The Whispers Of Trees

9. Denied Love

On neutral ground, between Birchwood and Ulme, the grass saturated from the heavy rain, Achillia and Parsin met.

They often convened in the wildflower meadows, to speak of important matters, or when Parsin asked for company, which Achillia begrudgingly gave to him.

In this case, however, he had been summoned by Achillia, and from her leaf letter, she did not sound at all her confident self.

Seeing her where she stood, in all of her glory, he could see that she was tired and anxious, something she would only show to him, or at least a few people.

"Achillia, it is good to see you. Winter has not touched your beauty-" he began, hobbling his way towards her through the sludge that had him sliding and struggling to hold himself up.

"Have you any news on two men passing through your camp, heading north? They are fugitives and must be apprehended" Achillia ranted, seemingly lost in her thoughts, completely unaware of Parsin's deflated nature.

"I do not" he muttered, turning his attention to the far-off white skies that hailed snow and blizzards.

She stopped in her tracks, her frenzied gaze settling upon his slender frame, the wind whipping at his hair and clothing, revealing slight patches of his scalp where his hair had left.

"Parsin?" she called out solemnly, to which he listened, his cane leading the way as he turned to face her. "You are a dear friend, you must know that?"

His chest heaved a lungful of breath that soon was released in a sigh lost to all ears as the wind ripped it away. "I do, Achillia, you are my dearest also..." he said, the last of his sentence stolen and carried away, never to be heard by her ears, for he would never say it to her directly. "Which is why I will tell you that two men passed through Ulme, speaking of a poison" he called out to her.

"But you said that you had not heard or seen-"

"I know what I said, but I wasn't sure if I could trust you. You are dear to me yes, but I'm not the only one that has been noticing a change in you recently, the others have too and it will only be a matter of time before they see it as a weakness. We as leaders are disposable Achillia, whether we like it or not, other forces will try to take our seats, Tulsi, Lunaris, beasts, and creatures from the old myths of the first world. We have targets on our backs, so don't give them another reason to look to your village and you."

"I understand your concern, however, you speak of my weakness when yours is out in the open for all to see. I think my doubts are well hidden in comparison, don't you? Besides one Tulsi is hardly anything to worry over, she is harmless, I even wonder if she is what I believe or if she is merely a Sapling like the rest of us" Achillia said, brushing off the whispers and rumours of Alea's heritage.

"That's how it all starts, or don't you remember when the Tulsi and Lunaris revolted against our villages when we were just teenagers? One of them is all it took for more to worm their way in until it was too late for the leaders to do anything about it, all besides master Delk. If it hadn't been for his determination to wipe them out, then we may never have stood a chance. You're not a fool Achillia, so don't act like one"

Shrugging nonchalantly, she met his eyes "Perhaps you are right, but perhaps you are not. I came here for your council so that I could have a friend help me in the right direction, will you be that friend Parsin? Or am I asking the wrong Sapling?"

"Well that depends," he said, leaning on his cane with a cocky expression.

"Depends on what?" Achillia asked, rising to the challenge he silently set.

"Do you plan to keep this all a secret from everyone? Are we really in danger?" Parsin asked in despair, his concern for his people, not himself.

"I cannot answer-" she began but he had grown tired of her political ways of speaking, it was always the same. She would either answer in a way that could be interpreted a hundred different ways, or she would avoid answering at all, drawing people's minds to something else instead. He'd known how she worked for rings and had put up with it, but no more.