From The Ashes [#NaNoWriMo16]

Chapter Thirty Five - Issobel Rique

           

Her heart pounded in her chest as the cold hit. She'd tamed her hair, she'd pulled on a nice dress and she'd hidden her bottle of paralysis beneath the ribbon of her outfit, but still she was out of sorts. This was a risky thing, what they were doing. It would either go all in her favour, or completely wrong. She'd run through the events in her head, of the worst possible scenarios. Most of them involved someone dying, and not one of them made her feel good. But as they all followed Helio towards the entrance to the palace, Quin didn't remove his hand from hers, but held it tighter, making her feel safer already. She squeezed it to assure him she was okay, glancing around at the other people present. They were all dressed similarly, depending on their race and such, so Issey calmed when she realised they all blended in well. Kieron and Ryia had done well.

"Mingle," Helio told them all when they were in the palace, and then glided off into the depths of the ball, many sets of eyes following him as he went. Issey realised quickly that he was trying to keep the attention off of them; people were fascinated by spirits, especially because they hardly strayed from the Ashlands. Whenever one was seen, it was a rare sight indeed.

"I should locate the Keeri Elder," Quin murmured in her ear, and Issey turned to nod at the others before turning back to him.

"I'll come with you," she said, so they too broke off from the group to set in place Quin's side of the plan. As they walked, they jumped into conversation fairly quickly.

"I want you to know that I am sorry," she said finally as they drifted through another room. There were people everywhere, all holding glasses in their hands and laughing with friends they hadn't seen since they were teenagers. "For everything that happened when we were dealing with Kron."

"Everything?" Quin echoed.

"For calling you my- for using your soul against you. For confusing you. For killing your brother."

"You don't have to-"

"No, I do," she interrupted, her brow furrowing in thought. "I keep thinking about it. If our positions were reversed, I would be furious at you. His life wasn't mine to take, Quin. You wanted to save him and I took him from you."

"I know what you did," he replied softly, slowing to a stop as they approached a bench. They sat, side-by-side. "I don't care. If he- if my soul wanted to kill you, it had its own reasons. I can't punish you for trying to save the world, Issey, but I can't punish myself for trying to save him either."

Despite the situation, Issey started grinning. "Wow," she breathed, resting back against the wall behind her. "I never thought I'd hear you say that. I honestly thought you'd go on punishing yourself for the rest of your life."

"If you hadn't of come back," he admitted quietly, "then I probably would have."

"It's a good thing I came back then, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is."

She pursed her lips, about to speak again, but they were interrupted by a short figure dressed in red, clearly annoyed at something. Issey stifled a laugh.

"Hi, Kida," she said. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Don't mock me," Kida scowled, sitting on the other side of Quin. "So many people are staring at me, I thought I'd have to chug the cure right here to make them stop."

"Have you found your Elder yet?" Quin asked, scanning the crowd for what Issey assumed was the Keerian Elder. "The human?"

"They all look the same," Kida admitted sourly. "All the old ones, I mean. It's near impossible. Reckon I saw yours, though."