Calliope sits atop a large rock with her knees to her chest. She stares off into nothing, a multitude of thoughts running through her head. How are her and Reo supposed to do this when he'll be killed on site if they step foot in Allori. She can feel the anger bubbling inside her gut. How could he keep this from her? Aside from the anger, she feels oddly hurt. Is it because he's willingly jeopardizing her freedom or is it she's grown to like him?
She suddenly hears something behind her. Her hands go to her trusty axe, but relaxes when she recognizes Reo's calming demeanor she's grown rather fond of. Since they started traveling, Reo has become somewhat of a light in the darkness for her. His kindness and warmth is a very happy reminder that there are some good people in the world. He seems truly content being in her presence and not using her for some ulterior motive. But today, his presence is just annoying her.
"What do you want?" She asks sharply.
"Hey...can I sit here?" Reo asks nervously. Calliope just shrugs. He sits at the base of the rock underneath her feet. Calliope doesn't want to talk to him right now, but him staying eases her mind. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. I know this means a lot to you and I hope you can forgive me." The guilt and remorse in his voice makes Calliope feel bad for yelling at him. She thinks about all the terrible things that have happened to her and how she hasn't told a soul even if Reo has been prying her for it. Maybe it's the same for him. She jumps off the rock and sits beside him.
"I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have overreacted like that."
"No, you were right, If I am discovered our entire mission is compromised." Reo fiddles with a woven bracelet around his wrist. The moonlight illuminates his face, highlighting his visually pleasing features.
"Reo, what happened to make you a traitor?" Calliope blurts out. Her hands fly to her mouth. She didn't mean to ask, it just slipped out. He notices her reaction and smiles dryly. He sucks in a breath and begins to open and close his fists. He looks around as if he doesn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry. It's not appropriate for me to be asking you those kinds of things." He shakes his head.
"No, it's fine. Really, I think it's important you know the details." She wraps her arms around her knees.
"Alright, I'm listening."
"I was born and grew up in a very small village not very far from the capital. When I was eleven, the war between Sunarai and Allori was especially bad." Calliope remembers hearing about the Suna-Allori war as a young child. Her country, Lora was a vocal supporter of Allori and opened its borders to Allori refugees. Calliope would always play with the refugee children when they were in her hometown. The majority of the fighting between Allori and Sunarai has stopped now, but there's still the occasional raid and flash battle.
Reo continues speaking. "My village was attacked by the Suna. My mother, father, and baby sister along with most of the village were slaughtered. The soldiers took me, my older brother, and some other boys as prisoners. They figured out which of us were Valors and which were not. They killed the Non-Valors and forced the Valors into the ju haleer." Calliope perks up.
"I thought Valors joined the ju haleer willingly." She was always told that Valors would join the Suna to fight against Allori because of the prejudice that they received in their native country despite there being an extremely large Valor population. Reo scoffs.
"Some of them did join willingly, then there's people like me who either had to join or die. While I was there, they exploited our powers. Even though I'm a healer, they made me use my powers to kill so many of my own people. One day my brother and I decided to escape. We were on the run for three days before they found us. I was able to run from them, but my brother wasn't so lucky. I didn't see it, but I know what happens to people who try to escape. They tourture them slowly, then kill them in the most painful way they can think of. I went to an Allori town for refuge, but that's when I found out that the king declared all former and current members of the ju haleer traitors and if they are discovered to execute them."
"Why?" Calliope asks.
"Because we chose to serve them instead of taking death." Hearing that confession and seeing the agony in his face makes Calliope's heart ache for him. His king betrayed him and his brother is most likely dead.
The first thing she thinks of to comfort him is to rest her head on his shoulder. His body tenses at her touch, then relaxes and he leans into her.
"I'm sorry." She whispers. Reo sighs and rests his head on top of hers. The small gesture makes Calliope feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
"It's okay, really. Please don't pity me." Calliope chuckles.
"I couldn't do that. It would damage your fragile ego." Reo shoots up and stands over her.
"What fragile ego?" He says, his voice cracking at the end.
"That reaction says otherwise." Reo acts offended, resting a hand on his chest. Calliope doubles over laughing and Reo joins in as well. Calliope stares at Reo's smiling face. For the first time in a while, Calliope feels as though Reo has become sort of a companion to her. He sits back down beside her and she leans against him.
"Calli? Why were you so upset with me? Why do you want your freedom so bad?" Calliope takes a shaky breath. She opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out. It hurts too much to think about. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He sounds almost disappointed. She hangs her head.
"I'm sorry. And another thing, Calli?" He smiles sheepishly
"Yeah, it saves time. Do you not like it?"
"No it's fine." Calliope looks up at the sky to see that the moon had risen quite high. "We should be getting back." The two of them head back to Nita's house, feeling much better about things than they did before.