Rider didn’t have time for this.

She needed answers. But Ixis wouldn’t talk to her if she thought she was an enemy. She needed to slowly figure it out for herself. Regent or not. It was Rider's job to slowly guide her in the right direction. After all, she had what Ixis did not. A plan.

“Why would I be…?" 

Rider tipped her hat upwards to meet Ixis’ eyes and leaned forwards acting as if she was about to admit to the biggest secret. 

"You know I didn’t kill those people in Scholar’s Keep. I tried to save them. But you already know that. Otherwise, why would you be afraid of making the wrong call again?”

Ixis flinched at the sight of her scars, giving her a reassuring smile like she was well used to people’s reactions. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less.

“She’s your Throneholder and besides. You missed your chance to kill me earlier. You can't disappoint her again. You want to prove yourself no matter what. But she won't let you. That sound familiar?" 

"How…"

Struggling to keep her stance relaxed, Rider kept her hands folded behind her back.

"Why do you think I'm no longer her Regent? Why do you think it's been so long since I've shown my face? Why…do you think I left?”

Ixis didn't get it. Those from Opalis never did. They were too devoted to their beloved Throneholder to see her falsehoods.

"Because you betrayed us. All of us. You taught me everything about becoming Regent and you lied."

Just like any Fire Traited would, Ixis' anger got the better of her. Her arms flared with heat but her fatigue had her fire fizzled out as quickly as it came. The wave of exhaustion arrived exactly when Rider expected it to. No one could combat the sleep inducing sorrowbane.

The Shadow Traited couldn’t help but smile for more reasons than one, the faint sounds of light rain arriving right on time. The rain had been forecast ahead of time while Skyla's gift had been planted long after Rider had done surveillance on it. 

"You’re wrong. I didn't betray you. I didn't do anything. Except fall in love with the wrong person.” 

Rider knew how powerful the Timekeeper was. Given the chance, Ixis could turn her to ash. But right now, the Regent was injured, frail and thanks to the sorrowbane easily susceptible to switching sides.

"I wasn't there when…it happened. But I was there to pick up the pieces. I became Regent to fill the gap you left. Aria loved you, Rider. She really did. But…" 

The Fire Traited yawned, unable to finish her thought. The Fire Traited eyes drooped, Ixis blinked rapidly to keep herself awake. Rider leaned her arms against her knees as if completely unaware of the predicament. 

"But we both know what she wanted more. To be Throneholder. I clearly wasn't included in that perfect life of hers. No Shadow Traited is, it seems after that mass order of hers.”

The Fire Traited shivered from the damp, rickety slats of the Peddler's Inn bringing in more draft and damp from the rain. Rider fidgeted uncomfortably on the windowsill, half tempted to repair some of the twins over exuberant Water Trait. Quite a large change from working as musicians in their last job. 

Grasping at the multiple pockets in her overly flashy outfit Rider dug out a couple of cigarettes. They all had their vices during their apprenticeship days. Rider’s was Quiklit cigarettes. Her back jolted as she tried to keep her voice steady and waited for the nicotine to help distract from the pain.

"Mind if I…”

Rider gestured towards the edge of the room, Ixis' awkward smile and a nod more of a confirmation than she ever got from Aria. She clung to the edge of the wall and shuffled towards a nearby chair at the foot of Ixis’ bed. More out of habit than anything else she offered one to her in thanks. She raised an eyebrow as if she'd never seen such a death stick in her life and Rider fought the urge to roll her eyes. 

"For old times sake?" 

Rider resisted the urge to use the puppy dog eyes, Ixis slowly easing herself forwards to reach with her non injured hand. Her gentle touch made Rider flinch, the exchange triggering a flash of a memory for just a fraction of a second. 

The Shadow Traited veered back a little, despising the reminder of her days in Opalis and tried to breathe through it. Rider hated being touched. Even when the healers had no choice but to do their job they had to knock her unconscious or tie her down. But right now, she needed to allow it for a few seconds.

They gave each other the briefest of glances. Ixis offered what minimal light she could with a click of her fingers. Rider leaned forwards achingly slow and let the smoke drift through the room. The silence between them was deafening. Neither one wanted to break the tension. Neither one knew what to say.

"Why? Why did you leave me? Why did you come back?"

Rider closed her eyes in thought, the sorrowbane blurring her sense of reality now she was within close enough range. This was the last ditch effort she hadn't told Skyla about. To allow someone to truly open up she had to be equally vulnerable.

Rider met Ixis' gaze.

"Aria did something to me, Ixis. I don't know what but…she took my Oathed.”

The cigarette in Ixis’ mouth slipped out of her grasp. Her hand over her mouth. Ixis’ eyes were darting back and forth, first to her own Oathed and then back to Rider.. She didn’t need to explain it. If her Oathed died, she died. Without a dragon nearby, her death would be imminent.

“Aria wouldn’t…”

Rider cursed.

“Imagine. The Throneholder. The person I loved most took my lifeline from me and I didn’t even realise it until I got my grimoire back. I didn’t even realise it but…she still did it anyway and she blamed me. For ruining my life.” 

Rider took a drag of her cigarette, her Shadow Traited flicked from side to side like a cat. It was drawn to Ixis like a moth to the flame, drawn to light that helped strengthen and create the shifting shadows against the wall. She hated needing to rely on another. Not when betrayal could cut so deep.

“I can't…I can't live like this, Ixy." 

Ixis looked down at the Shadow Trait’s signature hat. It was a rite of passage for any Shadecaller but it was a dying profession and even more of a rarity in Opalis. The only reason they knew of it was of her old status as Regent. It had become her moniker and not even its origin as being anything more than her symbol since the days of demons.

Rider wanted to smile like she used to and completely ignore the fact her life was no longer her own without her dragon. But the ache in her back and the pain in her hands proved that she couldn’t do what she used to. Could no longer be who she used to be.

"That's why you were in Scholar's Keep in the first place. All those people…just for one dragon?" 

Rider clenched her fists the moment Ixis’ lack of empathy punched her in the gut. She was different from the bright eyed apprentice from the Undercity. Her rough around the edges demeanour was replaced with a damn carbon copy of the Throneholder.

That anger she had shoved down in the attempt to lure the Fire Traited into her trap threatened to burst forth but she silenced it with nicotine and begged the Regent to focus. Her analytic brain latched onto each moment of insecurity and hesitancy from the Regent, still shaken from earlier events.

"No, no. I had no idea what she took from me. I still don't. Not entirely. I never meant to hurt anyone. I just…I needed to know why. But I think I know where my Oathed is. I need your help. I need the Timekeeper to get him out safely.” 

“How am I supposed to trust you? How am I supposed to trust anything you say?” Ixis spat, glaring at her with eerie similarity to a certain Light Traited.

The Shadow Traited rolled the cigarette between two fingers as if pondering the very meaning of life itself. In reality she was trying to keep herself from resorting to her backup plan. Months ago, Rider would’ve had a mental breakdown. A full on panic attack at the sheer volume of Ixis’ voice. Yet here she was being as open as she could about something she was still trying to piece together. In return Ixis spat in her face and called it justice. No amount of Traited could compare to her dragon.

Her Shadow Trait leered over Ixis’ Oathed like some sort of macabre lantern ready to smother them both. A cigarette butt to start a fire would’ve been enough to hide the ashes. Especially in such a shoddy place like Peddler’s Inn. Even the workers had been slapdash with fixing the interior and keeping an old, rotting foundation to hide the grime underneath was Opalis’ mantra.

"If it was Hydra, how far would you go to get them back?"

The moment Rider asked the perfect question her plans were cemented. Murder was too quick. Too easy. Framing Aria would only be temporary. Blackmail was laughable. Despite Skyla’s insistence, kidnapping would only last as long as the rain did. This was the only way.

"That's not the point-"

"But it is and you know it. I don't want revenge. I don't want to hurt people. All I want is my dragon back. All I want is for him to be safe. That’s all.”

For the first time since Hydra had fallen asleep…Rider lied. The entire reason for using sorrowbane in the first place finally came together. Rider knew how close Ixis was to changing her mind. But she also recognised the familiar chains anchoring the Regent to stay by her Throneholder's side. It would take time. But she was nothing if not patient.

"I can't. I'm sorry. I…”

Her placating stance was enough to look desperate as Rider tried to get someone, anyone to understand.

“No, Ixy. I’m sorry. I'm sorry you're not Regent anymore. You deserve better than…but I'm not the one who can convince you of that. I can barely convince myself.” *Rider said, tipping her hat in gratitude.

"What're you suggesting?"

Rider inclined her head toward Ixis' wrist.

“She hurt you, Ix. That burn. It’s not done by a simple flame and you know it. You’re a Fire Traited. You know that better than anyone. Aria used her Trait to hurt you and you don't even remember it. Three guesses as to why."

Rider took the time to steady herself against the walls of the cramped room before attempting to stand. There was no point waiting for an answer she already knew was coming.

"You're wrong."

Rider took a deep breath and let the fatigue drain her a few seconds more. She hated seeing Ixis go through the same thing she did. It was more than heartbreaking. It was infuriating. But Rider didn't have the luxury to be angry anymore. She had to move forwards.

“Perhaps. But you can’t leave her, right? Even as she pushes you away? You know you won't rest even on medical leave at home. Not here, not anywhere. Not when the demons arrive any day now.”

Rider closed her eyes, feigning frustration as she slowly took three steps towards the guiding hand of the windowsill. She counted each gruelling movement in her head. Her hand resting casually against the newly smoothed out wall, clinging to it for dear life. She couldn’t fall here. She wouldn’t fall.

“It’s fine, Ixis. I'll find my own way to Axis.” 

Rider’s voice almost gave her away. It broke a little, a venomous snarl threatening to overtake her and start ranting at the person Ixis had become. That was the risk of the sorrowbane.

Three seconds. All of this was down to three seconds of silence. Three seconds to let Ixis choose whether she could let Rider go free or pursue her to the ends of the Undercity. All under the pretence of help.

Rider was a Regent once. She knew what path Ixis would take.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”