Rory Montgomery is a lot of things to a lot of people:
Queen. Revolutionary. Real. Killer. Free. Survivor.
After crash landing on Earth with 99 other juvenile delinquents and reuniting with lost friends, Rory Montgomery learnt that Earth wasn't quit...
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The trio make steady progress throughout the day, getting closer and closer to Skaikru's camp with each step the horses take. They quickly leave Polis and its people behind, the city becoming obscured by the growing forest which gets thicker and denser the further they go. A comfortable silence falls over the three of them, the two Azgedan's leaving Rory to her own thoughts. They have a pre-arranged stop-off in a grounder village near the camp and, they have a lot of ground to cover before they reach it.
The woods are quiet, just like they were the day Rory last rode down their current path. They pass a few people, all tilting their heads when they see Rory, and the few other riders they meet pull off to the side to allow the convoy through. Word had spread quickly of the alliance between the Sky Queen and Heda. Rory still hadn't got used to the respect every grounder shows towards her.
A small smile forms on Rory's face as she takes everything in. The late afternoon sun breaks through the canopy of the trees every now and then, bathing the path in dappled sunlight. It's silent all around them, the only sound coming from the horses' hooves and the birds singing in the trees. "You know," Rory says, breaking the silence a few hours into their journey, "I don't think I'll ever get tired of this. I lived amongst the stars my whole life, but there's just something special about these woods. What's Azgeda like? Do you have woods like this back home?"
"Azgeda is cold, very cold." Atlas replies, a laugh bellowing from his chest.
"Our ancestors weren't kidding when they named their home Ice Nation." Arcas joins in.
"It's cold but, so very beautiful." Arcas says, a wistful look on his face. "We have hundreds of miles of forests like these, but my favourite part of Azgeda are all the lakes. The water is crystal clear, and when the sun hits the surface just right... it's magical. You can see the mountains reflecting on the water, snow on their peaks. I think you'd like it there."
"I think I would too, Atlas." Rory nods her head and glances over at him. "Roan swore he'd take me one day. I'm going to hold him to it."
"The two of you seem to have gotten along during your time in Polis. It was," Atlas says, turning his head to watch Rory, "nice to see the two of you together. It was nice to see the Hainofa smiling, he doesn't do that very much now."
"Yeah, we... we're friends. He really looked out for me in Polis, he could've thrown me to the wolves but he didn't." She mutters, staring intently at the woods in front of her. "Roan... he really does understand what I've been through growing up because he's been through it too. It was... nice to have someone really understand."
"You've both lived hard lives, very similar lives at that. You both deserve some happiness, some friendship." Atlas says, then, he changes the subject sensing Rory didn't want to say anything more. "Arcas and I, we've known Roan since the day he was born. When we weren't in training, we were babysitting him in the palace."
