The Little Crow

Chapter Thirty Four - [The Night Before]

When Thea and Milo returned to the Capital around noon on Sunday, the two of them were incredibly motivated after spending the entire train ride going through more of Rue's poems. Like they had taken note of in the library, they came to realize that these poems had quite a different tone from those found in the notebook. These were more positive... more hopeful poems. Plus, it also looked like he was once in love, though he seemingly lost this woman in the siege.

They were rather fun to read, giving Thea an opportunity to see a side of Rue that seemed to no longer exist, a younger, more hopeful side. However, at the same time, realizing this made Thea sad. Clearly, Rue had gone through a lot of pain and suffering to make him the man he was today.

Since Thea kept thinking that Rue was so much like her, she couldn't help herself from thinking if she was destined for something similar. Was she walking down a similar path? Was she on the way to suffering the way he did?

Thea shook her head rather aggressively, trying to tell herself not to think like that.

"You okay?" Milo asked.

They were at Milo's home, a comfortable, small and warm apartment, doing the rest of their work there rather than staying in Achlis. By around seven in the evening, the pair had realized that they were exhausted and had done enough extracting or interpreting for the day, despite still not getting through a large portion of Rue's poems. However, instead of overwhelming themselves, they decided to take all that they had already figured out and work with that, cleaning up their notes and getting ready for what was to come tomorrow. So, after grabbing dinner together at a diner nearby, the two went over to Milo's home to relax and finish up their work.

It was now nearly nine and Milo, who was sitting on a couch, was looking down at Thea, who was sitting on the rug, her notes spread out all over the floor. He wore an expression of concern, probably for more reasons than her random shaking of her head, but it was concern nonetheless.

Of course, Thea wasn't going to tell Milo that she was worrying about her own future and whether or not she was going to face some sort of tragedy that turns her into a cold, hardened woman.

Instead, she let him know of another concern she was having, something that had been bothering her since she stepped back into the Capital. "What if they don't even let me talk?"

Milo hesitated, but considered that.

"We've done all this work... we have all this information... but what if they just don't even let me talk? Like, they cut me off or try to discredit me?" She asked. "These are all high positioned Aiverian men after all... why would they want to listen to me? An Elorian girl?"

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," Milo started. "We practiced what you're going to say and from where I'm sitting, I can't imagine you won't do a good job! You're not just an Elorian girl. You're the Elorian girl who has the potential to change the President's mind."

Thea chuckled. She may not be giving herself enough credit, but he was giving her too much credit.

"And let's say they do try to silence you," Milo continued, "well, the General would never let that happen. He'd make sure you get your point across... especially since this is something that is so important. We can't risk having you not have a chance to speak."

She knew Milo was right about at least that, and it filled her with relief.

Niall wouldn't let them shut her up, so being silenced was something she didn't have to worry about... her inability to voice her thoughts wouldn't be what causes Rue to lose his life.

Milo smiled as he seemingly read her mind. "Thea... you're going to do fine... and I know the General has said this already but let's just say this doesn't work and the higher ups don't care... if that's the case, it's not your fault. You did your absolute best, you've put all of yourself into this, and you can't blame yourself if those old men decide to continue to be ignorant."