Heart of Leoth: [HAITUS]

Part XII ~ Fara

She made it to the fireplace just as the door to her chamber was thrust open. Valdr stepped inside and found her gaze. There was little clue in his eyes to his thoughts, whether anything had changed since she'd been forced from Elyon's cell, whether Elyon was alive still, whether beyond all imaginings Valdr had somehow discovered Dacian's proposal.

His face was a mask as it so often was. A mask that hid his rage and his sickness, his lusts and desires. But she'd had years of practice at seeing beneath that mask. She was better than anyone else at it. Even Ravol. It was that skill that would save her now. Save Elyon.

She tried not to think of Dura beyond the door. Could not imagine the outcome for them both if he were to discover her there. This would only work if Fara played the role she had always played.

"Return to the guardhouse," Valdr spat at the guard. The guard bowed and then was gone. Valdr closed the door behind him and moved toward her, slow, calculating. When he stopped in front of her she braced herself for his fist or his palm, glancing down only briefly to see if he held his blade. He did not. She took a deep breath.

His eyes were black as night as he loomed over her. "It is truly as though you do these things on purpose. Lie to me, embarrass me, disobey me." He reached up and wrapped a hand around her throat. His touch was gentle but his fingers dug into her jaw.

She had seen no sign of Ravol outside and it was this which told her he knew nothing of Dacian's proposal.

She met his gaze, defiant, but said nothing. She saw a smile begin to spread over his mouth and she swallowed. His fingers crawled across her cheek and found her mouth and pushed two inside, resting them on her tongue. When he withdrew them he brought them to his own mouth and tasted them.

"Lies," he said softly. "You've tasted of lies since you returned to me with your Leoth," he spat. Then suddenly he was turning away from her. He shrugged off his robe and threw it over the patterned chaise then sat. "Pour me some wine and then sit. We have much to discuss, sister." It was a command. One she obeyed. She poured them both a cup of honeyed wine and handed him his before taking a seat across from him.

"No Dresyth...?" he gestured at her cup. Again she said nothing, but she felt the vial press against her wrist. Valdr drank. Watched her and drank. "Tell me everything you know of the mountain tribes. Think carefully before you speak, love. For if I taste a single lie in the air I will have that beast you care for cut limb from limb and sent back to his commander in pieces."

She nodded. Took a breath. And told him everything she knew.

She told him of how when Zybar's ships were first sighted on the Golden bay, it was clear to all that Azura's army did not have the ships or soldiers to hold them. She told him of how talk turned to the mountain and sea tribes. The mountain tribes had always lived apart from Azurian society, returning to the city for supplies before disappearing back up the Gelder. She told him of how the Sea Tribe were loyal to their king, and how Sylvan had sent a ship carrying his word off the Whitevain Straight - before the city fell - to search for the ship known as the Windswallow. But that it could not be located in time.

Valdr asked who lead the Mountain Tribe.

She told him of their leader. One they followed like a king. She knew little of him. She'd searched her mind for his name. A name she'd heard only once from queen Arielle when she'd spoken it to Sylvan. A look had passed between them that Fara had not understood, and his name had never been spoken again. She told him that though no one knew the exact number of Sun Kin, their numbers were substantial.

Even in the low light, she saw him pale a little.

She told him that their knowledge of the realm, and especially the mountain ranges to the north, was intricate and unparalleled. Where the Zybar or any outsider could not traverse, the mountain tribes could do it in the dark, blindfolded. Or so they said.