Knife's Edge
Nov. 27th, 2012 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feredarStory: Knife's Edge
Year: 990 FY
Characters: Fera, Sola, Andrell
Warnings: References to character/familial death, resignation to suspected impending assassination
Her sister-in-law's news echoes in circles through her mind.
Kellom is dead. They just brought his body back. There is no mistake.
"You have to get out of the city," Sola continues. "Keta and Tana have already fled. Deva and I should be all right, but you...people are angry, Fera."
Sola's right. People are angry. The things Kellom did...Fera is--has always been--on the edge of things, never involved, but aware, a shadow Queen with no role, no influence, no way to act on what she knows.
But she mutely shakes her head. "There's no time," she says quietly. "But thank you."
"You don't have to die with him," Sola tries to insist. She takes her hand. "You haven't done anything wrong, not by anyone's standards."
And it won't matter because I am--I was--his wife. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life being hunted, Sola," Fera says. "Are your children safe?"
"Yes, of course they are. But Fera--"
Voices in the hall, loud and angry and pounding footsteps. "They're coming. You should go."
Sola hesitates only a second, then throws up her hands and leaves the back way.
Fera closes her eyes. I am not afraid to die, she tries to tell herself.
The door bursts open. Four soldiers, men she doesn't recognize. She only prays they'll be quick.
"Stop." Her last surviving brother-in-law's voice, quiet, but firm. "Don't hurt her."
They listen. Somehow, they listen. She doesn't resist when they tie her hands. Andrell wants to keep her alive. Part of her is relieved. Andrell is a good man, he doesn't lie, if he says 'don't hurt her' he means it.
Everything feels like she's under a dozen feet of water, and her knees give way when they pull her up. They take her to another room, smaller, more secure.
"I'll make sure no one knows you're here," Andrell promises her. So no one will come to hurt you, is left unsaid. "And when things quiet down..." He gives her a tired little smile. "I'll protect you. I promise."
They cut her hands free and lock her in, and for a moment, she believes him.
Year: 990 FY
Characters: Fera, Sola, Andrell
Warnings: References to character/familial death, resignation to suspected impending assassination
Her sister-in-law's news echoes in circles through her mind.
Kellom is dead. They just brought his body back. There is no mistake.
"You have to get out of the city," Sola continues. "Keta and Tana have already fled. Deva and I should be all right, but you...people are angry, Fera."
Sola's right. People are angry. The things Kellom did...Fera is--has always been--on the edge of things, never involved, but aware, a shadow Queen with no role, no influence, no way to act on what she knows.
But she mutely shakes her head. "There's no time," she says quietly. "But thank you."
"You don't have to die with him," Sola tries to insist. She takes her hand. "You haven't done anything wrong, not by anyone's standards."
And it won't matter because I am--I was--his wife. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life being hunted, Sola," Fera says. "Are your children safe?"
"Yes, of course they are. But Fera--"
Voices in the hall, loud and angry and pounding footsteps. "They're coming. You should go."
Sola hesitates only a second, then throws up her hands and leaves the back way.
Fera closes her eyes. I am not afraid to die, she tries to tell herself.
The door bursts open. Four soldiers, men she doesn't recognize. She only prays they'll be quick.
"Stop." Her last surviving brother-in-law's voice, quiet, but firm. "Don't hurt her."
They listen. Somehow, they listen. She doesn't resist when they tie her hands. Andrell wants to keep her alive. Part of her is relieved. Andrell is a good man, he doesn't lie, if he says 'don't hurt her' he means it.
Everything feels like she's under a dozen feet of water, and her knees give way when they pull her up. They take her to another room, smaller, more secure.
"I'll make sure no one knows you're here," Andrell promises her. So no one will come to hurt you, is left unsaid. "And when things quiet down..." He gives her a tired little smile. "I'll protect you. I promise."
They cut her hands free and lock her in, and for a moment, she believes him.