v.

"I don't wanna' beg your pardon, and I don't wanna' ask you why, no.

But if I was to go my own way...would I have to pass you by?"

The days were drawn-out, boring and lonely without my father and without Talia. After two months, still Father had not returned. My training came along at an amazing pace. Al watched me in quiet awe; he would never say, but I could see the sparkle in his ebony eyes as he would observe my power; my strength and my cunning. More than once he had to wrestle me from the flailing body of the Initiates; frenzied as I was in what seemed to be exile. Driven to madness at the sheer hurtfulness of my punishment my father – it seemed – was instilling.

I felt abandoned. Left to freeze in the cold by my father; he had done to me what he had done to Talia but there was a difference; he had sent Talia away from him, he had left me behind. Stranded, at a loose end, utterly alone; I turned to the darkness in my mind; whipped round, lightning fast, parried a blow, flounced out of the way of an attack gracefully; I channelled my loneliness, my isolation into my training. I could feel myself becoming to some extent lethal, an opponent to be reckoned with. Deadly and clever, it seemed I was everything my father had wished for me to be; Al commented that even at the tender age of nine, I was something else, something implacable.

Nepal was truly a beautiful place; tranquil, frozen and full of peace. My relationship with my mentor, Al, became more solid in my seclusion. We never spoke much – he, not being fluent in English and my father's express orders that I was to communicate to nobody in any other language except English – meant we could not converse very well. It was almost animalistic, our interactions. If I was upset, or felt lonesome and empty; Al would place a big arm around my shoulders and pull me close, his very presence was enough to stem my rage at my father's abandonment. When I excelled during my training, Al would nod his head; his eyes glinting as he beheld his pupil, filled with pride. He'd smile his dark smile and I knew that he knew that there was something more to me; something deep and dark that could not be saddled, rather led, rather... employed.

On one of the rare occasions we spoke during this time, he looked upon me one day; he had been my mentor for no less than three months at this point, I looked up trustingly into his eyes which were as black as a beetle's back, he said quietly in his soft, mellow voice;

"Algol, how do you feel? Are you happy here?"

I was hesitant; I looked away – peeping back, his gaze stifled my lies and I shrugged.

"No...I want my father and I want to see my sister. I miss them, Al."

I replied to him in Arabic and he nodded slowly and murmured,

"You still have not learned...To be a member of the League of Shadows is to be forlorn."

"I thought we were a brotherhood?" I replied tartly and he chuckled at my wit,

"We are, but one must work alone. You break your bread with your brothers but you do not fight beside them."

He regarded me and reached out a soft dark hand and patted my messy hair and whispered,

"When we began your training, I told you to bid farewell, your heart. You will do this, Algol. You will learn."

"I don't want to be alone..."

"You never will be alone; the League of Shadows will always have a place for you; come good or ill, but you must learn to become something more; what can you bring to the League?"

I thought a moment; what could I bring to the League of Shadows? I had no idea, but the look on Al's face, I thought that maybe he knew and was just waiting for me to say what he did know...But I was at a loss and shook my head, deciding not to know. He shook his head slowly,

"Someday soon you'll know and when you do...The League will have more than it ever has had."

"What do you mean?" I asked and he looked away, out over the mountains.

"You have such talent and such power, but none of the restraint. None of the control; once you stop feeling,"

His eyes were riveted back on to me and he said quietly,

"Then you will know what it is that you will bring to our Order. You're father has plans for you-"

"My father has forsaken me-"

"Algol! Enough. I won't sit here and listen to you speak badly of your father. Ra's Al Ghul is a great man, your father and your namesake. You have no idea what greatness has been bestowed upon you."

"If I am so great, why did he leave me here? Where is he?"

Al's face was contorted with trepidation; he knew he had spoken to me too much already, but something must have been nagging at his mind to make him speak to me in the first place.

"That is enough for today, Algol. You should return to your chamber and practise you're English. It does you know good to wag your tongue to a vernacular you already know so well. Go on."

His voice was sad and I felt ashamed of my attitude; however, I knew what I felt and what I truly felt was that I had been betrayed by my only family. Father had took off nigh on three months ago; all that that without one scrap of news. Nobody told me anything in those days and I could feel my mind slipping.

Three months soon blended into four and then five; with nothing and no company to speak of to put my mind to, I began to knuckle down and learn English. I spoke with a thick accent; my vowels extended and my consonants sharp like I was hitting each word off of the roof of my mouth. It was an exotic accent I earned when I learned to speak English more fluently and I found that I liked the sound of it; the elegant words soon rolled off my tongue.

My ostracism continued, ongoing and never ending so it seemed; my thin little girl arms were hard now; taut with a lithe strength which I had also earned from the sweat and toil I exerted upon my young body every day. Al continued to watch and appraise my skills with growing intimacy; the closeness I felt towards him began to overshadow my doubt which concerned my own banishment from my family's inner-circle. I still didn't even know if Talia had heard anything from our father. After the four month mark I felt nothing but anger towards him, I resented my seclusion, my torment of loneliness; I let it fester and I convinced myself that my father had played a cruel trick on me; that from the day he first dropped from the sky down below into hell to fetch me, he had only done it to spite the man, my father – my real blood father – who had raped and hurt his wife to sire me. I told myself this and it helped me deal with the agony of not having him or my sister around.

It felt almost good to blame somebody, even though; deep down, I still hoped that he had not deserted me or Talia for that matter.

Salvation from boredom, sickening anguish and severe loneliness came in the form of a letter; bearing what could have been the best news my nine-year-old self had ever heard. A letter from Talia; it read happiness and tales of sunshine in China. She was learning Sambo. I smiled to read her bright letter; she was such a stark contrast to me; upbeat, bubbly, excitable and haughty; simply Talia. The best news was not of her health, nor of her progress (which far exceeded mine by the sounds of it) but she mentioned that Father had been to visit, she wrote that she had sat down and penned the letter the moment he left so she could tell me all about his brief stopover.

Talia wrote;

"He seemed to be distracted and he spoke of you, said he was concerned about your training. Obviously, I was still raging with him for sending me away, but he brought me a great gift when he came, my friend is back with me here. He said that he would be heading out to Nepal in most likely a month from when he left here, so by the time you get this you won't have long to wait to see him...

I know you're the most dour-faced thing in Nepal, but for some reason he misses you...and so do I. Write me back when you get this – it's horribly lonely here, but Father says that separation is good character-building. At least I have Bane here with me now, although it's hard for us to speak because I am so busy with training. Broke my wrist last month too, so I've been told to mind myself and take it easy for now – which only adds to the boredom!

How have you been keeping anyway? Are you any stronger yet? I told Father that I want to spar with you when I see you again; he smiled and nodded, said that it sounded like a brilliant idea. I can't wait in all honesty...I miss you, Algol. Have you missed me? Please write back soon; it'll be winter here in China soon and it's said that the days get dark really early and there's only something, like, four hours of daylight. I think this shall me my most darkest and miserable winter, yet, Sister."

I beamed and sat back on my large cushioned bed and laughed aloud at the thought of Father coming to see me; I immediately scooted over to my writing desk and scribbled my reply to Talia. To show off; I wrote it in English to tell her that I wasn't completely wasted here in Nepal,

"Tal,

It's been lonely here too; Nepal's a beautiful place but after a while one most definitely gets bored with the snow and the cold, constant gales and so forth. What's China like? I've been reading books on it, but they have no pictures so I can't really imagine what it's like. Father brought you're friend to you? Talia, just be mindful; don't go forgoing your training just to meet him and chat like you used to do here...You know what Father will say if he hears.

I'd hardly say I was 'dour-face' but reading that last thing I wrote, I'd say I was more earnest that dour, ha! I hope Father comes here soon; I've been at my wit's end wondering what's been going on...When do you think we'll see each other again? And you think you'll be having the most miserable winter ever in China? In Nepal it's winter even in summer, so I wouldn't worry...At least you're not as cold as I."

I sent my letter the very next day and smiled as I did it; I didn't tell Al that I had gotten a letter from my sister, and instead hid the comforting note under my pillow. I read and re-read it at least a hundred times during my long wait for Father to return. His homecoming was heralded by a whirl of propellers and commotion. My heart skipped when I sprang to my window and saw a dark shape, one which I recognised straight away.

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