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A Rose In The Wind: A Saga of the Halmae -- Updated June 19, 2014
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<blockquote data-quote="Ilex" data-source="post: 6289854" data-attributes="member: 82687"><p><strong>38x03</strong></p><p></p><p>Arden saw her chance as the rest of the group grew distracted by the symbols they had found. Aeton was clearly enjoying his first taste of freedom in sixteen years (<em>twice as long as I’ve been a slave, and never a new day</em>) and was strolling at the back of the pack, eyes bounding happily around the scenery.</p><p></p><p>Arden was sorry to interrupt him. But he might be an Advocate…</p><p> </p><p>She steeled herself, slowed her steps, and walked silently beside him for a moment. Then she spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m thinking we may have similar secrets,” she said. She’d decided that the best way to learn if he belonged to the Advocates was to insinuate that she did, too.</p><p> </p><p>He raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Damn. It was hard to bluff someone who made you do all the work.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m wondering which way the wind blows you,” she tried. The Advocates split themselves into two sects, the East Wind and the West. Watching him closely, she was sure she saw understanding in his eyes, but “You’re not the same as the rest of your friends,” was all he said, making the statement into a faint question.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not,” she said. “And they don’t know that. I’m trusting you, now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Risky,” he said. “You answer some questions for me, maybe I’ll answer some for you. What can you tell me about the young nobleman… and his sister?”</p><p> </p><p>A chill raced down Arden’s spine. He was trying to be noncommittal, but urgency was clear underneath. He was asking about Rose. A Sedellan who’d been on a secret mission sixteen years ago to these distant lands—home of the Sheh with their prophecy about girl babies—was asking about Rose. It couldn’t be a coincidence.</p><p> </p><p>“Very little,” she said, shrugging. “They’re children of a Pol Hennan noble family which operates a lot of teleport networks—”</p><p> </p><p>He interrupted her. “Who are their parents, exactly? Who is their mother?”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t need me for that,” Arden answered. “Ask them. Or when you’re back in the Peninsula, go to Pol Henna and look up the whole family tree. Why do you want to know?”</p><p></p><p>“Is their mother an Ehktian?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s not your turn to ask questions yet.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m making it my turn. Why do you care? Do you know her?” Arden tumbled the possibilities around in her head. Aeton had been here sixteen years. If he had been an Advocate before that, he could have worked with Eva. Could Eva and the Advocates have turned their attention to the Sacrifice of Death? Certainly they would know about it, because Eva had been there at the start…</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry,” Aeton said. “But you haven’t answered my perfectly harmless questions about your companions yet. The girl Rose… is it just me, or is her hair a strange color?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a fashion,” Arden said. “Silly but expensive.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s an interesting girl. Why are you all out here? Why is <em>she</em> out here?” Arden knew she’d better wrap this conversation up soon; she wasn’t getting anywhere useful, and this ice was too thin.</p><p> </p><p>“Listen,” she said, one last try. “For all I know, you and I are out here for the same reasons, and we should talk about all of that, but I can’t say anything more about my mission until I’m sure about yours.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>If</em> I belonged to whatever secret group you’re insinuating I belong to,” Aeton said, a twinkle in his eye, “don’t you think there’d be a password I would have expected to hear by now? You know any passwords?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sixteen years, maybe the passwords have changed,” she tried, allowing her real impatience to show in her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Or maybe there aren’t any passwords because I have nothing to hide.”</p><p> </p><p>Arden sighed, defeated. She knew some useful passwords. But not for this conversation. Not for the Advocates. </p><p> </p><p>“Is this all an act for my benefit,” Aeton asked her then, “or would your companions be surprised to hear that their slave is keeping secrets from them?”</p><p> </p><p>Arden had to smile. “I don’t know if they’d be <em>surprised</em>,” she said. “The Justicar’s been waiting for me to poison his soup since we met.” Aeton was shrewd, infuriating, and probably someone she could have been friends with in a different lifetime. “I’ll leave you alone. But—for what it’s worth—what’s happened to you makes me miserable just to imagine, and that’s from someone who was enslaved in the Aegosian mines. I’m sorry you’ve had to go though it.”</p><p> </p><p>“I appreciate that.”</p><p> </p><p>Arden increased her pace a little. Eventually she slipped up beside Mena, shot a glance back to make sure Aeton had stopped watching her and resumed his happy study of the forest and the sky, and then murmured, “He knows about Rose.”</p><p> </p><p>They had no chance to speak further until the time loop reset, which it did on schedule at midnight. They saw flashes of light in the distance, from the battle at the encampment. Savina reassured Aeton once more that they would <em>absolutely</em> awaken him in time, and then he vanished—and they were back at their campsite of the night before.</p><p> </p><p>Mena barely skipped a beat. “Pay attention, everyone. Arden has bad news.”</p><p> </p><p>Arden described her conversation with Aeton, watching everyone’s face grow grimmer. </p><p> </p><p>“Is he an immediate threat?” demanded Tavi.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think so, Signor,” Arden said. “He was very curious about her, but he didn’t strike me as scared or angry or planning something. Then again, I’m pretty sure he’s an Advocate. And that means we can’t trust him.”</p><p> </p><p>“We need him, for now,” pointed out Twiggy. “He knows everything about the Sovereign encampment, especially where that priest is.”</p><p> </p><p>“And I don’t sense malice in him,” added Savina. “I’m not saying we should trust him, but I don’t believe he would hurt Rose.” She smiled at her friend. Rose attempted to smile back, a little weakly. Arden felt bad for her. It couldn’t be pleasant to hear yourself discussed as a possible target.</p><p> </p><p>“We will remain on guard,” said Mena. </p><p> </p><p>“And, if he screams ‘<em>I am the Agent of Destruction, ARRGGGGH!</em>’ and leaps in Rose’s direction, we kill him, yes?” asked Kormick.</p><p> </p><p>“Instantly,” said Tavi.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ilex, post: 6289854, member: 82687"] [b]38x03[/b] Arden saw her chance as the rest of the group grew distracted by the symbols they had found. Aeton was clearly enjoying his first taste of freedom in sixteen years ([I]twice as long as I’ve been a slave, and never a new day[/I]) and was strolling at the back of the pack, eyes bounding happily around the scenery. Arden was sorry to interrupt him. But he might be an Advocate… She steeled herself, slowed her steps, and walked silently beside him for a moment. Then she spoke. “I’m thinking we may have similar secrets,” she said. She’d decided that the best way to learn if he belonged to the Advocates was to insinuate that she did, too. He raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Damn. It was hard to bluff someone who made you do all the work. “I’m wondering which way the wind blows you,” she tried. The Advocates split themselves into two sects, the East Wind and the West. Watching him closely, she was sure she saw understanding in his eyes, but “You’re not the same as the rest of your friends,” was all he said, making the statement into a faint question. “I’m not,” she said. “And they don’t know that. I’m trusting you, now.” “Risky,” he said. “You answer some questions for me, maybe I’ll answer some for you. What can you tell me about the young nobleman… and his sister?” A chill raced down Arden’s spine. He was trying to be noncommittal, but urgency was clear underneath. He was asking about Rose. A Sedellan who’d been on a secret mission sixteen years ago to these distant lands—home of the Sheh with their prophecy about girl babies—was asking about Rose. It couldn’t be a coincidence. “Very little,” she said, shrugging. “They’re children of a Pol Hennan noble family which operates a lot of teleport networks—” He interrupted her. “Who are their parents, exactly? Who is their mother?” “You don’t need me for that,” Arden answered. “Ask them. Or when you’re back in the Peninsula, go to Pol Henna and look up the whole family tree. Why do you want to know?” “Is their mother an Ehktian?” “Why?” “It’s not your turn to ask questions yet.” “I’m making it my turn. Why do you care? Do you know her?” Arden tumbled the possibilities around in her head. Aeton had been here sixteen years. If he had been an Advocate before that, he could have worked with Eva. Could Eva and the Advocates have turned their attention to the Sacrifice of Death? Certainly they would know about it, because Eva had been there at the start… “Sorry,” Aeton said. “But you haven’t answered my perfectly harmless questions about your companions yet. The girl Rose… is it just me, or is her hair a strange color?” “It’s a fashion,” Arden said. “Silly but expensive.” “She’s an interesting girl. Why are you all out here? Why is [I]she[/I] out here?” Arden knew she’d better wrap this conversation up soon; she wasn’t getting anywhere useful, and this ice was too thin. “Listen,” she said, one last try. “For all I know, you and I are out here for the same reasons, and we should talk about all of that, but I can’t say anything more about my mission until I’m sure about yours.” “[I]If[/I] I belonged to whatever secret group you’re insinuating I belong to,” Aeton said, a twinkle in his eye, “don’t you think there’d be a password I would have expected to hear by now? You know any passwords?” “Sixteen years, maybe the passwords have changed,” she tried, allowing her real impatience to show in her voice. “Or maybe there aren’t any passwords because I have nothing to hide.” Arden sighed, defeated. She knew some useful passwords. But not for this conversation. Not for the Advocates. “Is this all an act for my benefit,” Aeton asked her then, “or would your companions be surprised to hear that their slave is keeping secrets from them?” Arden had to smile. “I don’t know if they’d be [I]surprised[/I],” she said. “The Justicar’s been waiting for me to poison his soup since we met.” Aeton was shrewd, infuriating, and probably someone she could have been friends with in a different lifetime. “I’ll leave you alone. But—for what it’s worth—what’s happened to you makes me miserable just to imagine, and that’s from someone who was enslaved in the Aegosian mines. I’m sorry you’ve had to go though it.” “I appreciate that.” Arden increased her pace a little. Eventually she slipped up beside Mena, shot a glance back to make sure Aeton had stopped watching her and resumed his happy study of the forest and the sky, and then murmured, “He knows about Rose.” They had no chance to speak further until the time loop reset, which it did on schedule at midnight. They saw flashes of light in the distance, from the battle at the encampment. Savina reassured Aeton once more that they would [I]absolutely[/I] awaken him in time, and then he vanished—and they were back at their campsite of the night before. Mena barely skipped a beat. “Pay attention, everyone. Arden has bad news.” Arden described her conversation with Aeton, watching everyone’s face grow grimmer. “Is he an immediate threat?” demanded Tavi. “I don’t think so, Signor,” Arden said. “He was very curious about her, but he didn’t strike me as scared or angry or planning something. Then again, I’m pretty sure he’s an Advocate. And that means we can’t trust him.” “We need him, for now,” pointed out Twiggy. “He knows everything about the Sovereign encampment, especially where that priest is.” “And I don’t sense malice in him,” added Savina. “I’m not saying we should trust him, but I don’t believe he would hurt Rose.” She smiled at her friend. Rose attempted to smile back, a little weakly. Arden felt bad for her. It couldn’t be pleasant to hear yourself discussed as a possible target. “We will remain on guard,” said Mena. “And, if he screams ‘[I]I am the Agent of Destruction, ARRGGGGH![/I]’ and leaps in Rose’s direction, we kill him, yes?” asked Kormick. “Instantly,” said Tavi. [/QUOTE]
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