surreptitious
/ˌsʌrɪpˈtɪʃəs/
adjective
kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of.
Everyone in Navarre is aware of the Tyrrish rebellion and those involved with it. Most notorious of them all being Fen Riorson. Except not all of th...
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The sun was barely peeking over the horizon before the hustle of Conscription Day filled the streets of Navarre. Mothers and fathers clutched their children tightly before they left to join their respective quadrants. All of the twenty-year-olds dressed in their tunics ready to join their new families, they had a choice to make and most completed previous exams that would show their compatibility to either quadrant, but people were still free to choose.
Many spent their entire lives training to become a member of a specific quadrant and ended up sticking with it due to the comfort of the place they spent so much time in. Others followed family legacies and in an effort to not disappoint they would often follow the footsteps of their parents and continue what they started. But there was always a select few that shocked everyone by making their own path and rebelling against either the legacies or training they had spent their lives fighting against.
Isolde happened to not fit into any of the categories as she never trained to be a Healer, a Scribe, a member of Infantry or a Rider. Her existence was not known to many and her parents worked their hardest to make sure it stayed this way. A few years ago, a rebellion was led against Navarre in an attempt for the province of Tyrrendor to gain independence so that they were able to make choices separate from Navarre. The leader of this rebellion was Fen Riorson followed closely by Colonel Mairi. At least that is how the story is told. Nobody alive remembers the notable contribution of Caius Vayne because if they did Isolde would not be where she was now.
Isolde Vayne knew the secrets of the rebellion but was forbidden to speak about it in order to keep her family safe. This of course came with a price. She was forced to stay within the walls of the house, for most of her life, which was guarded by wards preventing anybody from seeing the walls of her home and accidentally stumbling upon a rather large secret.
Obeying her father's orders, Isolde stayed in the home and studied alone, doing her best to gather as much information as she possibly could over the years. But as the deadline for her twentieth birthday ended, she watched as her parents left and changed out of her regular tunic into tighter clothing, said a quick prayer to Zihnal for her plan to work and stalked her way to the queue of volunteers for the Riders quadrant.
***
"Name?" A man with deep brown hair fastened to the back of his head in a loose bun asked towards Isolde.
"Lyra. Lyra Aritia" She tightened the straps of her bag to keep her hands from fidgeting.
"There is no Lyra on the list." He stared into her eyes.
"Oh right. Sorry Lysandra Aritia is the full name." Gods. Could she be screwing this up any sooner. He looked her up and down before nodding his head behind him signalling her on. Thank Zinhal she must have been watching over her.
