Lanton was Thalia’s last stop before going back home. A small border town between the capital city of Volanter and Harggan in Ga’Ul’Shire, she made it a habit to treat her caravan guards and carters to a drink and a nice meal after a successful trip through Volanter. It’s always stressful to work your way through the small kingdom especially now, with the rebellion wrapping up, tariffs are getting tighter and the highways are rife with bandits. But after today Thalia won’t have to deal with anymore of that bullshit, the king sent out heralds to proclaim victory over the Hagh Naan bandits crew. Thalia never felt comfortable in a country at war and she was glad it was ending, but the end of the war did mean the end of an old friend. Thalia sat and wondered about where Talora went off to, is she alright? The king would have made a public declaration about the death of Talora if he’d had her body, but that didn’t mean she was still alive and well. After her little band got broken up they could have split to the winds and she might have gotten picked up by highwaymen anywhere on her way back home. Thalia sipped her wine idly staring towards the door. Gods I hope shes alright but fuck I don’t hope to see her again soon, the amount of notoriety her face carries would spell doom for my routes here in Volanter if she’s seen associating with me. The door opened and the light blinded Thalia for a moment as a tall figure and a hunched figure meandered in, her eyes started to adjust and- “you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me”.

In a more private area of the public house Thalia sat around a table with Talora and Raith. Raith was greedily drinking glass after glass of ale, but he seemed to finally be relaxing somewhat. Talora swirled her wine in the glass only occasionally taking small sips more for the flavor than any intoxicating qualities. Thalia looked up from her glass after thinking about what her old friend had just asked her. “I really can’t Tally, I love you but you’re known. There’s not many of your race in these parts and we’ll doubtless be stopped on our way out of Volanter, maybe even on our way out of this town”. She was referring to the reason they stepped into the back room of the public house to talk, a group of men wearing expensive looking armor walked in and sat at a corner table in a dimly lit portion of the business.

Talora looked crest fallen as she took a larger gulp of wine. “I understand you can’t take me, but can you get the boys across”?

Thalia thought for a long while, maybe a minute passed before she spoke again. “Who all is still-” she paused again but only for a moment, “with us”?

Talora replied sadly “Marco passed on some time back, Jerricho and Raith’s dad are the only ones left now, present company excluded”.

Thalia looked distraught as she said “oh Tally I’m so sorry, it must be hard to carry the weight of the army after losing him”.

Talora didn’t show much on her face but a small frown, then replied “we all miss him, he was a good friend and a great leader; what we’re doing is bigger than all of us, and so we continue”.

Thalia felt a big shock but didn’t let it show on her face as she spoke again “I heard your group was defeated with finality at the ambush, do you mean to continue with your goal”?

Talora knitted her brows as she said “oh of course, i’ll never give this up as long as I breath; the people need to be freed of this awful governance and I won’t stop until either I stop breathing or the empires and kingdoms fall”.

Thalia put her hands up in a warding gesture “I know how important it is Tally and I’m in support of your ideals as much as Jerricho and Marco were”. Even as she said it a wince covered her face at her own word choice but she continued anyway “But what about your life, and the life of your family”? Talora grimaced as she said this but didn’t reply, after waiting for a response that never came Thalia continued. “I know you’ve always wanted kids, will you continue this until you’re unable to bear them”?

Talora glanced toward Raith, realizing he’d fallen asleep at some point during the conversation. “Above everything else, this has to be done. You travel all through Ga’Ul’Shire and Volanter, do the people look happy”?

Thalia looked indignant at that and said “have you ever been outside of Ga’Ul’Shire or Volanter? That’s just people, the people are unhappy en masse all throughout the world; why is it your responsibility to do anything about it”?

Talora sat for a moment in her own head before speaking “I remember what it was like when I was a girl, the free clans of the Hana Ivari steppe. A time before I learned to swing a sword. I was trained in the violas, did I ever tell you that”? Thalia pursed her lips and took another sip of wine. “My dad built it himself, he was a fantastic luthier. I was going to be a Minstrel, wander the continent and share stories of strange lands to even stranger people. But before my thirteenth birthday King Tarnovaran took half of my home country”. Thalia fell totally silent, suddenly realizing she’d opened an old wound in Talora.

There were minutes of silence that stretched into eternity before Thalia; she could barely spare a glance at her old friend not because of the anger on her face, but for the pain that lay just beneath the mask. Talora eventually looked away from the table and lightly adjusted Raith into a more comfortable sleeping position. Thalia took the opportunity to whisper to Talora “Look Tally, I just can’t take you across the border” Talora’s mask of anger slipped for the briefest of moments uncovering how she truly felt, Thalia continued “but I can take Raith and Berrick”. Talora, invigorated by these words suddenly stood and rounded the table, wrapping Thalia in a big bear hug spilling the cup of wine on her skirt.

Talora muttered a quick “Shit, sorry Thalia” Thalia frowned and looked at her suddenly dark purple skirt, this wasn’t a good omen she’d suspect.

Talora and Raith made it back to Jerricho and Berrick, the sun was high in the sky as it approached noon. Talora helps Raith to the ground and then sits herself. Talora takes a moment to sip from a water skin before she says “we have to talk about something important”. Jerricho raises his head to see as Berrick sits down with a hunk of dried meat and cheese. “Thalia made me a deal but it’s going to split us up”. Berrick stopped chewing as he glared at Talora, Raith looked confused, and Jericho stood in a panic, bringing his arms up close to his chest and rubbing his hands.

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Berrick spoke first “like hell we are, we cross the border together or we don’t cross”.

Raith nodded his head vigorously before speaking “yeah Tally, what does that mean to split up? Are we all going over every man to himself? What kind of plan is this”. His voice turned to anger at the end of his words, Talora hated that beyond what words could describe. Raith so rarely gets angry especially at her, it felt an incalculable increase when compared to anyone else getting angry with her.

Jerricho cut in with sharp clipped words and interspersed shallow quick breaths “Tal, Tal no! I just can't be alone right now I’m sorry but I can’t- I can’t be left alone not- I can’t be left alone anymore please Talora I’m scared”.

Talora looked at Jerricho sparing a soft expression, skipping over the gazes of Raith and Berrick. “Calm brottmari, it’s not nearly as bad as you think. I would never leave you behind or alone no matter what, but Thalia had terms and I agreed to them. It will be for the best of all of us”.

Raith began to feel anxiety gripping his heart again as he glanced wildly between the faces, just trying to understand everyone else’s emotions in this. Looking toward Jerricho didn’t help how, Jerri was currently flapping his hands in that way he does when he’s just barely holding it together. Trying to recenter himself he looked at his father; his father was angry more so than most of his outbursts, he was turning a deep red and this wasn’t helping his anxiety either. Last option available he moves to his wife, his greatest source of warmth in the cold of the world. She held a face of forgiveness and understanding directed at our Xurx friend, that warmth even directed at someone else felt enough to stay in the real world and speak. “What plan is this? How did I not hear of this until now”?

Berrick cut off the words Talora was about to speak with a shout “what kind of idea was this! I can’t believe you made this decision for everyone without even discussing it with Raith”!

Berrick looked close to bursting as he spit the words out at a wincing Talora. Raith cut in “Da’ go cool down this isn’t the right place or the right reason”.

Berrick looked over to his son with a glare as cold as the Gobok mountains. Before he said something he would regret, Berrick threw up his hands and walked away from camp. Raith turned back to Talora and nodded for her to speak. Talora replied “She said she can’t travel with me and Jerricho, too noticeable. My skin and hair give me away from miles, and Jerricho’s ears and skin would certainly raise questions at the checkpoint”. Jerricho sat down, words caught in his throat as he moved his mouth silently.

Talora looked back at Raith as he began to say “Gods damned Tally, this is a big decision to make alone. I can only stomach this for a time, until we hit Harggan where we’ll meet up again”. Talora nodded as he continued “my da’ is gonna take some convincing but he’ll go as long as he knows I’m safe I feel, but Jerri I don’t know, seems he’s gone catatonic for now”.

Talora moved to embrace Raith softly, avoiding his injured collar and sprained arm. With him in her arms she spoke softly into his ear, choking softly on her words. “To be without you will be to have no air in my lungs.”

Raith raised his good arm to put it around her. He leaned into her ear and spoke in a gentle tone “the world without you has no color cha’tan’hi”

Talora ripped his shirt, still holding back the tears. “Leif’hi moh Leig’hi, not a single time may my heart beat before I see you again”

They held eachother for minutes uncounted, and eventually Berrick walked back toward them. Raith pulled out of the embrace and looked up at his father coming near. Berrick still held a dangerous expression on his face, but his breathing was back to normal. Raith turned to Talora and then back to his father “it’s going to be you and I on the wagon, Talora and Jerri are gonna cut a different way”.

Berrick’s expression fell off just a bit before he spoke “that doesn’t make this right, it’s the principle of the issue”. Talora shifted uncomfortably at the words, but Raith seemed to agree with the words but didn’t reply before Berrick spoke again. “I can’t believe you made this decision without consulting us first, I would have never suggested we go with this”.

Talora felt an understanding with the words, she didn’t like it either but it’s the only chance she could see of Raith having a decent recovery. Nodding as she began to speak “I understand why you don’t want this, I don’t want this either. But we need to think of Raiths injury in how we travel”. She moved to unstrap the food bag from the horse, continuing her reply “If Raith has to walk he’s just going to get tired faster and faster, and we can’t ride because the bouncing is too much for his collar”. Berrick glanced toward Raith, acknowledging that at least was right. Talora kept explaining to herself “Raith can sit up front with Thalia, on a seat that has spring suspension”.

To Talora’s surprise Berrick began nodding at this as he began to say “this does make sense, I understand that we need to find a better way for Raith”. Berrick looked Talora in the eyes as he said his next words “but what about you love? And Jerricho, how are you going to keep him safe in his state”?

Talora looked over at Jerricho, he had his face in his hands and began muttering to himself some time ago. She looked back to Berrick as she replied “I’ll have to keep an eye on him as we travel, if we avoid roads we shouldn’t hit bandits until we can get on a patrolled part of the king's road”. She put on a confident grin, belying how she truly felt about their chances as she said “This will be nothing, just like a hunting trip. I’ll keep my longsword until we get on the road, I’ll just stash it somewhere after that”.

Berrick and Raith looked far less confident, but they’d learned long ago Talora’s plans work best if they just trust her. Berrick looked at Jerricho for a long moment before he spoke “I still don’t like that you kept us out of the decision, you’d best not do it to us again. I’m not happy with you after this, but I hope you get to us safely”. Berrick had mixed feelings about Talora, he disagreed with many of her ideals and plans. He felt like she took what little safety Raith should have had from him, and he resented her for that even if he agreed with her motives.

Talora knew what he was thinking; she always had the feeling Berrick didn’t like her much, but he was an effective quartermaster and held a formation together well. She trusted that he had their best interests at heart even if they often butt heads, and he always tried to protect Raith. She mulled that over for a moment before saying “I’m sorry Berrick, I just didn’t believe Thalia would wait for us to make a decision”. She had been bundling up their supplies into a cluster she could carry herself. With all the sacks accounted for she set them on a large rock beside the camp and continued “Me and Jerricho are going to head out early, Thalia is going to buy the horses, chainmail, and weapons off of you”. She looped her longsword belt around and strapped it as she said finally “after we share the coin me and Jerricho will depart, you’re gonna make better time than us so we will leave first. We will meet up again at the morning oyster in Harggan”.

Raith scrunched his face as he replied “gods what an awful name”. He looked genuinely upset at the name of the public house.

Talora smiles at her husband as she replies “Thalia has got terrible taste”.