As Willow nervously fiddled with the chain of her necklace, absently noticing the compass was spinning wildly on its axel when a quick rap on the door announced her guest and Agnes bustled around to open it.
He was a tall man, taller than most, and broad enough to not appear lanky, with cropped brown hair and brown eyes, a strong nose and jawline. Willow nodded to herself: this was the stature of a leader, she decided.
Willow rose as he entered, fingers clasped tightly on the edges of the shawl, and bobbed a polite curtsy. As she rose, he inclined his head and introduced himself as 'Edward, Leader of the Southern Branch of the Resistance' while he indicated she should retake her seat. His eyes lingered at her temple briefly, before sliding back to her face.
“I know that you have been injured. Don’t make yourself uncomfortable on my account.”
Willow gave a polite nod as she resettled, hiding the winces of discomfort as she offered him a cup of tea, which he refused.
While considered rude back home, Willow didn't show the affront and, with niceties out of the way, Willow waited, calmly sipping her tea, languidly taking a scone, and carefully buttering it.
“You have no idea why you were brought here, do you?” He stated.
Willow nodded, mutely.
“In short, you're here because of your family.” Willow raised an eyebrow, mind immediately jumping to her last conversation with her parents. They wouldn't... right?
“What do you mean?” She asked, voice cracking a little from the disuse.
Edward shifted backwards in his seat, clearly uncomfortable, "I believe your father initially asked you to use your gift, to help the Resistance find the Bearers?"
"Yes," Willow croaked, mind still racing at the implications.
Edward held up a placating hand, "You know he, Esther and Siobhan, as well as your departed brother, were all members of the Resistance?" Willow nodded curtly, still furious at those revelations. "They believed it would be safest for you to be transported now, while the Betrayers were on hand and willing."
“Agreed on by who exactly?" Willow interjected, keeping her voice level and steady. "Neither you nor the leader of the Resistance in Tanut hold jurisdiction over me; I am not a child, and I am not under my… Richard and Esther’s ruling. No one saw fit to consult me on this. I was in no danger.”
Edward studied her. "You will always be in danger as long as you are the Guide to the Bearers."
"A curse I was unaware of until recently, I can assure you, and if I had continued in ignorance, nothing would have changed!" Edward studied her a moment longer before returning to his explanation as if she had not interrupted.
“It was your parents in the end who arranged for all of it. The group, the Betrayers, are old friends of your father's family." Willow nodded at this. She knew they had a close working relationship, and she had often played with the children as a child. "His family has long given them work and with that connection, Richard could arrange for your kidnapping and transportation. They conveyed you here at his request.”
Willow jumped to her feet, outraged, blanket crumpling around her feet. “Excuse me?” She demanded, eyes wild and breath heavy.
Edward pulled a folded note from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it automatically, trying to process this new knowledge. “This is from your father. It should confirm everything I have to tell you today.”
Willow paced, frantic steps echoing around the room, sharply twisting as she reached a wall. How dare they!? How fucking dare they! Was she just a tool to them? Always the outcast daughter, not like the rest! Not really a daughter, loved as Siobhan was, but a puppet to be used for their own ends? Was that why they didn't care what she did if she lived? Because it didn't matter? She had one purpose and if she wasn't fulfilling this fruitless endeavour then what was the point of her existence?
Edward ploughed on, watching her frenzied movements with concern. Agnes tried to step in, but Willow just stepped around her, shooting her a nasty glare, unwilling to be helped or calmed.
“Primarily, I am here to implore you to reconsider your stance. Without you, this whole operation,” he waved his hand around the room, “and the related operations in the other Realms will go nowhere. We may never have this chance again to overthrow the King without your help now.”
“Without the necklace,” Willow corrected sagely, pausing her movements long enough to shoot him a poisonous look. “You don't need me. You need the magical necklace that attached itself to me without my knowledge or permission as a child!”
The man stared and Willow got the impression that he was unused to people correcting him. She took a deep, shaky breath, forcing breath past her aching ribs as she returned to her seat and poured herself some more tea, hoping to soothe her frazzled nerves.
“That is not... incorrect,” he conceded. “But your father has trained you all your life for great things. You are the best chance we have.”
“That man is not my father,” Willow stated coldly, ignoring the surprised looks shot her way. “And my training is, with all due respect, irrelevant. Richard gave that education of his own will, and I bore it reluctantly. What I now do with it is my decision alone. No one else. How dare you or anybody else take that from me.” Willow paused to gain control of her temper. "I want no part in this."
“Richard wrote of your recently emergent temper,” he noted, seeming more amused by her anger than anything else. This only heightened the feeling, and she spoke once more without thinking.
“If he wrote to you about me, then why did you ever think I would agree to this?” Willow challenged, chin held proudly, eyes boring into Edwards.
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The man nodded. “You are justifiably angry.” He abruptly changed subjects, waving a hand about him. “These rooms are to be yours to do with as you see fit. Agnes will see to your needs; you need only ask. When you feel up to it, you may wander the compound, but no further. Do not leave the compound, it is too dangerous.”
“A prison is still a prison. It doesn’t matter what you disguise it as,” Willow stated primly. “If you honestly want to justify my anger by claiming it is only the betrayal that could have caused this, rather than any of the other justifiable reasons, then I see little reason for us to continue this conversation.” While Willow’s tone was nothing short of polite, the slight was clear, and Agnes sent a horrified glare in her direction.
“It wasn't a betrayal. Your parents loved you enough to do the best thing for you, even if you yourself could not see that. I think you are failing to take that into consideration. I think this anger has more to do with the fear you hold of the King and the fear that you may lose everything in pursuing your assigned quest.”
“You think I fear for my own life? Is that how little you think of me!?” Willow demanded, enraged and on her feet once more, fists clasped in shaking balls. Agnes again tried to step in, but Willow grabbed at her hands, forcing them to her side, shooting her a withing glance, before returning to the conversation at hand.
“What else could it be? You are afraid of this, angry that your life no longer feels like your own! Grow up little girl, these are the sacrifices that need to be made for the betterment of our entire world.”
“A martyr is willing, Edward. This is coercion. Never would I have chosen this for myself. But it is not just my life that is now threatened. All that I love, all that I have worked to achieve, is in very great danger. My family is aware of this... rather unique situation, but what of my friends? My fiancé? What happens to them?”
“Your parents knew what they were getting into when they sent you to us. They’ve prepared for the eventuality. Do you have so little faith in them to not think that far ahead?” Edward challenged.
Willow sighed. “I am well aware that my parents have been conspiring against me for perhaps my whole life. That is not who I speak of. Tell me, have my parents told you of how I spend my free time? They seem to have told you everything else.”
“You teach some of the children in the city and as well run a small alchemy and herbalists’ business in the city,” Edward listed, eyebrows raised, wondering where this line of questioning was headed.
Willow nodded. “Do you know what I teach these children, Wise Leader of the Resistance?” She mocked.
“I imagine you would teach them to read and do basic mathematics.” he paused as Willow laughed.
“It seems I actually kept a secret from my parents! Miracles happen, it seems.” Willow laughed, although there was little warmth and even less humour in the sound.
“What is the great joke? What is this secret?”
Willow crossed her arms. “I teach approximately 24 individual children. Four of those children are magically gifted. I help suppress their magic. I use my own magical presence to mask any fluctuations that may alert The King. By bringing me out here against my will, all those children are now at deadly risk. If they die, their blood is on all of your hands.”
Edward appeared lost for words, remaining silent for several long minutes. “If you would give me the names of these children, your father can see to their going into hiding for now.” He paused again at Willow's fresh laughs.
“You honestly think I would betray the families of these innocents?”
“What do you mean? I thought it well known that the Resistance accepts children of magical qualities, assisting them into hiding? Why would the parents want them kept hidden from us?”
“After the Ligada incident? Or what happened at Mount Nifune?” Willow stated, eyebrow raised condescendingly. “I’ve spoken to parents who are terrified of what could happen if your people or The King catch wind of their children's abilities! And if your flippant treatment of me is anything to gauge by, I don’t doubt that those concerns are very real!”
A look of surprise flashed across Edward's face before he tried to mask it behind confusion. However, Willow noticed and ploughed on.
“Did you think your predecessors had suppressed that knowledge?” Willow spoke, voice low and serious, eyes piercing into the man before her. “Did you honestly think you could prevent such information from spreading out to the other Realms? You can't stop everyone and there are still plenty of families still in contact over Realm lines, even after all this time. Everyone knows how the Resistance extracted children from their homes 'for their safety' regardless of what the parents wanted. How could a parent experience that and not warn everyone they can, borders be damned? And let's not forget that forty-two young magic wielders suddenly disappeared. Parents noticed the rehearsed notes with the same excuse. They started asking questions. The information came through like sap, but over time people have pieced the story together. Forty-two young people, ranging from five to twenty-four, sent to slaughter in a stupid and reckless last-ditch attempt to end The King and in one fell swoop, he obliterated most of them. The rest? Why, your people left them to die where they fell, like empty husks! They had failed at the purpose the Resistance gave them. What was the point of saving them then?”
“So, no Edward, I will never betray their names or location to you or anyone of your organisation. I will not be the one responsible for their deaths.”
“Very well, Willow,” Edward conceded, shoulders slumped as if the world had settled there. “What would you have us do to protect these children?”
“Nothing. I think your organisation has contributed more than enough to this mess. No need to make it bigger. I lost control of the shields days ago, but I could send a warning to the parents. Already I imagine they have taken precautions. To continue the barrier from this distance would have been foolhardy. The backlash of the snap could have killed any of the children, and I'm exhausted. I only hope they can leave the city.”
The man rose, chastised and clearly not enjoying being kept in the dark about individuals who could prove invaluable assets, and nodded. Willow curtsied distractedly, as he called for Jonathon standing outside the door.
Jonathon was an older man with salt and pepper hair, broad shoulders, and a pronounced limp, but had clearly been a powerful man in his younger years. He carefully picked his way across the room and placed a box in front of her. Willow noted her sword, bow, and quiver protruding out of the top. This only made her angrier, and she desperately fought for control of her magic. It could only end in disaster if she killed the Leader of the Resistance, no matter how accidental.
Edward seemed to notice the magical charge permeating the room, however, and he quickly departed, taking Jonathon with him, although he added one last point.
“I want you to know that they did not know.” Willow raised a confused eyebrow. “The Betrayer’s. Kane, the Leader in the East, as well as your father, lied to them about your willingness. Your injuries, while I'm sure terrible, were not deliberate. I hope one day you can forgive them.”
Willow sipped her third cup of tea slowly, struggling to process all that had been said. She eventually put the weapons aside and inspected the other goods within. At least she had some of her own clothes at her disposal in the appropriate colours and sizes. It was clear her mother had packed this box because, alongside her usual essentials, several rolls of thread and a few small squares of fabric were also present. If nothing else, she had the things she needed to fix up her current dress.
Agnes helped unpack the few other possessions in the box, including her favourite childhood toy, a small blue wolf Brendan had given her that was well loved. It was threadbare in places, patched over in just as many, and Willow didn't know why this tiny thing had been included. But she swiftly scooped it up and clasped it to her chest, enjoying the simple comforts of childhood it provided. Agnes moved to place all the other items in their appropriate locations, giving a running commentary on where she was placing each item.
To Agnes, it may have seemed like a kind gesture from loving parents who cared, but to Willow, it felt as if they had packed her off across the border and washed their hands of her. She felt alone and abandoned.