The Black Swans Secret

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟣𝟣

★★★

"She's gonna make me kill him," he choked out, teary eyes hidden behind shaky hands.

"It won't kill him Tam, you won't kill him," y/n tried to reassure the trembling boy.

His voice dropped into a hushed whisper. "You don't know that..."

"Well, it's good that I'll be there then, right?"

He shook his head. "I don't want it you to see that."

Giving up on trying to talk him through anymore, y/n sat next to Tam on the bed, pulling him into a side hug.

Earlier that day there had been a meeting about the next step in one of Lady Gisela's projects. The one that involved Lady Gisela's precious son, the boy who was part of the reason y/n was even here.

There was to be a mission later that month to the dwarf city of Loamnore where Lady Gisela intended to trigger something inside her son using Tam and Glimmer's powers.

Both of them tried to refuse, but Gisela obviously wasn't going to let that happen.

Gisela wanted y/n to be there as some form of emotional support for her friends.

Eventually, Tam calmed down enough and the two of them sat in silence together. It was like that a lot between the pair, both just enjoyed the others company.

"Y/n?" Tam mumbled from his position in y/n's arms.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about your family? The one the Neverseen took you from?"

That question felt like a bullet to the chest, like an old wound torn open again.

Y/n hadn't thought about her family in a while, but she used to, used to imagine they'd come to save her one day.

After a while she responded. "Sometimes."

"I think about mine a lot, about Linh and my parents. What would have happened to her if I didn't choose to be exiled too."

"And what do you think would have happened?"

"I think she would have ended up like Glimmer, fighting on the wrong side of the war."

★★★ Timeskip brought to you by my two month break in writing this (sorry about that (┬┬﹏┬┬)★★★

Y/n sat on the floor of Tam's room resting against his bed as him and Glimmer started arguing again. Glimmer was there during the meeting, she knew the plan, yet she didn't seem as bothered about the whole mission as Tam did. Maybe it was because she was used to going on missions and doing the Neverseen's bidding. Or maybe it was because Tam knew this Keefe boy personally, though based on the way Tam talked about him, y/n doubted they were close friends.

"Do you really think lady Gisela is just gonna let me go after we complete this mission?" Tam spat.

It was almost a sad thing, the fact that Tam and Glimmer were arguing like this. Y/n had thought they might've been becoming friends since they had stopped arguing as much as before, but this whole situation proved her wrong.

"You guys made a deal, Lady Gisela will hold up her end of it," Glimmer said, seeming confident in her answer. Y/n couldn't understand her trust in Gisela, she didn't really seem like someone who cared too much about promises or deals.

Memories of all Lady Gisela had done to y/n flooded back into her mind. All the testing, all the suffering. For years Lady Gisela had subjected her to torture, all so that she could carry out her little plans. It made y/n sick to her stomach.

Something Tam said caught her attention.

"Tell me this, if I'm right about this and Lady Gisela goes back on her word, what would you do?"

Glimmer shifted in her spot leaning against the doorway. "What do you mean?"

Tam held up his hands, letting the fabric of his cloak fall down, revealing the light bonds on his wrists. "These. You could set me free, you have the power to do so. So would you? If I hold up my end of the bargain, but Lady Gisela doesn't hold up hers, would you step in and let me go?"

Glimmer went quiet, which was strange for a girl who always seemed to have something to say. "I... I'm not sure."

He laughed, only once, it was cold, dead sound. "That's what I thought."

"You're asking me if I would just betray--"

"Someone who would have just betrayed me. I'm asking you to betray a traitor to help me." Tam finished for her.

"I... don't know."

Tam stood, pulling the fabric of his cloak back down to cover the bonds on his wrists. "Well, maybe you should figure that out."

He pulled his hood up to cover his face.

It was time to go.

The mission had officially begun.

★★★