05-30-2023, 09:23 PM
[[continued from The Point of No Return]]
![[Image: Ny-av-2.png]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Ny-av-2.png)
Nythadri
Despite all words to the contrary, Arikan had not displayed cruelty. He could have forced her own hand to the deed, or allowed Jai to carry out the Compulsion himself. That he had not prompted a strange sort of gratitude, but not one she was ever likely to share, nor he to even appreciate. Nythadri saw efficiency not mercy, of which she happened to be a beneficiary rather than a recipient. He had acted for himself, exactly as he had promised.
She watched him with an air of recalculation in the final moments before he followed them through the gate. For now it was easier to examine with dispassion rather than dwell on the shock of what had just happened, or her willing complicity in it. No foundations were laid for trust; she was not sure she ever could. But she realised she believed him. That whether he truly strode in Light or Shadow, or some singular path of his own, he fully intended to clear the Dragon’s way.
The gesture of the wine was a vexation not a threat, she’d warrant, but she was unamused by the play. Nythadri did not think he’d have cause to poison them, but the room had been unattended, as had Arikan the entire day. A move against him she could well believe no matter how careful he was of his identity, and she knew little about the fort or its occupants – or even Talin’s connections to the place. Jai gulped the offering before she could think to caution him. The look she gave Arikan was withering.
“I’ve been told wine goes to my head,” she said dryly alongside her otherwise polite decline. Probably it would prove too subtle a warning for Jai, but she meant to remind him of the viper’s nest of the hunt. This was not a rescue, and they were not exactly safe. Clearly he did not realise who Arikan was. At some point he was going to wonder why he recognised a channeler but not a brother, though, and there were few enough answers for that. All of them bad ones.
At Arikan’s words a brow rose. She did not mention his sojourn into the Black Tower’s storeroom, but the clear cut of her gaze suggested she missed little of the opportunities gleaned for himself. He had more than fairly requited a price for his aid, such as it was. “You made sure you were seen,” she said instead. At her side she had not released Jai’s hand; all the better to remind herself that every step along this road tugged him along too, despite her desire to protect him from her choices. Distance had been a foolish shield though. Ellomai’s admonishment haunted decisions that felt well made at the time. She didn’t dwell on the mistake. Rather, she forged relentlessly ahead.
Arikan hovered uncomfortably close. She met his eye. “There’s more you should know. But first, where in the light is Talin?”
Nythadri
Despite all words to the contrary, Arikan had not displayed cruelty. He could have forced her own hand to the deed, or allowed Jai to carry out the Compulsion himself. That he had not prompted a strange sort of gratitude, but not one she was ever likely to share, nor he to even appreciate. Nythadri saw efficiency not mercy, of which she happened to be a beneficiary rather than a recipient. He had acted for himself, exactly as he had promised.
She watched him with an air of recalculation in the final moments before he followed them through the gate. For now it was easier to examine with dispassion rather than dwell on the shock of what had just happened, or her willing complicity in it. No foundations were laid for trust; she was not sure she ever could. But she realised she believed him. That whether he truly strode in Light or Shadow, or some singular path of his own, he fully intended to clear the Dragon’s way.
The gesture of the wine was a vexation not a threat, she’d warrant, but she was unamused by the play. Nythadri did not think he’d have cause to poison them, but the room had been unattended, as had Arikan the entire day. A move against him she could well believe no matter how careful he was of his identity, and she knew little about the fort or its occupants – or even Talin’s connections to the place. Jai gulped the offering before she could think to caution him. The look she gave Arikan was withering.
“I’ve been told wine goes to my head,” she said dryly alongside her otherwise polite decline. Probably it would prove too subtle a warning for Jai, but she meant to remind him of the viper’s nest of the hunt. This was not a rescue, and they were not exactly safe. Clearly he did not realise who Arikan was. At some point he was going to wonder why he recognised a channeler but not a brother, though, and there were few enough answers for that. All of them bad ones.
At Arikan’s words a brow rose. She did not mention his sojourn into the Black Tower’s storeroom, but the clear cut of her gaze suggested she missed little of the opportunities gleaned for himself. He had more than fairly requited a price for his aid, such as it was. “You made sure you were seen,” she said instead. At her side she had not released Jai’s hand; all the better to remind herself that every step along this road tugged him along too, despite her desire to protect him from her choices. Distance had been a foolish shield though. Ellomai’s admonishment haunted decisions that felt well made at the time. She didn’t dwell on the mistake. Rather, she forged relentlessly ahead.
Arikan hovered uncomfortably close. She met his eye. “There’s more you should know. But first, where in the light is Talin?”