Voices beyond glass flooded the air. Among them were cries for help, screams of rage, and tears wept from broken will. Amid the darkness sat one with a smile. One that could not be removed as his back laid on a wall of stone, he seemed comfortable inside the cage and chaos. As if the voices were nothing more then a soothing tune.

Eva watched the darkness shared with cage and smile from behind the glass, forcing silence upon the room she stood in. Unlike him, she did not wear comfort on her face. Quite the opposite in fact. "How long will you watch him?" a voice asked at her side. She replied with silence. "Were you close?" Again, no word tore from her lips after another space of quiet. But soon, with patience and interest alike, she spoke.

"Since I've known him, he has been ... Sick."

"Sick? How?" asked the man with a low brow.

"In the beginning, near our first encounter; few times in a year strange traits would emerge. He would ... speak abruptly out of character, or eat a meal that until then disgusted him." Eva folded her arms as her eyes slid to the corner of the glass, where she knew he laid in the darkness.

"Most spoke nothing of it at the time, the circumstance then were more then dire, but ignoring it would not last long. Over time, these temporary characteristics only increased in potency."

"None of the symptoms were physical ..." Eva nodded, her eyes still forward. "But nothing of the sort is written in the red records."

"Because no one other then I and another knows, excluding present company."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No. But it's growth over those few years was fearsome. Now that so much time has past since then, I can't even imagine what it's evolved into." Eva's associate turned his sight to the glass also. "Well, no use in agonizing over what no longer matters. He will never again know freedom. The red and gold order are likely deciding his fate as we speak." Eva's eyes lowered after his words. Pulling his sight to her gaze. "No one can escape an order. No matter how powerful or far their myths spread."

"You don't believe them?"

"I believe he would be no ordinary opponent. But hardly compared to the word of his feats." His eyes remained on the woman for a moment, then shifted forward with bitter swiftness. "But you've fought against and with him. Is he as they say?"

"My thoughts do not matter."

"That is not the case, Lady Nel. It would be foolish to pretend otherwise." Eva contemplated her response quietly, finding it just as quick, the truth would change nothing. She knew that well. "If you've heard all that I have to say, then my words may not surprise you ...

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"That is not Tzu."

Joseph returned his gaze to her with a stare. Unspoken at first, but not for long. "What?" Eva pushed her eyes forward once again, her face calm as coming autumn, and her fingers and gauntlet curled around her arms. "Tzu is not human, a known fact. His kind are usually born with unique oddities in terms of behavior. In his case, it was emotion, altered, different compared to others. Smiling was never his forte. Especially near the kind of crowd that surrounded him that night. Not to mention he did so again after learning why I had arrived. Such a reaction is simply not apart of his nature."

"But ... You seemed almost connected when speaking to him, was it a lie?"

"No. It was real. I am the opposite of the wyvern. Emotion runs thoroughly throughout my being at all times, and the sensation multiplied when he was in front of me. My mind was a mess, I've waited so long for that moment ... I believe then I was speaking to him. But sometime after the king spoke, he changed. Entirely."

The man shook his head with a lowered chin. "No, he surrendered. He was cornered."

"Joseph. The man I fell in love with would never willingly put himself in a cage ... let alone smile about it. Truthfully; he would have contemplated our actions, tried to step in our boots, but inevitably would have deemed us all as enemies."

"He was cornered, Lady Nel," Joseph said with boiling blood. Eva turned to the man slowly. His tied ash blond hair wild over his forehead.

"Lord Eye, If that was my husband, all of us may have died that night. He was not the prey. The truth is just that simple."

The door behind both before the glass of darkness and noise caught the room's attention. A worn voice following a pair of steps. "Eva Nel?"

"And who are you?"

"I must ask that you come with me." The woman's arms lowered as she turned to the man with a raised brow and unhindered agitation. "And why would I do such a thing?"

"Because you represent the silver order," the man simply stated. "And the council of Jahrin has summoned you."

Eva glanced to the one at her side with a interesting look in her eye. "Is that so?"

The man took a step backward, finding his place outside the doorway before lowering into a humble bow. "If you would please," he said with closed eyes. The woman breathed through her nose and aimed her eyes once more to the corner of the glass. "It seems this is quickly growing out of hand, and high profile."

"Will you go?" asked lord eye.

"Of course. I must. More then one order will be waiting for my arrival, I'm sure." Eva narrowed her eyes. Her sight lingering as if there was a chance the darkness would look back. Perhaps it was.

"Was this your wish... husband?"

•

"How long will we ride?"

"No less then two hours, Lady Nel."

"Good."

Their steps echoed well in the halls of the west wing. Though lack of conversation withered the lively cool air. Soon, steps of another group shared these walls. But when the shortest of the three glanced ahead, his stride bit into the floor before stepping to the side and lowering his head. The largest quickly followed, but the last looked to his comrade with crooked brows before ahead again. Eva met eyes with the man, her face stale from being called for so short notice. He lacked a response to her stare, before quickly the shortest reached and pulled him to the side and pushed his head down as he and the other. Silence caried on as their strides past by with no rush. The third hesitated, but raised his eyes while their heads still laid low, and to his surprise, the woman met his interest with again a calm, now low stare. Still, neither spoke a word as her chin moved forward, continuing the path led by her navigator.