Aisling POV
Aisling sighed. "Crius. Khaleesi's second."
She looked up. Valen was staring at her in a slightly concerned, mostly confused kind of way. "Can't you talk to Khaleesi about it?"
"No. Crius won't let anyone talk to her, and she just thinks no one wants to talk to her." Aisling let her head drop, her hair falling in front of her face as she stared at the ground. "And Crius is a spirit crumbler." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
She felt Valen tense beside her.
"You know," he said after a moment, "I'm not a spirit-wanderer."
Aisling's head shot up and she let her eyes harden. "No. You will not do anything to him, you hear? Nothing."
Valen turned his head to the side, his eyes boring into her. "Will you at least let me talk to him?"
Aisling exhaled. "Fine." She glimmered a little in the light. "I need to go now."
Valen POV
As he crept along the street, Valen clenched his sword in his fist before safely sheathing it.
He had promised Aisling he'd only talk to Crius, but the meeting was bound to get violent if the man was who Aisling described him as.
Crossing the street, he splashed through a puddle in the dirt.
Looking down, he caught his reflection staring up at him.
What are you doing???
Valen tore a hand through his hair, ignoring the pain of the tugging.
"This is for the good of the spirit-wanderers. Crius shouldn't be oppressing them like he is," He justified to himself.
But it's only a matter of time before you become a monster, the voice nagged again.
Valen whipped his head around with a growl, checking for passersby.
Seeing no one, he jumped over the low wall surrounding the spirit-catcher's house where Crius lived.
After knocking on the heavy wood of the front door, Valen tensed, waiting.
The door opened, and a man stepped out, his graying black hair falling to his shoulders.
"Can I help you?" The man's tone was gruff. Valen thought it suited his demeanor.
"We need to talk." Valen crossed his arms, the reality of the situation suddenly dropping on him.
What would he say?
Hey, I like this girl, and she's a spirit-wanderer. Could you let spirit-wanderers fall in love with people, please? Valen could imagine how that would go over.
"Come in." Crius stepped aside.
Valen followed him.
