The Lady Penitent

X. Secrets

The King died two weeks later, peacefully in his sleep. Holland watched in silence for the whole funeral, her eyes fixed on their new ambassador from the west and his painted woman rather than the body of the departed monarch. She didn't know if they were involved or not, but it wouldn't have surprised her in the slightest. Then Fionn had the gall to offer Laenus the chance to stay for as long as he wished, an offer that of course included his few guards and Naris. It was an offer Laenus had accepted so graciously that it almost nauseated Holland. Cadeyrn made a spirited argument against it behind closed doors, with Holland heatedly recusing herself from the conversation after the accusation of a clear, unjustified bias against Laenus stung her ears. What could she say to convince the new king that every bit of her enmity had been earned? The truth?

Her vice was secrets, Naris said. It was beginning to become apparent that the elf's words were altogether too true.

"I'm sorry—" Seva started, but before she could finish, Holland stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind herself with a bang.

The only answer Holland could come up with was space and time. That was how she found herself lifting her saddle onto Maël's back. The horse was watching her with a concerned dark eye and butted her shoulder gently with his head. It made Holland smile for a moment, no matter how briefly. "I know," she said, stopping to pet his nose for a moment before cinching the saddle tight. Riding was her answer to many of her problems these days. Absence was not ideal, but running away was a damn sight easier than standing there and just taking it as more and more was dumped onto her shoulders.

"Holland!" It was Cadeyrn calling after her, no doubt worried about her.

The penitent ignored the sound of her name and swung herself up into the saddle. Maël needed no encouragement to spring into motion. They took off through the gates by the stables and out into the city proper. This was what she needed, the rush of wind and the feeling of moving in tandem with the horse. The only thing she was missing was a weapon in hand and the rush of adrenaline that always came with battle. Holland guided her mount carefully through the streets, losing speed once she was into more crowded areas and was sure that Cadeyrn wasn't following. The rhythm of Maël's hooves was a comfortable and familiar one.

She had her sword with her, just in case. Yssa was a significantly more dangerous place than it used to be with agents like Laenus and Naris about, not to mention the demons that lurked in the shadows. Her ride took her south into the Argent Forest. Branches bare except for the evergreens, the forest seemed stark and empty aside from its tangled undergrowth. She kept to one of the old side roads that still carved its way through the brush, though small bushes poked up between the ruts.

Maël carried her faithfully through the forest, towards a crumbling ruin that had become her place to think over the course of a handful of rides out this way. The great monoliths of stone and spatters of dull, once-molten metal decorated the forest floor between pools of glass. Trees tumbled over with their roots the great works of the First World and climbing vines reclaimed the remnants of what had once been standing buildings. Holland slipped down from horseback when they reached that area of the forest and walked forward, the reins held loosely in in her left hand. She let the fingers of her other hand trail over the surface of stone smoothed by time and exposure to the elements. The cold texture of the stone was reassuring in its solid and immutable nature.

A twig snapped and Holland whirled around, hand on her sword.

There, standing behind her in leather armor, was a hooded man. He wore an archer's shortsword and carried a bow, but his hands were on neither weapon. "Relax, Lady Penitent. I mean you no harm," the hooded man said quietly. His accent was noticeably Leyan. "You and I are not enemies, friend to the Queen though you may be."