The Mord'Sith Confessor-Legend of the Seeker Fanfic

2. Goodbye, Father

2.

"Is she broken yet?" Darken Rahl demanded.

"Thalia is proving...especially difficult." Dahlia admitted through gritted teeth.

"So. Another Denna."

Dahlia cocked her head to one side in confusion and Rahl answered her unspoken question.

"Denna took 2 months to break too. It seems, like Denna, Thalia's parents instilled her with strict moral codes. Fret not, Dahlia...do to Thalia's father what was once done to Cara's. She will come round. And when she does, she'll prove just as useful as Denna."

Dahlia gave a short bow. "Yes, my Lord."

"Thalia!" Dahlia yelled. She stormed into the cell like a hurricane. But she had brought company.

Dahlia released her grip on the man's hair and he fell to his knees on the hard ground, whimpering.

Thalia squinted at the man through the semi-darkness and tears brimmed in her eyes.

"Daddy?" She murmured.

"Oh, don't be happy to see him, Thalia dearest," Dahlia insisted, kicking the man's face. "He betrayed you."

"I-I don't understand," Thalia muttered. She locked eyes with her father, silently begging him to save her. He merely shook his head.

"Allow me to explain. But first, Thalia, tell me; how did you come to be here?"

"I am here because you snatched me away from my family!" Thalia spat furiously.

"Oh, no," smirked Dahlia. "You are here because your precious father turned you in."

Thalia went numb. There was a ringing in her ears. "No," she whispered. She gazed at her father in anguish. He shook his head again, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"How pathetic. He won't even deny it. Cat got your tongue?" Dahlia lunged for a piece of his hair and yanked hard, forcing him to stand.

"Dahlia. Is it true?" Thalia's eyes searched the Mord'Sith's. She didn't know how exactly, but Thalia had the feeling she could tell if Dahlia lied, if only she looked her in the eyes.

Dahlia kept her eyes firmly on the man. "Of course it is. I brought him here so that you could kill him."

Thalia's voice cracked. "I can't."

For the first time, Dahlia's voice sounded genuinely kind, sympathetic. "This man begged us to come and take you away, Thalia. Aren't you angry?"

Dahlia's soft voice stirred a rage within Thalia. She picked up the Agiel for the first time. It hurt to hold it. But at the same time, it felt right. She felt powerful. She was going to kill the man who made her this way.

"Good girl, Thalia. Now..." Dahlia breathed, but Thalia did not need encouraging. She thrust the Agiel into her father's stomach, and watched coldly as the lights left his eyes.

Thalia did not cry. She staggered over to Dahlia, whose heart wrenched. She knew what she had done was wrong. Dahlia opened her arms somewhat reluctantly, and Thalia hugged her tight. "Thank you, Dahlia. I like this Agiel," Thalia smiled. And without warning, jokingly jabbed it into Dahlia's shoulder.

"Why you little..." Dahlia laughed and drew her own Agiel. They playfought, jabbing and crashing their Agiels into each other, each so used to the pain that it only caught them off-guard.

Dahlia smiled at Thalia. Dahlia had not had fun, laughed, genuinely smiled, in a long time. She thought maybe Thalia could be her...friend? Since Cara betrayed her kind to serve the Seeker, Dahlia had desperately needed a friend. Now maybe, just maybe, she had one.

There was a crash from upstairs. Followed by a scream, and the clash of sword on sword.

Dahlia and Thalia exchanged glances and raced towards the sound, Agiels drawn and ready.

In the throne room, Mord'Sith were fighting. As Thalia squinted at the opposition she realised-these were people from her village. The Resistance. Or what was left of it.

Thalia's rage awoke, rekindled. These people were probably all in on her father's betrayal.

She raised her Agiel, but Dahlia pulled her to one side.

"No, Thalia. These people are Banelings. You will not win. Listen to me. I want you to run. Flee while you still can."

There was pain, real pain, on Dahlia's face, and tears stinging her cheeks.

"But Dahlia-"

Dahlia pushed her with her Agiel towards the door. "Go! I'll catch up."

Thalia was frightened as she slipped unnoticed past teems of fighting Mord'Sith. She paused at the door, hiding behind a pillar and watching Dahlia with anguish. "Don't die, Dahlia," she whispered as her friend slammed two Agiels into a dead man's heart and dodged a knife another had thrown at her. For a second, she had a fleeting impulse to run back inside and protect Dahlia, but she knew Dahlia did not need protection; besides, Thalia was not strong enough to kill a man, even if he was already dead.

"May the spirits be with you," she whispered, looked one last time at her friend, then ran.