As Blanc was foraging in the Golden Forest below, survival was the least of the thoughts of those who remained inside the cave.
Not the sa kind of survival, at least.
“Let’s eat,” called out Celine to those present, as she placed so of the fruits from their supplies, wanting to finish them soon, before they rot.
Miyanna was already seated when she called, lost in thought, as she watched the plates full of fruit coming one after the other.
She was distraught, to say the least, at her core.
There were people in the cave she found refuge in after the Warden, who escorted her, left halfway, not worried about what she would do, but more worried about the Iron Line that was on their way at that ti and their family.
That offered Miyanna the option to go into hiding, where nobody would look for or find her. And what better place than the Golden Forest? The so-called largest forest of the empire. The jewel and backbone of Blood Denegis?
A splendid plan, one that can not fail.
Or so she thought at that ti.
What a fucking fool I was, she cursed herself, as the twins arrived at the table, unworried about the slightest thing in the world. Or so she thought.
“Sister Celine,” spoke Lune as she grabbed a pear from a wooden plate and began nibbling at it, “When will Blanc return?”
“I’m not sure, but soon anyway. The sun will set in a few hours. He will be back before that.” Celine replied.
“And what if he does not return? What if he leaves us?” Kael asked.
Celine giggled at his question, “What makes you think he would do that?”
“He would not be the first to throw us away,” Kael muttered.
“Hey now,” began Celine, “This and that are completely different matters. You know he would not do that. He would not abandon the two of you or . Believe .”
“What makes you have such confidence in him?” asked Kael, “You barely know each other.”
“Kael, do not be rude to sister Celine!” hissed Lune, forgetting how she, herself, blad Celine for the wounds Blanc received during the battle with the vanguard of the Iron Line.
“I am not rude to her, Lune, I asked a question,” muttered Kael.
“I do not find it rude, Kael. I believe him because I know him. You might ask how that's possible, we barely got engaged not so long ago. Yet I feel as if I have known him all my life,” explained Celine, her sapphire colored eyes showing the honesty and truth in her words as she spoke.
“But how? I’ve known him since I was born, yet he feels like a challenge to truly understand,” muttered Kael, as he was biting on an apple.
“That’s the problem,” said Celine, “One cannot truly understand a person with just their eyes and ears. A person is so much more than what we simply perceive with our eyes and ears.”
“Just like fighting, yes?” asked Lune.
“Yes, Lune,” she nodded, “Fighting is not so simple as kill or be killed. In a way, it is just like a person is only skin and bones. But that is not all there is to fighting, nor to a person. One can fight by just swinging their sword and hoping for the best, but that raw attitude towards fighting will work a few tis before it ultimately fails. And when it fails, that person dies. A person is the sa. You can judge a person or try to understand them by just their looks and what they say, and you could be right a few tis, but ultimately, you will get it wrong. And when you do, hope you did not judge your enemy wrong, because such a mistake might cost you your life just as easily as if you were swinging a sword randomly.”
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“Wow…” Kael muttered, letting Celine’s words of wisdom sink deeper into his soul as the explanation he received was a satisfying answer to his question.
Lune, however, blinked at her words, not understanding them. “That is not what I ant.”
Making Celine burst out into laughter, which in turn made Lune more confused, before she gave up understanding and turned back to her pear.
Miyanna watched their conversation with unshown interest, even though she listened carefully to every word they muttered.
Her attempts at understanding who these new, unwanted neighbors of hers were went well.
She was of the Iron Line after all, before losing the battle as vanguard, she was an actual commander, but was captured and gave information to Blood Denegis, making her a traitor to their cause, in exchange for her life. She was nad a Tainted.
A sha greater than death for so warriors. But not for her.
Death is the end of all ends.
While sha… Sha? Sha didn’t matter. It couldn’t fill a stomach or keep food from it. It didn’t break bones or shelter the weak.
She could live with sha.
But this new danger, masked as four people of great importance, brought her unease.
From the beginning, she’d had her suspicions.
Gray eyes and silver gray hair.
A rare combination, possessed by only one Noble Blood in the entire Senvia Empire.
That alone gave them away. Blanc and Kael both bore the traits.
While Lune, only the hair.
All unmistakable.
It made sense to her.
If the Noble Blood had recently been attacked by the Iron Line and feared defeat, they would have sent their children away. Hidden them. Protected them. If she were a mother, she would have done the sa.
The final sign was the way they spoke.
The pure, taught way they all spoke.
They spoke the sa language, yet it felt like an insult to Miyanna’s common lineage.
It felt as if stepping on her way of speaking, as yet another thing the Noble Bloods were better at than the common person.
She found herself worried and full of hatred. But her heart sohow dwindled as the day passed. She was confused about why that was.
She was threatened, yes. But it was nothing new. Her whole life, living in a small border village, her teenage years, or during her ti in the Iron Line, was just the sa.
She was threatened with either rape or death. Yet none ever ca. Because she was stronger. Better.
So Blanc’s words did not faze her. She knew when to give up or bite her ti.
Yet she was also defended by the sa people who threatened her. A first for her.
She was not old, quite young, actually, at twenty years of age. But she lived long enough to know it was odd.
They threatened, showed rcy, made her a hostage, then released her, took her food, and then offered her so. In less than a day. Who does that?
If it had been her, she would have killed them without hesitation. The danger of an unknown person was always greater than that of any beast.
Yet… she was glad they didn’t share her convictions.
If she could, she would’ve left already. But where would she go? Do what? In tis like these, danger lived in every shadow. Nowhere was safe.
And these people, dangerous and important as they might be, had shown her rcy. More than that. They were teaching her. Though she hated admitting it. Especially to that smug, weepy bastard.
By the Vita, how she hated his guts. And yet… she didn’t. Not really.
He was arrogant. Prideful. With one of those handso faces, you just wanted to slap him on principle.
But she had seen his weakness. Heard his cries. Witnessed the strength he clung to even in his lowest monts.
He had a will. A kindness. And, most infuriating of all, a heart that protected the ones he loved.
And deep in her gut. In that sick, squirming place she didn’t want to look too closely at, she hoped that soday, he might care for her too.
So she’d stay. As long as they’d let her.
“The color of your face changed,” muttered Celine, an hour later, as she watched Miyanna.
“What?” Miyanna replied, taken aback by Celine’s sudden remark.
They were alone now, Kael and Lune back to the pool below, watching it. It offered the first opportunity for Celine to have a conversation alone with her.
“You were here, but your thoughts were not. Your thoughts kept you away. And it seems you have co to a conclusion. Hopefully, one that does not give Blanc the opportunity to kill you.” Celine smiled at her.
“How can you say such mystic shit full of wisdom, then end it on a threat?” Miyanna asked, watching her closely.
“I guessed correctly then,” Celine said, pouring herself a cup of tea from their supplies. “Do you want so?”
“No, thank you,” said Miyanna, getting to her feet, “And please, leave be.”
“Does that an you will leave?” asked Celine, with the sa warm smile on her face, yet not holding the sa warmth.
“Not for now,” replied Miyanna, moving towards her room, when a voice from the outside spoke.
“How glad I am to hear that,” said Blanc, entering the cave.
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