The knocking sound was light... almost wasn't even audible.

“Enter,” I said.

My office door opened slowly, unnaturally slowly. And even though I wanted to usher her, I remained seated and silent as she slowly made her way into the room.

No one entered after her, and instead remained outside. I glanced to the prying eyes of the crowd outside, and with a wave of my hand slammed the door shut on them.

“Wha,” Telleya startled, and stared worryingly at the door that had just slammed shut with more force than any man... even Yevin, was capable of.

Looking back to me, the young woman looked terrified.

Terrified but alive.

Kana had done a good job... It had only been a few days, but the woman was already walking about. Not bad considering she had been on death's Line.

Remnants of her injury still remained, even though I knew they were properly healed. She looked a little thinner... a little paler.

But I wasn't going to pity her just because of that.

I wasn't going to let my heart get swayed that easily.

“Hus...” she stopped herself, and looked down. When she looked back up, she smiled. “Lord Noth,” she greeted me.

That had hurt. Not just her either.

“Telleya,” I said, and gestured for her to sit in the chair across from me.

She glanced around, and noticed that the other chairs and couches were gone. Only one remained. The one that sat before my desk. “Redecorating?” she asked.

“I needed the space,” I said.

As she walked to the chair, she noticed that her footsteps echoed a little. I had even removed the carpets.

Patiently waiting as she sat down, I watched her fidget as she got comfortable. She couldn't get comfortable.

It wasn't just because the chair itself was a plain one, without a cushion, but because she was anxious.

Good.

“Feeling better?” I asked, after she finally settled a little.

“A little. My chest still hurts, but I'm fine. Thank you,” she said.

“Thank Kana not me,” I said.

“I did. A lot,” she said.

I nodded, and knew that was why it had taken her so long to get here.

Nearly a whole hour.

Made me wonder just how much they had told her... and how much they had warned her.

I had expected it, and even counted on it, but I wasn't going to pretend. Nor was I going to just ignore it either.

I was Noth, Commander of the Front-Line. It was time I acted like him.

“In case you were wondering... the Line is good too,” I said to her.

“Huh...?”

I nodded, undisturbed by her confused face. “The Front-Line. It's good. You didn't hurt it,” I said.

Her face became tight, stretched thin as she realized what I meant.

“I only meant to hurt the Line... no one in it,” she softly said.

“Oh? Well that's too bad, since that would have hurt me,” I said.

She blinked, but said nothing.

I gestured around the room. “If you had set this place on fire... It would have hurt me. A lot. Badly. Wouldn't have killed me, but...” I shrugged, not wanting to get into details on how long I would have been bed ridden over it.

“You...? But...”

“I am the Line,” I said sternly.

Her lips trembled at my words, and she actually looked hurt. “I can't believe you'd say that. I thought you better,” she said.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

She shook her head, and even looked away from me as if I was something nasty. “That's how the elders of the Houses talk. I expected better from you,” she said again.

For a moment I didn't understand what she meant... but then it became clear.

She had interpreted my words as self-boasting. Chest thumping.

She thought I had been saying if she hurt my Line, she was hurting me personally.

“Seems you don't understand...” I said softly.

“Oh I do understand! I should have known you were just like the rest and,” she started to speak, but I wasn't going to just let her go off on a tirade like that.

“Telleya, I'm saying I am the Line! Myself. Me!” I said, raising my voice.

She went quiet, but didn't cower. If anything the disappointment in her eyes only became more prominent.

I sighed, and rubbed my eyes. “A Line is a lifeline. And more in name. We don't just call them those, because they bring life to our cities... but because they themselves are a lifeline,” I said.

Telleya's eyes told me she was understanding, but didn't seem to believe it.

“My ancestor was going to kill you, for the Line,” she then said.

“Yes. Because I am the Front-Line,” I said again.

“But then he would have taken ownership, wouldn’t he have?” She clearly wasn’t understanding anything.

Fine.

Raising my hand, I pointed upward at the ceiling. Then I moved my finger to the right.

The lights went off.

Turning them back on, I found that her eyes had gone wide, and stared at me in pure shock.

Then I went ahead and gestured to the shelves around us, and they all promptly opened.

Every single one of them.

With a small gesture, they all closed again.

“You can control it...” she whispered, and I nodded.

“Only those like you, from backwater holes in the sand don't know. Did you really think my people followed me because of my good looks?” I asked.

The tiniest of smiles appeared on her face from my words, and I regretted saying them. So she thought I was ugly, huh?

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“I die. The Line stops. It dies too. It can only move, as long as my heart beats,” I said.

Telleya's face told me she understood... but I wasn't looking for understanding.

“So with that being said. I want to know why you thought it was a good idea to try and kill me, and consequently kill everyone else on board as well,” I said.

Standing from my seat, the woman startled and nearly jumped... but had done so while sitting down.

The result was her falling over in her chair, to the hard metal ground.

I regretted removing the carpets now.

She flinched and a pained face almost made me round my desk, but I stayed firm. I stayed still.

I kept myself in control.

“W... what?” she stammered, staring up at me from the floor.

“You tried to kill me. I want to know why,” I said, and right as she went to go and grab the chair that had fallen over, I shook the ground beneath her.

The chair stumbled away from the motion, and she was sent back to her knees. The Line shook, and it roared alongside my pent up frustration as I slammed my desk.

“Why!”

“But I didn't do it! I stopped it!” she cried.

“Stopped what?” I roared.

“The Tusks... I didn't pour water on... on them,” she said, staring up at me from the floor.

For a moment I only glared down at the crying woman, and the pitiful look upon her face. She looked even worse than when I had found her in that bed, with a knife in her heart.

“I couldn't do it...” she finally said.

“Do what?”

She shook her head, and looked away from me. “I couldn't hurt your people,” she whispered.

“Did they attack you because you failed then?” I asked.

Her head shot back up at me, startled by my words. “Huh?”

“Who was it? One of the elders? It happened in your House, so was it one of them? The woman?” I asked, rounding my desk.

“N-No!”

“I'm not in the mood for games, Telleya! You don't get to leave until I hear the truth. The entire truth! Even if I must ruin everything to do so. The Front-Line, my Line, my home... my people, are everything. You endangered them. You risked them. I will not allow that, I don't care who you are or what your worth!” I shouted.

As I spoke, the lights in the room flickered a little, and the Front-Line lurched, making the room tilt a little and the metal loudly creak.

Telleya though didn't notice the lights or the sounds... instead she focused on me. And me alone.

“Who ordered you to do it? I know you didn't plan it yourself,” I said, stopping a few feet from her.

“Ordered...?” she asked, through her tears.

“There's no way you did it. You who want to leave so badly. Who yearns to run away. So who? Just say the name. The House even,” I furthered.

“You knew...?” she asked softly.

“Of course I did. From the moment you stepped onto my Line. How many forlorn princesses do you think I've met in my life? How many slaves, how many women longing for a better--a free life? But that's what I don't understand... Why stop it then? You want out so badly, so why were you so willing to ruin your only chance?”

Her mouth wavered for a moment, and then her shoulders slumped... as if all the tension in her finally snapped.

“I hated them...” she whispered with a tiny voice.

“Who...?” I asked.

“Derri.”

“Your House?” I asked, and wondered if it really had been them after all.

It was hard to believe... since they were so worried over repercussions from the other Houses. But maybe...

“Because you were a slave?” I asked, looking for the reason. She had asked about slavery on the Line before, so maybe...

Telleya shook her head. “The House of Derri doesn't own slaves... But I was still a woman of Derri... and that may as well be the same as a slave,” she said.

“So the Derri elders ordered you to sabotage my Line?”

The woman looked up at me, and I could tell by her eyes that she didn't want to say.

Didn't want to, but had to.

“No one ordered me,” she finally said.

The Line became quiet, and the lights stopped flickering as I watched her crawl to her knees.

With her head hung low, she nodded again. “I did it myself,” she said again.

Taking a deep breath, I stared down to the woman who just admitted to treason upon my own Line.

Who just admitted to trying to end my life.

“I... I had thought, if I incurred your wrath... you would then send yours upon me,” she said.

“You wanted me to punish you?” I asked.

A tiny nod came from the bowed head. She wasn't even brave enough to look me in the eye.

“Why...? Do you want to die or something?” I asked. That made no sense. There was far, far, better and easier ways to accomplish that.

“Not me... my House,” she said.

My eyes blurred as cold understanding dawned on me, and I had to actually step back a little.

Thankfully she wasn't looking up at me, so she didn't notice.

“I hate Derri. I hate them... so much. Even now. Even after learning... what I learned, I still do. So I had hoped... I had thought...” she stopped talking, and I heard the sobs as she started to cry again.

Most of my anger had dissipated, but I wasn't sure yet what to replace it with.

Compassion? Annoyance? Disappointment?

Disgust.

“You wanted me to destroy the House of Derri,” I said softly.

She nodded.

“So they tried to kill you, to stop you,” I said.

A quick shake of the head told me I was wrong.

“You... tried to kill yourself,” I said, realizing it.

She nodded, her head hung low. “To free myself. They wanted me to do something else… To try and kill you... But I couldn’t, I couldn’t take the chance of them gaining ownership of the Line,” she said.

“Kill me?”

Another nod of her quivering head. “They have a root of sand, which turns people into sand. They were going to use it on you, or… I was. I couldn’t do it. But I knew, I could tell, that they saw it. And were taking precautions. So I did the only thing that I thought would stop the wedding, and any chance of you getting attacked,” she explained.

For a long, long moment, I stood there in silence as she cried.

It was a really foolish idea. Not just on her part, but the whole House of Derri. A sand root? Turning me to sand? If such magic worked on me, I’d have died long ago.

“You should have come to me,” I said softly.

“I thought of it. In hopes of making you do something drastic,” she said.

“Drastic?”

Looking up at me, she smiled. “You'd feel slighted. You, a man of honor and principle... would seek vengeance for his wife. Even if I was just a fake one, you'd still do it. Maybe. And if I was lucky, you'd blame the House of Derri. Who knows... maybe you'd exact revenge yourself, with your powerful Line. Although you obviously detested me, you are still a man of honor and compassion. A man who so loves his people may just do it!” she said, smiling at the foolishness of her own words.

She heaved a little, and I wondered if her chest still hurt. It must have for she curled up a little on the floor, and lowered her head to the ground.

Kneeling down next to her, I placed my hand on her back and felt her breaths. Thankfully, they didn't feel too strained. She was just emotional, and in pain.

She'd just given up.

Completely.

Her sobbing was all that filled the room as she cried. It was not a pleasant sound, and I wondered if I had any handkerchiefs nearby for her.

“I'm sorry...” she moaned in-between breaths, and returned to crying.

I sighed, and knew I'd not be able to chastise her further. It was too bad too, since I had this really long and drawn out speech I had been writing this whole time...

Maybe later, once this was over I'd recite it to her anyway. Wouldn't want such a work of poetry to go to waste after all.

Staring at the curled up girl, I wondered if I was going to be able to truly forgive her or not.

I felt like it, but I couldn't tell if that was just because of the moment... or if it was sincere.

Well... I could forgive the rest of my crew for similar mistakes so what kind of man would I be if I couldn't forgive my wife too?

After all, she only tried to murder me. And then tried to get me to kill a whole town.

Compared to what Yevin did...

“Telleya,” I said softly.

She ignored me, and kept on crying.

“Telleya,” I said louder, and even patted her on the back to get her attention.

She shook her head, and kept crying.

“If anyone should be crying it's me. I mean really, my own wife trying to kill me...” I said, sitting down on the ground next to her.

Her sobbing came to an abrupt stop, as she peered out at me from between her arms. “What?” she asked.

“Don't get me wrong. I was never in danger. But still, it's the thought that counts. Does this mean I need to start worrying over even anniversary gifts and stuff?” I asked.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, and I couldn't believe the tear stained face before me.

Reaching out, I wiped some of her snot away as I nodded. “Never try to kill me again, alright? Some men might find that enticing, but not me,” I said.

“I...”

She sat up, weakly, and stared at me as if I was crazy. Just like she had done when I had told her I was the Line.

“You slept through it... but we did have a wedding you know,” I said.

Her eyes danced, and I smiled. “It was nice. I didn't expect them to do it like that. My people had fun too,” I said, remembering them dancing and drinking.

“I probably shouldn't have let them bring our own alcohol, but your people's spirits are nasty and I couldn't do that to my people,” I said with a laugh.

“Noth!” she shouted, grabbing my arm.

“Hm?”

“Don't tease me.”

Couldn't help it, I laughed.