All Of Us - Part 1: Summer

Chapter 26 - The battle of Ah-Knu

Trigger warning: violence

- Dæor -

Everytime I look at her, I still feel as if the ground is giving out from underneath me. Wait, not like that - I'm just not used to her being a rebel, that's all. In my wildest dreams, I never could have imagined that she would have joined our ranks. A Princess among the paupers. Like a diamond in a heap of coal. I chuckle and attract a few curious looks from the rebels around me as a result. Shrugging it off, I shift my weight. I don't really like riding - never have. It's a weird sensation, the horse's muscles rippling under your legs and the ever-moving mane wiping at your fingertips. Maybe this is what being on a boat is like. With less pauses for eating grass.

I sigh as my mind drifts back to Evangeline. To think that just two weeks ago, I was about to kill her... So much can change in so little time. And not always in a good way, I remind myself as the all-too familiar feeling of guilt roils in my stomach. Ach, I can't bother with remorse today. I have better things to do.

Aline drifts besides me on her steed and I nod briefly to her. Pulling my horse closer to hers, I lean over and ask, as discreetly as I possibly could: "How's Evangeline doing ?"

Aline looks back at me, a little startled. "Uh, she good. I mean I think," she answers, slightly nervously. "She's real guarded 'bout everything. Which's understandable, 'course," she rambles on. "I mean-"

"When did you start getting so shy around me ?" I wonder out loud. "Ah, that wasn't meant to escape my mouth." I risk a sideways glance at her, fully expecting an irritated outburst. But what I recieve is as far from that as possible. "When yah started tah make me feel shy," she replies seriously. "Dæor, Keiti told me yah knew yah changed." She smiles at me. "I'm just glad yah realized." It's my turn to be nervous. I was made to fight on the battlefield, not maneuver around awkward conversations. "Well, you're the closest one to Evangeline here. If you think she's good, then she must be."

She fiddles with her tight braid. "I dunno 'bout that, Dæor. She's... obviously not telling us everything." She shuts her mouth almost instantly, and I can tell by the look on her face that she regrets her words. That doesn't stop me, though. "What do you mean ?" I press her on.

"Well... I dunno, really. Just a feeling." She resumes her hair-twisting. I sigh. "Aline, you obviously know exactly what you meant." At her hesitant expression, I start again: "Telling me whatever you wished to say isn't betraying her in any way, you know. You're helping her. Besides, it's only a hunch, right ?"

She sighs resolutely. "Fine, I'll tell yah. I ain't sure or nothin', but think 'bout it. Something must have happened at the Court. Like, she's a great gal and all, but she didn't just decided to join us like that, after a month."

"Wait... I thought you had told her stories of what the King did to some of us."

"How do yah know that ?" Her head swivels to look at me. "Please don't repeat it. If Mun hears I told her, I'm dead meat."

I huff out through my teeth. "Mun... I don't know what to do about her and the others. I think part of me believes they still ought to be punished." I breathe out again, trying to release the tension in my shoulders. "Anyways, don't worry, my lips are as good as sealed."

"Good, cause I'd seal them myself."

"Go ahead and try." We share a short laugh, and I find myself wondering why I haven't hung out with her more. Is it possible that she was one of the many rebels that I had forgotten the name of ? I glance over at her, vowing not to let that happen again. She has both a tough and timid exterior, but her nature is soft and kind, with a funny, wacky personality.