Chapter 17: Of Torment and Late Night Chats

Addy Freeland

After a week of travelling and plotting, it was finally time to steal back the Amulet of Orion. She felt a great deal less nervous than she thought she ought to - after all, they were breaking into a palace in enemy territory, home to the commander of the most elite army in Mordan. In all honesty, she should want to run in the opposite direction and never return.

Madison, at least, was showing some signs of nerves. She had taken to muttering prayers under her breath, and was reading and reading the same pages of a poorly-written romance novel, hardly paying any heed to the words.

"Nervous, are you?" Addy tried to keep her voice as gentle as possible. Scaring the girl would do no good - when she had been younger, she found she responded to the encouraging tutors much better than the harsh and demanding ones.

Not that she was intending to train the young woman.

Besides, even if she wanted to, that likely wasn't what Madison wanted.

"Terrified," said Madison, loosing a breathy laugh. "I feel like Maria in the book, when her father rounded up the knights of the village to drag her away from her true love, the vampire pirate captain."

Addy glanced at the cover, which had two people gazing deeply into each other's eyes, seeming unaware of the carnage that was surrounding them. She resisted the urge to snort. At least Madison was reading - infinitely better than not reading at all.

"I would say that you have nothing to be nervous about, but that would be a lie," Addy admitted, not seeing the point in sugar-coating anything. Maddy had the right to know what she was walking into.

"If I could wield a weapon, I think I would feel a great deal more confident," Maddy confessed. "I was such a fool, to come out here with no experience."

"I can teach you," Addy blurted. At the other girl's startled expression she backtracked. "Just enough to ease your nerves, to ensure you can defend yourself."

"Do you feel them? The nerves, I mean?"

Addy snorted. "Every time. I thought it would get better as I got older, but there's too much for me to lose to not be worried."

Now, more than ever, she had something to live for. A cause.

Madison bit her lip. "That's not particularly reassuring."

"Isn't it? Not having a purpose in life, having nothing to live for, is a great deal more terrifying for me than fighting for one."
Her fellow Alurian smiled. "Then I should be grateful that I have the purpose of reforming my city, of saving my father's livelihood." Madison turned to her, eyes alight with a question. "What is your purpose?"

Addy's heart skipped a beat. She longed to answer honestly, but she could not give too much away...

"Atonement." She settled on. "I hurt people in my past. I intend to make myself into someone that they could be proud of, for the slim hope that I will one day return and they will find it in their hearts to forgive me."

"I know that you will accomplish that one day. You are far too kind to not be forgiven, and whatever you did, I cannot imagine it was so terrible."

Diamara, how she wished for what Maddy said to be true.

~~
Crossing the border into Cardin City, into one of the largest cities in Mordan, was a shock the likes of which Addy had never experienced. They had managed to get across relatively easily - though there was a presence of Mordan's Watch, they seemed to be screening those who wished to leave the country, rather than those who wished to enter it.

As soon as they entered the city, it was immediately apparent why. The first thing that hit her was the stench of sewage, the piles of garbage on the streets, towers nearly as tall as people's houses in what she assumed were the poorer districts. It seemed that twenty people were living in a single tiny cottage in some areas, drawing a sharp contrast from the area surrounding the palace.

There, rows of guards patrolled the immaculately cleaned cobblestone streets. Large, gated mansions had elaborate gardens, golden statutes, and exotic animals. It was an exuberant and horrifying show of wealth, considering the conditions people lived in not even ten minutes from the district.

Addy would have felt dreadfully out of place, in her worn-down clothing, had she cared at all what the leaders of Mordan thought. All her life, she had been taught that all people in the country were irredeemably evil, but she could not help but feel a pang of pity for the citizens. They were living in such deplorable conditions.

Lillian put a hand on Addy's shoulder. "Are you feeling alright? You look pale."

She blinked. She had been feeling a little queasy, ever since they entered the city. She could feel the dark magic rolling off the buildings in waves. It smelled like sugarly-sweet poison and rotten flesh. In all honesty, she was surprised that the rest of the group was faring so well. Something about the scent just made her feel... weaker.

"It's the darkness magic," she confessed. "I feel as if the smell of it is making me sick."

Lillian stared at her for a second, clearly puzzled. "What smell? Do you mean the garbage?"

Addy shook her head. The magic was clear and distinct. How was it that Lillian was not able to sense it? Perhaps it was because she didn't grow up in Alura. Addy had always felt attuned to the magic there, able to sense what sort was being used.

She glanced at Lillian, who was pointedly looking anywhere but the map that Hayden was holding, which was supposed to take them to the house of a sympathizer that they could hide with. "Didn't Hayden ask you to help with the navigation?"

"He knows I'm useless at that. I swear, he's trying to get back at me."

"Well, you did punch him in the face after he scared you." Addy giggled. That had certainly been a sight to see.

"He deserved it," Lillian said, her tone allowing for no disagreement.

"He can hear you," Hayden said, from the front of the group. "And he would appreciate it if you actually helped him try to find the house before nightfall comes and we have to deal with guards."

The two girls only laughed again.

~~

Derek Hawn

It had been minutes since Luna Valadon had posed her life changing request, but all he could do was stare. What on earth was the Queen of Alura, the bitter rival of Mordan since the dawn of ages, doing here, and talking to him of all people?

If he had believed in any gods, perhaps he would have asked for salvation, answers, or at least a muffin. But now, he was too busy thinking about the implications of Luna Valadon being here, of clearly being accomplished in the magic of darkness. She was strong, of that he was certain. How was she able to hide this from her people?

"And why would you need the help of a convicted criminal, your majesty?" He tried to keep his voice as light and non-confrontational as possible. He had a feeling that she wasn't the sort of woman to make an enemy out of.

She smiled, the sort of smile that would have been stunningly beautiful if not for her eyes, dead and filled with rage and promises of suffering. Eyes filled with madness.

"I've been told by my friends that you have a certain set of skills," she said. "Being able to appear and vanish without a trace, to kill people without anyone ever knowing you were there."

He did not like where this was heading. He had killed only a few people in his life, and the majority deserved it. The rest were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there was one thing that all his kills had in common - he had killed them of his own free will, not because he was forced to.

"I need you to kill someone for me. Well, a few people," she amended, "but one person in particular. My sister."

Though Derek had been living on the streets in one of the most isolated countries in the world at the time, he had heard the story of Abigail Valadon, who had mysteriously vanished from the public eye after her father's death. Dead herself, most people thought.

"I thought your sister was dead."

Rage sparked in her eyes for a brief moment, before she once again smiled. "I hope she is, but I'd love to have some confirmation. You see, the people in my country have the foolish idea that my sister is alive and will come to save them."

He wasn't sure whether the devastation in her eyes was real or faked. Regardless, the way her moods were swinging so quickly was concerning. She was unpredictable. Derek didn't like unpredictability.

"My people are so foolish. They don't understand that I'm a better ruler than my sister or brother could ever be. I've killed a few of the instigators of their little rebellions, of course, but I have a country to rule. I can't spend all day killing people, it'd get exhausting. And I'd get blood on my dresses."

She was insane, he realized. Luna Valadon, a girl not much older than him, was positively insane.

"And that's where you come in. If you bring me my sister's head, the riots will finally stop, I'm certain. And maybe consider killing a few public heroes along the way. Or anyone, really Anything they quell this silly hope they have."

She turned to him now, beautiful and terrifying in the dim light. "So what do you say? You'll have your freedom in exchange."

Was she really serious? The Queen of Alura wanted him to kill her sister, and random citizens of hers, to establish her rule. The very thought was uncomfortable. He was not a killer for hire, someone's puppet. And he would never work with a tyrant.

"No," he said.

She tilted her head, and her eyes went completely black. "I'm sorry to hear that." Then she raised her hand.

Derek choked as he felt something like a dark, oily liquid build up in his lungs. He took a gasping breath, and black liquid started to pour out of his nose. His body felt like it was being splattered with acid from the inside out. He had been stabbed and burned many times throughout his life, but this was the most pain he had ever felt.

It felt like it went on for hours. Finally, as his vision went foggy and he slid down to the floor, he could faintly see the Queen - the tyrant - gazing at him, with the same smirk painted on his lips. "So, what do you say now?"

"Go... to... hell... you... bitch...." He breathed. Each word hurt to get out, but it was worth it to see the rage on his face.

In an instant, the liquid disappeared, and he was left with a dull ache all over his body. He sat up wearily, gazing at the woman who had just inflicted this pain onto him with as much anger as his weary body could muster.

She was unfazed. "We'll see what your answer is tomorrow, after round two."

The Queen was the last thing he saw before consciousness fled him.

~~

Addy Freeland

Their plan was simple. They would infiltrate Lord Gonrath's palace dressed in the armour of the palace guards. According to the woman they were staying with, the number of guards in the castle was so numerous that they would hardly notice a few interlopers, particularly when the guards shifted places just after midnight.

"Though you ought to be careful not to say the wrong thing," the woman added. "The vast majority of crimes here are punishable by death, or not punished at all. It varies on a daily basis."

"Lovely," Lillian muttered.

The sympathizer did not seem to be particularly old - perhaps in her forties at the most - but it seemed as if the years in such a large country had aged her greatly. There were white streaks in her hair and wrinkle lines on her pale forehead and hands, but what aged her the greatest was the pain in her eyes. It spoke of a lifetime of suffering and pain that Addy could scarcely imagine, and she had suffered a fair bit in her life.

Not that it was a contest, or anything.

Addy had a bit of a competitive streak when she was a child.

The woman had refused to tell the group her name as she ushered them into her small hut, identifying herself as "a lily". Addy had heard in passing that the names of flowers were used as some sort of code for a rebel group, but she didn't know much about it.

Madison did, though, if the way her eyes widened when the woman mentioned the code was any indication. Addy wondered just what trouble the teenager had gotten into in Alura. It must have been a lot, judging how spirited she was. And Luna Valadon was many things, but she certainly wasn't forgiving.

"You lot can rest here before you run along to your untimely death," the lily said nonchalantly.

"Thanks for the optimism," Hayden quipped back.

Diamara, Addy was so unbearably angry. How was it that her sister was the Queen of Alura? Just what sort of chaos was she inflicting on the Alurian people? Where was Jay? The thought of her brother made Addy sick to her stomach. She prayed to every god and goddess that wherever he was, her brother was alright, unharmed. That he could come back and be the king Alura needed him to be.

She couldn't shake the feeling that this was all her fault. If she hadn't pushed Luna over the edge with her cruel words, Jason would be king now, and her people would be safe. She would still be a spoiled, selfish princess ignorant of the true world, but at least she would be home.

"Are you alright? You went off into another world for a second." Lillian sat next to Addy on the dirt floor, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hayden and Madison were in the other corner of the cabin - Hayden was teaching Madison what he called a traditional Perrnath children's game, though it involved a great deal more knives than she remembered.

Addy couldn't help but smile. It was Lillian, perceptive and nearly perfect Lillian, that she had started this journey with nearly two months ago. The elder woman was probably the closest friend that she had now.

"I'm fine, I just got lost in my own thoughts for a bit."

Granted, she had a habit of pushing everyone away, and a sister who had been out to make her life a living hell for all her foremost childhood years. It was remarkable she had ever managed to make any friends, so she supposed she could count this as a win. But still, if she could have met and befriended anyone in the small town of Casta, she was glad it was the archer.

Lillian laughed. "That seems to happen to you a lot. What exactly happened to you to make you feel so sad?" Her tone took on a teasing glint. "Did you accidentally shoplift when you were younger, and decide to save the world as a penance?"

She welcomed her friend's teasing tone - it was a distraction from the inevitable battle occurring in a few hours. "What do you imagine I'd shoplift?"

"Sword or more swords? Maybe a book? You don't seem to be that fond of material things, unlike the lordling over there."

They shared a laugh at Hayden's expense, before falling into the comfortable rhythm of conversation. The nameless woman was in the other room of the cabin, providing the group with some much-needed privacy in the last few hours before the guard change.

As time ticked by, she savoured the moments with the three people she had come to consider her friends. If things went wrong, it could very well be the last time they had together.

All too soon, when the moon was high in the sky, it was time for them to go.

And Addy knew, just like she had known that day she had left her name and life behind, that nothing would ever be the same again. 

~~

I know that this chapter is slow, and I'm sorry. It's setting up a lot of plot points for the future, in terms of establishing team dynamics and hinting at what's to come. There's one more chapter to go - the one where they actually steal the amulet, and then we are off to Arc 2 - the Winter Solstice. 

Hopefully, the heist will go off without a hitch - though Luna is in the same castle they're trying to rob - wonder how that will turn out? The next chapter is the one where EVERYTHING changes, so I decided to incorporate a sense of normalcy in this one. I have about half of it written now.  

Tell me what you think will happen next chapter!