Subtlest Game: Book One - March of the Pawns

Chapter Five

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"Since when were you a hydromancer? And why didn't you tell me?" asked Arabella for the fifth time. The Siren was still naked, and Ceris didn't have the energy to try and convince her to put some clothes on.
The former End Queen walked along slowly, but her mind was a blur of thoughts and fragmented memories. She ignored Arabella. Ordinarily, she'd be hesitant to do so, but the recent events seemed to have weakened Arabella's usual domineering aura.

Arabella grabbed Ceris by the shoulder and spun her around.
"Quit ignoring me!"
Ceris stared evenly into the Siren's eyes.
"Let go of me."
Arabella's snow white hair fell over her eyes as she shook her head vehemently. She brushed it back impatiently.
"Don't you dare try hiding this from me, Ceris. I told you about Aiko and Lilith, so you sure as hell owe me an explanation!"
Ceris grabbed Arabella's wrist, tearing her hand from her shoulder. Frost formed on the pale skin, but the Siren didn't flinch.

They stared into each others eyes for a moment, cold swirling black to sparking, furious purple.
"You know what I've been through," whispered Arabella. "So don't you go putting on your dark loner act now. Talk to me." The last sentence was practically a hiss, a beg, almost.

Ceris gritted her teeth and released Arabella's arm. She glared at the land, the sky, the stars, anything that might give her an excuse to ignore Arabella's demand, but found nothing.

With a hissed stream of swearwords, Ceris inhaled deeply, allowing her emotions to balance themselves. Once she found her mind to be in a somewhat calmer state, she reached for her bracelet. Tearing it from her wrist, ignoring the rough skin that was no doubt growing into yet more dragons scales, Ceris showed Arabella the gold and lapis wave symbol.
"My father was descended from the royal family, the Iceheart family, as you know. But my mother was descended from the Nebulos family."
Ceris replaced the bracelet on her wrist, and turned away back into the path to Nordos city. The settlement loomed imposingly in the distance.

"The Nebulos family were said to have been blessed by a god. The men of the family would be born with power over fire, and the women, power over water."
She turned, and saw Arabella watching her coolly. The question was clear in her eyes. So why does this hurt for you?

Ceris breathed out softly.
"A year before I was born, my parents had another daughter. They named her Kaze. But her eyes were blind, and her voice was broken. She could neither speak, nor see."
Ceris felt the sore rub of the cold metal bracelet.
"In time, she learned to communicate with her mind. Telepathy. But my parents were ashamed. They never spoke of her, and named me heir to the throne."

Arabella was silent. After a moment, she seemed to realise that Ceris was done talking.
"And?"
Ceris shook her head. Her voice felt strained and scratchy.
"Don't. Just...not now. Please."
Arabella gazed into Ceris's eyes for a long moment. Then she nodded and turned away.
"Fine. We'll go back, take a moment to calm down, then I'll help you bath and we can talk this over." She glanced at Ceris's body, still enslimed with snake saliva, then strode on towards Nordos city.

Ceris felt a flicker of concern. Arabella was trying to act her normal self, but something was off. The Siren still hadn't given an explanation as to why Lilith had broken out, and Ceris was, frankly, afraid to ask.

They teleported back into their room. Ceris had no wish to walk through the streets covered in digestive juices.
Arabella nodded to a warped wood door.
"Go and run a bath. I'll come and help you with..." she trailed off, and settled for a nod at Ceris's wings and tail. Ceris sighed, but nodded. Much as it hurt her pride, Ceris possessed neither the patience nor the hand control to clean in-between the individual scales.
Arabella gave a wan smile.
"I'll grab the wire brush."