Aydan finally opened his eyes. He tried to sit down, but a hand on his shoulder forced him to lie down. It took him several seconds for the blurred contours of Kadir's face to become clear.
"Everything is fine," The Herald gently said. "You are safe now."
"Lara?"
"Also alive and in better condition than you," Kadir replied with a smile.
The latter wasn't surprised Aydan's first thoughts were about the young woman.
"Thanks." The young Herald replied.
Aydan tried to sit again, and Kadir sighed before helping him.
"I had to stitch your wounds again. Try not to do too much. You should get some rest."
The Phemacian did not answer, too busy concentrating to stand up straight. He felt weak and helpless, at the mercy of others. And he didn't like that.
"Your clothes are drying," Kadir continued, pointing to the fire burning high in a corner of the room.
Aydan contented himself with tying a blanket around his waist. He got up and wrapped a second one over his torso. In his back, drops of water still fell from his wings in a soft consistent noise on the uneven floor. It would be a while before they would be dry enough to allow him to fly.
He only had to push open a door to join Lara.
The young woman was sitting on a bed, wrapped in several blankets, leaning against the wall. A smile lit up her face when she saw him, and she jumped into his arms.
"Aydan!"
"You are fine?"
"I was so scared, I believed you were dead," she said in his embrace.
Like a dam that just broke, the tears that she had contained until then rushed down her cheeks.
"I was close this time," he conceded. "But You are safe now. Are you injured?"
"Not really, I was treated like all the other prisoners... the rope bruised my wrists, but it's nothing severe. It stings and itches, but I'll survive. By Elhain, citizens of the Republic were carried away to become slaves in the Empire! How is such a thing still possible?"
"The Sraxs are an elite unit," Kadir intervened upon entering the room. "They know how to be discreet. Our reinforcements will soon be here," he continued to Aydan's attention.
Lara took a few steps into the room, tightening her blankets around her. A detail was ragging her mind until she finally put her finger on it.
"You're not surprised," she said.
Her makeup didn't resist her forced bath in the lake. The true color of her skin could be seen.
"I already knew," Aydan replied.
"And you didn't mention anything to me…" she retorted crossing her arms.
"You never asked."
She would have liked to hit him for being so casual about it. Fortunately for him, he was injured. Lara sighed. It was impossible to have a real conversation with Aydan.
"And this particular color, does it have a special meaning?" Abbas asked.
The young woman gave him a stern look. How much could she trust them?
"It has one," Aydan intervened, "and you don't need to know it."
Lara oscillated between anger, surprise, and relief. What right did he have to decide for her? She could have dealt with it on her own.
"Very good," Abbas replied grumpy.
"It's his duty to protect her," Kadir added.
"I'm quite capable of making my decisions alone!" Lara retorted.
"And we saw where it led you," Aydan retorted, impassive.
The young woman was going to reply sharply when Kadir imposed silence by raising his hand.
"Your argument will have to wait. They're here."
*****
They left the small room and joined the dormitory as a Harbinger entered the place. His uniform was impeccably white despite the weather conditions he had had to go through. On the left side of his chest was pinned the emblem of his rank, a golden falcon with its wings slightly spread.
Lara shuddered. It emanated from the Harbinger an impression of danger, a predatorial intent that she had not perceived in the Mecens of a lower rank.
The three Heralds saluted in the same movement.
"What is the situation?"
With the tacit approval of his colleagues, Kadir took a step forward.
"Lara is safe, and Herald Aydan is only slightly injured. Sraxs and Red Wings Zain managed to pass through the Portal with around twenty prisoners," The Phemacian explained.
"The rain delayed us," Harbinger Omar said, "otherwise, we could have intercepted the Sraxs before the Portal. Make preparations to head out at dawn."
"As your command, Harbinger," the three Mecens replied simultaneously.
A team of three Heralds brought them dry clothes, and Lara changed with a sigh of relief. It didn't matter if they weren't her size. For the first time in hours, she felt good. Beige trousers with a belt she tightened to the last hole, making sure it stayed around her waist. She also wore a thick shirt in wool, a heavy leather cape, and soft boots. The boots were a little too big for her.
She appreciated the Mecens leaving her the room and joined Aydan and the two Heralds in the adjoining room. Lara immediately noted that the two groups didn't mix; the reason remained foreign to her. It was definitely another one of the strange Phemacian customs… Or maybe it had to do with their strange sense of honor.
The Harbinger was absent, and she was happy about it. She couldn't explain why, but she didn't like him. She had felt judged when his gaze fell on her for a brief moment. She felt like he considered her to be beneath him. She hated that his contempt reminded her of her powerlessness.
Her fingernails sank into her palms. She suddenly understood much better the words of the Herald Abbas. Having power allowed to put those individuals full of themselves in their place. She could even order them around or impose her view on them. However, could she be fair even to hateful people? Could she not abuse her authority?
She looked at her hands, half concealed in the long sleeves of her shirt. The makeup of her face had long since vanished. However, she was able to recover a little of the paste on her arms to perform some touch-ups. She had smoothed up the mix together the best she could. But it was impossible to achieve a miracle with so little.
The Harbinger had necessarily seen the blue on her hands at the very least. Did he understand who she was? She shouldn't underestimate him.
"The day when the color of your skin will be your strength and not your weakness, nothing will resist you," Aydan whispered to her as he walked nearby.
Lara jumped, surprised as always by his uncanny ability to guess her thoughts. Was she so transparent? She wanted to ask him for an explanation, but the Harbinger returned at that time from his inspection of the place. His assured approach had nothing to do with the behavior of the Herald, Lara noticed immediately.
She didn't know if it was his presence or disdain, but he undeniably had an aura that relegated the Harbinger to mere apprentices. She then understood the gap that separated them was much more important than what she imagined. The Harbingers were far from being mere senior officers as she had thought.
"These Sraxs established a camp here for far too long. That their presence has gone unnoticed for so long is inexcusable! Well, it will be up to the Parliament to assess the situation."
The Harbinger turned to Kadir's group and crossed his arms, visibly displeased.
"Let's assess your actions now. You have made rookie mistakes! Aydan, you should have never been surprised by these Sraxs. Your Familiar should have patrolled the surroundings to ensure the safety of the place. You should have avoided engaging in combat with Red Wings Zain. Your teammates should have been much closer. What were you thinking staying somewhere two hours flying time away? What immediate support could you provide?
The three Heralds bowed their heads under the rolling fire of the Harbinger's reprimands. Lara was astonished; they risked their lives for her and received no compliments…
"Excuse me," she intervened without being able to help herself. "Should we guess that Sraxs had been there for days? That their Commander would be there? Aydan still managed to hurt him, it's not nothing! Red Wings Zain didn't seem like the merciful type to me, yet Aydan survived their fight. And even injured, he did not hesitate to dive into the icy waters of Lake Perdu to save me. Maybe they weren't perfect, but they were there at the right time, no?"
The young woman had talked with an unknown assurance without noticing that the Harbinger's expression had turned sour.
Kadir and Abbas discovered a new facet of her personality, but their amazement was short-lived.
Aydan grabbed the young woman's wrist and shut her up with his gaze. With his other hand, he put his fist on the heart and bowed.
"Please forgive my Brynhild, Harbinger Omar. She meant no disrespect."
Lara stifled her protests over pressure from the Phemacian's grip. How did he agree to let himself be crushed this way by his superior?
"Do not think you know our rules," Omar replied after a few seconds. Do not interfere in the affairs of the Mecens. For the moment, you are nothing, is that clear?
With tears threatening to erupt, Lara nodded silently, suddenly aware of her vulnerability. She knew she could rely on Aydan, but was she really safe surrounded by Mecens? She had only wanted to help the ones who saved her life. But now she was wondering if her intervention hadn't made the situation worse.