Evernight

[Elle Joyner]

It was a strange feeling, the act of rising from the grave, proverbial or otherwise. She could not ignore the reality of what had happened. It was still so fresh in her mind - every terrifying moment of it, dying - From being stabbed, to that last breath, emptying her lungs of life. Distinctly, she could still feel the ice in her veins... But despite this, despite all of those feelings, it still seemed so surreal, like a dream she'd finally woken from. In so many ways, that's what it was, she supposed.

It should have been a frightening realization - that someone could have the sort of power Thalia did, but the facts were, Thalion was proving day by day to be stronger than his mother could possibly have imagined. She no longer doubted their ability to overthrow the woman - and they had what they did not before.. the element of surprise.

"Whatever it was, I know for a fact your mother won't be expecting it. And that's exactly what we need." Leaning into him, she sighed softly, letting her eyes fall closed. The fight was only just beginning, indeed, but for the first time since Thalia had driven her into Evernight, Minette was sure they had the upperhand.

"I've rested too long..." She finally said, with a small, dry smile, "I've had enough sleep to last me a lifetime."
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As Minette sat up and wound her arms around his neck, he let out a shaky breath. The dread and anxiety deadened his mind and body. In his frozen state, he could barely breath, closing his weary eyes. It wasn't until the sound of shoes clicking on the stone hallway just outside the door did Thalion stir again. His body bristled and he felt a tickle ripple up through his spine almost violently as he jarred upright. Sliding a hand around Minette's shoulder, he pressed a finger gently to her lips to make sure she remained hush. Whether or not the princess—now the Queen--was alive, Thalion knew the longer Thalia thought them both dead… the better.

"Shh," he murmured quietly, sliding silently onto the floor; his boots barely making a squeak as he pressed his weight into them. "We should move and figure out a plan—quickly." They were safer than ever before without the Watchcrew and other monsters lurking about, but he knew better than to believe they were safe. Unfortunately, he was operating in new territory—he didn't know anything about Green Reach anymore, or the people in it. "Good," he concluded, not allowing himself to celebrate too much just yet. Both he and Minette were alive, but wouldn't be for much longer if they dawdled. "I'm not sure we have much time to rest."

Though he didn't even know where to begin. They were in Green Reach, but what did they do? Did they reveal Minette's identity? Did they try and hide it? An anxious hand shook through his long hair, pushing the black tresses away from his tanned forehead that was beaded with sweat.

"We need a plan. Thalia is much more vulnerable in Green Reach than Evernight but…" he looked around the room, spinning around in a tight circle once, inspecting every inch of the room. It was pristinely decorated, all in respect to Minette. He had never once doubted what she had said, that she was Doyle royalty, but seeing it in person cemented it in his mind finally; it cemented just how entirely out of league he was with her. Regardless, they shared a foe and there was no time to think about propriety and expectation.

"I don't know where to begin."
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[Elle Joyner]

"I do..."

She had been thinking about it since she had learned from Thalion that escaping Evernight was possible. Then, it had only been a hope. A prayer - but now it was a possibility, and she wasn't going to give in to fear or doubt and allow it to steal away the sudden confidence that had been born from rising out of the curse.

Thalia had taken too much... She had gone too far, and it was time for her to see what her actions had wrought. She was going to pay for sending her only son into that nightmare, pay for sending Minette and Gregian and anyone else there as well... She was going to answer for her crimes and the punishment would be supreme and just.

As much as it scared her, as much as she had avoided it, run from it... it was time to become the queen she was meant to be...

"We need to find as many guards as possible... wake the city. I want to address my people. They need to know that I'm alive and well, and that I intend to bring Thalia to her knees. She is on our grounds now, Thalion. This is my world, and she's going to pay for what she's done to it."

Pressing a palm to his cheek, her expression shifted and leaning up, she kissed him, tenderly, "...We are going to be free of her, soon, my love. I see it now. What she was so afraid of. She can't win, as long as we've got one another."
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Addressing her court and people seemed like a public form of suicide, but at the end of the day, this was Minette's territory. Thalion could talk to her all day about dragons, Oilers, or other Evernight creatures, but Green Reach was foreign to him. He didn't understand the rules or how it worked. The few moments he had been in the streets of the city had been quite an ordeal for him, and he had been immediately overwhelmed. His overly keen senses, honed to hear even the smallest creak or crack of a branch in the forests were swamped and overwhelmed. There had been too many smells, too many sounds.

He was overwhelmed… he wasn't even entirely sure how he had managed to find Minette in all of the mess, but now that he had, he knew he must rely on her for support. He couldn't navigate Green Reach alone—in a minute, he'd be lost or swept up underneath a carriage.

"I'll do whatever you need me to do, just tell me and I will do it." He didn't know how to gather guard (were they the men he had seen in the red coats, he wondered), or how to gather the people. His worry was, of course, how deep Thalia had gotten her nails into the people. What if they supported her? What if they cherished her as their ruler and would forsake and disown Minette? Quickly, Thalion shook his head to cleanse the thoughts from his mind. That was nonsense, he decided. He couldn't worry about such things, no matter how he wanted to.

Thankfully, Minette seemed to understand. She always did. She always knew when something was brewing in his mind and she quickly chased the clouds away like a burning hot sun. Her palm pressed into his cheek and she kissed him. It was warm and true. The flesh of her lips against his reminded him that this wasn't a hallucination. He had nearly lost her, but he hadn't. He would never lose her again—his fragile, new soul wouldn't survive it.

"I don't know where you get such certainty," he admitted, "But if you believe it, then I guess that means I gotta, too."

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[Elle Joyner]

It was something in his tone - in the way he hesitated, the uncertainty in his eyes that gave Minette pause. She was optimistic that they were on better grounds here than they had been in Evernight, and she had more than just blind hope that Thalia was beatable, but she was still a threat and they had to be cautious - now more than ever. There would be no second chances, no miracles in Doyle. What happened, happened for good and if either of them were to die, again… it would not be likely undone, again.

Shifting, leaning back a little, she met Thalion's gaze and shook her head, her expression softening as she kissed his jaw with her fingertips, "No. Not… not tonight, Thal. I know it's important, and I want to get started as soon as possible, before she discovers you're here… discovers that her curse was broken. But what we've been given… I don't want it to get lost in what we've got to do next. I lost you, and I almost died… Maybe even did, in a way. I don't want to ignore that we've been granted another chance."

Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against his, letting her eyes fall closed, "We've had so little time, just the two of us. There were so few moments I can look back on and remember with fondness. Before we do this, before we try to take her down, I want to spend just one night without thinking about any of it. Evernight or Thalia or all of the horrible things we went through. I just want to go somewhere quiet, and forget any of that exists at all. Can… can we do that? Would you do that for me?"
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Slowing down had never been Thalion's strength. He exhaled shakily, unsure he'd be able to let go of what had happening, what was happening, for long enough to conquer what she was trying to ask of him: stop moving for one day. Everything she listed was every reason he wished to keep moving forward. It was what fed and drove the raw, rather animalistic warrior in him. It was his will to survive that was compelling him. With Minette though, he could only nod in agreement. He couldn't think of fighting her, especially when she slumped forward. Her forehead fell against his and she used him for support.

His hands hesitated for a moment, but eventually came around her small form and hugged her in tight. "Okay," was all he managed out in a small voice. He seemed so quiet and afraid, which was hard to imagine when in Evernight he had always been so fierce and fearless, but Green Reach was new to him. It scared him. "We'll take the night then, just… just you n' me." And no dragons, no Thalia, no Halfhags… none of it. None of it but the steady roar of the city outside her high tower. "I'll go anywhere you want." She mentioned somewhere quiet and Thalion hoped that was true.

He could use quiet. Green Reach was too loud for him; it felt like he was going deaf. All the people shouting, laughing, talking… horses whinnying and their hooves clomping, the bell tolling, the wagons creaking, the mud squishing, the vendors peddling in loud voices about lowest prices in all of Doyle… it was overwhelming. His ears were ringing. His sense of hearing was acute after so many years in Evernight and now they were being overworked with white noise. It was giving him a terrible headache.

"You should know I'd probably do anythin' for you," she probably knew she didn't really even have to ask if she didn't want, but she always chose to.

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[Elle Joyner]

"You've given me life, Thal. I've little more I could ask of you." A smile graced her lips and straightening again, Minette reached out to take hold of Thalion's hand. They didn't have much, she knew, in the way of time. But whatever few minutes of peace she could get were enough. They had been, back in Evernight.

She rose, a little surprised to find how weak her legs felt, but after a moment or so she composed herself, nodding to the door, "I know just the place. I used to go there as a child, to hide from my nurse… It would make her furious, but I almost suspect she started to only pretend she didn't know where I was, after a while. She knew how happy it made me… To escape, if only for a little…"

It wasn't a long walk, though it took some remembering. The palace was pleasantly empty, however, and reaching the tower made simpler by encountering no one. Soon enough she would be discovered and would need to perform her duties… But for just a small grace period, they had no one to bother them.

The tower overlooked Green Reach, high above the eastern wall, with views as far as the sea. So high, the only sounds were the rushing wind and their quiet footfall. Setting the torch she had borrowed in a hook by the door, Minette turned a chair upright near the window, gesturing him to it, before leaning out carefully on the sill.

"It feels so surreal… being back here. Being back at all…"
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Minette took his hand like she always liked to and stood. He was there as she wobbled, trying to gather her ground. "I used to do the same thing," he mentioned idly when she told him the story about how she used to hide from her nurse. Of course, he used to hide from his mother and he used to do it in a huge alternate universe created as his own personal prison—but that was just different pronunciations of the word 'potato.' A part of him missed Evernight, though. He missed it because it was familiar and recognizable to him.

In Green Reach, he didn't know anything. He nearly got ran over by a horse and a cart and he certainly couldn't remember the customs of the place. Only vaguely did he recall the use of things like cutlery, but it had been so long since he had touched any piece of silverware, that he knew he was going to embarrass himself when he finally did… if he did. Though Green Reach made him nervous, the war in front of him made him more so. Evernight had never been so strict with concepts of life and death with its concept of magic and anti-realism, but Green Reach?

There were no second chances here.

Following her swiftly and quietly through the palace, he was surprised to find it so quiet. It made him wonder where his mother could have gotten off to, knowing very well she wouldn't have allowed herself to exist without guards and servants. She was too proud. Nevertheless, they arrived at their destination undetected, up in a tower that turned all of Doyle into a map in front of them. A cool breeze whipped across his face and while many might have seen a wild kingdom, Thalion could only see how tame the landscape looked.

There were no Oilers, but small packs of birds did swoop about. There was nothing particularly menacing about the trees and forests. They stood like completely innocent giants. He stepped closer to the edge, inhaling sharply and allowing his shoulders to slump. He had fought so hard all his life to return to Green Reach and he still didn't feel like a part of it.

"Are you glad to be back?" he asked, listening to her mention how unusual it felt to be back. That much was true, at least. It did feel surreal to be back—like it was some kind of trick. Like they weren't truly in Doyle at all, just an illusion trap his mother had set for them.

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[Elle Joyner]

She thought it was an easy question to answer, but as she opened her mouth to address Thalion, she found herself stalled for a moment. Was she glad to be back? She was glad to be out of Evernight - that she had no doubts about. It had been a walking nightmare of Thalia's design and every moment there, but those few seconds of peace that she and Thalion had managed to find, had been very nearly unbearable.

But whether or not she was glad to be back... she wasn't entirely sure. It was home, certainly, and a part of her would always feel that way, but what Thalia had done to it, Minette had yet to discover. It scared her, the idea that Doyle might somehow just become another horrible prison like Evernight. It scared her to know that her people... her subjects had fallen under Thalia's control - that they might have done so willingly. What if they didn't want her to lead? What if she were deposed?

Turning from the window to Thalion, Minette frowned softly, "I'm... I'm not sure. I thought I would be. Glad... that is. I thought that it would be a relief, coming back. Waking up. But things have changed so much, Thal. And I don't know what to expect. I don't know if anything will ever be the way that it was before Evernight. I'm afraid... Afraid of the power that she has here. Afraid that once she knows we're here, she'll just send us back. Or worse."

Moving forward, she collected his hands and with a sigh, leaned her head against his chest, "I'm sorry. I brought us here so we didn't have to worry about the future. I'm not doing such a good job of that."
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Thalion laced his fingers together and leaned his elbows against the cinderblock windowpane. The glass had been cracked open on its hinges and a cool breeze was wafting through. The air was drenched heavily with the smell of the city around them. He could smell baked goods in the nearby bakery, he could smell the salty ocean water, he could smell the earth still damp from whenever it had last rained. Thalion inhaled sharply and closed his eyes. He just listened for a moment. Birds were chirping… it had been so long it made him uneasy. All the birds he had ever remembered were silent, their mouths opening and closing, following the motions of chirping, but the sounds high above his hearing range.

These birds were loud and obnoxious. They cooed and squawked, a raven nearby even cawed aggressively into the wind. A moment later, his eyes opened again. Slower this time than they had before. It wasn't until his hands were picked up in both of Minette's own did Thalion stir. He was not the same serious and cold man he had been in Evernight. Instead, he looked quite alarmed and frightened, like a large predator who had suddenly encountered a much larger predator.

Of course he was a bit frightened, a man would have to be insane not to be given their situation. Her head thumped against his chest and he knew it was out of frustration, but he didn't have any words of advice or uplifting commentary to offer her. He was feeling particularly bleak and he quickly resorted to his usual ways of remaining quiet. No point in trying to say anything at all, especially since he could lie and try and drum up her spirits, but Thalion was not a liar. He was a lot of things, but a liar was not one.

Stroking his hand down the back of her hair, he looked back out the window, but the horizon didn't hold any answers for them, either. "Nothing we can do about that," he stated finally after a long pause, "We'd have stuff to worry about n' Evernight or here, so… we're just stuck worrying, I guess."
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[Elle Joyner]

"No." Leaning back, Minette shook her head, her expression soft, but not without a hint of frustration, "There is something we can do. I said I don't want us to dwell on all that, tonight, and that is exactly what I've got us doing. No more. No talk of your mother or what our next steps are, or Evernight. None of it."

Reaching up she cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb across the chiseled apple, "We got lucky. You and me. We both got a second chance." Breathing out, she released him and stepped over to the window, leaning back against the sill. A warm breeze stirred and the scent of lavender and sea salt filled the small tower room, "Things are going to be different, now. But I don't ever want to forget that, or take it for granted."

Smiling delicately, she turned to face the view again, gesturing out into the darkening expanse, "All of this, Green Reach... Doyle. Whatever we'll call it. It's a big, wide world. We can make of it what we want. When everything is over, that's what I want to do, Thalion. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life, with you... Making a home out there. Our own little bit of peace. That's all that matters to me. Being happy, with you."
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Thalion didn't even know what else to speak of. What else was there in his world that wasn't Evernight and the oppressing thumb of his mother? It was all he had ever known; it was all he had ever known for so long. His tongue lumped uncomfortably in his mouth, feeling as dry as a chunk of Fanglarian moss and equally as tasteless. His eyes shifted uncomfortably a few times, circling the room as he rocked his weight from one foot to the next, back to the other. Thalion waited in the shadow of the room cast by the light spilling in through the window, his eyes taking in the dappled shade a little way yonder.

Peace? Settling down? The idea was lost on him. What were his hands to do? His hands knew work, knew hard work, and knew it well. His fingers new the touch of a bowstring and the bite of an arrow being drawn tight. He was terrified, but never in a million years would he dare to admit it. His face remained flat and stoic, hiding any and all emotions he felt. "You are the Queen, Minette," he replied to her, "This place? This place, Doyle? It will need its Queen." In that way, Thalion didn't know where his place was. He had always dreamed his place would be in Green Reach.

Now, he wasn't so sure.

Stepping out of the shadows and into the waning light, he leaned up against the stone pane of the window. His weight cocked on to one hip as he relaxed, letting his posture slacken, though it was clear his ears never stopped listening to the sounds around him. Some primitive part of him brain would never stop listening for Dragons and other terrible creatures that roamed the night. From every situation, he would always expect the worst.

Dusk was falling and mosquitos were out. Goose bumps rose on his arms from the evening chill, the green shrubbery now looking almost black, silhouetted, colours muted, as if they had been drained away by an invisible hand, as if the artist's palette had been suddenly changed. With the cooler temperature, Thalion reached out and wound his arm around Minette's waist. His cloak, the Oiler skin cloak still tinted with the singe from the dragon's flame all those months ago, fluttered across his shoulder.

"It's strange to only see one moon," he commented idly as the singular moon began to appear in the evening sky, "Like it's not even real."
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[Elle Joyner]

It was interesting to hear him defending the importance of her position. In Evernight her title had meant so little that she had come to expect much the same in Doyle. But perhaps he was right... Perhaps she wasn't thinking clearly, quite possibly because she had no real desire to. The simple was, she didn't want it... The responsibilities, the danger. She had undergone so much. And it was hard not to think that if they managed to take down Thalia she deserved a quiet life away from all those things.

Minette was not selfish... But was it wrong to want something like that? To not be entraped in some high and lofty position? To make decisions based on what she wanted, instead of what was best for an entire kingdom?

As Thalion moved closer, Minette shifted so she could lean back against him, turning her eyes upwards to the skies overhead. It would take time for both of them to adjust, but she had to wonder if it was even possible for him. Would he remain under Thalia's thumb... Even now that they were free from Evernight?

"If I'm queen, that means I've control over my subject's status. So what do you want to be, Thal? Name it... and it's yours. What do you want... In all of Doyle?"

 

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A wish, anything he could ever want. It was easy to come up with a million different ideas. At first, they all rushed to the forefront of his mind, begging to be let out, but once he got over the initial lust for his heart's desires, they all fell away quickly. He had been gone for so long that the idea of in all of Doyle meant almost nothing to him. He hadn't even a life in Doyle, so he couldn't wish for money… he didn't know anyone, so he couldn't wish for a position of power or stature… all he could really think about was the bow that had been broken.

It seemed like such a trivial thing to wish for when he was being offered anything he ever wanted, but the truth of the matter was that Thalion didn't know what he wanted above all else. "I guess I could use a new bow," he finally admitted with a sheepish voice because his wish was not more grand or elaborate. "It's not… they are still used here at this time and place, right?" Maybe Green Reach didn't even use bows and arrows any more, he wouldn't know. But status? He could only shrug at her. He wanted a good bow again, one that wasn't crushed by a dragon attack… but he didn't care for titles.

He wondered if the people there would care for him at all, or if he'd be too different. He looked the same with two hands, two feet, one head… he had all the parts of the people of Green Reach, but deep down he knew he was different; he wondered if they knew he was different, too. And if they did, what would they think of him? "I will do anything you ask of me, Minette, but because you are my friend, not the Queen." She wasn't even really his Queen, anyways. He wasn't from Doyle, not anymore.

Glancing over to her with his stormy dark eyes, he offered a hint of a smile before looking back to the window. A breeze curled through the opening, pushing through his hair and sending the dark locks swirling out behind his head. "Plus, I think you've been overthrown anyways," he reminded her, "Looks like you gotta take back your throne before you call yourself the Queen again."

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[Elle Joyner]

A brow quirked at the request. It wasn't that she couldn't appreciate it... The bow he had lost had been, to him, a constant companion and something he had treasured. It had been a source of security and a protector. And in an unfamiliar world, with so little thought as to what might happen next, she understood his need for that.

But she had meant what she'd said. For all he had done and all he meant to her, there was nothing she could or would deny him, and yet his request had been so small, so simple. In a word, she was awed by his lack of arrogance or hubris. A small smile formed and lacing her fingers through his, to draw his arms around her, she shook her head, "They are used, yes. Quite often, in fact. And my darling... You shall have the finest bow I can find you... A collection, if you want."

Bringing his knuckles to her lips, she grazed them with a kiss, then released him, turning around to face him, "But there's really nothing else you desire? I know we've a bit of work to put in, before I've reestablished command, and all of that will only come after we've taken down Thalia, but there's time for you to consider the offer... I want you to be happy, Thalion. You deserve it. After everything you did... Taking care of me the way you did. I just want you to have what you never could in Evernight..."

 

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His request hadn't been exactly selfless. How was one to make to a wish when he hadn't any idea how the world in which he was in worked? She gave him time to seriously consider her offer and he would do so, though perhaps after he could remember for a little while that he didn't always need to stay on high alert for dragons and that there were foods other than Oiler to be eaten. First and foremost, he just needed to get settled in, to get his footing in Green Reach. She had stated it herself anyways—it would be a while before she could re-establish herself as the ruler of Doyle.

Currently, the one sitting on the throne was not Minette, but Thalia.

"I'll think on it," he responded, "For now, all I want is a bow." A bow would serve him well, given the circumstances. He missed having one in his hands—feeling the weight and security of its grip. A lopsided smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he glanced over to her from just the corner of his eyes. "I can't really ask for much more than that right now." After both of their incidents with Gregian, their involvement in Evernight… their life, their deaths, and that which did not end it… he didn't want to think about what else he wanted. It was too exhausting thinking about happiness of any sort.

Happiness just felt like a tiring goal, especially since they still had so much to accomplish… so much to fight for. Sleepily, he rubbed his eyes and stared out through the window. "Plus, Evernight wasn't so bad," he admitted. He had always mentioned how much he had hated it. It had been a violent, difficult world to grow up and live in, but coming to Green Reach hadn't been the homecoming he had expected or believed it would be.

"Until Thalia has been reduced, I don't want any promises," he said, pushing a hand through his hair and swiping the dark tresses away from his forehead, "I just want to keep moving forward with what we have to do. I know you don't want to talk about it now, but we need a battle plan here." He hadn't so much as seen or heard a peep from Thalia, though he knew she was about. She was a close. It would only be a matter of time before someone realized Minette was missing from her bed.

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[Elle Joyner]

A sigh escaped and Minette pulled away, over to the small wooden chair, which she collapsed into. They had escaped, and still she felt as though Evernight and Thalia were holding her hostage - felt as though she had never woken. She knew in her heart that Thalion was right and she couldn't ignore what was happening or avoid it... that they needed a plan, sooner, rather than later, but it was hardly fair that so soon after finally breaking away from the nightmare, they were both thrust back into it without mercy.

It was unrelenting, and she was tired of it all.

Running her hands along her arms, she looked away. She wasn't angry with him, not really, but she was frustrated... She had endured so much and perhaps it was a small bit selfish, but she was fairly certain she deserved a bit of a respite - they both did. She didn't want to wage battle, to become a queen... she didn't want any of it - and it felt as though she had no choice in the matter. She was free of Evernight, but she had fallen right into another cage, altogether... gilded or not.

She wanted to enjoy her life - whatever was left of it - and maybe a small part of her wished Thalion could show some of the same hope... He wasn't an emotional complexity, he never had been, but it would have been a comfort if he'd seemed even a little glad they had both made it through.

"What do you suggest, then?" She finally said, the humor lost from her voice, her eyes moving from the floor, back up to Thalion with an edge of exasperation, "Where should we start?"

 

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Deep down, undoubtedly, Thalion knew it was hard on her. He could have sworn he could practicaly hear her morale crack as it smashed in the space of her toes, falling from its place in her chest to the lowest of the low. Desperate, Thalion's mind began to look for something kind and comforting to say, but it kept drawing blanks. Ultimately, he knew he was a cold man; he didn't have anything to say to her, so he simply wore his trademark little furrowed brow, turning his eyes back to the window and looking out as he continued to struggle, thinking that eventually he'd think of something.

He did not.

His mind, though he kept trying to break the mold of his own thought patterns, fell into the same routines: look forward, watch for danger. Thalia was the only danger he knew, and she was a great danger (aside from the wagon that had nearly trampled him). He simply couldn't detach his thoughts from her, no matter how much Minette coaxed and begged. No part of him could just drift off into a fantasy world and pretend—contemplate what he wanted in his new life in Green Reach, think about exquisite dinners, tasty wines, and nights spent in a warm, all-enclosing bed. Like an animal that had been raised in captivity its whole life, Thalion had spread his toes out in the grass metaphorically for the first time… but he didn't know what else to do.

He cowered back and looked for the safe familiarity of the cage, to find the door had been shut behind him. "Where do we start? We should look at how the kingdom is. It'd be easier to wage a war if the kingdom is in distress under her rule." Thalion knew little about Kings, Queens, and their subjects. Had her sudden rise to power not brought upon a reign of terror? Thalion had a hard time believeing it. He didn't turn his eyes away from the window physically, but his eyelids did close. The sound of birds squawking and cooing outside perforated the silence as he took a moment to steadily exhale.

"Soon, it will be discovered you're gone. I don't know what to do now, but maybe we'll know what to do once we see what happens when people realize you're missing."

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[Elle Joyner]

A sigh escaped, and Minette lowered her gaze again. She was queen, but she wasn't... They needed a plan, but had none. It was as though everything in the universe was working to frustrate her...

It wasn't Thalion's fault he was so practically minded. And she couldn't expect him to understand that all she had been through had left her in need of that comfort he was so unsure how to offer... She couldn't expect him to change, just because their location had. But it was difficult to sustain any sense of morale when she felt as though her revival had been only a tease...

She had been brought back... But what was there to celebrate if she was only leaping right back into the fray...

Her eyes stung, and rising from her seat, she shook her head, blinking away the dampness that pooled there, the nearly bitter sense of defeat weighing down her posture.

"Fine." She muttered, "Then I suppose it makes no sense to hide away or try to delay. I may as well return to my room and face what's coming."

 

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Was there was something he was supposed to do? Had there been some ever-important Green Reach social cue he had missed and had insulted Minette by missing? Immediately, his mind began to fret. He knew how to deal with the stress of dragons, the pain of hunger layering up after days and days, or the parching thirst of having not tasted but a drop of water in days. Immediately he had known she was angry or upset, but his mind (so incompletely incompetent when it came to understanding basic human emotion) that he could not for the life of him piece together the why.

Again and again, his brain repeated the same string of conversation, looking to pinpoint out anything he might have said that had offended her. Had it been because he had said he couldn't make any promises? His brows slipped down his forehead from furrowed tightly across the center to bent upward in distress. Though he never would have shown it, he could feel his heart squirming in his boots and he flipped his eyes away from her in discomfort—looking anywhere in the room but at her.

It was with great disappointment to him that he had come so far and had gotten within eyesight of the end, he hoped, and he had let her down. Never had Thalion let anyone down before, except his own mother, and it was extremely painful. It cut him deep in a way he had never experienced before. There had never been anyone there to put faith in him, there had never been anyone to disappoint. As his thoughts continued to run rampant, his face turned into a pained grimace that only deepened as she spoke.

"Okay," he agreed with her sheepishly so as to avoid any more reason to be at the receiving end of her anger. Maybe if he just kept agreeing, she wouldn't be angry. The last thing he wanted was for her to be angry, which was funny because… because he never really cared. He sort of had begun to wish he could go back to his days of not caring about anyone or anything except himself. At least then he wouldn't be able to disappoint himself.

"Okay we can go back."
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