Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, the writing style, scenes,
phrases, countries, worlds, books, ideas, editors, etc. that belong to
Tamora Pierce and any similarities to other authors, stories, articles,
etc. are purely coincidental and non-intentional.
Author's Notes: Tristan acts really...interesting in this chapter so don't be surprised at his total personality change. ^ ^ have fun reading.
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Chapter 6:
Eos woke again to Tristan's face, staring broodingly at hers. Blinking away her sleepiness, Eos gave him a glare and tried to back away, only to find she was tied down. Again. Eos swung around, but before she could say anything, Tristan mildly remarked, "So you know." He then drank deeply from a half empty glass bottle. Eos, surprised at his transformation from Devil incarnate to a harmless, drunk man with apparent demons to fight, eyed him warily. "Why am I tied down? Shouldn't we be preparing for the 'Tristan Staghorn' fest?" She spoke loudly and with enunciation, as if to an idiot. Tristan didn't answer her, only stared at the bottle. After a while he did answer. "The 'Tristan Staghorn' fest, as you have aptly put it, has been delayed because I'm on 'urgent business'." He dropped his head in his head and moaned. Eos eyes him even more warily. "Does this sudden change in plans mean that I can go back to Scancra? Free? Untouched by your politics?" Tristan's head snapped up at the mention of Scancra, and his face grew cold. He hissed, "Now that you know of my...heritage, do you really believe I would risk any interactions with our people?" Eos flinched. "Not our people. They are your people. People who forced me to create a life for myself and my siblings in the forest at the age of nine. At least, until you came along."
Tristan smiled a bittersweet smile. "I heard of the reason for your sudden departure; would it really have been so hard to marry me and live with my family? I assure you, I was not quite as...evil back then as I am now." Eos looked at him uncomfortably, for the first time feeling as if she were in the wrong. "I...it's not that I didn't want to marry you...well, that was part of it...but...all my life in the gloomy place I felt trapped and used for others' purposes. And I saw how life was for Scancran women, endless physical and emotional abuse, hard work, child bearing....basically they turned into emotionless things with no rights, no thoughts except for their orders. When my mother told me of a marriage, I envisioned my life like my mother's was and I just snapped."
Tristan sat back on the bed with his hand folded behind his head. "When I left Scancra, it was because I knew I didn't belong. My magic was far stronger than my bodily strength; I was clearly not meant to be a warrior. And I know, mages are revered for their powers in battle and I'm clearly a battle mage. But people in Scancra, as you noticed, are so limited. Their mindsets are, if I'm not mistaken, what their great-great- great grandfathers's were, and will stay the same down to their grandchildren and their children. So I left for a place where I knew I could expand my choices in life, and met his imperial majesty, the future emperor Ozorne. My entire life was changed because of that man."
Suddenly, a knock on the door sent Tristan back to his everyday vicious self. A man's voice called, "Sir, we had a message directly from the emperor sent here," and then they conversed for a minute in whispers. Just as abruptly as he had come, the man left and Tristan turned to go with him. "Stay here," he ordered Eos without emotion. He then shut the door, leaving Eos in bleak darkness with only her thoughts to keep her company.
Author's Notes: Tristan acts really...interesting in this chapter so don't be surprised at his total personality change. ^ ^ have fun reading.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 6:
Eos woke again to Tristan's face, staring broodingly at hers. Blinking away her sleepiness, Eos gave him a glare and tried to back away, only to find she was tied down. Again. Eos swung around, but before she could say anything, Tristan mildly remarked, "So you know." He then drank deeply from a half empty glass bottle. Eos, surprised at his transformation from Devil incarnate to a harmless, drunk man with apparent demons to fight, eyed him warily. "Why am I tied down? Shouldn't we be preparing for the 'Tristan Staghorn' fest?" She spoke loudly and with enunciation, as if to an idiot. Tristan didn't answer her, only stared at the bottle. After a while he did answer. "The 'Tristan Staghorn' fest, as you have aptly put it, has been delayed because I'm on 'urgent business'." He dropped his head in his head and moaned. Eos eyes him even more warily. "Does this sudden change in plans mean that I can go back to Scancra? Free? Untouched by your politics?" Tristan's head snapped up at the mention of Scancra, and his face grew cold. He hissed, "Now that you know of my...heritage, do you really believe I would risk any interactions with our people?" Eos flinched. "Not our people. They are your people. People who forced me to create a life for myself and my siblings in the forest at the age of nine. At least, until you came along."
Tristan smiled a bittersweet smile. "I heard of the reason for your sudden departure; would it really have been so hard to marry me and live with my family? I assure you, I was not quite as...evil back then as I am now." Eos looked at him uncomfortably, for the first time feeling as if she were in the wrong. "I...it's not that I didn't want to marry you...well, that was part of it...but...all my life in the gloomy place I felt trapped and used for others' purposes. And I saw how life was for Scancran women, endless physical and emotional abuse, hard work, child bearing....basically they turned into emotionless things with no rights, no thoughts except for their orders. When my mother told me of a marriage, I envisioned my life like my mother's was and I just snapped."
Tristan sat back on the bed with his hand folded behind his head. "When I left Scancra, it was because I knew I didn't belong. My magic was far stronger than my bodily strength; I was clearly not meant to be a warrior. And I know, mages are revered for their powers in battle and I'm clearly a battle mage. But people in Scancra, as you noticed, are so limited. Their mindsets are, if I'm not mistaken, what their great-great- great grandfathers's were, and will stay the same down to their grandchildren and their children. So I left for a place where I knew I could expand my choices in life, and met his imperial majesty, the future emperor Ozorne. My entire life was changed because of that man."
Suddenly, a knock on the door sent Tristan back to his everyday vicious self. A man's voice called, "Sir, we had a message directly from the emperor sent here," and then they conversed for a minute in whispers. Just as abruptly as he had come, the man left and Tristan turned to go with him. "Stay here," he ordered Eos without emotion. He then shut the door, leaving Eos in bleak darkness with only her thoughts to keep her company.