something discretely, a book wasn't a bad idea.

Either way, she had things to do before she hopped the perimeter fence to make way for the shore. Bending to pick up her flagon, Ral butted it against Eli's middle as she strode by him back into her workshop to clean up, "See you later then. Usual spot."


~~~
Later. The usual spot.

The shore wasn't exactly an easy place to get to. It meant traipsing beyond the academy grounds after hours and skirting past Night Watch to do so. Then it took a trek down the harrowing pathway that wound down the steep stone crags of the cliff south of the grounds. There were stories told back in the days of yore that Proctors would throw inadequate Initiates off the cliff edge. It was high enough that the drop would kill most anyone unless the Initiate had the lucky ability to fly ... or in the case of Chasmine, float or phase through the ground.

The shore was one of her favorite spots to go. Once you got past the cliff pathway (which someone had the grand notion to call the Mortal Stairwell) and down to the shoreline, it was quite peaceful when the weather was nice. The beach there was gently sloped and the pale sand gleamed under the moonlight. Where the cliff jutted out overtop it left overhangs and small caverns where one could hide a body ... or camp out overnight if they were so inclined.

Ralene's usual spot was a bit further still, beyond the immediate shoreline where most Initiates stopped, out and around the hook of the cliff and to a smaller, more secluded beach cove.

When Eli arrived the sun was gone from the sky but the moon was near full and hanging like a plump fruit just over the sea horizon. A campfire greeted him first in the usual place. Ralene's dark figure appeared from the brushline of trees that grew along the base of the cliffs. She casually tossed wood and kindling into a pile nearby, then looked over to spy Elias' silhouette coming round the bend.

Stepping through the softer sand down in the direction of the water, Ral came to a stop where the sand was harder under her feet and still a bit moist from the receding high tide. That was where she waited and beckoned for Eli to join her.

 

[Elias]

{"Shut up, damn it,"} Elias swore in an old language from a far-off land as he shook his head. He wanted to tell Ralene that she wasn't as funny as she thought, but he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Wouldn't be very convincing of him.

"Yeah," his eyes glued to her rear as she walked off, "See ya'."

---

Navigating the Old Quarter below the Academy's main campus was child's play for Elias. Stealth was one of the many fields in which they learned, though the Proctors taught them only the basics. Before the revolution, Ventress had expounded upon the fundamentals, and for the period of time he had been under her tutelage he had been extensively trained. He was meant to one day be an asset to the family after all, and espionage was their trade.

Though he preferred more straightforward approaches, Elias wasn't one to turn down learning a new trick or two.

He arrived in light, loose-fitting and comfortable clothes and carried a pair of well-worn shoes in one hand, which he dropped next to the fire, then followed Ralene. He stopped where the sand was still soft and dry. The boy crossed his arms and looked up at the night sky with a grimace.

"Dorian said to me once that he goes up to Suicide Cliff sometimes to stargaze," then fixing his gaze on the moon, he wore an unimpressed look, "I don't see the appeal."