The Fifth Star - Chapter 16 (2/2) - The Hideout

 “It was my hand that wielded the blade that killed my mother,” Darius confessed, much to Elowyn’s surprise, “but it was not me that did it. The magi who came for me - they made me do it. Then they killed father too.”

It seemed that caught Alysse off-guard. For the first time since their initial confrontation, the furrow in her brows eased. “What magi are you talking about?”

“The Seers!”

“None of us saw anything, Darius, save your parent’s bodies on an empty farm. Seems awfully convenient, doesn’t it?” Her face was guarded still, unconvinced.

“Alysse,” Darius fairly pleaded with her, sitting back down heavily on the bed with his hands over his face, “does - did - everyone really think I killed them? That I would be capable of that?”

She said nothing, still standing, looking down at Darius with a hint of pity softening the edges of her expression.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes, then,” he groaned.

Alysse reclaimed her seat. Elowyn sat quietly in shock. Seers made him kill his own mother? Maybe the magi really are despicable, hated for good reason…

Perhaps seeing what a toll this revelation was having on Darius, Alysse calmed herself and spoke again, much gentler this time, “There’s nothing to be done for it now. I’m listening; tell me from the beginning.”

**********

Once Darius had finished recounted their tale - leaving out some of the more difficult to explain aspects, like their connection - Alysse excused herself for some air, leaving the pair of them alone in the trivially-sized hideout to await her return. Immediately, Elowyn turned to Darius. “I wish you would have told me.”

“To what end?” Darius asked in reply, “I don’t like to even think about that day; recounting it again was dreadful enough. Even after all this time… it still hurts.”

“Why would they do that to you?”

“I didn’t know it at the time, Elowyn, but my parents were rebels. They hid me from the Seers - an offense with only one possible punishment. It’s a death sentence.”

Elowyn thought back to Mistress Raven - she had known full well, far before Elowyn herself did, what she had harboured, thanks to Darius’s interventions. It seemed now, angry as Elowyn had been when she found out, that it had not been a selfish act meant to keep her at the brothel bringing in coin, but a selfless one, one that she would have paid the ultimate price for if she’d been discovered. Elowyn was hit with a wall of guilt; she hadn’t seen Raven since she’d been taken, of course, and she had not thought once for her former Mistress’s safety the moment she left Lothan. Now her stomach churned with dismay. Her Mistress could be a week dead now, and she had no way to learn the truth of it.

“It was…” Elowyn regained her composure after realizing Darius still looked directly at her, awaiting a response, “I’m at a loss for words. I can’t fathom how they could be so cruel as to make you do it. I just wish I’d known before I asked you what they were like. That feels cruel, now.”

“Worry not on it, obviously you didn’t know. I suppose that would have been an opportune time to tell you all the same - but how would I have brought that up? ‘Oh, by the way, they’re dead and it was my fault’?” Even in the seriousness of it all, he half-snorted in sardonic amusement. “Anyway, there’s nothing to be done now but wait and see what Alysse says on her return.”

Elowyn dropped her voice and leaned in closer, just in case Alysse was listening, “Did you mean what you said about this hideout? You think the rebels put it here?”

Darius smirked. “I know they did. I’ve been in a few similar holes on missions for Harlemont; the style is quite consistent. Now my only question is - is Alysse one of their number, or did she just happen to stumble across this place?”

Quiet footsteps preceded Alysse’s return and Elowyn sat straight again before she entered.

“I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but,” Alysse let out a resigned sigh, “I suppose I believe you, Darius. Your tale is too thorough to be a lie. I’ll help the two of you reach Odan Reis.”

Darius stood. “Thank you, Aly-”

“Just know that if you’re lying, if you cause harm to anyone who calls themselves a member of the Star - I won’t fire a warning shot, next time.” Her expression was fierce, and Elowyn knew she did not make the threat lightly.

Darius nodded solemnly. “I would expect no less. I thank you for your trust.”

Alysse hmphed a wordless reply and sat at the desk, pulling blank parchment, a quill and ink from the drawer. Elowyn surreptitiously glanced over at the paper as she dipped the quill and began to draw bizarre symbols on the page.

“What language is that?” she blurted out when she could no longer contain her curiosity, “I don’t recognize the letters.”

Alysse continued to draw without hesitation in her hand, but a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth, “Valterian still, believe it or not. It’s a cypher; here,” she paused only to reach into the drawer again and pulled out a lacquered piece of engraved wood, handing it to Elowyn before returning to the page, “if any of our letters are intercepted, it keeps the Empire from reading the contents.”

Elowyn studied it with fascination; each Valterian character she recognized had a corresponding symbol alongside it of the sort Alysse was drawing out. It was a clever way to foil spies, she supposed. “But, surely the Empire would have gotten a hold of one of these boards by now, with the resources they have?” she asked. “How do you know they can’t read your letters anyway?”

Alysse, without lifting her eyes from the page, reached over with her left hand and pointed at a small set of numbers engraved on the bottom corner of the wood Elowyn held. “That code - and the corresponding cypher - is different for every hideout we hold. We write the code on our correspondence, and the mail room at Odan Reis has a copy of the plaques for each locked away to translate back to Valterian when mail arrives. If a code is somehow discovered by the Empire, we need only change the cypher for one location, as opposed to them all.”

“That’s impressive. The rebellion seems… very organized.” Elowyn admitted. She knew the rebels had been a presence in Valteria for many generations, but she had assumed that meant it was also hindered by something, given that they had never achieved their goal of dethroning the Emperor. Apparently that hindrance was not due to incompetent disorganization.

“It is. The two of you can stay the night here, and leave first thing in the morning. I’ll send a hawk out tonight warning of your upcoming arrival.”

“Thank you again, Alysse,” Darius spoke, “how long will it take us to reach the city?”

“About two weeks at most, but you can do it in just over one if you ride hard enough,” Alysse responded as she finished penning the first letter, folded it neatly, and moved on to a second, “I’ll copy the map for you.”

“You’re not coming with us?”

“Not yet, no. I’ll be here for another week or so, and then follow behind. Could I be bold enough to ask you a favour?”

“Of course,” Darius answered.

“Can you spare one of your horses? As you can see, nothing here yet lives, including the animals. I don’t particularly look forward to the idea of travelling so far on foot. I hate to ask, as it means it will certainly take longer for you to arrive safely.”

Darius looked at Elowyn, perhaps seeing if she would object. “I see no reason why not,” he said after a momentary pause, “we shared a horse when we first left Lothan, I’m sure we can again. Another week in the saddle shouldn’t kill us by any means.”

Elowyn nodded. “I don’t mind at all, you’ve been kind, Alysse; it’s the least we can do in return for your trust.”

Alysse smiled then, finished the second letter and folded it as she had the first, then handed it to Darius. “Just in case my letter doesn’t arrive, this is a copy you can show to the guardians at the border. If you don’t have it, they’re like to shoot you on sight, so please - don’t lose it.”

Darius tucked the paper into his knife belt with a solemn nod. “I’ll go put it in the pack now then, and get our bedrolls for the night,” he said as he stood and left the room, leaving Alysse and Elowyn alone in the tiny space.

Almost immediately, Alysse fixed her gaze on Elowyn, turning in her chair to hang one arm over the back of it. “So, Elowyn. What do you think of him?”

“Who, Darius?” Elowyn flustered, not expecting that sort of question. “He’s been very good to me. I owe him my life.”

“Yes, yes,” Alysse said with an impatient wave of her hand, “but what else?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come, now. Even after all these years, I can still read his face. The way he looks at you…”

“What?”

“He used to look at me that way,” Alysse said with a wistful sigh, “I don’t know how it can be, so soon after the two of you met - but he cares for you.”

“I- oh,” Elowyn couldn’t form a response through her surprise. She felt the colour rising to her face and betraying her private pleasure at that.

Alysse smiled knowingly. “So you like him too, then.”

“I didn’t say that!” Elowyn protested. She thought guiltily of Rhin, and fleetingly she wondered where he was just then, though he hadn’t crossed her mind in days.

Alysse chortled. “Keep your secret, then. I just want to say one thing, and we’ll pretend we never spoke,” her face suddenly switched to seriousness, “I don’t know what sort of woman you are, but please, don’t toy with him. He’s suffered enough for a lifetime; I can see that pain in him. If you go down that path - don’t tread it lightly.”

Elowyn was taken aback. “I wouldn’t do that. Even if I were interested-”

“I’m glad to hear it,” a smile flickered across her face and was gone, “Now, let us not speak of it again.”

Darius returned bare moments later, a bedroll underneath each arm. “I tied the horses off back behind some of the trees,” he said as he knelt and began to lay the rolls out on the floor aside one another. He looked up when he was done, then his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them when neither of them spoke. “Did I miss something?”

“Hmm? No, sorry. I was just thinking about something,” Elowyn lied, then she yawned hugely to cover. “I’m exhausted; do either of you mind if I lay down now? You can talk away if you like, I’ll be fine - I’m sure you have much to catch up on.”

“Be my guest,” Alysse replied, and, as Elowyn vacated the bed, she moved to one of the lanterns and snuffed out the flame before she took her place. “I’m quite tired myself. We can catch up after we all get to Odan Reis.”

Elowyn crawled into the roll and fastened it tightly around her, and Darius did the same beside her. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but it was a long time coming. Did Alysse mean what she said? she wondered. Is it really that obvious?

Though she hadn’t wanted to accept it, didn’t want to seem to fling herself desperately at the man who’d saved her life, Elowyn knew her heart was beginning to yearn for him. She thought of another two weeks of sharing a single horse with him, his arms wrapped around her waist nearly the whole time, and shivered with unspoken anticipation.

Can it really be like this? So fast, so completely overwhelming? Her relationship with Rhin had built up slowly, over years spent in each other’s company; finding that Darius was already creeping into her thoughts so often and with such exhilarating strength was both exciting and unnerving. I wonder if I do the same to him… and if so, what stays his actions.