The Matriarch's Daughter

Chapter Twenty-Three: Sacrifice

Thepa watched Rory's green eyes drift back and forth across the briefing pages. Thepa's first instinct was fury. At the very least, she wanted to scream. Two days of frantic waiting, three months of unanswered letters, and there she was, calmly flipping through the report as if she'd been there the whole time, without an explanation or an apology. Just... reading.

And yet, another part of Thepa couldn't help but be impressed. If there was a way to dodge the angst between them and still show up for the mission, Rory had found it. As it was, all she could do was exchange glances with Claudia as the others filtered into the room, took their seats, then picked up their mission briefs while she awkwardly offered a rundown.

After that, the next twenty minutes passed in near silence. The only sounds were the occasional scrape of parchment or the shift of armor against a chair. When she was sure the team had read the notes twice, she leaned forward and broke the stillness.

"Thoughts?" she asked.

Lily leaned back in her chair, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Why can't we get a simple smash and stab mission?"

Had the tension been more relaxed, Thepa might have laughed.

"Any constructive thoughts?" she added.

As the silence lingered, Will set down his quill, his confusion evident. "So, what exactly is our directive here? Are we just supposed to gather intel? No extraction? No direct target?"

"That's the gist of it," Thepa said, her uneasiness growing. "We go to Bellmouth Abyss. We find out what's happening. And if there's a threat... we take care of it."

"So, we will need to be stealthy?" Vivian asked.

"Stealth first," Thepa said. "Adaptability second. Find the cave, quietly eliminate the guards, and make our way inside without being detected."

Will shifted in his seat, "I don't see any other possible plan that could work. This whole thing stinks worse than a recruit after a week in the field."

He wasn't wrong. 

"I know," Thepa said quietly. "But this is the best intel we've got without doing it ourselves. Until then, there's no better plan."

No one disagreed, but no one looked satisfied either. Instead, she stood up, nodding.

"Alright. Aurora. You're on."

Rory stood without a glance. She stepped to the center of the room and raised her hands, fingers weaving through practiced motions, lips parting in quiet chant. Pale light coiled around her, wrapping her in soft spirals of magic. As the spell built to its crescendo, the air in the room grew taut.

Thepa watched her closely, trying to reconcile the woman she saw with the sister she once knew. The Rory who sat at her bedside after she was ill in her younglinghood. The Rory who danced barefoot in her foster mother's kitchen. That Rory felt far away now, swallowed by the choices that made her a liar, betrayer, and coward.

When the final word left Rory's lips, the magic surged. As the energy swallowed them all, pulling them toward their mission, Thepa could only think one thing.

She greatly missed the sister she knew.

The group arrived without incident. Thepa consulted her map and set out north towards the rocky hills. The group walked in silence. Now and then, Thepa thought she caught sight of something in the distance, but dismissed it as a figment of her imagination. Rain was on the horizon. She could smell the petrichor in the air, joined by the darkening sky. 

A storm was brewing.

Thepa tightened her grip on her bow as they marched. With each step, her hooves hit the stone louder than she intended. And, even though they were in the open, she had the feeling they were being watched.