Araman

~ 20 ~

   Raliena was waiting in a tent for Jaya to arrive and tell her what was going on. They had fed her a lavish meal and Raliena had managed to persuade them to give her some more inconspicuous clothes than the purple and gold dress. She now wore plain brown breaches with a black blouse and brown waistcoat with a warm furry collar; she turned her cloak inside out so it showed the brown lining instead of the gold, but people still bowed to her as she passed them, despite being dressed down. Her best efforts at requesting they didn't, failed; the only person who didn't bow to her was Zinib, who was also supposed to be meeting her in the tent.

It was the largest of the camp. The second largest had been given to her in the centre of the others, making it feel like she had been placed in a protective circle.

Raliena hadn't made much sense of anything whilst being there and was eager to find out more. She had asked very few questions, preferring to observe cautiously. There were no children in the camp and it was clearly well stocked for war. Carts of weapons were kept in plain sight, as was the smoke from the fires dotted between the tents. When Raliena asked how the camp had been concealed from her, they simply answered 'the Unisayan'.

From their faint accents and bronze skin, Raliena discerned that these people were from the East, though she knew of no villages that were in use there. Not since the Eastern Kingdom was lost and surely these could not be the same civilisation.

The only thing that kept her here was what they had said about Dergen, if they were starting a war against him, then she wanted to be part of it. It certainly was not finding her father that stopped her from heading back to Verxia.

Her mother had mentioned very little about him but Raliena knew that he was not liked and there was a reason he had not accompanied her pregnant mother to Verxia. He evidently knew about her and Chasra's powers and perhaps that was why she had left him.

Zinib was the first to arrive and strolled into the tent, not pausing to look at Raliena, and sat on the edge of the table that had been placed in the centre.

Raliena turned away from him indifferently and stayed silent while they waited for the others to arrive.

"I need a demonstration of how far your abilities have grown." Zinib said suddenly and without feeling. "I doubt you have been using them much, but if you had them from a child they should be fully developed already."

Raliena didn't turn to look at him but continued to stare out the open flap of the tent. There wasn't much to see, just more tents and people cooking, washing clothes or playing games on the ground, but it distracted her from having to acknowledge the man who was supposedly her father.

"You will get no such thing." She replied coolly, crossing her bare arms to shield her from the cold draft that ran through the fabric. She had stupidly left her cloak in her tent which was not far from this one and considered retrieving it when she felt a sharp pain in her left arm. She looked down to see blood beginning to pour out of a deep wound, dark and thick.

Instinctively, before the pain could fully register, she put her other hand over it and healed herself, then turned to face Zinib who was watching her with interest.

"You will do." He said, his face expressionless as he cleaned his daughter's blood from his dagger and replaced it at his hip.

"You will regret that." Raliena gritted her teeth and reached for her sword, which of course wasn't there. She swore at herself for not getting one when she had changed clothes.

"If you were an Armon worth my time, you would not need a sword." Her father lent against the table again and scrutinised her.

"Pity," he added. "You have inherited your mother's weak spirit."