"I heard that you have been troubled lately," Dusan spoke up, keeping his horse's pace matching with Talia's horse.

They had gone on horse-riding together to the forest and as there was no one around to eavesdrop on them, Dusan decided to ask what he wanted from his younger sister.

"And who told you that?"

"Doesn't matter," he remarked, "and even if no one told me, I would have guessed something is off."

"What exactly did you hear, Dusan?" She had reared up her horse directly in his path, making him pull up the reins to avoid crashing headfirst.

"Nothing out of the ordinary except the fact that you have been worried about something and not telling me about it."

"Why do you even want to know?" Her emerald eyes pierced through him in a warning, "what right do you have to poke your nose in my business?"

"I am your brother, Talia, whether you like it or not," his voice missed the cheerful lilt it held usually and his eyes were staring back at her resolutely, "I have every right to know what you are going through. And if you don't tell me yourself, I will have to find out through other means."

Her eyes flashed, "what other means? You will spy on me?"

"I have no reason to do that," he was calm although she was firing up in anger. He knew very well that just like a blazing fire, she would rage up but then eventually reduce to ashes and dust when her anger subsided. "I am worried for you, sister, I just want to know what's wrong."

Talia held the threatening gaze for a while longer but seeing no intent of retaliation on his features and his eyes holding an ever-patient and understanding expression within made her give up.

She took in a deep breath, turning her horse out of his path and continued riding ahead. He followed, knowing it was just a matter of time before she opened up.

"Father does not trust me," she spoke at last, slowing the horse down so that he could catch up, "I have done everything he asked of me, I have tried my best to live up to the title of his successor. But he still doesn't trust me and it feels like I have failed in trying to be the heir he needed for his legacy."

Dusan knew that feeling very well. Ra's Al Ghul had lived for centuries and being alive in an untrustworthy world for so long had made him choose to trust no one, not even his children.

To some extent, Dusan understood why he did that so he no longer felt angry or hurt at his father for not trusting him. But Talia kept striving to be the daughter Ra's would be proud of, so it obviously hurt her to see that despite all her efforts, the man did not trust her.

"Maybe you try too hard to please Father and stay in his good books," he replied, knowing full well that any attempts of sugarcoating his words would have no effect on Talia as she would see right through it. "You have to draw the line somewhere. You can't achieve everything."

Her hands had clenched into fists again, "just when I try to talk to you and open up, you too make me feel worthless."

He shook his head, holding his hand out towards her, "you are not worthless. And I trust you, Talia."

"Then why say such bitter words?" She made no attempt to take the offered hand, seething internally at what he had told her.

"You know it's the truth," he reminded her but tried to be slightly gentle, "I said it the way it is because if I had tried to soften my words, you would have called me out for lying to you. When it comes to trust, sister, you have to be sure that you trust the other person just as much. I said I trust you and that's why I will always be very honest with you, even if the truth turns out to be bitter."

She pondered on his words and saw that his hand was still held out towards her. A slight sigh of defeat passed her lips and she reluctantly took the offered hand.

But Dusan had turned her hand over such that her palm was visible, the lines of the cut she had inflicted not long ago standing out against her skin. "Did you cut yourself again?"

She looked away, "why ask when you can see it for yourself?"

"Talia... This is not the right way," he tried to make her understand, "you are unhealthily obsessed with being the perfect heir. You should stop before it makes you end up getting seriously hurt."

"And then what?" Her voice rose slightly in frustration, "say I stop trying so hard to follow each order Father gives and it makes him think that I am not worth it anymore... Then what if he took my title away from me and gave it to Nyssa or... Or to you?"

"Ah, stop flattering me," a derisive laugh escaped him, "he would never make me his successor. You and I both know that."

"But Nyssa..."

"Nyssa is younger than you," he reminded her, "and even if she is our half-sister, Father knows very well that giving her any title equivalent to yours will create factions in the League. And he clearly doesn't want that to happen. He's never going to make her the successor either."

She was silent for a while and considered his words. She knew he was right even though she didn't want to believe it.

She was intentionally living in a baseless fear that Ra's would make someone else his successor. But even if she was his favored daughter, his cold behavior towards her made her feel uncertain.

"Dusan, what do you do when you feel hurt?" She asked after a long pause, "Father's behavior towards you must hurt you as well. How do you cope with it?"

He shrugged nonchalantly as if it was something he had gotten too accustomed to that it no longer bothered him, "I never take his words to heart. And if it gets too much, I go out to hunt. If I can't go out to hunt, I read or occupy myself with things that I like to do, just so I can be distracted. Unlike you, I don't have to feel physical pain to numb myself."

"I don't have anything that I like to do," she retrieved her hand from his, looking down at the cut that had become a scar and was healing.

"That can't be true. There must be something."

She looked away, not wanting him to see the flicker of hurt and regret in her eyes, "who I like is also something that Father feels would compromise my position in the League."

He raised an eyebrow skeptically, "what do you mean?"

"You haven't heard any rumors since you came here, have you?"

He paused, recalling that something had felt off among the assassins ever since he had come to Nanda Parbat but initially he had dismissed it as just them being wary of his presence. But as Talia had pointed it out, he felt there was something more to it.

"Looks like you have."

He shook his head, "I am not certain. I thought people were just wary about me and frankly, I am used to it."

"No," she took in a deep breath, considering whether or not she should tell him. 

But then his words of trust going both ways flickered in her memory along with his promise that he trusted her. She had to trust him in return and that wouldn't be possible if she wasn't honest.

"Brother, I will tell you everything but you have to promise me that you will not discuss it with anyone," she stated, waiting for his reply.

"I promise. I will not disclose a single word even if my life was on the line. You can trust me, Talia, I will not let you down."

She knew he wasn't lying to her and it felt good to be heard and trusted fully by someone at least. She might never say it out loud but right then she felt grateful that she had a brother like Dusan.

"It's about Vera," she took in a deep breath, "but you must promise that you will not tell her either. Please."

Talia never said the word please so the fact that she was requesting him so earnestly made it clear to him that it was something very important.

"I promise. What is it about Veruna?"

Even if she knew that he wouldn't tell a soul, it was still difficult for her to voice it out.

"I... I think I am too fond of her," she spoke up but her voice was unsteady, "and it scares me to think that perhaps I... Perhaps I like her in a way I shouldn't."

Dusan hadn't been expecting to hear that so he paused, taking the time to process her words. He had seen both Talia and Veruna as his younger sisters so finding out something so deep about one of them was quite shocking.

"I know it's wrong considering she's my servant and Father would never... But... But..." For the first time, she was running short of words and did not know how to explain herself nor how to justify her statement. The only thing she could say after that came out as a threat, "Dusan, if you breathe a single word of this to anyone, I will have your head!"

He could see that she was getting frustrated and did not know how to deal with it. It was the first time he had seen Talia in such a conflict and even he didn't know how to handle her right then.

"Calm down," he told her, making her loosen her grip on the reins that she was clutching so tight that her horse was starting to get agitated, "let's tie our horses up here and unmount. If you keep your hold so tight on the reins, you won't be able to control your horse and it will dash off."

She had not expected him to speak to her calmly just like he usually did even after hearing that from her. She was more of expecting him to lash out and give her a lecture on how what she had just said was wrong and a sin and she would burn in hell for even thinking that way.

But he did nothing of the sort and that made her concerned to know what exactly was he thinking. Did she just shake up his trust in her? Should she not have told him in the first place?

Her head was swirling with such questions making it hard for her to think rationally.

"Talia, listen to me," he shook her, taking her by alarm, "let's unmount, alright? There's no one around here to listen in on us and there's nothing to panic about. Just take a deep breath and do as I say."

She nodded, taking in deep breaths to calm herself down. Following his lead, she unmounted her horse and so did he, tying it up to the acacia trees nearby.

Dusan's features were always unreadable when he would not be smiling, so she did not know what was going on in his head just by looking at him. But it didn't look like he would reprimand her.

Perhaps she was again worrying for no reason.

"I know a place where we can sit and talk in peace," he spoke up, "provided that you still want to talk to me."

She looked at him in surprise, "you still want to hear me out?"

He nodded, "if I don't then how will I know why you think like that? There must be a reason and I am willing to hear it from you rather than finding out through some useless rumors."

***