Intoxicating Desires | T. Al Ghul ✔

[28]

Dusan was apprehensive about Talia meeting up with Slade. So when she returned and did not mention the visit at all, that made him even more concerned.

A few days later, Talia and Veruna had left for Nanda Parbat while Dusan was still contemplating whether to crosscheck his sister's actions or not. 

He knew Talia was the most favored child out of them and perhaps the only one who strived very hard to be in their father's good books all the time. He had seen her obey each order as if it was a matter of life and death so for him to consider that she would turn against Ra's would be preposterous. 

But then, he was also the only one who knew about the building conflict between father and daughter. Ra's Al Ghul's increasing distrust and restrictions towards Talia were pushing her away and instead of following each order obediently, it seemed as if she was plotting underneath.

He felt her sudden request of meeting Deathstroke wasn't ordered by Ra's either and was something she carried out of her own will. And if that was the case, then she might be up to a lot that he couldn't predict the outcomes for.

He had to find out what was going on soon because he knew Talia and out of the three siblings, she was the one most like their father in nature as well. If she had intended to strike, it would be all planned fairly well for no one to notice until it was too late.

Even though Ra's had not treated Dusan the way he should, he still valued his father's life and interests. He did not want the conflict between Ra's and Talia to grow to such an extent that it would put them on opposing sides.

Because if that happened and Talia had someone like Deathstroke as her ally against Ra's and the League, then it would be hard to tell who would come out triumphant in that battle. Talia would stand an equal chance at claiming victory because an ally like Slade would definitely benefit her most.

But in both cases, there was a lot at stake and Dusan felt it his responsibility to put a stop to the chaos awaiting them in the future.

He couldn't contact Slade Wilson as easily as Talia had done so because the mercenary had vanished to goodness knows where. He was always up to his missions so he seldom stayed in one place for long.

So there was no other way Dusan could find out what was going on until or unless Talia confided in him herself.

"Why are you still out here?" Nyssa's voice shook him out of his thoughts and he turned to see her leaning against the colonnaded arch that opened in the courtyard, "it's very late."

"I know."

"Is something bothering you?" She asked, seeing that his brow was furrowed in a thoughtful expression and his silver eyes were flickering with caution.

"Not really. I will come inside when I have to, don't worry yourself for me, sister."

She nodded, feeling that whatever he was worried about was probably related to Talia. Usually, Dusan shared his problems with her without any hesitation, the only times he ever kept things to himself were when they directly involved Talia.

"If it's about Talia, don't worry too much," she remarked, taking him by slight surprise that she had guessed right, "I doubt she will do anything stupid right now. She definitely has to make Father assured that she is still going to be the perfect choice for his heir. Don't overthink it."

Her words had an underlying bitterness because, to that day, she felt envious that Talia was and would always remain their father's favorite.

"It's not about Talia but I appreciate the advice," he mumbled softly, following her inside as he knew if he stayed out longer, she wouldn't leave him be.

"You have been very silent since she left," she remarked, "don't tell me you would have preferred if she stayed here longer."

He chose not to reply to that, thinking whether or not to write to Ra's just to see if things were going fine back at Nanda Parbat.

"As I said, brother, stop worrying," her voice snapped him out of his thoughts again and he nodded in reply, not wanting to give her a reason to get worried for him. "If she comes to visit again, I will try not to be as sour towards her as I was this time."

He smiled slightly, seeing that she was saying that in order to cheer him up, "no it's alright. I can't force you to like her when you clearly don't. All I want is that you two shouldn't fight with each other."

"I won't start anything," she shrugged nonchalantly, "happy now?"

"Very."

She left him at the door to his room and went to her own room. As Dusan stepped into the empty silence of his rooms, his thoughts intensified and no matter what angle he used to look at the current situation, it only made him foresee chaos.

Either Ra's and Talia would go up against each other or Talia and Nyssa would break apart. The Al Ghul family was truly standing at a pinnacle that could snap any moment, tumbling them down to their demise soon.

And he couldn't sit by and watch it happen when he already knew how high the stakes were. So he had to end up making a difficult decision.

He had promised Talia he would never betray her but right then, there were a few things that had to be taken care of if he wanted to prevent her from turning rebellious.

With a heavy heart, he settled on his desk, taking out his parchment and ink. Lifting the quill, he penned down a letter to his father, hoping that Ra's would not dismiss it as just a mere superstition.

His father had never really paid him any importance but if he neglected his warning right then, there would be nothing Dusan could do to help him out.

Perhaps he was the only one who could foresee the future laid ahead of him and he didn't want things to go down to that level of chaos and destruction.

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