Behold A Pale Horse
A grand dream.
Once, a long time ago when he was but a young man, heir to a noble house, Gabriel had one.
A desire to reach great heights. To stand tall, taller, and look down upon those lesser men and command them. Order them to carry out his whims and wishes, whatever they may be. To become the King of the Walls and be the savior to all. The one who finally defeated the Titans and set the world right. Made it safe for his wife, his children, and his future grandchildren. But, as that time passed, and the higher he climbed, the harder he tried, the more his desire waned, until his wants changed, and his whims and wishes became complaints and begrudges as he found himself to be an old man with a voice but no ears willing to listen.
His privileged life had offered him many pleasures though none brought him joy until he was accepted as the head of the Military Police Academy in Mitras. No amount of wealth or luxury compared to the treasure of teaching the youth though very few of whom he prepared for the waiting world went on to achieve much, content to mill about within the Interior instead of branching out to the Exterior where their knowledge was needed. Where their skills were valuable and would be put to extensive use.
This caused him to turn bitter, to almost renounce his King and the Royal Government and leave his duties to his protégé to vanish into retirement and obscurity until he was given an offer where his voice would be heard. Where his grand dream was hidden from the public eye but not forgotten, nurtured in the shadows and dark deeds that needed to be done to maintain the current order, and, eventually, in secret, replace it.
And today he was here in Quinta, sitting across from the woman who would help them be considered official by the Assembly, elevate them higher than he could've achieved on his own, and prove to the King that they were necessary, especially in this time of crisis. His partner had failed to mention anything about her except her name, Suzanne, but one glimpse of her posture after she'd sat down was enough for him to make the educated guess that she was once a citizen of the Underground—regardless of how cleverly she hid it behind her dignity. Her body was rigid, calmed, collected, controlled, but her eyes were sunken and still wild, untamed and glistening with resentment from a life secluded in the dark staring up at the grates of golden light glimmering down from Mitras beneath mountain deep, prepared to lash out at any time. Like a beast that'd been trapped for so long it was constantly looking for a way out.
Throughout his early years in the Military Police Gabriel had to deal with those like her, the oppressed and downtrodden who always hungered and thirsted for what they couldn't have just outside their reach, who snuck their way up from their caverns to taste the sun, sending them back down with a sword to the gut or burial if need be. He imagined that, as a child, this woman saw the sewers run red countless times, dripping down from high, and decided to do something about it, much like he'd attempted in the world above.
But, a grand dream was an ever fleeting thing, and, she, too, soon found her voice silenced, her world a cage, until she was given a second chance. Until her voice was heard, and now here the two of them were, the lord and the rat, reborn. Whatever information she had for him would be worth the journey, he was certain of it. Could feel it in his bones, see it in her eyes, and when he opened his mouth to speak the first word that night, knew that before, and after, their time together was done, regardless of their outcome, the sewers would run red once again.
