Burnt gunpowder and Petrichor sweet

6. Moving cogs

To be read after BRnSG chapter 16: "Connections"

6. Moving cogs

The battlefield would never be kind.

It's an oxymoron of a concept, and yet echoed in his mind now.

The battlefield would never be kind, yes, but would it ever be this cruel again?

Razed earth and toxic scars, jagged glowing purple lines on scorch black earth, just the aftermath, the healing.

Nothing like the vitriol violet of the deepmost, sickening yellow clouds, and overwhelming pressure.

Would they wait until this too was healed? Until they could recover what little remained of the old kingdoms, long since overtaken?

Or would riding of the Galra only ever open the doors for a much deadlier war?

Nico could not forgive the Alteans for what they had done.

For ghost riders on feral drakes.

He knows, without hesitance, without question, that there's only one person who could've orchestrated the disappearances.

Only one common thread tying all six of the missing riders.

He keeps his eyes sharp.

Keeps himself hidden.

And at the first sign of difference.

The first move out of schedule.

He's chasing.

Octavian may think himself better.

But it's his own ego that turns him foolish.

And it's Nico's tunnel vison that makes him one too.

She does no wake in the summer palace.

It rings in her mind like a warning.

The unfamiliar room, with simple furniture and even simpler décor.

The faint sent of citronelle incense and thicker smell of alpha.

It all points to anything but the familiar pristine castle walls she expected.

No, if anything, this feels like a home.

Lived-in and loved.

There's soft knocking at the door, and a moment later Ezor is entering the room with a tray.

"Morning your highness, I hope you slept soundly" she greets

Her voice lacks the usual cheeriness Allura is more familiar with, though she makes an effort to sound lighthearted.

"Better than I expected," Allura admits, "would you mind telling me where I am?"

Ezor nods, gently placing the tray in the bedside table.

"This is a little place the girls and I stay at when not on duty, it was the safest thought we could think of in such short time"

Allura bites her lip.

"What about Dalzia?"

Ezor's face darkens, as she shakes her head gravely.

"We have reason not to trust our prince"

A gruesome flash reappears on Allura's mind, and she nods as she pushes it away.

Her world has been shaken, yes.

But their world has shattered.

To lose someone that close.

And to lose them in such a way.

"But don't worry!" Ezor says, pulling her away from her thoughts, "Zethrid and Acxa are making sure the place is extra safe"

Allura nods.

Because she trusted them.

And she trusted them because they've been lied to the same as herself.

A sound of jingling keys and firelight wakes him from a slumber he doesn't remember falling to.

And he opens his eyes to gaze at a face he almost forgot.

His breath goes.

And he's stumbling up and forwards, falling to his knees at the barred entrance, staring up at the impossibly familiar face.

Cecil smiles back.

"Hey Di Angelo, ready to learn the truth?"