Wildfire

Sixty Six

"A-Are you sure it is wise to let him go without an interrogation?" I had been asked this question many times, though when it floats to my ears in the form of Akeno's voice it takes me by surprise for I had thought he would have more faith in me. 

"He is being interrogated." Cho had informed me that people are more likely to talk when they think their words are no longer of value... The traitor, Advisor Deshi, should be so filled with relief over being promised his life for the admission of guilt that his tongue should already be loose... And knowing that he will not be put on trial that with a few well-placed pokes and careful prodding from the soldiers escorting him out of our lives today he should find himself spilling every secret he's ever kept, "Cho's men have all been trained in the art of conversation." 

They would deliver him to the ship with his heart surely feeling lighter having finished with exposing himself, and we shall know exactly how much Xiang trusted his trusted Advisor, the hopeful location of where he might be hiding himself, as well as Shen whom we doubt will have any trouble falling in line with him, being our top priority so that we might end this awfulness once and for all... Even if he realizes that he's being led both directionally and conversationally, he may be the kind of man that fancies himself a braggart... Or simply just not care any longer to keep secrets that are not entirely his own since he has already received a life long banishment. 

...

Rayne

...

Emrys had not objected when I asked if we might retire to our rooms after the tense conversation that had followed after Deshi's dismissal from the court and the kingdom... Said conversation having been so dreadful that even thinking back on it gives me chills, my husband's response to which is to pull me closer to his chest before raising his temperature for my comfort, ever aware of just how soothing I find him, not that I am not aware that I am bringing him just as much comfort. 

He had sounded so firm and strong telling the others to think about their actions over the last hundred years or so... To consider if they are the ones who should be guiding the kingdom and if any of them had been given the chance to step up and stop my father if they would have taken it... If any of them had seen the wrongdoings and took note instead of turning a blind eye... He had asked them to look into their inner self and consult with their beasts, and decide for themselves whether or not they think they deserve a chance to sit on the new board of Advisors that will be responsible for giving us guidance when we need it... And each and every one of them know that even if they deem they should be... They know that the deciding factor... Has been left up to me. 

Emrys had ordered them each to pen me an apology for partaking in the cruelty of keeping me away from court, a report of a number of overheard conversations in the days since the ball having revealed that the only one who didn't know or participate in estranging me from my family was Emrys himself, something he had already told me that I had not needed to be confirmed... And it is my duty to read all fourteen of them and tell Emrys which ones I feel are most genuine... After that, my husband shall make his choices from the letters that I hand to him... And I cannot help but feel utterly moved by his thoughtful way of including me and soothing a mental pain that still sometimes haunts me whenever I have an awkward moment with Mama or Papa...

Somewhere in our long middle of the night conversations, I had confided in him the pain that had washed over me every time I was forced to watch the family carriage pull away to bring them all here without me in it... To have to hear stories of the fabled gardens and beautiful black walls of the palace and think that I shall never see them because I was born lesser than the rest of them... That I had been filled with ugly resentful feelings towards them every time they were summoned, and that my heart had been broken time and time again... I hadn't realized how heavily my words had weighed on his heart... How my husband ever became so kind-hearted when so closely in blood relation to a man like Xiang truly does escape me, though I am glad for it. 

...

Emrys

...

Akeno leaves the subject be as we wait for the soldiers to return, hopefully with their minds filled with enough information to render any plan of Xiang's useless, if only in the form of giving away where he might be hiding... Instead my father-in-law and only advisor at the moment deems it necessary to fuss over the two of us, Mei not waiting long to find herself slipping into our inner-most private chamber to help fawn over their newly married son and myself... A new experience for at least one of us. 

I've never had a parent that actually cares... So it seems strange to have Mei reach around us and fluff the down inside our pillows... To have Akeno ruffle my own hair after helping unplait Rayne's for the sake of comfort... Not once had the man who raised me looked at me with kindness in his eyes, his latest acts of aggression completely in-line with his personality and character... Not once had he come to sit with me in trying times, entering his own chambers of my own will absolutely the worst of ideas, the way he had attacked me once when I had done it in childhood enough to put me off the idea until today when it had been necessary to remove him from the place of power he had so thoroughly violated and tarnished. 

And yet here I find myself... With Akeno referring to us as his sons... Mei climbing into bed with us so that she might pull both of us into a tight embrace when she sees the tears swimming in my eyes refusing to fall... Even if Xiang manages to claw his way back onto the throne so that he might cling to power, he shall never take away what is truly important... 

My family.