HALO: CROSSROADS

Betrayer in the Keep

The Arbiter was in his room, remembering the night before with Nuray, remembering her words and especially remembering her face and without realizing it he was already smiling, he wondered why he had such a strange eye color, a deep and vibrant blue, -"Strange but hypnotizing"-.

That phrase came out of his mouth without him noticing, it was then that he shook his mind, "Why am I thinking on this way about her? She's a human, just a soldier of the faction, but ...", he tried to get out her of his mind although he had thought a lot about her lately, the only thing that distracted him was a call in his Pod that remembered him the meeting he had planned at the council.

Council Chambers, Vadam
Yermo, Sanghelios

-The forces of the Brutes have weakened, their resources are limited and our fleets exceed them- Arbiter said to the Kaidons and Commanders.

-And what are we waiting for? We should end those beasts now that we have the opportunity - suggested one of the Kaidons.

-You should know that one of your leaders has expressed his position of wanting to try to establish peace-

-Arbiter, can we trust those greedy monsters? -

…

The meeting ended and the leaders began to leave little by little but some stayed to continue to show their concerns to the Arbiter, unfortunately for Nuray, Xeem wasn't part of that group.

-What do we have here? Our Arbiter's little pet, I still wonder how long you will stay here-

-The last time I told that you should get used to my presence, as you can see I was right to tell you that I would be here for a long time more than as you thought, and now I'm part of the ranks of the Arbiter's army-

-Humans don't know when to keep their mouths shut, the only reason you're still here is because the Arbiter sees you as his redemption with humans, but someday he'll weary of this absurd game-

-No matter what the reason, the fact is that today I'm here and although it weigh you there's nothing you can to do about it-

Xeem ‘Thasan growled annoyed, -Insolent! How dare you talk to me that way? You... -

-Xeem please, you should control your impulses-, Murok was behind them, -I apologize for his manners, I'm sure it won't happen again, isn't it, Xeem ‘Thasan? -

The sangheili remained silent, it was clear that he was trying to suppress all his anger, then just nodded and stayed out of the conversation between Murok and Nuray.

-I introduce myself, my name is Murok ‘Vadam, so you're that human you talk about so much? It's an honor to meet you in person at last, you know? You must be very special for the Arbiter to accept that you join the Swords of Sanghelios.

-Believe me, I am... you said ‘Vadam right?, do you mean that...? -

-We belong to the same clan, our Kaidon and Arbiter has been a pride for all of us, I just hope that so much power and responsibilities aren't too much for him, besides that you must also be careful since danger and enemies lurk at all times-.

-I'm sure we can do this, after all, we are talking about Thel ‘Vadam... and I can defend myself quite well.

-That's right ... now, if you'll excuse me, there are problems that I have to attend- Murok said goodbye and then he and Xeem left.

-I see you've adapted quickly-, the voice of Usze‘ Sumai caught Nuray's attention.

-Usze? What are you doing here? I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you here.

-I had some things to do near the State and I decided to do a small scale-, Usze seemed to be unusually calm that day but then his face became more serious, -Did you have any problems with them?, I perceive that you're somewhat altered-

-Let's say I had some small discrepancies but nothing serious ... Murok 'Vadam, what do you know about him? -

-Not much really, why do you ask? -

-Nothing, it's just that his apparent closeness to Xeem 'Thasan doesn't give me a good thorn-

>>>

At night, Nuray retired to her room, had been a hectic day from side to side and was somewhat tired of so much politics and waiting outside the meetings. She decided to shower and go to rest, she was so sleepy that fell asleep almost immediately.

She was deeply asleep but at the same time restless, she was spinning in bed, different blurry images ran through her mind, she wasn't sure what it was but she didn't feel right, she was so lost within her dreams that she couldn't realize on time what happening in real life.

Suddenly she began to feel that lacked the air, felt such pressure on her that forced herself to open her eyes, and when she did she realized that someone was violently taking her by the neck, she couldn't speak or scream, tried to free herself, scratched and kicked but it was impossible for her to escape, and when she thought it couldn't be worse between the shadows she could see how her attacker approached a sharp object towards to her and was surprised to see that it was one of her daggers, whoever It was held in the hand was ready to go through her neck with it.

Nuray struggled but began to feel weaker and weaker 'cause she was being suffocated, when her attacker threw the dagger against her she managed to use that small contact and the little strength she had left to teleport away from the bed, her neck was bleeding but she didn't care, she got up as fast as she could and staggered out of the room.

She could listen how was persecuted but her throat was still very sore and prevented her scream for help, when she felt that her attacker was almost reaching her she ran to some small statues that adorned the hall and pushed them, the sound caused broke caught attention of some sangueilis that guarded the Tower. Her agresor fled heard that they were going to where they were.

She felt some relief when she looked back and realized that no one was following her, then she placed her hands on the wound, leaned on the wall and slowly dropped to the floor, she felt very weak and her blood still spilled from her neck.