A Nightmare's Honor

Broken Trust

{M} M/Red Apprentice POV:

The leaders murmured quietly to one another, tension radiating through the room. An emergency meeting of the leaders had been called by the Nightmare King along with the Blue Leader. I was unsure of what could possibly be happening, but I knew that whatever it was, the Yellow Apprentice would have already told me about it if it weren't within the last few hours. We were close friends, so I was certain that whatever was happening had to do with the darkness in the World Beyond. Finally, the Nightmare King appeared, along with the Blue Leader and Yellow Apprentice. What I wasn't expecting, however, was that two of his Yellow Elites had joined him. How unusual...

"Greetings, all. This meeting has been called because of a recent issue we believe you should be made aware of," the Nightmare King began smoothly, eyeing each leader. "The identity of two individuals has been concealed from you all."

The Blue Leader fidgeted ever-so-slightly, eyeing the two Yellow Elites with a nervousness I had never seen him show. Two individuals? Are they- no, no, certainly not. The Yellow Apprentice would have told me.

"My Elites, step forward and remove your helmets."

The two Yellow Elites obeyed, and, somewhat hesitantly, lifted their helmets from their heads. There was an audible gasp through the room. Neither of the Elites were Steves. Instead, they both had light, almost tan-colored skin, and rounded ears instead of pointed. They both had dark hair, but one had theirs up in a bun, slightly showing that the tips were lighter than the whole. This-... this is impossible!! Did the Yellow Apprentice know? Surely he couldn't have, otherwise he would have told me...

I looked at the Yellow Apprentice hopefully, but my spirits crashed. He seemed unsurprised by the identity of the two Elites, and when he met my gaze, I saw that his was filled with guilt. How could you keep such a big secret from me? I thought- I thought you trusted me... I thought we were friends...

There was a pleading look in the Yellow Apprentice's gaze, but I looked away, hurt. I had trusted him, and he had trusted me. Or so I thought. How long has he known this? How long has he kept silent? And why?!

"This is outrageous! How long have you known their identities?!" the Orange Leader demanded, an uncharacteristic look of fury on his face.

"I have known for as long as they have been here."

"Which is?" the Green Leader questioned the Nightmare King as well, his expression hard.

"Roughly seven months," the Nightmare King responded cooly, unfazed by the tension and anger rising in the room from the other leaders.

"Seven months?!" the Indigo Leader fumed.

Immediately, all of the leaders began to bombard the Nightmare King with questions, their voices overlapping. It was impossible to hear what any individual was saying, but you could tell that all of them were furious. That is, all but the Violet Leader. He seemed as calm and collected as usual, a warmth to his gaze.

"Now now, everyone, I'm sure that the Nightmare King has a perfectly reasonable explanation for this!" he spoke loudly, catching the attention of the other leaders. All eyes turned to him, and then to the Nightmare King.

"And that reason is...?" I finally spoke up, looking sharply at the Yellow Apprentice.

~<>~

Sorry for the delay on this one. We'll try to post on Nightmare's Honor hopefully every Sunday. If we miss a day, it might be due to human error or writers block. 

Thank you for understanding.