05-07-2018, 11:35 PM
Scene V: Aisfeile 1st, 948
It had been earlier that night that Alstroemeria had finished delving into the rest of Avalon’s memories. Receiving nearly a millennium of information all at once was difficult to process, but more difficult still was the conversation she had finished with Jacob.
In Avalon’s memories, she had witnessed for herself the confrontation between Jacob and Bryn. It was as Jacob had said, Bryn had used his abilities to control Jacob. But, it had been news to her that the reason Bryn had been forced to use those abilities was because Jacob had attempted to steal Avalon from the Council of Vermin. Jacob hadn’t lied to her. He had simply left out a crucial part of the story. A crucial part that changed the context of the story.
Of course. That was a concept Alstroemeria was keenly aware of. She had done the exact same thing to Jacob. She continued to do the exact same thing to Jacob.
You’re the biggest hypocrite that ever lived, Alstroemeria.
The thought had echoed in her mind as she spoke to him. In that moment, she had felt the yearning to confess. To tell him everything. It taken every bit of her willpower not to.
She wasn’t planning on helping Jacob kill Reynard. She never even wanted to kill Reyard. She wanted nothing more then to throw the wyrmslayer she had bought on Jacob’s insistence into the sea. However, that confession would lead to the revelation of other truths.
That would lead to her revealing the fact she had used Jacob’s trust to learn when he was writing to Etney, sending missives ahead to Bryn to intercept his letters. This would also lead to the revelation that Warren was in less danger of being killed for giving information to Jacob. Alstroe had already confessed to Bryn she had ordered him to spy on the Council. These two actions she knew to be her greatest sins.
This would have also lead to her being convinced to explain why she did it.
Which would have lead to her admitting she was in love with Bryn. That her willingness to talk to Jacob about Siah was done to test the waters as to how he would react to such a revelation. That most of the reasons she had given to why she felt attraction to Siah were similar to why she developed feelings for him. Of course, with Bryn there were many more reasons.
And after all that had been revealed, could Jacob still love her as he did? Would he despise her? Would he want to kill her as much as he wanted to kill Bryn? And if he still did love her, would he understand? Or pick apart her reasonings as he did with Siah? Would he try to talk her out of it as Blaine had once done?
All evidence pointed to no scenario where such confessions would turn out favorable. She knew Jacob loved her. She knew she was family to him. But, she also knew there were some sins even family couldn’t forgive. She would understand if Jacob no longer loved her. And at the very least, if Jacob no longer trusted her, there would be little she could do to interfere with him trying to kill Bryn. And that would end with either one or the other dead.
She would not allow that to happen.
We do what we need to, to protect the people we love. Despite how much it may hurt. Isn’t that right, Jacob?
As Alstroe pondered all these things, she reached the bow of the boat. She looked down at the sea. Any image of herself she may have seen was obscured by the waves, yet the faint golden glow of her hair was reflected alongside the moons.
A lot had happened in a year.
What did you mean for me to do with Avalon, Bryn?
That question still lingered with her. Was receiving it a final test of loyalty, as she had initially thought? Was it his attempt to make Alstroe the Empress of Lagalla, or some other powerful leader, as Jacob had seemed to think? Or was it some other reason entirely? Was it simply what Bryn’s note placed within it had said it was? A birthday gift?
Additionally, was the last letter he had sent her honest in its disappointment? Or was it an act to further the ruse of a rift with the Council she had started? In her last letter to him, she had told him she planned to show her allies his letters, and requested for him to ‘put on a good show’, afterall. She remembered that clearly. None the less, there wasn’t enough evidence to be certain what the meaning behind it was. She wouldn’t know until she saw him again in Lagalla, still a few months away.
She sighed as she stared out at sea.
Though none the less, with what she did know, things were at least starting to make sense. The revelation of one concealed truth had uncovered many things.
Bryn is a manakete. Judging by the brief images of him in Avalon’s memories, he was also a sandscale. A lesser, by manakete standards. Not only that, he had the power of one manakete Exalt’s bloodlines like Nihli did.
By process of elimination of what she knew of the stones, that meant his power was likely from the line of the Amber Emblem. Which also meant it was very likely that the Proctrus, the tyrannical last ruler of the manaketes Seasil had mentioned, was related to him. Likely his father, even. In what she had retrieved from Avalon, a curious memory had stood out. A round Amber-colored stone that had been attached to the tome roughly a century ago. A stone she had witnessed Bryn secretly remove when he came into possession of it. A stone she had witnessed Bryn use on Jacob during the confrontation.
Perhaps all of this had been an elaborate ploy to gain back his emblem’s stone- the Amber Dragonstone. Perhaps everything he had told her he believed in were lies to achieve that goal. Perhaps Bryn was truly a man that selfish, who had used so many people to achieve his own ends. But then why continue with the Rebellion now that his goal had been achieved? He had continued to work towards change in Lagalla in the year since he acquired it. So even though such things were possible, they were unlikely.
She still wanted to believe that he was the man she thought she was. He had promised to tell her the truth when they would meet again. She had trusted him this far, in spite of everything.
Alstroe ran her fingers through her hair.
Another quandary, Alstroemeria. Does any of these things change your feelings for him?
Alstroemeria thought to herself this question, as though she was being asked it by someone else. She tapped her fingers on the railing of the boat as she pondered this thought.
No, because nothing she had learned contradicts the man she knew. The Council has always concealed themselves because it offers protection. She found it understandable he hid the fact he is a manakete. She also found it understandable that he concealed his powers, as a power such as his would lead others to suspect him of tampering with their minds, regardless if he had done it or not.
Like she had suspected him when she first discovered what he could do.
Alstroemeria sighed.
No matter. Such is the way of Orn. Such is ‘human’ nature. Those thoughts had since passed from her mind. All that lingered were the consequences of them.
There were so many thoughts that danced around the young woman’s head as she looked out on the sea. So many memories to process and sift through. Not just of Bryn.
Though for this moment, he was all she could think of. All she could feel was a dull pain in her chest.
Perhaps I am a fool.
Alstroe clenched at the railing a bit tighter. She knew was no ‘perhaps’. Like both her mother and father before her, she supposed.
I’ll see you again soon, Bryn.
It had been earlier that night that Alstroemeria had finished delving into the rest of Avalon’s memories. Receiving nearly a millennium of information all at once was difficult to process, but more difficult still was the conversation she had finished with Jacob.
In Avalon’s memories, she had witnessed for herself the confrontation between Jacob and Bryn. It was as Jacob had said, Bryn had used his abilities to control Jacob. But, it had been news to her that the reason Bryn had been forced to use those abilities was because Jacob had attempted to steal Avalon from the Council of Vermin. Jacob hadn’t lied to her. He had simply left out a crucial part of the story. A crucial part that changed the context of the story.
Of course. That was a concept Alstroemeria was keenly aware of. She had done the exact same thing to Jacob. She continued to do the exact same thing to Jacob.
You’re the biggest hypocrite that ever lived, Alstroemeria.
The thought had echoed in her mind as she spoke to him. In that moment, she had felt the yearning to confess. To tell him everything. It taken every bit of her willpower not to.
She wasn’t planning on helping Jacob kill Reynard. She never even wanted to kill Reyard. She wanted nothing more then to throw the wyrmslayer she had bought on Jacob’s insistence into the sea. However, that confession would lead to the revelation of other truths.
That would lead to her revealing the fact she had used Jacob’s trust to learn when he was writing to Etney, sending missives ahead to Bryn to intercept his letters. This would also lead to the revelation that Warren was in less danger of being killed for giving information to Jacob. Alstroe had already confessed to Bryn she had ordered him to spy on the Council. These two actions she knew to be her greatest sins.
This would have also lead to her being convinced to explain why she did it.
Which would have lead to her admitting she was in love with Bryn. That her willingness to talk to Jacob about Siah was done to test the waters as to how he would react to such a revelation. That most of the reasons she had given to why she felt attraction to Siah were similar to why she developed feelings for him. Of course, with Bryn there were many more reasons.
And after all that had been revealed, could Jacob still love her as he did? Would he despise her? Would he want to kill her as much as he wanted to kill Bryn? And if he still did love her, would he understand? Or pick apart her reasonings as he did with Siah? Would he try to talk her out of it as Blaine had once done?
All evidence pointed to no scenario where such confessions would turn out favorable. She knew Jacob loved her. She knew she was family to him. But, she also knew there were some sins even family couldn’t forgive. She would understand if Jacob no longer loved her. And at the very least, if Jacob no longer trusted her, there would be little she could do to interfere with him trying to kill Bryn. And that would end with either one or the other dead.
She would not allow that to happen.
We do what we need to, to protect the people we love. Despite how much it may hurt. Isn’t that right, Jacob?
As Alstroe pondered all these things, she reached the bow of the boat. She looked down at the sea. Any image of herself she may have seen was obscured by the waves, yet the faint golden glow of her hair was reflected alongside the moons.
A lot had happened in a year.
What did you mean for me to do with Avalon, Bryn?
That question still lingered with her. Was receiving it a final test of loyalty, as she had initially thought? Was it his attempt to make Alstroe the Empress of Lagalla, or some other powerful leader, as Jacob had seemed to think? Or was it some other reason entirely? Was it simply what Bryn’s note placed within it had said it was? A birthday gift?
Additionally, was the last letter he had sent her honest in its disappointment? Or was it an act to further the ruse of a rift with the Council she had started? In her last letter to him, she had told him she planned to show her allies his letters, and requested for him to ‘put on a good show’, afterall. She remembered that clearly. None the less, there wasn’t enough evidence to be certain what the meaning behind it was. She wouldn’t know until she saw him again in Lagalla, still a few months away.
She sighed as she stared out at sea.
Though none the less, with what she did know, things were at least starting to make sense. The revelation of one concealed truth had uncovered many things.
Bryn is a manakete. Judging by the brief images of him in Avalon’s memories, he was also a sandscale. A lesser, by manakete standards. Not only that, he had the power of one manakete Exalt’s bloodlines like Nihli did.
By process of elimination of what she knew of the stones, that meant his power was likely from the line of the Amber Emblem. Which also meant it was very likely that the Proctrus, the tyrannical last ruler of the manaketes Seasil had mentioned, was related to him. Likely his father, even. In what she had retrieved from Avalon, a curious memory had stood out. A round Amber-colored stone that had been attached to the tome roughly a century ago. A stone she had witnessed Bryn secretly remove when he came into possession of it. A stone she had witnessed Bryn use on Jacob during the confrontation.
Perhaps all of this had been an elaborate ploy to gain back his emblem’s stone- the Amber Dragonstone. Perhaps everything he had told her he believed in were lies to achieve that goal. Perhaps Bryn was truly a man that selfish, who had used so many people to achieve his own ends. But then why continue with the Rebellion now that his goal had been achieved? He had continued to work towards change in Lagalla in the year since he acquired it. So even though such things were possible, they were unlikely.
She still wanted to believe that he was the man she thought she was. He had promised to tell her the truth when they would meet again. She had trusted him this far, in spite of everything.
Alstroe ran her fingers through her hair.
Another quandary, Alstroemeria. Does any of these things change your feelings for him?
Alstroemeria thought to herself this question, as though she was being asked it by someone else. She tapped her fingers on the railing of the boat as she pondered this thought.
No, because nothing she had learned contradicts the man she knew. The Council has always concealed themselves because it offers protection. She found it understandable he hid the fact he is a manakete. She also found it understandable that he concealed his powers, as a power such as his would lead others to suspect him of tampering with their minds, regardless if he had done it or not.
Like she had suspected him when she first discovered what he could do.
Alstroemeria sighed.
No matter. Such is the way of Orn. Such is ‘human’ nature. Those thoughts had since passed from her mind. All that lingered were the consequences of them.
There were so many thoughts that danced around the young woman’s head as she looked out on the sea. So many memories to process and sift through. Not just of Bryn.
Though for this moment, he was all she could think of. All she could feel was a dull pain in her chest.
Perhaps I am a fool.
Alstroe clenched at the railing a bit tighter. She knew was no ‘perhaps’. Like both her mother and father before her, she supposed.
I’ll see you again soon, Bryn.