*COMPLETE* "People don't believe in us anymore. They don't believe that in the end we will do what is right. We can't let them down. We can't let Ben win."
Decisions made on top of the lonely, wind-swept cliff of Lethinor reverberate around the five...
A young man strides across the room, his hair brown and wavy like Fae's, and an identical smile spread wide across his face. He has that healthy, affable look that speaks of years of good eating and security, and his fine royal blue jacket crumples as he sweeps Fae into a hug.
"I thought you were off on a deadly mission, protecting Gods and country," he says as they break apart, poking her nose. "And I come home to find Ester in hysterics, babbling about you and two drifters in the kitchen, scraggly like alley cats left out in the rain."
"The deadly mission life is not one of glamor and good hygiene," Fae returns drily, and she turns back to Allayria and Tara. "Let me introduce you to two of my teammates: Tara and Allayria."
"Charmed," he says, but his smile is wide and genuine as he reaches out and clasps their hands. He takes note of Allayria's attire as he holds hers and, contrary to what Helen might have thought was proper, his eyes crinkle as they reach her face. There's something roguish in his expression and he seems to like her rebellious display enough for it to be a problem.
Well, look at that, Mother and Father, Allayria thinks, returning his smile with a perfunctory one. I always told you the secret to attracting eligible suitors would be to act like a heathen.
"Not to sound ungrateful, but what brings you back, sister?" he asks Fae, hooking his thumbs into the corners of his waistcoat pockets. "Father seemed to think you would be gone for another couple of months at least."
"We're not staying here long; we're just back for a couple of days before we head back," Fae tells him, side-stepping the question as her gaze slants sideways toward Allayria.
"I think we can tell your brother, Fae," she interjects, rolling her sleeves up past her elbow. "That is, if you think he's trustworthy."
Fae's mouth opens but Leo's hand quickly covers it.
"Of course she does," he answers. "I am a vault of well-kept secrets."
Tara snorts and Fae slips out of his hold, moving quickly for someone constrained by such a dress.
"He knows when to shut his fat mouth," Fae admits, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "even if he is insufferable sometimes."
Allayria looks between the two of them.
"Good," she answers, before glancing out of the window. If Fae can secure Leo then perhaps I can meet with Keno and see what kind of deal the thief would be willing to strike.
"We're in town to make a few connections before we go to the Jarles, Lo," Fae says, the nickname trailing out of her mouth. "Allayria wants to talk to a few people while we're here and I offered our house as a place to stay."
"Allayria does, eh?" Leo turns back to her, a wry smile on his face. "You're the ringleader of this craziness, then?"
"Lo," Fae says, a nervous glance in her direction, "Allayria is the Paragon."
His head snaps back toward Fae with incredible speed, then back toward Allayria.
"That's something you lead with, Fae," he retorts and he regards Allayria with some apprehension. "It's an honor to meet you, uh, Your—"
But Allayria waves her hand, stopping him mid-sentence.
"Don't bother with it," she says. "Just Allayria. I'm technically supposed to still be dead for a couple more months, so the less said about it, the better."
His eyes narrow, but he holds his tongue.
"Lo, we're going into the Jarles to find those kids," Fae continues, her voice dropping to a low murmur as she places a hand on his arm, leading him over to the window. "Allayria is going to meet with the council when we return to get the details."
He shoots a look back at Allayria at this, expression grave.
"You know where they are?" he demands, turning back to his sister. "Is Sofo sending an army with you? When will he tell the rest of us? We can help—"
"If we marched in with an army they would either all be gone or dead by the time we got in," Allayria interjects. "They have the advantage on us. We won't win this with brute strength: we need the element of surprise."
His jaw twitches, a tweak of anxiety and frustration and he glances back at his sister once more.
"What happened here?" he asks suddenly, his hand touching the bandaged wound on Fae's arm.
"It's nothing," Fae says, shrugging him off. "Just something I got while we were getting the last of what we need to go after the Jarles."
He stares down at her.
"Look, I know you've been able to beat me up since you were twelve," he says, "but I've got to admit this makes me nervous, Fae. It's not going to be you against one dumbass, it's going to be you against a whole fort of them, and they'll probably have some new toys—"
"Lo Urilong," Fae spits, her face coloring—and she definitely doesn't look ladylike now, "if you say one word about this to Mother and Father I swear to all the Gods—"
"Your sister strikes fear into the hearts of all who make the mistake of fighting her," Allayria cuts in drily. "Besides, she won't be alone."
His eyes lock on hers and Allayria dips her head down a little, an imperceptible nod.
"If they have brains they'll be terrified even before they fight her," he mutters, easing back, his posture much more relaxed now, even as he continues to wheedle Fae. "But Jarles aren't known for independent thinking."
"Thank the Gods," Tara mutters.
"So," he says after a moment, looking around at all of them, but particularly Allayria. "If we can't muster forces, how can the Urilong family help?"
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A/N: I know, I know, I said only one chapter this week, but as we've just discussed, we've got a lot of chapters to cover and what can I say? I'm in a good mood. (I'm also getting antsy.... so I'm not going to even promise it's only one chapter next week.)
In other Wattpad news, as many of you have noticed I like to reach out and thank you personally when you start commenting, voting, following, adding Paragon/Partisan to your reading lists because A.) it's awesome, B.) friends! C.) I'm really grateful for every new reader. But I've recently hit a wall where the number of people I want to thank exceeds the number of unsolicited Wattpadders I can contact at one time. (I know, what a problem to have.)
So if you've added one of these books recently, started voting, etc. and you haven't heard from me: Hi, thanks so much. I'm going to try to post on your wall but in case I lose track of people just know I saw the notification(s) and I'm so grateful and I've probably tried to post to you five times already but I'm being spammed blocked. Hope you enjoy the story and please let me know what you think!
