Hard Light (NaNoWriMo15)

Chapter 25 - Truth

Leah was forcefully escorted out of the hall and its uproar with Kieran close behind her.

What had she been thinking?

She forced herself to take a shaky breath. She'd been thinking that she'd already lost Sef and Shade to her mistakes. That she wasn't about to let Kieran go without a fight.

Leah tried to steal a glance at him and was shoved between the shoulderblades by a guard.

"Keep moving," they said. "Until Emrys gives the order, you are officially prisoners of the League of Light."

"I'm a Radiant!" said Leah. "You can't--"

"Any Radiant who endangers our cause is no Radiant." Was her mind playing tricks on her, or was this guard one of the white-haired ones who'd been in Emrys's group? "Did it ever occur to you that by consorting with the Lightless, you became a carrier to the parasite? That you might be the reason for Sef's Shattering?"

She hadn't. "I--it wouldn't lay dormant that long! Not if it creates the Shattered--"

"You're naive," said the guard. White hair framed her face, the judging gaze landing squarely on Leah's like she was nothing. Like she was dirty. "The parasite is far more advanced than you've given it credit for. Plus, I believe you have Teridian blood, correct?"

"What does that have to do with it?"

"The parasite has been proven many times over to be greatly weakened in the presence of Teridian blood," said the guard with a sneer. "But you would have known that, had you chosen to consult anyone knowledgable about it before you tried to be a hero."

And with that, Leah's confidence crumbled.

She stayed silent as they reached the military quarter of the League and were ordered into a room. She and Kieran were given clean, white robes and pointed towards the change rooms. Leah's stomach was in knots as she stripped down and put on the new clothes, fumbling with the clasps. The orb remained with her, but now it just seemed like it was taunting her.

Had she really carried the parasite and given it to Sef? She raked her nails over her skin, catching them on the crystal patterns on her arm. Was she dirty? An oblivious risk to those around her? If it was true--then how many more had she infected?

Leah emerged, hugging her elbows.

Kieran was still in his previous clothes, arguing with the white-haired guard. "So what, you're going to keep her with me just to make a point? She might be gullible, but I used her for a reason. She figured out that code when none of you well-educated morons could. You're going to just waste that?"

The word gullible stung. The conviction in Kieran's voice was enough to make her question if he hadn't been lying at the trial simply to save her from her own idiocy.

"As long as she remains a sympathiser, she is a hinderance to our cause," said the guard. "Get dressed now, or we'll do it for you."

Kieran's laugh barked across the room, but he stepped towards the change rooms. "The only hinderances I see are the people they allow to work for them!"

With Kieran gone, the white-haired guard turned their eyes on Leah. "At least you co-operate. There might be hope for your redemption yet."

A thought stirred in the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside and ignored it. She didn't want to figure things out. She wanted to curl up in the corner and die.

"I didn't mean any harm," said Leah, her voice barely above a whisper. "I just wanted--"

Her sentence was interrupted as Asriel, flanked by two more of the white-haired Radiants from the podium entered the room. He gave her the once-over. Unlike the first time Leah had met him, his stance seemed far more rigid, his eyes harder.