Genres/Rating: Romance, Family, Friendship, War, Truth. (T)
Characters: Raine, Dimitri, Warin.
Summary: One chapter was closing, but the book was far from being over. There were bodies to bury, trappings to remove, wounds to lick, and breaths to take now that the smoke had finally settled. Mysteries upon mysteries will still awaiting a chance to be solved, and it was with mounting anxiety that those involved were finally ready to face the truth. There was so much still unknown and the answers were locked away behind a mouth that had not opened for almost six years. But before all that was the brief respite, the broken bodies, and the ending of a war in the open, in lieu of a war in the shadows.
Verdant Rain Moon
Enbarr Castle Outskirts
Twilight
Raine hissed quietly as the salve stung in the holes that had been pierced clean through her forearm, but she ignored the pain as she continued to slowly, meticulously, apply the concoction she had been given in lieu of seeing a healer. There were too many wounded to attend to, both soldier and civilian alike, and Raine hadn't seen a reason to bother the overly burdened healers with an injury she considered to be rather minor. True, her forearm had been stabbed clean through and she still couldn't move her hand without a frightening amount of pain, but she had no broken bones, and the wounds were round rather than jagged and torn. She could easily patch herself up without risking infection, and so she had done so, retreating to quiet little stoop of an abandoned home that was just within throwing distance of the castle bridge as life went on all about her in a strange, listless, and quiet sort of way.
There was no celebrating in the streets as there had been in Fhirdiad. The fall of Enbarr was nothing to be cheerful over, even if it did mean the official end of hostilities between the three territories of Fódlan. They had achieved one of their goals, but the cost had been steep for many, both in and out of the rebellion. Thales' men had seen fit to nearly destroy the capital in their attempts to ward off the rebellion, and many smallfolk would be returning to ruins rather than their homes once the shock wore off. The rebellion's army had done their best to minimize casualties amongst the civilians, but almost at every turn they had been used as shields, and more bodies of unarmed men and women had been buried already than she cared to count.
The Flame Emperor was dead. There was a dispute, apparently, about what to do with her corpse, but Raine hadn't offered her opinion, nor did she care to if anyone was foolish enough to ask. Thankfully, she had not been sought out since the ending of the battle, and she had been quick to hide amongst her soldiers to keep herself from being further harassed. It was enough for her that the damned woman was dead, but even that had come at a price she hadn't been certain she had been willing to pay. In the heat of the moment, staring down death hadn't frightened her a whit. It never had, because death was something she had already experienced. She knew what would come after for her, the dark and the cold and the nothing, and she could not be afraid of what she knew... but the same didn't hold true for those she cared for, and if her heart was fit to function properly, she was rather sure it may have frozen to stillness after what had happened in the throne room hours ago.
She would never know how in the seven hells that man, who was as battered and exhausted as she was, had managed to summon such speed, but in the blink of eye he had been there to shield her when the dagger Edelgard had been hiding at her waist had been thrown. He had taken it directly in the chest, and the force she had thrown it with had easily pierced through his armour and sank itself to the hilt inside of him. He had not flinched, had not even made a noise of pain, but instead had moved his lance-arm, and Areadbhar traded the blow by sinking itself deep into her stomach in one fluid stroke. The Flame Emperor had died before she had hit the floor, skewered through so easily like any other human being that they'd fought beforehand, and she had been small, bloody, broken and completely unworthy of note when she had fallen on her face and lay still and silent at the foot of her own throne.
The rest of what had happened was mostly a blur, but Raine remembered the dagger clattering to the floor after Dimitri had removed it, and her own fright nearly blinding her to everything else as she grasped at him and demanded to see his wound. He had had the audacity to look surprised, as his armour had been thick enough to take a good inch or two of the blade, but there was still blood, and it was obvious he had been hurt. There had been sharp words and curses, but anything more had been interrupted by the untimely arrival of reinforcements come too late, and so they had parted awkwardly, neither able to look at each other as their heads spun with dark, painful thoughts they didn't yet want to grapple with... and they had not seen one another since.
'Was that how he felt in Grondor? Terrified out of his wits for me? I can't remember... Everything about Garreg Mach came back to me, but that moment is still distant... There was just too much in my head for me to recall it all with any clarity.' The thoughts were cold in her head as she reached with her good hand for the roll of bandages, and mechanically she unwrapped the sturdy, white material to begin the process of wrapping up her wound as best as her limited mobility could permit. She held the end of the bandage with her teeth, carefully starting at the crook of her elbow and winding downwards as her brow furrowed and her mind continued to buzz uncomfortably, 'I can remember what I said... How I felt... But so little about my surroundings. Even his voice was distant, like he was calling for me from somewhere far away... and I wasn't trying to really listen. Perhaps that's why even now it's so hard to recall. I was so tired, then... I just wanted to... rest...'
The thought came with a guilty flinch, but Raine didn't allow for it to stymie her work as she began to spiral the wrapping down her elbow and towards her wrist. She wasn't a healer, but she could bandage herself well in a pinch, and she hadn't forgotten a single lesson from her mercenary days even if that life seemed to be so far behind her that it almost seemed like a dream than a memory. Too often a mercenary troupe was without the use of a reliable healer, and it fell to themselves to see to their wounds much more often than relying on magic. She pulled the wrapping tight, teeth gritting down as she found herself muttering under her breath, "This and then were not the same thing... I'm being hypocritical about this... He saved my life, after I saved his. I shouldn't be angry..."
The choking, smouldering feeling deep in her stomach disagreed with her violently, and she almost felt her fingers lose a hold of the bandaging as it made itself known with a lurch. She re-tightened her grip, cursing herself for her foolishness, but also knowing that it didn't matter how much she told herself that it was all quite logical... because she was furious with him, and with herself. She had been too spent to call upon Sothis' powers, again, and she was rather certain that even if she had been capable that she wouldn't have caught herself in time to stop what had happened. Edelgard had played the part far too well, embracing her pain and her pride simultaneously, and her hand had been quick and her aim deadly. Dimitri's size had saved him. If the dagger had found home in its original target, Raine was well aware she likely would have had it buried in her throat, rather than in his chest when he had made himself her shield.
Nausea swirled through her and loosened her grip, and numbly Raine felt the bandages slip from her limp fingers to bounce down the stairs she had been perched on. She swallowed dryly, fighting the bile rising in her throat, as well as the frozen fingers of fear that were enclosing themselves about her ribcage with piercing strength. It was just too much. Her mother had died before she had even known the warmth of her touch. Her father had been taken from her, after she had exhausted every single possible avenue she could physically comprehend in a desperate attempt to save him. She hadn't been there for Warin in his exile, and she knew full well he had brushed close enough to death that he could, like her, look it clear in the eye without fear or shame because it was an old friend that would embrace him eventually, even if he would do all he could to make it wait its turn.
Dimitri had come too far to die. Especially for her. He had a future ahead of him, a path to walk and world to change, and she was not worth such a trade. It didn't matter that she had promised her brother to begin considering her life had value, because there was no question whose life was more important to the impending future. What made it even worse was her knowledge that Dimitri clearly didn't think the same way, hence his surprise and annoyance at her outburst, and she was well aware she wouldn't have a chance at convincing him otherwise. He would never listen to reason, and she would simply be stuck, hating herself for being the reason he was wounded, and wishing he wouldn't be so cavalier with the one life he had to live.
Closing her eyes and summoning a deep, cleansing breath, Raine made a futile attempt to cast all such thoughts and emotions from her head. She had a task to attend to, and many more after, to boot, and the only way she would be capable of continuing on was if she regained her focus. She shook her head once, twice, and wished she had the use of her other arm if only because a slap on one cheek wouldn't be nearly as motivating as one to both. She opened her eyes with a long exhale, settling her arm awkwardly in her lap before she began casting a searching glance at her feet for the roll of bandages that she had lost.
It appeared much closer to her face than she had anticipated, already in a large, callused hand, and Raine jumped despite herself as she realized that single moment of trying to regain her calm had cost her dearly. Somehow, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know how, Dimitri had both found and approached her without her realization, and was now kneeling down in front of her with the bandages in his hand like he had always been there, waiting for her to notice him. He, like her, had shed his armour now that the battle was over, and though he was wearing a dark tunic to cover himself up, the peek of white wrappings still seemed to be everywhere underneath the navy cloth.
Like her, his arm had taken the toll of his wound, and she could spy the tight wrappings about his collarbone, disappearing underneath his shirt but likely extending across his chest. His arm was hanging rather limply at his side, more proof he wasn't trying to use it and more than likely out of pain, but his face was calm and showed no real sign over his actual condition. True, he looked weary and spent from battle, everyone was wearing similar expressions, but he seemed oddly at peace, oddly calm, despite it all. His good cerulean eye was clear as it fixed on her face, holding her still like she had been pinned to the steps where she sat, and his voice was calm, almost conversational as he broke through the silence idly, "It can't be easy bandaging your arm with only one hand. Allow me to help you."
"You've only one good hand, yourself." Raine answered without thinking, and inwardly she winced even as she reached to try and take the roll from his hand. He withdrew it gamely, raising his eyebrows at her remark, and she huffed with annoyance as she understood that while he had made it an offer, he clearly wasn't going to be summarily dismissed. It annoyed her, how he apparently had absolutely zero understanding of nuance or atmosphere, and when she reached again, she was not surprised when he lifted his hand up and well out of her grasp, lest she chose to stand and leap for it. She narrowed her eyes on him, shifting somewhat on the porch as she dropped her good arm and muttered, "I'm perfectly capable of bandaging my own wounds... I don't need any assistance."
"With only two good arms between us, we're better off working together than you are alone." Dimitri returned calmly, and without waiting for her permission, he joined her on the steps. He set aside the roll for a moment to take her arm carefully into his lap, extending it as gently as it could go without causing her pain as he eyed her half-finished job speculatively. She was right in that she was entirely capable of caring for herself, but it hadn't looked as if she was having an easy time of it when he had spotted her working. With the edge of the roll in her teeth, and her one hand working until she had suddenly just dropped her tools, Dimitri had initially wondered why she was toiling silently in solitude when help was merely a call away.
There were soldiers everywhere, from each and every region, and though most were busy attending to some task or another, he doubted anyone would mind sparing a few minutes to patch a comrade's wounds. Still, she had chosen to hide herself away from most of the Kingdom's men, remaining near the castle but also clearly out of most people's view, and had made a very clear decision to isolate herself. It had irked him, and when she had dropped the bandages and frozen in retrieving them, there had been no question in his mind that approaching her now, rather than later, was the right decision. Even as she sat silent and frowning at him, he still didn't doubt he was doing the right thing, and he was slow and careful, trading the roll off each time his own hand could not complete the circuit fully without needing to manipulate her arm so she could finish it herself before returning it back to him.
In less than two minutes they had finished the task, wrapping her forearm from wrist to elbow, and he carefully tied the ends of the bandages in a tight, unobtrusive knot as close to her wrist as he could manage. She made to pull away, still wearing a frown and not quite looking at him, but Dimitri carefully grasped at her fingers to discourage her escape. She couldn't tug herself out of his grip without hurting herself, and she had no real desire to lurch away from him anyway, and he knew it just as well as she did. Her fingers were cold in his palm, proof of the severity of her wounds, and he ran his thumb slowly, purposefully across her knuckles as he muttered more to himself than to her, "They're cold... Are they numb, too? I imagine it hurts to move them. You were lucky not to break any bones, but the damage was enough nonetheless, I can guess."
"It hurts more than it feels numb... But the pain will likely pass soon enough." Raine admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders, and she watched as Dimitri slowly, carefully, lifted her hand to his mouth to brush a gentle kiss to her fingertips. His mouth, and his hand both felt very warm to the touch, which only made her wonder just how cold her skin had to feel in his grasp, even without the tight bandaging. She had lost a fair amount of blood before she had managed to apply a tourniquet, but she knew better than to complain. She had come off lucky in comparison to her students, and to many, many others. A few scrapes and bruises, and four deep, clean wounds in her forearm was almost nothing. "It's really not as bad as it seems, or feels... I'm lucky. I should have the use of my arm back by the middle of next moon. Maybe earlier."
"There shouldn't be any fighting in the interim, so perhaps you will heal quickly. There's much to be done yet, but thankfully most of it won't require wielding a blade... For the time being." Dimitri agreed with a small nod, but his eye betrayed his word as he placed her hand on his knee and continued to rub warmth back into her skin. She was still avoiding looking at him, her lips pulled back into a frown as her eyebrows furrowed, and the sight made him ache more than his wounds ever could. She felt so fragile, and looked even moreso, sitting on a ruined Imperial porch without her armour, still streaked with ash and blood and bruises, and looking as weary as someone who had aged a century overnight. Still, she was scowling, which meant she wasn't entirely exhausted, and the thought heartened him even though he was well aware he was wading into another battlefield as he asked her directly, pointedly, "Are you still angry with me?"
"Yes. Very."
The response came curtly and sharply, as jagged as a blade, and Dimitri almost winced as he felt her pointedly withdrawing her hand from his grasp even though it clearly was uncomfortable for her to do. She shifted in her seat, turning her body away from him, but she did not try to rise to her feet to leave. He wasn't sure if it was because she couldn't, or had decided she was ready for this particular fight, but he soon decided it didn't quite matter. The awkwardness, the choking silence and pain and uncertainty was far too much for him, and he had to combat it before it could fester and choke at him more than it already had. That panicked look in her eye, those damning words of reproach had all stung and caught him off guard, but now there had been a handful of hours since they had stood together in the throne room, and he had settled enough to face it, and her, without fear or surprise.
Dimitri folded his hands in his own lap, tilting his head slightly as he studied Raine closely. She had wrapped her arms about herself as best she could, shutting herself off and away from him, and her eyes were still averted. She was doing her damned best to ignore him despite how close they were, and the anger was nearly radiating off of her. It was a quiet sort of wrath, similar to how he was used to seeing her express her ill feelings, but he admitted it was the first time in quite some time since she had set it on him. Even her fury after the parley had not been directed at him, she was much more furious with Edelgard than she was with him, but now he was her target, and he knew it was his responsibility to take it, and address it. "You are aware it's quite hypocritical of you to be so angry with me, aren't you? Would you not have done the same, were our positions reversed? Didn't you, once already?"
"That was different." Raine heard the words escape her despite her better judgement, and she hated the way he cocked an eyebrow, looking at her with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. It wasn't exactly as if he was wrong to be looking at her that way, she was well aware she had to sound absolutely ridiculous, all things considered, but she stubbornly wouldn't permit his expression to get the reaction she knew he wanted from her. She looked at him sharply, frown deepening as she insisted quietly, firmly, in the face of his disbelief, "It was different. My brother can say it all he wants, that this rebellion would crumble without me, but that's just not the truth of it. My life isn't nearly as important as yours is. And that isn't my lack of self-worth speaking, it's simply the facts. You are the future king of Faerghus. Without you, who will the Kingdom turn to? As far as I know, there isn't another heir. This war has been about freeing all of Fódlan from the clutches of the Emperor, and the puppet-masters behind her... For Faerghus, and for the Alliance. The Alliance has Lorenz, now that Claude is shaking off his birthright, but who does the Kingdom have? You need to live. You can't be throwing your life away for me."
Dimitri said nothing for a long moment, digesting her words, and feeling his stomach clenching unhappily on them as they reverberated like thunder in his eardrums. The logic was sound. Of course it was, it was her logic, and he knew just as well as she did that his life did indeed have greater importance to the people he led, and the war that was being fought, than he sometimes cared to admit. Yet... It didn't sit right all the same. There was something blatantly wrong about the way she spoke, about the way she looked even as she said the truthful words, and it made his eye narrow on her as he began slowly, "You may have a point there, logically speaking, yet... That isn't why you're angry, is it? There's more than pragmatism on your mind. You can't hide that from me, no matter what it is you're saying. Tell me the truth, and not just the facts, Raine. Be honest."
"You can't die on my account. I will never forgive you if you do." Again, the words rushed out before better sense could allow for her to bite them back, and Raine was aware of a heat surging deep in her face and also setting her chest aflame. She couldn't quite tell whether it was anger, shame, or something else, but it was all-consuming, and demanded a reaction she had been swallowing down for too long. A detached part of her was laughing, amused by her hypocrisy and her desperation to hide it, and another was exulting even as she glared at him and all but spat the words at him, "I didn't get a chance to know my mother. My father's diary is all well and good, but I don't know her like Warin does, and I won't ever be able to fill in that hole inside of me. And Father is gone, too, now... All I have left is Warin, and you. And if I lose either of you, I don't know what I'll do with myself. Especially if you die because of me. The guilt alone would kill me. You can't die. I'd much prefer to be the one to go first. I can't lose anyone else. You can't protect me if it means you'll die in my place. You have to survive this damned war, no matter how selfishly you have to act. Even if it means my death. You have to, damn you! I can't be left behind again! I'd rather die than lose you!"
Dimitri watched the anger rising in her eyes, as well as that familiar sparkle of tears that she was completely oblivious to in the middle of her outrage. It cut like a swordstroke, hearing her speak so openly of her grief, of her inability to cope, and all because of an instinctive action that he could not regret no matter what kind of pain it caused her. It would be the same if the situations were reversed, and the thought made him ache all the more deeply, and his body reacted for him without thought or care. His good arm reached, pulling gently at her shoulder and curling her into his chest, and he ducked his head against hers, feeling her trembling as she bowed her head to hide her face in his tunic.
She didn't struggle, though whether it was because of her wound or because she truly wanted this, Dimitri didn't know. He put it aside, wrapping his arm as snugly and protectively about her as he could manage as the damp of her tears began to seep through the thin fabric he was wearing. Her sobs were silent, stifled by gritted teeth and a tight, white-knuckled grip on the leg of his trousers, but he didn't mind it as he squeezed her closer. His voice was gruff, strained with the leashed emotions he was fighting as he held her carefully but tightly, "And I'd rather die than lose you. This is one thing we will never be able to agree on... One thing I will never be able to give you... and I apologize for the grief it causes you, but I cannot, and will not, do anything about it. My body will move, time after time, no matter what, to protect you if you're in harm's way. I cannot stop it, nor do I wish to. I told you once before that you are my reason for living... To defend you is more than instinct. It's my driving force. You are my world. If I lost you due to my own foolishness, or lack of action... I would also die of guilt. You can understand that, even if you don't agree, can't you?"
Raine hated him for the soft, apologetic way he whispered those words in his ear, and even moreso for how damned convincing he sounded as he said them. He didn't curse or chastise her, didn't call her out on her hypocrisy or childishness... Rather, he embraced her, shared his own fears and concerns with her, and even apologized for his inability to give her what she demanded so carelessly of him. Her hand grabbed down all the more tightly on what was in reach, desperate to keep him close, and she shook her head as the tears ran fast and free down her reddened cheeks. They burnt of shame and anger and grief, and she wondered if this was what it felt like to have her heart breaking as she pushed her face against his chest and whispered brokenly, "I don't want to lose anyone else... I can't lose anyone else... Not you, not Warin, not anyone in our house... No one. I'm so tired of death. I'm so tired of watching people die, and being unable to stop it. I can't save everyone. I know this. But it doesn't make it hurt any less when we return to Garreg Mach and mourn the ones we buried when we left. Asking everyone to survive just because I don't know what to do with all this grief is selfish of me, but... Please... Please just tell me you'll live. Even if it's a lie, just once, please... Please tell me you'll make it through the rest of this damned struggle no matter what."
"Only if you promise me the same. Even if it's a lie." Dimitri answered quietly, and he was still as she raised her chin, eyes troubled and frightened and so damned vulnerable as she stared up at him silently. The tears were ebbing, but they had left their marks on her pale skin, and he leaned down to kiss them away without a second thought. She flinched at first, trying automatically to draw back, but his arm tightened on her waist, and soon enough she was still and accepting as his lips brushed gently over her face. He cursed his useless arm, wishing he could grasp her closer, tighter, and it made his voice rough as he almost growled, "I won't give you those words unless you give them to me, as well. I need you to survive this. You gave me my truth... What of yours? I haven't come this far just to abandon your struggle, even if you put it aside for mine. You need to survive this, for your own reasons, too. You need to cast off your chains, and live a life you've chosen for yourself for once. I won't know peace until you have that chance at freedom. I'll promise you my survival if you promise me yours, Raine."
His hoarse, gruff voice, the feeling of his hot chest and his strong arm encircling her waist made her head spin, and for a brief, mad moment, Raine wanted to yank his mouth to hers and never release him. A wild, insane sort of need was burning in her veins, making her throb for the want of him, and she wondered errantly why it was crashing over her so strongly now. He sounded so fervent, so pained, but she wanted him all the same. Her good hand reached for him thoughtlessly, fingers brushing against his cheek to feel his body heat directly, and she murmured thoughtlessly as she gazed into the burning cerulean eye that held her captive and made her entire body shudder, "I want you so much... It's mad of me, but I want you so much right now that my entire body is on fire. I know where we are, I know we aren't alone, but I couldn't care less if they saw right now. I just... want you."
"You're lucky I can't take you because of our injuries... Or I'd sorely be considering it." Dimitri muttered, and he felt a dim pulse of alarm as he realized just how honest he was being as his mouth tenderly pressed a kiss to the corner of her own. His trousers were so tight that it was painful, and she was so damned soft against him that it wasn't helping that caged beast in his head a whit. He could well imagine how it would feel, to push her down against the staircase and take her right then and there, all eyes on them be damned, and his body throbbed with the mad desire for it. He wanted to feel her against him, about him, to ensure with every last inch of his body that she was still alive, still there, no matter what it would cost them. The thought brought a bitter smile to his face as he silently chained up that monster again, forcing it to heel and making his every motion superbly gentle despite his mounting hunger, and he nuzzled his cheek to hers as he whispered raggedly, "You'll make a beast of me again if you keep speaking like this... but don't call it madness. This war has wrought too heavy a toll on all of us. Wanting to be with the one you love after the dust settles, to feel alive with them... That's only natural. How else would we know that despite it all, the two of us had escaped it? And even if it is madness... I'd indulge in it, in you, endlessly if I was capable."
"That's only making it worse." Raine admitted breathlessly, and she bit her lower lip to fight the urge to take his mouth with hers and yank him down overtop of her despite her better sense. They both were far too wounded to be entertaining such things, and there were far too many prying eyes about to even consider it. He called it natural, even admitted he'd indulge in it if he could, but someone had to hold onto the last vestiges of their sanity before it all came crashing down. She nuzzled into his neck, pointedly avoiding those lips that she knew would drive rational thought out of her head if she let them, and sighed as she curled her arm as best she could about him, "I love you... and I promise I'll do what I can to survive this... For you, and for myself. So will you please indulge me, and tell me the same? That you'll live, and won't leave me alone?"
"I'll live, Raine. I won't abandon you." Dimitri answered her huskily, speaking into her hair as she clutched at him like a lifeline and made his body ache with grief for her. It was so damned rare to see her vulnerable, but he was well aware it was a long time coming. The death of Edelgard meant much more than the end of the hostilities between the three territories, and the weight of their success was crashing down hard upon them. It meant the next chapter was readying to open, and he knew full well she had not given an ounce of thought to it. She was afraid of what it meant, of what was to come next, and she was afraid most of all of losing her family even if she had won one war already. To have it all come hitting her at once had to be terrifying, and he nuzzled her gently as he whispered comfortingly, "We'll end this the way we started it... Side by side. I promise."
"Mm..." Raine closed her eyes, unable to say anything more as she took as much comfort as she could from the strong embrace he offered, and the sweet words they both knew he had no right to speak to her. They both knew their reality, no matter how much they hoped for something different. It was simply the way of being a soldier. Death was always lurking about every corner, behind every enemy, and they had not won everything yet. There was still so much more to do, so much more to accomplish, and even after that... Raine shivered despite herself, and almost immediately shoved the thought away with as much force as she could muster. She didn't want to think of it. She felt lost enough as it was. The future was even more terrifying than the present. The less she thought of it, the easier it was to function... and here, at least, sitting where she was in Dimitri's arms, she could try to pretend that things would be all right regardless.
Dimitri said nothing else even though he felt her tension, and slowly, carefully, he forced his other arm to loop itself about her waist so he could at least attempt to hold her as he wanted. She indulged him silently, nestling herself into his chest to make it all the easier on him, and he smiled wryly into her hair as he wondered if she knew how much more difficult she made things. It wasn't as if she knew, or was doing it on purpose, but her desire to give him what he wanted only ever made him crave for more. He was selfish and greedy, but she never really made an effort to stop him. If anything, she only made it worse by giving in, time and time again... and it made him wonder, as his hand moved errantly onto hers to rub gently at the cool, numb skin, 'If I were to ask her now... She wouldn't refuse me, would she...? I could ask her for anything... and she'd throw away her future for me in a blink of an eye. How am I to give her a choice, when she already makes one without any consideration for herself...?'
Slowly, surely, Dimitri felt her relaxing as he held her close and snug in the fading twilight. The sounds of work continued about them unabated, and soldiers continued to rush to and fro on the ruined streets, but they were well-enough hidden to not be noticed by anyone focused on their errands. He was idly glad for her choice of a hiding place, as it meant for once he could simply enjoy the comfort of holding her without needing to be sequestered away from the world... and he realized with a small, awkward smile that perhaps he was even greedier than he thought. It wasn't enough to be all she thought of, all she cared about, in either of their dorms. He wanted to ensure it was the same outside of it, in the small, rare peaceful moments that they could capture whenever they came, too.
"Dimitri... I..."
"Hm?" Dimitri lifted his head at the sound of her quiet murmuring, and he glanced down curiously as he watched her anxiously pulling at the sleeve of her shirt. She had rolled it down to cover her bandages, and was now fiddling with the hem of it in a surprising display of embarrassment. Her face had pinked somewhat, though there was no longer any hints of the fact that she had been crying anymore, and she was once again no longer looking at him. Rather, she was staring down at their clasped hands, watching as he once again rubbed warmth into her cold skin, and the thought made him want to pull her chin up so she would look directly at him. He resisted the urge, instead permitting himself to continue to run his thumb across her knuckles, and he questioned her quietly, intimately, as she sat anxiously in his arms, "Yes...? What is it?"
"When this is over-"
"Raine. Dimitri."
Dimitri inwardly cursed at the sound of Warin's voice interrupting his sister, but he swallowed down the instinctive surge of annoyance and frustration as he felt Raine immediately snap to attention. All hints of awkwardness and embarrassment were wiped away from her in an instant, replaced with that strict and stern professionalism she always wore when it came time to don her cloak of a commander, and he let her go regretfully as she stood up and skipped down the stairs to meet her brother on the street. He stayed where he was for a moment, mourning the loss of her before he ruefully pushed himself to his feet as well, and he studied Warin's face closely to note the tension that had nothing to do with the previous battle that was fixing the man's jaw into such a tight line. He looked quietly furious, seething, almost, despite the circumstances, and the thought made him frown as he approached him questioningly, "What is it?"
"A handful of things, if you want the truth of it. The most pertinent being a letter that was slipped to Claude, shortly after the end of the fighting. A letter from Hubert, of all things." Warin's answer was clipped and curt, and his navy eyes were chips of blazing, deep-sea ice that burnt rather than froze. Both Raine and Dimitri looked to him sharply, confused and wondering, and he continued for them both without missing a moment as he understood the pressing need for time, "A handful of his men surrendered to us, after he was killed in the initial invasion. When the princess was killed, they saw fit to approach Claude with a missive he'd prepared, in the event of their loss. He wrote of our pale-faced friends... Apparently, he knows their location, and saw fit to leave it to us to "finish what they started", so to speak."
"But you said Thales was dead." Raine pointed out, her own eyes narrowing as her back stiffened in unconscious anxiety as she watched the emotions flickering rapidly through her brother's irises. Too quickly for anyone who didn't know him to recognize them, but she knew him better than anyone, save for possibly Shamir. He was quietly seething, yes, but he was also concerned, worried, and frustrated. Something was digging at him, something he didn't want to say yet, and she pressed him sternly as she felt her left hand reaching for her blade unconsciously, "What use does the location of their base have to us besides clearing out the nest? Unless you don't actually believe you finished the job?"
"I never said the bastard was dead. I skewered the man, true enough, but he still had enough energy to teleport away from us again before I could take his head. And as far as I'm concerned, until I see his corpse at my feet, I'm not about to believe he's truly dead." Warin corrected her with a shake of his head, and he felt no satisfaction as Raine flinched away from him with a tightening of her own jaw. It had been a relief to her, he had known, to hear that he and his men had cornered Thales, but the truth of his death was still an unknown to them. And Warin knew better than to underestimate the powers of his opponent, even if he had been left with a lance bloodied from tip to tail. "I want to follow the map that Hubert left, and find out for myself if he truly is or not. If he ran, their stronghold is where he would retreat to. And cleaning out the nest is what we have to do next, anyway, so I see no reason to ignore it. We can agree on that much, can't we?"
"Yes, we can, but that doesn't make me happy to hear... I don't want to imagine walking into an ambush, so soon after this mess. And it will be an ambush, no matter the losses they took here today. Their numbers are greater than we know, and we have no information to go on but a location. We need time to heal, reassess, and plan before we think of another movement." Raine replied after a long moment of thought, and she watched Warin's cheek twitch with annoyance, but she well understood why he was reacting so strongly. He had had the man dead to rights, finally cornered... and again, he had slipped through his fingers. He was right to be angry, and to be eager to finish the job he had given himself, but Raine wouldn't allow for his impatience to rule him. "The end of the next moon, Warin, I promise you that by then we'll have had enough time to get ourselves together for another foray. But not until then."
"I can deal with that. But what else I have to say needs to be handled immediately. We've found Rhea. That was also in Hubert's letter. Her location, and the fact that she's been left alive, despite it all. Claude sent his men to look, and they've sent word back already. Seteth and Flayn are waiting for you. Claude, too." Warin returned bluntly, and Raine's sharp inhale was almost a hiss at the name he didn't want to speak as much as he knew he had to. Surprise flickered in her eyes for a moment before it was replaced with a mask of calm detachment he knew she didn't feel, but he could hardly blame her. After all, he hadn't been thinking of the archbishop, either, and to hear word of her being found in the depths of the dungeons of Enbarr had been quite a surprise to him, too. They had been far too focussed on the enemy ahead of them to think much farther beyond her, and now they had no time to prepare. "I'll be tagging along, if you don't mind... I hear she's weakened greatly from her imprisonment, but she can answer a handful of questions while Flayn attends to her. We can flip a coin for who gets to interrogate her later at Garreg Mach."
"Don't even joke about it... She was here all this time, and if Thales was also here, that means she was used just as Flayn likely was all those years ago... and ever since her imprisonment, to boot. Things make a lot more sense, but it also raises many more questions I want answered if I think of things that way." Raine's answer was cutting, and for a brief moment, a flare of wrath shone in her eyes before she abruptly quenched it with a grinding of her teeth and a momentary clench of her hand about her sword hilt. She dropped her hand after a long, irritated pause, and she shook her head as she looked back to her brother almost sternly, "Priorities first though, Warin... Especially in the current company. No questions about Father, or Mother. Not yet."
Warin shrugged his shoulders carelessly, looking for all the world as if he was unbothered by her instruction, but his eyes slid to Dimitri nonetheless to prove it was merely a facade, and not one he was holding up with much effort. Dimitri returned his stare with quiet resignation, clearly ready to be told he was not welcome for such an interrogation, but Warin said nothing as he returned his eyes to Raine. Her choice of words, and her decision to speak them so freely in front of the future king was enough to say everything he needed to know, and he made things clear as he replied calmly, "As you want. But if you're bringing the princeling, I'm bringing Shamir when the time comes. Is that fair enough to ask?"
"She has every right to know, if you've given her Mother's ring. You'll tell her yourself regardless, so I see no point in excluding her." Raine shrugged in response, but her small smile was genuine as she watched Dimitri's eye widen in surprise as he looked sharply to Warin. The older man looked somewhat bothered to be dragged out so unceremoniously in front of the prince, but Raine paid it no mind as she indulged in the moment. It was pleasing, knowing how deeply her brother wanted Shamir to be involved in things he usually kept so fiercely to his chest, but she continued all the same as gently as she could, "But with Flayn, Seteth, and likely Claude all being present for the initial conversation, I don't want a word of our family being brought up... Can we agree with that?"
"H-Hold a moment..." Dimitri broke in, and the look of sudden nervous awkwardness on his face made both siblings raise their eyebrows as they turned to look at them. He felt a flush working its way up his cheeks and into his ears, and he cursed himself for his childish reaction, but he was genuinely at a loss as he looked from sister to brother and back again in confusion. He was surprised to hear Raine speaking so openly of her family in front of him, especially with Warin present, and the implicit suggestion that he was to be involved, without even a question of needing Warin's permission, was something he couldn't help but address awkwardly, "When was it decided that I could be present for this...? Should this not be left solely to the two of you?"
"Dimitri, I've already told you everything I have to give you about myself. You've come this far alongside me. You're entitled to the truth." Raine almost chuckled with gentle exasperation at the lost look on her lover's face, and she extended her hand, gently running her fingers along the back of his before taking a firm hold. He returned the grip almost at once, watching her closely, seriously, and she was glad for it as she continued with a calm she didn't entirely feel despite her voice as she explained, "And if you hear it directly from her mouth, that's all the better. Whatever I may tell you afterward will only be tinged with my bias. I'll need an outsider's opinion to keep me from acting hastily... Both Warin and I will. We've been nursing this grudge for far too long... We have a right to the truth, yes, but unfortunately we also have an obligation to take in what we're told as objectively as we can. We can't do that by ourselves. Everything else Rhea has to tell us should be heard by all parties involved, which you are one of anyway, yes?"
Dimitri hesitated, unsure of how to reply to such a thing even as Raine's hand gently squeezed his own in a comforting sort of fashion. He couldn't quite agree that it was entirely his place, even with her clear permission, though a small part of him was selfishly pleased. He wanted to know the truth, so he could know where to bring down the hammer on the reason why, for so many nights, she had woken up and called herself a monster after her nightmares of things she could not control, or had not been responsible for. He suspected, just as they did, that Rhea was the cause, and if she was to admit things openly, then he would know where to lay the blame... and he would stand side by side with them, if they chose to exact justice for their wounds.
"As the future king of Faerghus, you're entitled to the truths of this country. It will help you lead in the future, as well as establish how your kingdom will continue along with the Church of Seiros after your coronation." Warin shrugged his shoulders as Dimitri continued to look silent and lost, and he folded his arms over his chest as he waited for a rebuttal that did not come. Raine was watching him closely, too, gently concerned for him, but Warin caught his eye and held it as he continued flatly, "And as Raine said... The choice with whom we share our secrets is a choice we are permitted to make for ourselves. If you're uncomfortable being there, that is one thing... but there is no question in her mind that you should be present. Nor in mine, for that matter."
Dimitri again didn't answer, unsure for a moment as he felt the weight of Warin's words crashing heavily on his shoulders. It was another sign of acceptance, of tacit approval he had not yet earned, but despite it all he craved it. It was proof that he was not inherently selfish, that he wasn't entirely delusional, and every inch of him yearned for the acknowledgement that he was doing right by Raine in Warin's eyes. He swallowed it all down roughly however, stirred when he felt Raine's hand once again squeeze down gently on his own. Her fingers pressed into his palm, a silent question as well as reassurance, and his eye flickered to her as he took in her calm and comforting expression.
'Even now... Even here, she's putting it all aside for my sake... What am I doing...?' Dimitri chastised himself harshly, and he slowly returned the soft grip on his hand as he shook away his concerns and fears. They didn't matter. She was asking for him, and it was his duty to answer her call. His feelings, thoughts, or opinions were of no weight, and he could not flounder when she needed him. He straightened his back, wrapping his fingers firmly about her much smaller hand to envelop it in his strong grip before he said with a surety he did not entirely feel, but knew he needed, "Very well... I shall abide by your wishes. Let us go, then. There's no need to waste time... and we've precious little to waste as it is, even now. Go, and I shall follow."
"You'll stand with me. Not in my shadow." Raine corrected him quietly, and the men present all twitched in surprise at the firmness in her voice despite the volume. Her eyes were flickering like a candle, a quiet but still burning sort of emotion hiding in the seafoam-green of her irises, and her gaze switched from Dimitri and then to her brother, but back again in an instant. She held her chin a little higher, daring defiance and staking her challenge as she continued in that same firm voice that spoke of no hesitation or doubt, "You are not my subordinate, nor are you my student. You are the future king of Faerghus, and the man I love, and you do not stand behind me. And the same goes for you, Warin. You're not a lieutenant anymore. You're a captain and commander of your own making now, and you don't stand behind me, either. All three of us are equals. No one overshadows the other. No one's needs or wants outweigh the others. We are all together on this, on equal footing."
"I'd normally argue that, but when you've got that look in your eye, that's just asking for a beating. I've taken more than enough lumps today, thank you, so I'll cede to you for the moment. But don't think you've won anything just because I'm being prudent, little sister." Warin's answer came quick and amused, and his smile was wry when his sister returned it with a withering glare that even Dimitri shrank back from unconsciously. They both could feel the heat of her annoyance, but Warin held no fear in his heart, not even from her. He turned errantly on his heel, crossing his arms behind his head as he began to take his leave for the castle gates, "We'll pick this up again later, when we both feel a bit more energetic, shall we?"
"Typical..." Raine muttered with a shake of her head, but her lips were quirked into the faintest smile as she slid her arm carefully into Dimitri's to entice him along. He followed her willingly enough, still looking a little bit lost and exasperated, but his feet moved with hers, and his arm tightened gently on hers as well as she led him on. The thought made her soften despite her annoyance with her brother, and she chanced a look upwards to see that Dimitri was watching Warin's back with a thoughtful look as they followed after him to the entrance where Flayn, Seteth, and Claude were supposedly waiting. She brushed her shoulder to his to catch his attention without pausing her pace, and her voice was gentle and quiet as she questioned, "Are you worried?"
"Yes, but likely not for the reason you might think." Dimitri admitted after a moment's pause, and he looked over to see her questioning glance before once more transferring his gaze over to Warin's back. He looked unbothered, not allowing for anyone to ask him of his emotions and instead barrelling forward without regard, but Dimitri was aware it was nothing but an act. How long at Warin been burning for this moment? And to be told he had to wait, wait even longer, for the absolution he was craving? It made him take pause, and he continued with a low, quiet exhale as he confessed, "Even now, you and your brother are waiting... How long will you continue to? I agree with you, that there are larger matters at hand that need attending to, but even in the midst of it, you will just... allow things to lie?"
Raine didn't answer immediately, listening to the concern and the confusion in his voice, and she allowed it to permeate her entire being as they walked for a minute in silence. It felt warm, hearing him express his worries over her and her brother, and she wasn't sure if she had the words to express her own gratitude for it. It didn't matter that he and Warin were still not entirely settled, or that his own position meant he would need to eventually play the game of politics with the Church of Seiros when all was said and done, because his focus was on the here and now... and on them. She followed his gaze to her brother, knowing underneath his calm posture there was years of tension burnt deep into his very bones, and she admitted with a sigh of her own, "I don't think we have much of a choice, to be frank. Rhea may be alive, but her condition I imagine must be horrible... Even we have enough mercy in us to not interrogate her freshly released from imprisonment. She'll no doubt need moons to heal... and we'll need moons to settle this mess that was left for us to clean up. True, in the meantime we'll reside in the same place, but... I don't think it'll be wise to address her properly about what we want until we've nothing left to do."
"Why would it be unwise?"
"I have to see this through to the end. The entire end, mind you. That means going as far as I must to bury the whole of our enemies, if Thales indeed survived. If anything Rhea might tell me about my family, about myself, might cause me to waver in my resolve, I'd rather not know of it until my work is finished." Raine answered with a slow, tired shake of her head, and her eyes flickered down to her boots as she felt a weight of shame placing itself squarely on her shoulders. Petulance, frustration, and wrath all were at war in her chest, demanding to know how much more she had to do with the duties and obligations she had never asked for, but she knew better by now than to listen to the complaints. "If I stop fighting, then Warin will refuse to continue, too. And who else will follow? I was told to lead. I can't allow my emotions to cloud that obligation. Until those in the shadows are defeated, until there is no more threat to Fódlan, I cannot stop. Warin knows this just as well as I do. He wasn't even considering the notion of interrogating her until later because of that."
Dimitri couldn't help but frown, his eyebrows furrowing deeply at her words despite himself. It was true, Warin had been the one to initially bring up the idea of putting themselves aside before Raine had made him reassure her of it, but the thought still did not sit well with him. It just seemed like another delay, another punishment, when they had suffered enough already to have gotten this far. Yet neither were complaining, but instead tried to make light of the situation as if it was all they could do. It made his jaw tighten, and he asked dryly, unable to entirely coat the venom in his voice with wry humour as they could, "Then you'll consider your truths to be a reward of sorts, after all of this comes to an end?"
"Heh. Not a way I'd put it, but I suppose that's not a bad way to look at things. All things considered, at any rate. A reward would be half-decent, wouldn't it?" Raine admitted with a low chuckle, but there was no humour in her voice as they checked their pace at the open doors of the great castle. The knights guarding the way waved them inside, pointing at the small staircase hidden at the corner of the wide entryway for them to follow Warin down. Again, at the end of another long hallway were another pair of guards, and this time they beckoned them to the left, pointing their way now that Warin had disappeared ahead on the path to the dungeons that lay very likely in the middle of the castle grounds, and buried deeply below.
Another staircase welcomed them at the end of the third hall, though this one was hidden behind a large iron door that had been thrown open, and inside was darkness as it led them down deep. Raine took it without pause, her good hand reaching for the wall to steady herself as the staircase led them down into a spiral, tight and knotted and growing ever darker despite the few candles that had been buried into the walls above to show the outline of the painted steps beneath their feet. She spoke idly again now that they were away from the soldiers who were keeping guard of the path, and her voice was low, yet still it echoed as the spiral took them deeper underground with each and every step, "We started this fight... And it's in our blood to end it. No mercenary leaves anything half-finished. I won't lie and say I'll enjoy it, or that it will be easy. It'll be hard, probably the hardest thing I'll ever do, having to live with that woman again and suppress the urge to tear out all the knowledge she's been hiding from us... but I have no choice. I have one last obligation to fulfil. One last duty to do. She can take back her mantle of leadership, and then Warin and I can finally put Garreg Mach to our backs. Though... Saying it, it tastes bittersweet. I'll miss the monastery. I'll miss my students. But I can't stay there. I would never have peace if I did."
Dimitri ached to press her, but the rest of her words were swallowed in silence as the stairway finally bottomed out into a low-ceiling hall that was dark and grim despite the luxurious trappings that lay above. Not so far from the entrance into the grand castle of Enbarr was also the grim entrance of the great prison, and Dimitri was unsure if he was more surprised, or bemused to know that such a sprawling maze of corridors and cells lay beneath it. The stairway had been too long and spiralling, with only one exit at the very bottom, and the world they arrived in was musty, crowded, and ill-lit with sparsely placed torches that guarded the thick iron doors that barred away the cells for an unknown amount of prisoners.
His stomach churned despite itself with memory of the cells in the deep cold of Fhirdiad, and he could not help but notice just how similar they looked. The walls were cold, the iron black and imposing in the dim light, and the atmosphere itself seemed to be a thick chain about the neck in an attempt to choke out all thoughts of comfort, warmth, and freedom. No guards stood at attention, there was no need when there was so much farther to go deeper inside and down, but his back stiffened all the same. He could picture the staircases that lay ahead, tunnelling even deeper into the dark and away from the sun, and unbidden his body shuddered with memory of screaming, of anguish, of the wails of the forgotten and doomed that he did not know personally, but had joined with all the same so many years ago.
His eye closed tightly as he swallowed down loudly, fighting the impulse of panic and fear at the surge of memory and familiarity. Even the very air seemed to stink the same way, though he knew it was likely only an illusion brought on by too many nightmares. His stay in the dungeons of Fhirdiad had not been long, but it had been enough to leave its scars deeply buried in his psyche. He had been alone in his cell, chained and bound until even his great strength could do nothing to break himself free, and he had been prepared to die, to lose his head for a crime he had not committed, until the doors had been buckled in and Dedue and his men had come to free him. It had been a lifetime ago, but in a moment's breath he was back in the filth and the dark, huddled in a corner and wrapped in countless steel chains and weights, lifeless and hopeless at the realization that all had been taken from him by force, and he had no way to get vengeance... No way back to freedom and hope and warmth ever again.
"Dimitri... Hey. Look at me."
A soft hand touched his cheek, pulling him abruptly back, and Dimitri was aware his breathing had turned heavy and harsh as his body trembled uncontrollably with panic. His eye flew open, focussing as Raine stood in front of him, her hand pressed against his face as she watched him with concern furrowed deeply into her brow. Her seafoam-coloured eyes were pained and anxious, aching for him, and he was silent and unsure as he realized the ghosts had returned, grasping with skeletal fingers to pull him down before he had been able to even recognize their hold on him. How long had he been standing there, frozen in a waking nightmare without the realization that he was not a prisoner nor a boy anymore, and his chains had long ago been thrown off of him? He didn't know, and he was afraid to ask.
His skin felt cold and clammy, and his fingers twitched helplessly at his side as they yearned for a weapon, but he had left it with Rodrigue and did not wish to see it after having used it to kill his step-sister earlier that day. He could do nothing but stare helplessly back at her, jaw tight and his breathing unsteady despite all of his desperate attempts to swallow down the hammering of his heart in his throat. He knew it was pathetic, returning to the dungeons of Enbarr as a liberator, only to shrink back in fear of the memory of his time as a prisoner in Fhirdiad, but the hands were clasping again, pulling, and he couldn't resist it as much as he wished to.
Warmth touched his lips, and Dimitri inhaled sharply as complete reality returned to him with the force of a stroke of a sword to his middle. Raine's hand curled lovingly into his hair, tugging him down to her height as she stood on tiptoe to kiss him, and he felt the cold and the shadows fleeing from her in desperation. She pressed herself firmly into his hanging arms, flattening her body against his chest, and instinct took over where panic had fled, and his good arm reached automatically to hang itself across her hips and pull her closer. His mouth responded thoughtlessly, pressing back with a sudden flare of suppressed hunger, and he heard a soft little moan that tugged him all the more back into the light of the familiar.
Raine allowed for it, her body quivering as his tongue slipped past her open lips to claim and caress, and the heavy weight of his arm on her back was suddenly hot and burning. He kissed her like a man desperate for air, dying to drink all of her in, and a mad, yearning wish made her ache with the idea of those strong arms picking her up off her feet and pressing her to the wall so he could take her until he was satisfied. How many times had he come awake beside her with a harsh gasp, hands grasping so tightly at the sheets that they tore underneath his strength as he fought the nightmares even as his body surged back to consciousness under the fear? She knew well how to bring him out of his panic, just as he did to her, and she didn't hesitate when she saw his gaze was distant and wide and empty even when he opened his eye.
His hold was tight with leashed hunger that his body was desperate to release, and she felt the same burn even as she placed her hand gently on his chest to push him back after a few heated, delicious moments. His breath came ragged on her lips as they parted, now hitched for another reason entirely, but she didn't mind as she curled her arm about his neck to urge him to lean down and rest his chin on her shoulder. She nuzzled her cheek to his, hugging him as best she could with her one functioning arm, and her voice was soft, calming and quiet when she murmured into his ear as she had done so many times before in the dark of her quarters, "It's okay... You're with me, Dimitri... It's all right."
"Forgive me..." The words came hoarsely from a too-tight throat, but for a moment, Dimitri could do nothing but stand where he was in her arms and grip down on her with all that he had. It was too familiar, her warmth chasing away the dreams and memory like he had wished for all those damned years alone, but the comfort was bittersweet. For all his strength he was still little more than a mewling kitten, blind and frightened and weak at the mercy of memory, and it was only at her touch that he could remember and take a breath against the freezing cold touch of his ghosts. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent to further give him grounding, and his fingers pressed into her hip as he whispered raggedly, "I... It was just... too much for a moment... If you'll... give me another minute..."
"Shh... Take as much time as you want..." Raine's answer came softly, soothingly, and her fingers combed gently through his hair as he clutched at her like a lifeline. His broad shoulders were trembling, making her wince for him and the memories that still had such a fierce hold on his fragile psyche. She had forgotten entirely, not thinking in the wake of all the other weights that were piling up, and she tightened her hold as best as she could manage with her ill-working arms as she reassured him quietly, "I won't go anywhere..."
For a heartbeat, Dimitri closed his eye tightly and clung, allowing himself to sink into her warmth and soak in every ounce of comfort she was offering without hesitation. She was warm and soft, a firm reminder of where he stood and when, and he was ashamed to admit how sorely he needed it. She said nothing, merely continued to hold him and give him grounding, and he wondered errantly how much it had to hurt her to do so. She was using both of her arms, however gingerly, and he hated to think of how badly her untreated wounds must be aching as she put it aside for his sake. That thought and that thought alone forced him back cruelly to the present, and with slow, careful hands he reached to pull himself carefully away and out of her grasp.
"We can't keep the others waiting on my account... They must all be there by now." His voice was gruff, a low, forced mutter, but he knew it was for the best even as she watched him with a furrowed brow. She didn't look at all convinced that he was all right, but he made no claims either way as he moved to brush his knuckles carefully against her cheek. She tilted her head automatically, leaning into his touch, and his expression softened as his thumb traced the shape of her jawline, "We should continue on. As for you and I... Later... We can pick this up again... later."
"That better be a promise." Raine murmured reluctantly, but she allowed him to dictate the pace as she knew was best for him. However, she didn't let his arm leave her grasp, and instead curled her own about his as he tried to withdraw fully. She knew it was childish, but she wanted to cling to him a little longer, at least until the circumstances demanded she couldn't. She was grateful when he didn't pull away from her, allowing her to lead, and she mused he had to be putting up as much of a front as she was if he wasn't going to struggle even for appearance's sake.
They walked the rest of the way through the halls of cells like that, arm tightly entwined in arm, and Raine felt his tension escaping him even as he held himself upright and a little bit stiffly. He didn't want to show weakness, at least to those waiting for them at the end of their little journey, and that much she could understand. Even all these moons later, even for all the progress he had made, he was still a badly broken man. He had not healed entirely, and likely never would... but he didn't want that to be seen by everyone else when he was needed was a pillar of support for another. She both loved and hated him for that, for that selfless concern for her and her brother, and it made her all the more reluctant as she spotted the guards at the doors of an open cell not a stone's throw away from the left corner.
The two men, clad in Almyran colours, nodded to them at their approach and stepped away from the doors without a word as they lowered the weapons respectfully to grant them entry. From inside they could hear Claude speaking, interspersed occasionally with comments by Seteth, or Flayn, but Warin was silent and there was no hint that Rhea was there inside. It wasn't until the two ducked in, as quietly and innocuously as they could that they caught of glimpse of the sparse cell, the rusted chains, and the five people who were currently making it their impromptu base.
Warin stood by the entrance, back to the wall and arms crossed in his usual posture, and as far away from the centre of the action as he could possibly place himself. He was the stoic observer, his expression completely placid and betraying nothing, even though his eyes were quietly simmering, deep in his dark irises that were cleverly hidden by the shadow of the open door. Claude stood further inside, but no more than a few paces, as if some invisible wall was keeping him from reaching the other end of the rather small cell. He wished to be closer, his outstretched hand and animated voice spoke of an argument of some sort that had abruptly been cut off at their arrival, but for one reason or another, he stood too far away and was not permitted access to the circle across the cell from him.
And at that end sat the three green-haired ones, separate and apart, yet together and firm with one sitting on the ground, small, frail and tired, another kneeling at her side, kind, caring and maternal despite her youthful look and furrowed brows, while the sole male stood warily over them like a long-haggard guardian who was still waiting for the day he could conclude his eternal vigil. Rhea sat between them, her thin, white gown tattered and matted with grime and dust and blood, and her eyes were sunken and her face pale from the long years of torture she had seen in the dungeons. Though her chains had been cut and removed, their ugly crimson marks remained on her wrists and ankles, and her hands and bare feet were bruised and cut. She looked remarkably frail, so different from that last glimpse of her that Raine remembered, though she knew it was not to be a surprise. For over five years she had been imprisoned and at the mercy of Enbarr and their shadowy benefactors, and it was clear her treatment had not been kind.
There was a rush of movement, followed by a sharp, surprised call before Raine felt herself thrown back against the wall as a warm weight collided into her chest. It had happened too fast for her eyes to catch even though her body reacted automatically, reaching to steady the fragile burden resting in her arms. She seemed so thin, and her body was trembling uncontrollably, though Raine admittedly could not tell if it was from weakness, or something else that was causing it. Gone was that straight, proper, polite woman who radiated a calm sort of strength no matter the circumstances she faced, and in her place was a clutching, desperate child whose broken nails dug fiercely into the cloak of her professor as she whispered in a raw, trembling voice, "You came for me...! I've dreamt... of this... I dreamt of you...! Thank you... Thank you so much...!"
Raine was silent as she felt the drop of tears starting on her neck, and her hands twitched at her sides, uncomfortable and taut as a warm feeling that had nothing to do with comfort or relief swelled deep in her stomach. Rhea clung to her with a weak desperation that could have easily been torn away with little more than a shrug, but despite herself, Raine couldn't find the will to move. All she could do was stand awkwardly, feeling the tears the woman they had saved was shedding so freely on her shoulder and wondering at what they meant, and what her reaction would be. Instinct overrode everything else, and her good arm raised slowly, carefully steadying the shaky woman against her front as she finally spoke in a quiet, thick voice of her own, "I would leave no one to stay in such an accursed place... Your time of imprisonment is over. You're free now... Rhea."
AN:
This went on a bit longer than I meant for it to, (and along the way I gave poor Dimitri a panic attack, that was totally unintentional) but I think I like where this ended up. Of course, this is an awkward and disjointed kind of piece, though I'm not totally unhappy with it. There's still a lot of ground to cover, though we're slowly getting there, and the next chapter will be a fun info-dump for everyone who's been waiting so patiently for it! Mind, we all know what's going to happen, but the internal reveal is so much more fun than the external, right?
I'm pretty tired, and writing has been rough lately. Lots of pain, though thankfully no sickness on my end! I've been so strict with quarantine that the very idea of my city lifting up the limits has gotten me surprised. I'm grateful that my province has handled the problem as well as we have, and I hope that it continues to be treated with the seriousness it deserves. And I hope everyone else out there is also staying safe and healthy, too, regardless of what your country is doing right now. Don't take risks with your health!
Anyway, I don't have a long AN to write, as I'm just too damned sleepy for it right now. I should be in bed, but unfortunately my muse kicked me out of it to go finish this off. It's a problem. I've been wanting to write for weeks, but my body keeps screaming that it's too sore, too hot, too uncomfortable, too tired... and then my muse throws a tantrum and I end up losing sleep trying to make it up to her. I really ought to fix that. Anywhosit, thank you as always for reading this far, and please drop me a review if you should feel the need. They keep me going, even the smallest thing is a treasure, and I'm grateful to everyone and anyone who takes the time to write up a comment. You guys have a good one!
Mood: Lazy.
Listening To: "Wraith" - Snow Ghosts
~ Sky