Face the Raven

It was a strange feeling, having committed patricide.

Sitting alone in the dining room of the Raven Tower, Orphea reflected on the feeling, or rather, lack of it. Having struck the killing blow, having removed the Nexus of the Raven Lord, having put an end to the misery and horror he'd caused, she'd expected to have felt something. Satisfaction perhaps, for seeing the light leave from his eyes, to understand that he had been beaten. Vindication, perhaps, that she had taken the right path, that seeing his smirk turn to the face of horror had shown her that action was always preferable to inaction. That not even the realm lords were above reproach. She'd even entertained the possibility that she'd even feel sadness. For all his faults (and there were many), the Raven Lord had been her father. Even in this place, that had to count for something. This place, where death was so rarely final. Where she'd had to rob him of his singularity the way he'd robbed Queen Raena's of hers. Where she had, at least, delivered the blow that so many people of the Nexus had yearned for.

And yet, she'd felt nothing. Nothing, seeing the Raven Lord take his last breath. Nothing, seeing the Knights of the Raven Court bow down to her – she was now the lady of this realm, and they were sworn to serve whoever controlled it. Nothing, as she'd entrusted her father's body to them and have them build a pyre. Nothing, as she'd stood there in the gloom, watching the flames take the body of the one that had set entire realms afire. Her father was dead. Cremation was the best way of ensuring that no magic, in this place or any other, could ever bring him back. And now, sitting in the dining hall, alone, watching the soup drip from her spoon, she still felt nothing.

The soup tasted good though. She could 'feel' that, if it counted.

"Orphea?"

Pumpkin soup, she reflected. She supposed that was a good choice. The Raven Court had no shortage of pumpkins – it was about the only thing it had any surplus of.

"Orphea?"

Friends though…well, she was most certainly short of that. One didn't make many friends when you were the daughter of a sociopath. And when what friends you did make were left to fend for themselves, while you hid like a child…that didn't really endear them to you either.

"Orphea, I know you can hear me."

She sighed, pushing the soup away. She could hear Neeve. She'd just been hoping that she'd get the hint that she didn't want to be bothered. But even as she refused to meet eye contact, she could still hear her pull up a chair next to her. She sat at the head of the table, but Neeve was to her right. The rest of the hall stood empty.

"Orphea, you can't ignore this forever."

"This?" Orphea finally met Neeve's gaze. "What's 'this' that you refer to?"

"Ah, so you can hear me."

"Hear you, yes. Listen?"

"You're listening to me now, whether you admit it or not. But be that as it may…" She trailed off, smiling. "How was the soup?"

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Fine." Orphea grunted. "Think you know me well enough to know that I'm not one for ornate descriptions."

"And do you not know me well enough to think that I wouldn't know when something's bothering you?"

"Bothering me? What could possibly be bothering me?" Orphea took her napkin from her lap and began to clean her mouth, even if there was very little to clean – her father had raised her well enough to understand the worth of decorum. "The Raven Lord's dead. Raena and her children have been avenged. The Raven Court has a future, and the Nexus is better off for it."

"All true. Except…"

"Except?" Orphea began folding the napkin up, but didn't take her eyes off her guardian while she did so.

"Except that I feel compelled to tell you that…"

"That?"

"That it is normal to have done the right thing, and still feel terrible for it."

Orphea returned her gaze to the napkin. Unlike her hands, it was quite clean.

"If you ever need me, if you need to talk…"

"I do need to talk," Orphea said.

Neeve, who had begun to get up from her seat, put her wrinkly buttocks back down on its not so wrinkled cushion. "Oh?"

"Yes." Orphea put the napkin aside and leant forward, meeting Neeve's gaze. "I want you to tell me what I need to know."

"Excuse me, dear child?"

"Child." Orphea sighed and leant back in her chair. "Am I still that to you, Neeve? Am I that same little girl who came running to you every time dear daddy didn't have time for me?"

"Given how your father acted, I cannot blame-"

"Enough of my father," Orphea said. "Let's deal with the reality of my father being dead. By right, that makes me the realm lord of the Raven Court, no?"

"I suppose…"

"You suppose?"

"Not once, in the history of the Nexus, has a realm lord ever been usurped," Neeve said. "Yes, some have fallen to others, but for a follower of a realm lord to take lordship of their realm?"

"Yes, well, it's happened now, so I suppose that makes me the Raven Lady." Orphea smirked. "Has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

Neeve didn't say anything, but the look on her face told Orphea that she didn't think that.

"Fine. But I suppose I have to contend with the fact that the people of King's Crest may want revenge for the death of their queen and her children. Plus, the Grave Keeper is nothing but opportunistic."

Neeve still didn't say anything. She just looked at Orphea, a look of sorrow in her eyes.

"Hello?" Orphea said, clicking her fingers in front of the old woman's face. "Neeve? You listening?"

"I am, my dear. Listening, and thinking."

"About what? Storm help me Neeve if it isn't important, I…what are you doing?"

What her guardian was doing was reaching over and straightening Orphea's hair. So, on one hand, she knew what Neeve was doing. She just didn't understand why."

"Oh my girl," Neeve whispered. "My brave, wonderful girl…"

"Neeve, seriously-"

"I never wanted this," Neeve continued, still straightening Orphea's hair to the point that she was starting to feel like a cat. "Your father…none loved him, and few will mourn him, but for you to take his place like this-"

"I did what had to be done."

"Your mother would have been-"

"No." Orphea got to her feet, breaking free of Neeve's fingers (ones that were now reminding her of Talons). "You don't get to talk about her. Not now. Not ever."

"Not ever?" Neeve slowly got to her feet as well, even as Orphea walked around her to pick up the soup bowl. "My girl, I knew your mother before you did."

"Yes, you did. And I barely knew her at all." Orphea picked up the bowl, refusing to make eye contact. "I can envy you that much."

"I'm just saying-"

"What, Neeve, what?" She glanced at her guardian. "There are people in the Nexus that have been taken here against their will, who will never see their homes nor families again. I would think they're more deserving of your pity."

"Perhaps. But I do know you, my dear. I've watched you grow. And I watched you…do what had to be done." She sighed. "I'm just saying, if you ever want to talk-"

"What I want is to know where I and this realm stand." Orphea handed the soup bowl to Neeve. "Now clean that up."

Neeve stared at her.

"I am the Raven Lady now, am I not? Are you not bound to serve the master of Raven Tower?"

Neeve bowed. "I am, my dear. But…"

"But?"

Neeve slowly raised her head to meet Orphea's gaze. "I remember a young girl who would always offer to help me clean up after her father. And who would always talk to me, wanting to know more about-"

"Get out Neeve."

"…if your mother-"

"I said get out!"

The words were simple, as was the demand. But the echo of the words rang throughout the dining hall. And the look of shock in Neeve's eyes indicated that she understood the demand quite clearly.

"I will do as you say, my lady."

Along with everything else behind it.

"Do so. I will take to my father's study. The old bastard had enough secrets in life. His death...well, that could be very interesting to shift through." She smirked. "Carrying a coffin on one's back gives one a sense of...perspective."

Neeve didn't say anything. She was already on her way out of the dining hall to the kitchens, soup and spoon with her. All that was left on the table was a white napkin, cleaner than it should have been. Cleaner than its former user now felt. A user that raised her eyes to the walls, to a painting of her father. No-one else was in the portrait, it was just him. Tall. Proud. Aloof. Alone.

We all have to face the raven eventually, Orphea thought, remembering her father's words. Remembering as he explained the price of rebellion when she had accompanied him to the hangman's noose, to see a short drop and a sudden stop. Even you, father.

She turned her gaze away from the portrait. She might as well have it burned – certainly she had no wish to look upon it. And as Raven Tower was bereft of any pictures of her mother, then she figured that she might as well equal the parent gap. She was now the lady of the tower after all. Like her father, alone. Aloof.

Unloved.

A/N

So, turns out that my predictions that Orphea was the Raven Lord's daughter turned out to be true. Course, at this point I'm left to ask who her mother is, but that's just idle speculation. Still, if I had to guess, I'm just going to say it's going to be a character we haven't seen before because of all the Nexus-original characters, I can't see any fitting the bill.

Likewise, it makes me wonder how much changes HotS will allow for, whether the narrative will ever allow the Raven Lord to be overthrown, but...I dunno. Could be entirely separate from the game, so we'd always have a Raven Lord announcer for instance.

Anyway, drabbled this up.