Congratulations! Preparation has reached Iron 9.
Congratulations! Stasis has reached Iron 7.
Congratulations! Harvester has reached Iron 10.
Congratulations! Herbalist class has reached Iron 7.
She didn’t harvest too many of the water lilies, not wanting to destroy the population of the plants within the pond to the point where they couldn't regrow. She gave it her best estimate at least, she didn't really know how the plants naturally propagated or if they were even multiple different plants and not a singular one. Either way, she was now well stocked with both stem and petal of the Water lily plant. She had also taken a few bits that were still in one piece, planning on planting them somewhere closer to home, wherever that was.
Whilst she had started to feel like she belonged in this world, she didn't feel like she belonged to any single part of it as of yet. There wasn't really anywhere she could call home. Endelbyrn had started to feel like that place but with recent developments and the possibility of Hidey’s situation, the feeling of safety the town had given her no longer existed.
She shook herself out of her thoughts and watched as Boreal looked up at her from the edge of the clearing where she had been exploring. Boreal gave her an almost questioning glance with a slight tilt to her head as if asking, “Are you alright?”
She smiled at Boreal before slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
Boreal ran over and together, the two of them ran into the woods towards camp.
⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻
Zalia and Boreal re-entered camp, allowed in by the ever watchful guards. They walked around the camp for a while looking for the others before Zalia decided just to go to their tent, hoping to find them there. She entered and found Zen sitting by himself, holding a small wooden object as he turned it over and over in his hands. He looked to be deep in thought and quickly put the object away as she entered.
“Hey Zen, do you know where the others are?” Zalia asked.
“Hey um yeah, they decided to go see if they couldn't make themselves useful around camp,” Zen replied, giving her a weak smile.
She considered for a second before sitting down opposite of the man,
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“I’m… not sure,” he said.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
Usually speaking, she didn't consider herself the best person to talk to about problems but their small group had grown somewhat close over their months together and she had been worried for Zen for some time now. He had grown so silent.
“I…” Zen started, before pausing.
“You don't have to if you don't want to,” Zalia said, not wanting to be pushy about it.
“It's ok I just, I shouldn't be here. I thought this was the right thing but it isn't,” Zen said.
She frowned,
“I know it is a hard situation but we all agreed this is the right path to take,” Zalia said.
He slowly shook his head as she spoke,
“No, you misunderstand. I mean here, as one of the Morning’s shade. At first it was wonderful, an exciting adventure out of my small family farm with all sorts of powerful people all working together to further the kingdom's cause. We destroyed elementals and packs of Garroi harassing towns and travelers, travelled north to explore unseen lands and brought back all sorts of exotic objects for people to research. Now though, we are fighting our own people, our own king and we don't even know for sure if we are doing that for good reason. Even in the small amount of time we have been in this camp, the death and violence we have seen has been horrible. It all really sank in for real when I saw that building filled with the traumatised, their cries and far off sight. I’m not cut out for this,” he said, the words pouring out of him like an internal pressure was pushing them out.
She didn't really know how to respond. Of course, she had many similar thoughts but it seemed like Zen had come to this from a more fantastical view of life where she had come to it from a more… realistic one.
“What will you do?” she finally asked, after a long pause.
“I don't want to leave you all with this mess but… really, I just want to go home and work a trade in peace like my parents did and their parents before them. I… I’m sorry Zalia, I don't want to let you guys down but I feel like if I continue like this then I’m going to mess up later down the line. Maybe I’ll freeze and get one of you killed or make the wrong decision and cause a catastrophe. I just can't deal with that kind of pressure. I can't deal with the horror that comes with this path in life,” he replied, looking towards where the building of traumatised soldiers was, almost as if he could see through the walls of the tents and buildings to where the soldiers sat in their own separate hells.
She stood up and pulled Zen up by his arm and, to his surprise, gave him a hug.
“It's ok Zen, we all have to do what we need to do for ourselves before we can worry about others, otherwise we will drown in our own problems before we can help anyways,” Zalia said.
She didn't think she quite worded it properly but hoped the point got across anyway. She pulled back from the hug and saw that he had tears in his eyes.
“Oh don't cry, you’ll get me crying as well and we have a big great general to meet tomorrow. Don't want to be all red eyed for our important meeting,” Zalia said jokingly.
“Thank you for caring, Zalia,” Zen said, laughing as well but with a seriousness to his tone.
Zalia shrugged.
“Of course I care, I’m just not the best at showing it,” she said.
At that moment, Indis and Ember walked into the tent, pushing the flap out of the way. Indis, who was the most socially perceptive of the entire group immediately spoke,
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Zalia didn't say anything, gesturing supportively for Zen to explain.
“I…” he started, looking at Zalia with concern.
Apparently, he dreaded telling the other two more. She nodded in support, waving her hand in a gesture for him to continue, she would have his back.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself before beginning. He explained to the other two what he had told Zalia, managing to better express his thoughts now he had Zalia’s support. The two women stood in silence as he talked, Ember looking more and more sympathetic while to her concern, Indis started to look angry.
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As soon as Zen finished talking, Ember opened her mouth like she was about to talk but Indis got there first.
“What!? You’re going to abandon us and our cause?” she asked vehemently, tone tinged with anger.
“Indis, stop!” Ember exclaimed, trying to stop the woman. Indis however, was having none of it.
“No Ember, this isn’t some idle matter. Don't you get it Zen!? If we don't succeed in stopping who ever the fuck is performing these rituals, the kingdom is gone. Gone! Our families, our friends, towns, everything! Everything we know will be wiped out and you’re just going to go back to your farm because you can't handle it?” Indis yelled, practically exploding with anger.
All of them stood stunned like they had just stared at a flashbang. Indis had never yelled let alone swore in front of them before. There was a moment of silence as Indis glared at Zen and Zalia, Zen and Ember stared, a little wide-eyed, at Indis.
“How do you know that?” Ember whispered.
A look of guilt flashed over Indis’ face but she stood her ground. Zalia realised what Ember meant.
“How does she know what is going to happen?” Zalia thought.
She could get the answer to that question later, for now she had to try deescalate. She looked at Zen and immediately could feel her blood boil at the expression on his face. She had seen the man steely eyed in combat, goofy and a little idiotic otherwise. She had seen him open about his emotions, with difficulty, but a few moments ago. Now, she saw something she hadn’t seen in him before. He looked fragile, like a light push might make him fall and shatter much like a thin pane of glass.
“Indis, come with me,” she said, trying to and mostly succeeding in keeping a calm tone.
She walked out of the tent, basically herding Indis in front of her, walking a short distance away.
“We are going to talk later about how you know what you just said but for now, you need to calm the fuck down,” Zalia said, making direct eye contact and holding her gaze.
Indis stared right back for a moment, before the expression of guilt passed over her face again and she looked away.
“None of you know what is at stake, he can't simply walk away from all of this,” Indis said, still angry but somewhat calmer away from the tent and Zen who was still within.
“We haven't found out what the purpose of all the rituals is, how could we know? What do you know that we don't Indis? What do you know and why have you not told any of us!?” Zalia asked, her own anger now boiling out.
She quieted down her tone again as she noticed some of the nearby soldiers staring at them. Indis looked a little ashamed, her anger now almost all gone, yet she did not say anything.
“It doesn't matter for now. Right now, we’re going to go back in there and you’re going to apologise to Zen,” Zalia said in a quieter tone.
Indis looked indignant and opened her mouth but quickly closed it, schooling her expression into her normal neutrality.
“Yes, I had no right to speak to him that way no matter the situation. I will not back down from my opinion on the matter however,” Indis said.
Zalia nodded. She didn't expect Indis to just forget about it but she definitely had some explaining to do. All the calm and relaxation that Zalia had experienced over the past couple of days roaming the forest had been lost in an instant and she had a feeling that it wasn't going to come back any time soon. She took a deep breath and followed Indis into the tent.
When she entered she saw Ember had managed to calm Zen somewhat, which was good.
“Indis! I’m sor-” Zen started.
Indis interrupted him with a raised hand.
“No, I am sorry I spoke to you that way Zen. It was undeserved,” Indis apologised.
He looked a little stunned but glanced at Ember who raised one eyebrow at him like, “I told you so.”
“I am sorry too, for my part. I would say I wish I was like the heroes from the stories of old but in truth I don’t. This is not the life for me,” Zen said.
Indis said nothing, pursing her lips, with annoyance once more trying to break through to her expression.
“Now that is dealt with. You need to explain yourself Indis,” Ember said in an icy tone.
Ember was not so forgiving as Zen was, it seemed.
“Yes, I suppose I do. Very well,” Indis said, pausing to gather her thoughts, “I have lied to all of you about why exactly my family fell from it's high station amongst the nobility of the kingdom. I have told you that my family has fallen in status over the past few years which is true, though I did not tell you why that has happened. I should have done so considering it's relevance to our situation.”
She took a deep breath, looking almost in pain like she was about to reveal her deepest secrets.
“House Indis was one that not so many years past was one so very close to the king and his family. In fact I share some blood ties with our current king from marriages into some of the minor royal members by members of my house. I told you that I have once met the current king and did not see any of the malevolence that now exists in him back then and that is true. It is not the whole truth though, as I have met the man on many occasions and even knew him as a friend. This was back before my house fell to it's current state and before the man himself became… evil. King Alistair of the Royal line of Endaria, though he was only prince when I knew him, was once a good man. In his final days of life Alistair’s father, King Horum, began to become addled in the mind. This was a closely guarded secret that not even many of the nobility knew about, let alone any of the army or general population,” Indis began, taking a breath to continue.
Zalia interrupted,
“Why did Faian not know you then,” she asked.
“She did recognise me, in fact we had a conversation regarding my families status and I told her what I’m about to tell you just this morning,” Indis said.
“That’s where you went?” Zen asked.
Indis nodded.
Zalia didn't interrupt again.
“King Horum was a close friend of my fathers and so my father knew many secrets that he otherwise would not have. A few years back the King told my father of a plan he had to access another plane, Cormaine. My father thought it an unwise idea and tried to convince him not to go through with it but had no luck in the matter. He went through with it and seemingly succeeded but as my father often described, that was the beginning of the end for the king. It was due to that incident that the King slowly became insane, mind addled and crazed in his obsession with Cormaine. My father used all the political weight he could muster to obscure what was happening, hide the king's condition from anyone who would use it to hurt him or the royal family. It was the gold and political favour he spent during those years that brought my house to the fallen state it now lies. He did it all to protect the king and the prince who he often treated as his own son. My father would have had me and the prince married one day I suspect, if things had happened differently. That is no matter now however,” Indis said, looking a little lost in the past as she retold the tale.
“That doesn't explain why you never told us any of this,” Ember said, still holding her icy tone and hard expression.
“I'm getting there,” Indis said, “Prince Alistair, as I have said, was a good man. He worked with my father and did what he could to help his own father and hide his condition from the kingdom at large. His father often asked his son to come see the experiments he was doing but due to my father’s advice, the prince would not. This was often a point of contention between the king and my father and yet another reason for the fall of my house. One day, the day of the end of the king’s life, the prince finally agreed to see one of these experiments. The king never made him do it, I think deep down he knew what would happen but eventually yes, the prince conceded. He went into that room despite all the arguments both my father and I made and when he came out he was never the same and the previous king was never seen again. From that point you know what has happened as by the story that Faian has told you.”
They all stood in silence, Zen next to Ember and Zalia standing to the side as Indis faced the other two.
“That’s why you were always so insistent it was the king who was responsible for the rituals,” Zalia realised.
“Yes,” Indis said.
She looked miserable and pale, like she had just had her soul ripped out of her.
“Why did you never tell us!” Ember almost yelled.
“Since that time, many minor houses and rich merchants have looked to use my and my family as a stepping stone, to rip us down even further to their own ends. I have learnt the hard way to keep what I know to myself. Even further, during those years we obscured the truth from the public I learnt to bury that knowledge deep and far beneath and never speak of it. I never spoke of it partly from habit and partly from fear,” Indis said, seeming to shrink even further into herself.
Zalia understood now why Indis so often kept up her face of nobility and strength, because if she didn't she would crumble.
“How do you know what will happen with these rituals?” Zalia asked, feeling bad about dragging more out of the woman but needing to know.
“My father knew, somehow. I don't know how or when he learnt what would happen but after the king’s death he told me. He told me to stop what was coming or the kingdom would fall. My own father has much lost his own mind now, from seeing his close friends slow downfall or all the events after I do not know. I only know I need to stop what is coming or it will be the end for us all,” Indis replied.
“And that is why you joined the Morning’s shade?” Zalia asked.
“Yes,” Indis replied, “it is.”