Court of Snakes: This Desert Cage

Loyalty - The Tavern | August of the Third Year

When the three of them had returned to the tavern, The King sat himself down at the bar. Parisa watched him with eyes like a hawk. Her stomach churned as she looked about the space, taking in the faces of everyone present. Terran returned to his room in the back, presumably to prepare for the night, and she felt suddenly very alone.

All these people were traitors.

At least, that was how her father would have framed it. She tried as hard as she could to justify what she was going to do in her mind, and the guilt ate away at her still, though a month had passed. She had been stuffed into a back closet, a temporary place for her to stay until the fighting was done. Everything was wrong, very wrong.

The first Sovereign must have been a monster. He built the city with the intent of hurting everyone in it, but she did not yet know how deep the terrible truth went. She did know one thing for certain: her mother would not have stood for that. Her mother was a beautiful, peaceful person. She wanted equality for everyone and to have the best for her child. She wanted the best for Segeno. Parisa did not know what her father's motives were, or how he had come to be so hateful, but he had to be stopped.

After a while of standing in the doorway to the tavern, thinking on things that had been and things that would come, The King waved at her from the bar. She awkwardly shuffled to him, unsure if she wanted to talk. She had avoided him the last month. She avoided everyone, really. Everything felt like a betrayal, like she was the one at fault. She could not shake the feeling and had not wanted to make it worse by talking to anyone.

Parisa slid onto the stool beside The King and he passed her a glass of cider. He downed whatever it was he drank. "I got you a cider," he said. "Sorry. You're too young to drink yet, and I'm already wanted for literally everything else. Better not add underaged drinking to the crimes."

She could not help it, but she chuckled. "Thank you. I only really have a taste for fruit wines, anyway. That liquor made from agave is too strong."

"It'll kill you if you're not careful, that's for sure." The King passed his empty glass back to the bartender. "Are you holding out okay?"

"I'm... doing what I can." Parisa sipped at her cider, but it did not fill the hole in her heart.

"You've had a guilty look on your face all week. If you need someone to talk to, I'm a pretty good listening ear."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Would I not?"

Parisa swallowed a gulp of cider. It was rude of her to assume, but she did not care to share her secrets with stranger.

"I don't mean to pry. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." The King ran his teeth over his bottom lip. "I felt guilty, too."

"What?"

"When I left the Embassy. I knew I was going to have to pull it apart at the seams, figure out why there was so much hate. For a long time, a year, at least, I felt like I was betraying my family. My brothers and my mother still live in Naa'a. I'm sure they've heard the news, that their son is a terrorist. It'll pass. You're doing the right thing."

Parisa watched the spices of her cider spin around in the cup. "Am I?"

"If it benefits other people more than it benefits yourself, then yes."

"It doesn't feel right."

"Your father needs to be brought to Justice. The people will bring the Embassy palace down eventually, with or without our help. Follow your heart and follow the cards. Decide for yourself where your loyalty lies."