Intoxicating Desires | T. Al Ghul ✔

[08]

For the next few days, Talia followed the advice Dusan had given her.

It was the first time she had confided in anyone about something so personal to her but Dusan had proved to be a good choice for her to share her concerns with. He had advised her that it would be better to let the rumors cool down first and he would help her in making sure that no one in the League held the wrong idea about Talia and Veruna.

As for what she should do about her feelings, he had told her to wait and make sure that Veruna too felt the same way before taking any other step. If she did then it would depend on the two how to go forward with their relationship, but if she didn't then Talia would have to refrain from forcing her into anything.

She found the latter part ridiculous because she was very certain Veruna only considered her as a woman who had saved her from the execution block. Deep down she knew there wasn't a chance of her ever getting that close to Veruna as she wanted to.

But for the time being, she was going to put the matter at rest.

It was also the first time Talia got to know a little about her brother as well, making her realize that despite being siblings, she knew very little about Dusan's life.

It was almost as if they were still strangers to one another but from that day onwards, they had decided to acknowledge each other as siblings.

As Talia had shared such a deep secret with him, he offered to tell her a secret of his in order to keep things fair. And that was when he told her about Armeena, a love of his that he had to let go of.

She learned the real reason Dusan had left Nanda Parbat to go to Cape Town after Talia had been chosen the successor. And coming to know everything from his perspective, she could see clearer than ever that the whole concept of the Al Ghuls governing the League and the Demon Head holding a supreme position over them all was extremely unfair, even to those who were part of the Al Ghul family.

It was a warning to her that just like Dusan had been forced to leave Armeena, Talia might have to face being separated from Veruna as well if Ra's found out that the rumors were true.

As a result, she had to be on her guard more than earlier.

She should have put some distance between herself and Veruna but that couldn't be possible. Veruna was the only woman in the League whom Talia trusted fully so she also served as a personal attendant to her.

She often did the tasks of brushing Talia's hair, helping her in getting ready for either battles or the normal days when she would be joining the Demon Head in the throne room and making sure that she looked her best on every occasion.

Veruna was the only woman who had permission to Talia's chambers. However, there were very few times when Talia would allow the other female attendants to tend to her as well and usually, those times were when the Al Ghuls would be attending some special event held by the neighboring countries.

At Nanda Parbat, they were like royalty though the only difference was that they were not confined to geographical boundaries. The League's hold spread far and wide, from Nanda Parbat to central Asian lands and to some extent the Middle East and by then to the far West as well.

Right then, Talia sat on the stool in front of the mirror as Veruna brushed out her hair carefully. The wooden comb glided smoothly through her long black hair and Veruna gently undid the knots where needed. 

It was one of the very few times of the day that Talia didn't have to think about her responsibilities and would instead ask Veruna to tell her about her day or anything interesting she saw as a distraction.