“Sir you may enter, but your guests will need to remain outside. Commander Maatilani’s orders.” Timeaus glanced at the Ocealus guard who had spoken, he and his associates appeared tense, on edge. The lack of information coming down to them, in addition to their small numbers and Maatilani’s agitated state created an atmosphere that was so thick as to be cut with a knife.
Timeaus turned toward Jezebela and her four guards, a second pair joining up along the way. “Can you and your men stick around for a moment? I’m going to go and speak with Maatilani, get an idea of what is going on. You shouldn’t be waiting long.” The man tried his very best to appear confident, yet she appeared to pick up on his uncertainty.
“Do what you can, we can always return tomorrow. The rain looks like it will be coming down harder, and I personally don’t want to be caught out in the open. Your messenger seemed desperate, so I just thought there might be something we can help with, it was our own prerogative. The last thing I want is to cause any concern.” Jezebela didn’t wait for his reply, instead taking her men and positioning themselves with backs to the outer wall, pressed under the slight overhang to try and avoid getting too wet. “Don’t want to look unpresentable when the Scholar arrives.” Timeaus and the others were visibly torn, not wanting to leave their guests out in the rain, but also understanding urgency of the situation.
“Mother, you head on inside with Apollonius and Spurius. I, Niko, and Paulus can remain behind with auntie Jezebela, to keep them company.” Mera was quick to volunteer herself and the duo who would accompany her. None of them had an inkling of how long they would need to wait out here in the rain, but there was no changing the girl’s mind once she had made the decision. Both her mother, brother, and uncle were aware of this, smiling and shaking their heads in defeat as they acceded to her demands.
“Fine but try to keep yourself warm. Also don’t go to sleep without taking a bath first, we all are smelling a bit rank after today’s experiences. Some more than others.” Leucena made sure to glance towards the man, specifically the three responsible for pulling the handcarts throughout the day. “You can wait out here, let the boys get the goods back inside. Once the gold and materials are properly stored away, I’ll make sure to send the two back out. For now, why don’t you have a chat with auntie jezebela.” If anyone was surprised it was Jezebela herself, who could not get over the familial manner in which the women were treating her.
Leucena jammed her elbow into her brothers-in-law’s side, her eyes urging him to say something to the hardy warrior woman. “Come along now children, we need to unload these goods and we wouldn’t want to keep the commander waiting. You should go straight to the commander; the boys and I will handle the goods. Should give you some time to speak with your lady friend in case you forgot to inform her of anything.” Leucena didn’t listen nor care for anything Timeaus tried to say in response, choosing instead to ignore the man and drag the younger men off to handle the supplies.
“It is clear to me who holds the reins in the family, your brother must be utterly henpecked.” Jezebela jokingly stated, however the response was not the laughs she had expected, instead a somber and depressive aura seemed to fall upon the group. Even the talkative and assertive Mera had become restrained, her eyes downcast. “My brother WAS henpecked, he isn’t anymore.” Timeaus was sure to emphasize the was in his statement, he wasn’t angry, jezebela was unaware of the touchiness of the subject. She was aware of the reason for Timeaus’s personal demons, but not that of his brother’s side of the family.
Jezebela moved to apologize for the misstep, yet Timeaus was quick to hold up his hand and stop her. “It isn’t your fault, you couldn’t have known, so there’s nothing to apologize for. Now you know, so it’s a bit of a touchy subject. Leucena and Apollonius can handle it better, but Mera was there, the girl changed after that day, became infatuated with strength. She used to be shy, wouldn’t have hurt a fly before… but we all have our ways of coping with tragedy. I know that better than anyone.” Timeaus placed his hand on his niece’s head, allowing the girl who barely reached his chest to cuddle up out of the rain.
“No, I understand… I understand more than you could ever know.” Jezebela appeared to recall something tragic in her own past, her hand unconsciously moving towards the burns on her thigh.
What should have been a light chat to pass the time had become a circle of tragic reminders. None of the members present seemed able to restart the conversation, opting to remain silent, afraid of saying the wrong thing yet again. This standoff would have likely continued had the avian cry not awakened Timeaus from his stupor. He had immediately reacted to the hawk’s cry, and he had easily recognized the sharp call of the Scholar’s prized bird, the night hawk Silverwing.
“I’m sorry, we will talk later. Jezebela please look after my niece, I need to go meet with the commander immediately.” Timeaus carefully pried his niece’s hands from his waist and pushed her over towards the embarrassed Jezebela. Once the two were somewhat comfortable with one another he turned and dashed through the gate into the compound.
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“Commander, I heard Silverwing’s cry and came as fast as I could!” Timeaus was slightly out of breath, having dashed as quickly as he could to arrive at the central atrium where the leaders had established their command center. Maatilani was sitting at the table in the center, the few lower-level officers at her side, Malakos who would have been next in command was nowhere to be seen.
“Where have you been! Malakos has yet to be found, and you were out relaxing while our lord has been imprisoned by our enemies! Tell me Timeaus, have I missed anything!” As if waiting for this moment Maatilani let out her pent-up aggression. The stoic warrior was nowhere to be seen, what stood in her place was an anxious woman, an agitated leader thrust into a position she was not ready for.
“Commander, as you say Lord Amyntas is currently imprisoned within the palace. But tell me, do you believe our lord so weak that he is unable to handle himself in such a situation?” Timeaus’s words helped to ease Maatilani down, she was wound to tight and not yet at the point where she was looking at things logically. Emotions were high due to the false charges leveled against the Scholar, with those in the room willing and ready to go to war for their leader. Timeaus was a supporter of the Scholar, but he was not a die-hard, and it was that lack of fanatical loyalty that allowed him to rein in his anger and focus instead on bringing a sense of rationality back to the conversation.
“Maati, old friend. Have you read the lord’s message? If you haven’t already, then that is what we should do first. That is what should drive our next course of action.” Maatilani nodded in agreement with Timeaus’s suggestion. It was easy for Timeaus and the other officers had never seen such a response from their commander, the woman had never once had such an outburst in their presence before. It did appear however that the arrival of Timeaus, specifically someone to help shoulder some of the responsibility had helped greatly in steadying her.
“You’re right friend. I’m sorry, I’ve shown you all an ugly sight… please forgive me.” Maatilani bowed her head in a sign of forgiveness. Although the rest showed signs of uneasiness at the commander bowing her head, the heavy atmosphere that had hung in the air had dissipated. “It’s fine, an understandable reaction having been thrust into such a role. Now, it’s too bad that Malakos is not here, but I think you need to read the Scholar’s letter now. We need to know everything we can before deciding how we tackle the current situation.” Timeaus was right all those present knew it, agreeing that they could not wait any longer and that Malakos would need to be informed whenever it was that he arrived.
Maatilani slowly and carefully unveiled the rolled-up paper, incrementally her lips turned upward, and her demeanor brightened. This change was slight but was a good indication as to the status and condition of their leader. “Our Lord has informed us that he is imprisoned within a suite of the palace. He is not requesting our assistance and asks us to sit tight. He has one order which is to tighten the guard, he suspects that his enemies will make an attempt upon us here in order to gain leverage against him.” Each of the officer’s breathed a sigh of relief as Maatilani put down the letter.
“Well, I guess we need to get to work right away, I suspect Caedyrn has a plan of his own.” With Timeas’s words as the catalyst, the group of officers began to move. Their focus was on ensuring their base of operations in the capital remained secure until the return of their leader.
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“How are you doing girl? Better?” Jezebela was having just a little trouble connecting with the much younger girl. Ever since the mishap about her father Mera had become much less talkative than what the woman had seen back at the Siren’s Embrace. She had closed herself off for the last five minutes, neither responding nor speaking, single mindedly focusing on compounding the substances in her hands. The girl expertly handled the different colored ingredients, placing them within the mortar and pestle, reducing to a finely ground powder.
Seeing that there was little point in disturbing the young girl, Jezebela opted to sit beside her and watch, waiting until the girl was done with her task. It was quite a sight, for a girl so young she moved with the focus and experience of someone twice her age. Mera had one or two hidden compartments within her cloak, and beneath the flowing stola one could imagine a belt filled with similar ingredients with the way she kept removing one thing after another.
Jezebela couldn’t help but notice the vibrant colors of the plants under the light of the nearby glow lamp, colors which were often stated to obfuscate the uninformed, masking the flowers true nature as a repository for toxins. Yet Mera showed did not lessen the speed by which she worked, her hands moving as if possessing a mind of their own. She would just reach out collect a handful of rainwater in her hand and together with crushed plants concoct a paste like substance which was quickly bottled and sealed.
“It’s not that surprising you know. I may be young, but I had the best teacher and I’m thankful for the skills he has bestowed upon me.” Mera finally spoke, for the first time acknowledging the existence of the woman resting at her side since their arrival at the gate. “I’m sorry, its just that I don’t know how to handle that subject. Poisons and alchemy, this is my way of coping, if I had these skills at the time, maybe I wouldn’t have these problems. But I can’t go back and fix my mistakes, to quote the Scholar, that’s just reality.”
Jezebela looked at the young girl, the girl on the cusp of womanhood and saw something of herself in her. Mera had a strength of will, something that she showed on the surface, but deep down she was still the same girl pleading for her father, blaming herself for whatever tragedy ailed her. “Believe it or not, long ago I was a dainty young thing. Possessing none of the grit and muscles, you’d be lucky if I didn’t faint from seeing blood.” Jezebela let out a bit of a chuckle while reminiscing about a bygone age.
“What changed, you couldn’t be further from that. I don’t see how you could get here from some dainty girl in a dress.” Mera replied, her tone was inquisitive, and it was clear she wanted to hear more.
“I learned through pain and betrayal, my family was murdered for what we had, our home burned to the ground. That’s where I got this, a reminder of what I lost and the goal I strive for.” Jezebela winced as she slapped the burn marks, the pain was psychological at this point, the skin long since healed, but an ugly reminder of the past. “Some people loyal to me helped me, it’s how I survived the tough years between landing here. My life after that wasn’t pretty, often violent, and my weakness resulted in the deaths of those loyal to my family. After that I realized my weakness, that I was an anchor and chain around their necks, and that if I didn’t gain my own strength, we would all be dead.” Jezebela pressed her head against the wall, her eyes glancing towards the darkened skies and the falling rain.
“It wasn’t easy the time after that, but I gave up all notions of the life I lived before. Only when I let the little girl I once was die, only then did the woman I became rise. My eye, the scars and wounds, all things I did to achieve my goal, and I wouldn’t do anything differently.” Jezebela placed her hand atop Mera’s head, with the girl accepting the gesture.
Mera was just about to ask a follow-up question when Niko came barging out the front gate with Paulus trailing close behind. It was barely noticeable, but Niko’s eyes were glowing, a layer of multicolored light coating the surface.
“Get inside now!” No one, not even Paulus who had chased after him to begin with had the chance to ask why Niko was in such a hurry. However, they all understood the urgency with which he made his statement, it was a forceful demand that immediately silenced the surroundings and forced compliance.
The guards were cowed enough to allow the guests to enter as long as two of their own were there at all times. It was just as they started to cross the threshold through the main gate, that a volley of arrows shot out of the darkness across the street. Both guards standing at the front gate were brought down quickly, their bodies bristling with arrows.
“Enemy Attack! We are under attack! Sound the alarm!” Someone yelled out, or maybe they all yelled out, but what was certain was that they were under attack.
