Episode 17: Hidden Emotions

"Care to explain yourself?"

Sarhe jumped. Kieme had come up on him so quietly, and he'd been listening so intently to the conversation outside he hadn't heard her.

"You may be Tresuan, but you're not much of a spy," she said. Sarhe didn't know if he should bolt, or try to fight, or- "Come on, you'll take some of the attention off me," Kieme continued dryly, grabbing him by the collar.

"I-I was just-" he stuttered.

"Amercy, do you know this guy?" Kieme wondered, pulling Sarhe into the light. Amercy froze and turned pale.

"Sa-sarhe?"

"I wanted to find you," the redheaded young man replied sullenly. "I can feel your power. Now that you're powerful, we'll all be treated better, so don't be afraid. But our Lord wants you back."

Kieme glared at Sarhe. She was at her most menacing, and the hallway seemed to get a little colder when she had that look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but we caught this young man on territory belonging to the Queen of Shadows. We're taking him to Thaliron now. If you want him, you're going to have take it up with her." At the moment, she looked like she could talk down several Queens of Shadows.

"Lida's in pain," Sarhe said to Amercy. "She goes in the amplifier almost every day, and it's killing her. Don't you even care?! Don't you give a damn about what she's going through?!"

Amercy's lower lip began to quiver. Re stepped between the two Tresuan.

"Do you realize who you're dealing with?" he asked the newcomer. "The queen has expressed personal interest in this prisoner. I suggest that you go to Thaliron and take it up officially."

Sarhe looked at his surroundings and frowned. He was far outnumbered, and they looked like a powerful group. "Now I know where you are," he said, staring Amercy down. "We won't lose you again."

"Even the Queen of Shadows is better than what you put him through!" Triana piped up. Sarhe turned to face her and smirked.

"What I put him through? I've been through worse than he has. Fine, I'm leaving," he called back to Kieme. "We'll meet again, Amercy." After Sarhe left, the Tresuan left behind wiped tears from his eyes.

"Does he really hate me that much?"

Triana was rubbing her forehead. "He gave me a headache," she complained. "Amercy, just what is it that a Tresuan does?"

"We won't let them hurt you," Re assured Amercy, and Triana turned to Kieme.

"What do you mean, the Queen is gonna deal with him?" she demanded. Kieme shrugged.

"It got rid of the eavesdropper, didn't it? That just leaves my goddamn fan club…let's get out of this place."

*

Kieme and Amercy walked ahead of the others, deep in conversation. "We can protect you," Kieme said. "But it'd be better for you to learn to defend yourself. Our army has run into some people that swear to this master of yours, and it looks like it's not going to be pleasant."

"You…you won't let them take me?"

"Of course not." Amercy breathed a sigh of relief, but Kieme looked at him sternly. "First of all, you know too much about us for us to turn you back over to our enemy. And you're a valuable source of information on this enemy we're facing. If it weren't for you, the queen would have lost more soldiers to dralions than I like to think…"

"The enemy," breathed Amercy. So…now Lida and Sarhe are my enemies…? he thought sadly, thinking of the look on Sarhe's face. Lida was the one who should have been the successor…her mother had been the last full-strength Tresuan, and the hopes for Lida had always been higher than those for Sarhe and Amercy. It was only after she wasn't up to Aden's standards that he went searching for other children of the Tresuan line, and found Amercy…

"Also, you know a very dangerous secret." Kieme looked pointedly back at Triana. Amercy swallowed. He knew where the Tresuan that his master had searched for was, the child that had somehow escaped by blessed ignorance of her gift. If Triana fell into his hands…

*

"Why do I feel like everyone's keeping secrets from me?" Triana complained, looking at Kieme and Amercy continuing to talk in whispers. "I miss Gregan. He might not be as strong as you people, but at least he's open."

"I tried to explain everything that I know," Kreis sighed. "The ring is a symbol of the promise Kieme made to my mother to protect me. There's some dream world between Earth and Elorhe where my brother is trapped, and my mother and my brother both know how to bring people there in their sleep. Kieme's been there as well."

"Your mother must be a powerful sorceress," Triana said thoughtfully. "And she knows Kieme well. Is it possible that she-"

"I already thought about it," Kreis replied. He reached under his shirt to pull out the locket he now wore around his neck and showed Triana the picture. "She has red eyes, like me. The queen's eyes were violet."

"You actually remember what color her eyes were?" Triana raised an eyebrow. "It feels like that was ages ago."

"Life in Norana feels like it was ages ago."

"Don't fret, kids, you're still young," Re said, coming up behind them.

"Oh, and how old are you?" retorted Triana.

Re coughed. "Twenty-five."

"Wow, you are old," Triana replied.

"Well, someone's got to act as babysitter for you children."

Kreis rolled his eyes. "I thought that was Kieme's job."

"She's only twenty-three," Re replied.

"I don't envy you the job," Kieme called to Re. "I never was any good with children."

"Oh, so you and Amercy are done with your private conversation?" Re called back.

"I suppose," Kieme replied.

"I don't see why you let your prisoner in on secrets," Triana said. She was fond of Amercy, who probably didn't take Kieme's grating manner very well.

"I can keep secrets from whomever I please," Kieme retorted. "We can't get back to Thaliron quickly enough."

"That desperate to be rid of us, huh?" commented Triana.

"Oh, I don't think I'll ever be rid of you," Kieme replied. "So what are you going to do when you meet the Queen, hmm?"

Kreis and Triana exchanged glances. "Ask her why," said Kreis. "Find out who the person is who wants to dominate the entire world. And then…" He drifted off. What reason would the Queen of Shadows have to listen to them?

"So the Queen is in Thaliron, now?" Triana wondered.

"By the time we get there, she will be," Kieme replied. "She travels a good deal. I won't try to judge the Queen for you-my words would be meaningless to you. You must meet her and form your own opinions."

"What are you planning to do when we get back, Miss Kieme?" wondered Amercy.

"I'll probably head out again, actually," she replied. "Aradel and Grandfather need all the help they can get, when we have to meet your friend Master Aden."

"The battle to decide who will rule Elorhe," Amercy breathed.

"Something very much like that, I suppose," Kieme agreed.

*

"Grandpa!" Aradel ran into the arms of the older man who had newly arrived, and he lifted her up into the air. Gregan and Arik stood back.

"So this must be the general," Gregan said to Arik, regarding the grandfatherly man who had brought quite an army with him.

"He looks…normal," Arik commented. "He doesn't look like a great soldier at all!"

"So this is the company you're keeping these days, huh?" General Hirokitan turned his attention to Arik and Gregan, who straightened. "Aren't you a little young to be breaking hearts, Aradel?"

"Grandpa!" she gasped.

"The only thing she's breaking is wind," Arik muttered. Gregan coughed, trying to hold back a snicker.

"These days, it seems the queen will take just about anyone," commented the general, looking at Gregan and Arik. "Why did you come here? You first." He addressed Arik.

The boy took a deep breath. "Because I don't want people like my dad and Lady Nele to run people's lives. Because I want to be strong and fight and save people."

"Your father?" questioned Hirokitan.

"Lord Chiram Siro, sir," Arik replied.

"Hm. After he saw what happened to Namaia, he surrendered to us, but the man can't be trusted. Can you prove that you're any different from your father, boy?" Hirokitan moved on. "And you?" He addressed Gregan, now. "You're not from around here."

"I come from Ecalle, sir," Gregan replied, showing no fear in the face of this suddenly -threatening interrogator. The kind grandfather had become a stern general in the flash of a moment.

"You don't look like a fighter."

"I…was an actor." Gregan was beginning to wilt, realized it, and steadied himself. Can he see what I'm thinking? No--it doesn't feel like that…but I still feel like I'm being read. Like he's seeing something that no one else can.

"You don't belong here. Either of you." Hirokitan spoke sternly. "Pack up your things and prepare to leave the camp. Come to me tomorrow morning for your orders."

Both young men began to protest. "I'll work hard," Gregan said. "I know--if I throw my heart into it--"

"I'm not like my father at all!" Arik cut in, but the general turned his back.

"I've made up my mind," he said. "Go." Even Aradel was looking askance at him.

"Grandpa…" she began, as they walked away.

*

The first thing Kieme did when they arrived in Thaliron was to leave her companions in Re's care and go to visit an old friend. A woman who spent most of her days in a workshop or in a dream…

"I see," Tarin said to Kieme, having listened to her story. "You need to tell him everything. About you, me, and himself. And even Triana, and the Queen."

Kieme winced. "Everything he knows, he tells to Triana," she replied. "I don't think he's ready to hear the whole truth yet."

"I believe you're the one who's not ready to tell him," Tarin replied. "If you will not, I will."

"No," Kieme insisted. "I made a promise to tell him everything. I have to be the one who explains…"

"Time is running short," Tarin noted, "and if you do not, Kaelor will, and probably only confuse Kreis further."

"All right, then," sighed Kieme. "I'll tell him about you, and who he is, and the prophecy and everything. But there's no reason for me to tell him about me. I'd just be whining about my own hardships and…"

"…and you know that's a lie," Tarin cut in. "If Kreis is truly to understand the world and his own fate, he must understand you. Or the world will be plunged into war again, and stained with yet more blood."

"Elorhe has already absorbed too much blood." Kieme's voice was thick and dull with pain.

"But the hope to rebuild is left in its wake," Tarin replied. "The people have hope to live their lives in peace--"

"Those who are buried do not share in that hope." Kieme glared at the older woman. "Even if it is for a better world, the blood cannot be washed from her hands. I'm tired of the Queen of Shadows."

"Kieme…you're not as cold as you once were," Tarin said softly.

"What, because I'm sick of bloodshed? What would you do if I weren't here to keep your l ittle boy's hands clean?" Kieme shook her head. "Well, I'll clean it all up for you. You can explain the rest to him once I've gone."

"Kieme…you know it isn't like that…"

Kieme shrugged. "It really doesn't matter to me."