Evelyn spent the night at Dhara's, but in the morning she was taken further into the Hold to her own hut. It was a solitary cabin away from the others in a patch of tall pine trees. Clearly abandoned and needing work, it seemed they thought she would be pleased to be able to make the hut into her home. She was not. She'd "fix it" by burning it down if it was up to her. Never in her life had she done work that was required to fix this shack. The thatch roof needed repairing, the inside needed a thorough clean, the hearth had an animal living in it and she'd need supplies for the winter. The only furniture was an old table and chair that sat outside under an old crooked pine.
What made matters worse was that Dhara left, leaving her to figure things out with her ever-present guard - whoever it was at the time, since they rotated. She hadn't caught the name of her escort last night, but she knew her new one today as Cassandra. As Evelyn stared at the decrepit hut, wanting more than ever to escape.
"I'm not living here." She said with a flicker of defiance dancing within her eyes. Scowling slightly, Cassandra looked at her as if unsure of what to say.
"It has to be so. The Thane has spoken, and his voice holds the weight of our clan's law." As she turned to face Evelyn, she noticed the leather armor she wore didn't creak, indicating how well maintained, yet worn it was. The leather work was impressive with decorative braiding and threading throughout. With the onset of winter, a fur mantle sat high around her neck draping over her shoulders. It was short however, hanging just about the shoulders so she could move in combat.
"He's not my Thane."
"He is, for as long as you dwell within our Hold boundaries. Even those who journey here as visiting merchants and esteemed guests, they too bend their will to his word, surrendering to his dominion over this land and its territories." Her matter-a-fact way of speaking was honest, but also slightly irritating.
"Cassandra, as a woman of duty you must understand my predicament. I need to--"
"The Thane has already enlightened me regarding this 'predicament,' and though I comprehend the necessity of fulfilling one's duty, I dare not question the will of the gods."
"Put yourself in my place, if Lowlanders were holding you against your will because their Maker said so, how would you feel?" She swore she saw the faintest bit of sympathy appear briefly as she took in her words. Evelyn softened her tone, "Did the Thane also tell you that if I don't report in I'll be branded a criminal and hunted by the Templars? Or that I'll never be able to see my family and friends again?" The warrior had a fixed frown now. "No, I don't suppose he did. What you're all asking me to do will have long-reaching effects. As head of the Hold's warriors, you should know the Templars will come for me. The Thane made clear that your people would fight them should they come, but am I so important to you that you'd be willing to let your men die to keep me from them?"
"Yes, for if not, we'll all die anyway." There was an unwavering conviction in her eyes, one that told her she truly believed it. Evelyn opened and shut her mouth a few times, knowing that she wanted to argue, but unsure as how to go about it.
"You'll all die if I leave? I don't understand. Please, help me make sense of all this!"
"Phoenix, no one but the gods can answer that for you, no matter how many of us you ask."
She threw her hands up in frustration, they'll die?! So, I either throw my life away or they die… great options.
"May I ask, would it be so bad for you, a mage, to be freed from your duty to the Templars?" That was a loaded question and she stared hard at the raven-haired warrior.
"There is no easy answer to that question." A long pause followed before she headed inside to attempt to clean, keeping herself occupied. She needed time to digest what Cassandra had told her. It couldn't change her plans to escape, the Avvar weren't her people or her responsibility. That they would place the future of their Hold on her shoulders because their gods said so rather than find their own way to survive was beyond her. What was so special about her that would change their fate?
The rest of the morning was spent with no interruption until her stomach began to growl. She had cleared most of the dust and dirt out of the hut and cleaned out the hearth. Now that she had the space, she needed things to fill it with: tools, food, wood, pots, clothing, blankets, herbs, among other necessities. Though born of the nobility, she spent enough time on the road in a tent to know what was needed for basic survival. When the sun was at its peak in the sky, Dhara paid her a visit with baskets of dried and preserved food she collected from the villagers. Despite the generous amount of donated provisions, the young mage whisked her back to her home for the midday meal and to try on more of the clothes from the chest.
The more she looked at the clothes, the more it was apparent that the garments had belonged to at least two different women. As the apprentice had mentioned to her the previous day, one had a larger chest while the other was about her size just skinnier, making the fit of the clothes slightly tighter than she was used to. She had been under the impression Avvar women were all large and muscular like Cassandra, but they came in all shapes and sizes. The women who once wore the clothes in the chest must've been of higher status in the Hold. The fabrics were finely dyed and some were made from something other than cotton and leather. There were dresses with beautiful beaded patterns and embellishments along with some jewelry. She had noticed there seemed to be some distinction among the Avvar socially from the way they dressed, but the differences seemed to depend on appointed titles and jobs rather than social classes. So, then whose clothes were these?
"I hear the Thane's family will be visiting you this evening with a gift of furs." She felt herself deflate a bit as the question jarred her out of her thoughts. He was the last person she wanted to see. She moved over to a small table to eat as Dhara talked to her about commerce and trade in the Hold. The entirety centered around bartering - not a foreign concept to her as the Circle mages typically did a small amount of it. Of course, it all depended on having something other people wanted in order to make an exchange. "Do you have any skills that would be valuable to the clan?"
"Um, I can throw fire." Dhara looked at her with a puckered frown. "I can throw fire at things?" She sighed and shook her head. "Back in the Circle, I used to brew potions of all kinds and my father is a horse breeder, so I know a lot about them."
"By Korth's beard, that'll be perfect! Perhaps the addition of yer Circle knowledge to our collective will yield somethin' and Horsemaster Dennet is always lookin' for more experienced hands, 'specially those to help with birthing." She sighed, only ever having watched births, but again she didn't plan to stick around long enough for the spring birthing season. Evelyn gave her best fake smile as she watched the giddy apprentice babble on about wonderful things were turning out to be.
In the evening after she returned to her lonely shack, the Thane's family visited. She was relieved when she saw it was only the two women and not the Thane himself. They brought large pelts that would make sleeping on the dirt floor of the hut bearable. Mia placed a hearty stew consisting of ram, vegetables and an array of spices over the fire to keep it warm. Seeing as she had no pot of her own they insisted she keep it along with the earthenware cups and bowls they brought along to eat with.
"Our brother can be difficult at times and has no sense of what it's like to run his own house since Rosalie does it for him. I will make sure he sees to at least getting you a proper bed." Mia looked over every inch the small dwelling making verbal notes to herself as to what more it needed.
"Thank you, your people have been most kind in sharing their winter stores with me. I'm not sure how I can repay the gesture." While she wanted nothing more than to leave, she couldn't help be feel a small sliver of guilt after all the food and supplies they had given her from what they had collected to get themselves through the winter. If things had been as bad as Dhara claimed them to be, then they had sacrificed their own survival to help her.
"There is nothing to repay, Phoenix. You are gift enough." She hated that and bit her tongue when her unbridled anger rose at the absurdity.
"Dhara has told me of some of your troubles, such as the Hold Beast missing and what it meant. Are things truly that dire around here that you hope I bring with me a miracle?" The two sisters looked at each other grimly. Rosalie began serving the stew while they sat on the furs on the ground.
Mia looked at her with long dark shadows from the fire filling her face. "Aye. Our fall and winter crop nearly failed. It's the worse it's been in Hold history. Hunts have not been as successful, nor has the forest provided its bounty for our gatherers. Most troubling of all is that the women cannot hold babes in their wombs. There is something larger at work here than we can know, and the Hold Spirits say you are the answer."
"How? How could I possibly be able to do anything about those things?"
She shook her head, sharing a look of sorrow as Rosalie joined them, handing them both a cup of stew. "I don't know, but you've already set one thing right bringing Kitsa back to us. Perhaps there is more to you than even you know. The gods will show you in time."
"I've been hearing that a lot lately, but I don't share your beliefs."
Rosalie spoke up now, having been absorbed in her first few sips of stew, "You don't have to in order to feel their guidance. They are in all things; the wind, rocks, animal calls. If you listen and heed the signs they give, you will know the truth." Evelyn sighed at the romanticized idea that their gods did such things regularly. As she scoffed at the idea in her head, she then realized the irony of it as she prayed daily to an absent deity.
"I know it must seem a simple thing for me to stay, but three Avvar clans surrounded me, killed my entire unit without cause, and now I'm your prisoner, despite how the Thane would have it appear outwardly."
"Thane Axlan killed your friends, not my brother." Mia's face took on the same angry scowl as the man in question. "My brother came to you with offerings of peace and gifts."
Evelyn couldn't help but roll her eyes, "He came to kidnap me like the rest of them! There wasn't anything anyone could've offered me to make me come with them so I ran! Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to follow Kitsa here."
Both women shook their heads, but it was Mia who was on the defense, "Better us than the others!"
"Of course, you'd say that."
"It's true. Axlan would use you as a weapon against the other clans, raging war until he's the Thane of every Hold. And don't let that wench Svarah Sun-hair fool you, she would use you as a broodmare and re-strengthen her Hold."
"Those all sound so lovely, I'm dying to hear what your brother has planned! Pray tell what does the great Thane want with me?" A silence fell over the hut. Mia glared wildly at her while Rosalie looked up to the heavens chewing her lip. "Well?"
"It's not for me to say."
"Of course, it's not." She couldn't help but laugh. "It's for your gods to tell me, right? Well, I wish they hurry because I need to return to my people. Did your brother also neglect to tell you what will happen to me should I not return as he did with Cassandra? Because she seemed quite surprised."
"Our brother keeps very little from his own kin. If you can't confide in your family, who can you trust?"
"Mia, I've been thinking on it since she brought it up," Rosalie finally spoke up again, "couldn't Cullen send word to the Lowlanders letting them know what has happened? Perhaps then they could grant The Phoenix permission to stay." Evelyn paused to think it over. Her eyes glanced back and forth between the two women hoping there was finally some compromise to be had.
"You want him to negotiate with the Templars?" She scoffed, "he'd sooner slit his own throat."
"It's either that or we lose The Phoenix. She clearly isn't the kind of woman who is going to sit here doing nothing! She needs to report in, why can't she do that with Cullen there to vouch for her and ask that she stay with us for one reason or another? Or if he is truly set on fighting them, then say we took her hostage." She was beginning to really like Rosalie. Mia seemed as thick as her brother, but the youngest of the Thane's siblings was seemingly reasonable." Or would you rather see her run only to be captured by another clan? Come Mia, we need to at least try to compromise?"
The graying woman turned a cold stare to Evelyn, "If the Thane can manage it, would you stay?"
"Yes! Yes, I would!" Pushing her haughty attitude aside in favor of this new course of action, she wholeheartedly agreed.
"Then in the morning--"
"No, not in the morning. Now." Her life was at stake, she couldn't afford to waste another minute. She stood and took away their bowls setting them on the stone edge of the hearth. Mia was protesting but she ignored her focusing on Rosalie, "Where's your brother now? At home? Take me to him."
"He's not at home he's out with some of the other menfolk."
"Out. Out hunting? Out knuckle-dragging? What?"
"Out at the Mead Hall," the look and tone she replied with had a sheepish lilt to it. She stared at her wide-eyed as if she was missing something. Men drinking was nothing new to her. Rosalie quietly explained to her that they preferred not to interfere with their brother's privacy when he went out with the other men.
"Right, well lead the way. He's not my brother, what do I care." They opened their mouths to decline, but she wasn't going to have it. "You can either lead me there, or I will spend the night tearing through the village building by building until I find him. Your choice." She leveled her fiery glare at them until they all stormed out the door and down the path with her guard in tow.
As they approached the building, it dawned on her that she could've found it herself from the sounds and smells coming from it. It sat a ways away from the other buildings on the outskirts of the village. It seemed a good thing too as the boisterous sounds coming from the people inside were lively. In all practicality, it was the equivalent of a tavern. Fights outside, lovers crowding dark corners, music and patrons of every degree of drunk milling about. Though Mia left to return to her home, Rosalie opted to wait outside in case their brother's temper got the better of him.
The ceiling was tall to support a large wrought iron chandelier which lit the space pleasantly. The sweet aroma of brewing mead hung in the air with hints of citrus. Trophies adorned the walls along with pelts of dragonlings and other animals which helped to soften the echo of the raucous noise. It was set up similarly to the Great Hall, just on a much smaller scale; a central fire pit for warmth, light and roasts with tables around it, though most of the patrons were split between sitting and standing. The floorboards seemed saturated in mead from the clinking of horn cups and tankards and offerings to the gods.
Pushing through the crowd was difficult at first until people realized who she was. Many gave a nod with a 'Phoenix' as they cleared her a path and pushed others aside. She stood tall and glided through the Hall with a reserved ferocity as her sharp eyes took in every face. She searched in vain for a few minutes as the spacious room began to quiet with the natives wondering what the interruption to their revelry was. It worked to her advantage when her quarry stood and she spotted him. He was bare-chested and partially covered in maroon paint. A sparse array of thick raised scars adorned his sculpted chest and ribs. She had seen other men dressed as he with Dhara earlier hulling back a meager bounty of game, so she surmised he was probably back from a hunt. The other men around his table were all dressed similarly to the Thane in fur and leather pants and boots. Their arms and shoulders were strapped in leather armor with puffs of fur lining peeking out. With eyes locked, she could already see the shift in his mood beginning at the sight of her.
"Not too drunk I hope? We have business to discuss." Aside from Branson and Rylen, she didn't recognize any of the other men at the table. One, in particular, seemed totally out of place. His skin was naturally tanned and he had a neatly groomed mustache that curled up at the ends. He didn't wear the same ensemble as the others, and she sensed he was a mage of great skill. He didn't try to hide the way he scrutinized her with raised eyebrows, beginning at her knees up to her head. When he finished, he flashed a cheeky smile at her.
She flicked a quick glance over the mage's shoulder to some women who stood against the wall near their table. They were watching the men at the table with an interest, whispering back and forth, trying to chime into their conversation. One stood out with pale green eyes and long dark brown hair. She looked at Evelyn as if sizing her up, though there was not much to compare, nor compete with aside from the woman's beauty. She was short and trim, but her curves were subtle and soft. Evelyn could assume she wasn't a fighter, nor did she sense a mage. At a guess, she was at least two years younger than she, still having a youthful dew to her pale cheeks. Her looks were striking and her large eyes betrayed her every intention - and she clearly intended to make the men notice her. Whoever she was, she did not seem pleased by the way Evelyn commanded the Thane's attention.
"What business?" He cocked his head to the side in a frown, sitting back down to recline back in his seat.
"The business of you intervening on my behalf to the Templars." He straightened as if she had just insulted him.
He spit, "No." She stood there expecting more of an explanation, but he merely held her gaze. The Hall was quiet as everyone tried to listen to what was being said. The men at the table shook their heads leveling glares and lewd comments at the mention of their sworn enemy. Even her guard had a few choice words to say about it.
Her eyes narrowed and her lips were slowly morphing into a snarl at the blatant refusal. "Can we speak of this privately?" She gathered that if she was going to try and convince him of striking some deal with them, she was going to need to get him alone.
"No, for you won't change my mind."
She scoffed, bending down with one hand on the table and the other on the arm of his chair, "You may be used to everyone following your orders without question, but I won't be. If you want my cooperation, then let us go and speak." Her raptor eyes turned deadly cold though the heat of her magic began to rise. The men at the table became uneasy at her words as if they expected him to gut her for such insolence. Sensing she was not taking no for an answer, he sighed heavily and gestured with his hand out the front doors. The once-lively mob parted ways for them again, waiting until they exited before resuming their revelry.
Once outside, the shadow of Rosalie jumped up to join them immediately. "You got him to agree?"
"Ros, you're involved with this?"
Her face immediately imitated his scowl, but Evelyn waved her hand for them to focus on the actual issue. "You don't want me running off, well this is the answer. Arrange it with the Templars for me to stay and I won't. It's truly as simple as this. I know exactly where you can send..."
"I said no," his anger had risen to the point his voice was sounding like a growl. "We will not deal with the Templars, and that is final. I will hear no more of this." Rosalie went to protest but it was harshly denied followed by an order for them to return home. He turned to head back into the hall, but Evelyn grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her, both of them surprised at the force with which she did it.
"How can you so easily dismiss the one solution to our problem!?" Her anger was replaced by desperation. A profound sense of loss was welling up from deep within feeling powerless.
"Our problem? The sooner you come to terms with the fact that this will be your new home the better, Phoenix." He called the guard over and ordered that he take her home immediately, then left them in the darkness of the night. Rosalie didn't know what to say and just hung her head in defeat while Evelyn slumped to the ground on her knees.
This was it. Her life was over. She would be declared an apostate and they'd hunt her down. When they found her, they'd drag her back to the White Spire and put her on trial, find her guilty and if she was lucky they'll execute her. More likely they would make her Tranquil - a fate worse than death. To sever herself from the Fade rendering her powerless, emotionless, to be a shell of her former self terrified her. She would end herself before letting them castrate her magic from her. To not be able to feel anything, to live her life just waiting for her next command, to be reduced to the same status as dirt was too much for her mind to handle. She began to cry at the hopelessness of her circumstances, muttering her overflow of thoughts into the night.
An arm timidly rested across her shoulders followed by a soft pitiful 'sorry.' As they lingered, the tall and muscular form of Cassandra materialized out of the darkness. She dismissed the guard with the full intention of staying with her for the evening as apparently ordered by the Thane.
"He wanted to make sure you were alright. He's a proud man, and he… sometimes he doesn't always say things right. He is our Thane and he is trusted with the interests of our people. Now more than ever he is under a lot of pressure to sustain the Hold. To him, it is a very simple matter of heeding the Hold Spirits' counsel." Evelyn barely heard her as she went on to defend the man, as she felt the pull of despair dragging her to the depths. Darkness and pain were old friends of hers, having spent part of the last decade with them as constant companions. She was many things, but she was not one to give up despite any odds. The fierce driving force within her refused to yield. She was resilient before the Void, having already escaped from its grasp whilst in the Circle. The enemy she had fought and conquered in those years was more cunning and dangerous than this Thane.
"I think he made himself perfectly clear." She picked herself up from the ground and glared at the Mead Hall as if hoping he'd feel her defiance. There were to be repercussions for his actions tonight. Taking them off-guard, she fade stepped away into the darkness making a break for the gate. She heard Cassandra commanding those about her to sound the warning horn and for the rest to keep their eyes on her. Evelyn's long legs and strides helped her outpace a number of the warriors, but she still had to dodge and fade step to avoid others. She was glad she chose to wear her own clothes today, as running in a dress would have hindered her speed. Conjuring flame and grabbing a bundle of dried grasses left outside of a home in a heap, she lit them on fire creating a smokescreen to hide in. As the smoke billowed out reducing the visibility of those in pursuit, she fade stepped again, losing them just before the horn alerted the Hold of trouble. She drew in steady breaths as the defensive wall loomed ahead, outlined by torchlight. Anger and self-preservation fueled her sprint and with one last step into the Fade she cleared straight through the closed gate.