Valeanna was the first to wake, calm as the still waters.
The stillness of the waters abaited by the tides invested in our crime. I felt as though I was the only one who was truly abashed by my mistake. I was feeling more than remorseful against my actions. I had broken a bond between siblings, one that I myself have forged. I could not imagine a life without my own little protector, my brother.
Her shoulder ached like the morning sun; with her eyes not fully adjusted, she could feel another's hand upon her. Her heart rate quickened, and she tried to pull away. That sinking feeling of the other's want made her body react. She hated that feeling of not being able to control what and when she desires. They tighten their hold upon her wrists.
She opened her eyes and for a split second she felt as though the walls were closing in upon her. A image of Aerion dressed in dirty rags as he picked up one of the old worn out cloths from the basins, as he began cleaning her most intimate parts. She could still remember the sting of the swollen cuts.
"Stop that or else you will reopen your wounds." Her brother knelt before her bandaging the palm of her hand. "You shouldn't do that anymore." Aerion chastised her. It felt odd to be settled and tended too. He too looked troubled, with his back turned did she allow a few strained tears to fall down her cheek. Aerion soon returned with a half-rotten fruit and a bowl of soup that contained very little.
"Kirimvose".Thank you.
She ate it in silence, afterwards once she found her footing, with his help she removed herself from Vhaera's hold. The place was bright now, she could feel the draft coming from outside. Aerion guided her to their mother who looked distant, almost trapped in a faraway land. There was so much she wanted to say and ask, but no words would leave her lips.
"She likes the heat.It makes her feel clean." (G.R.R.M quote)
She nodded smoothing out the wrinkles on her mothers clothes.
"Daemond is dead," her brother told her blankly. Valeanna looked away in shame slowly picking at the bandage. "I see. It is no wonder why you called upon his name, you've already forsaken him. Is our mother really the only reason why you did this? Their are ways to bring them back. Why didn't you do it?" Aerion shook his head. "No sweet sister. To play at the hands of the Gods will only bring about ruins."
"And yet you and Alys asked of me to do the very same. I can still hear the bitter words you hold back for our leader."
"And, why do you hold such devout loyalty?" He was not only angry but bitter.
"What kind of leader has she been, hmm, as of late?"
"Do you feel the pain in the pit of your stomach? It has been there for far too long." He spoke in weary tongues. "To vie for one's pocket leaves the other ignored. While we brace ourselves on empty stomachs the other counts it's coin."
"Are you still a slave, a farmer or a lady?"
"Sweet sister, the answer is not so simple, is it?"
"You must have envied all three at some point in your life. To be blissful and ignorant as a babe once more. Open your eyes and see what I see. Another man's shortcoming is another's blessing. A lesson, not a gift. A debt not a joy. A truth without true favor brings about wroth. You may have learned the pleasures of the flesh that which is satisfying in itself, but it is the act of abandoning which is unrefutable in itself that makes it one flesh and bone. I know the heart of a man and it is why I tell you." (Backtohogwarts quote (ao3))
His words trembled all jumbled up into one. Not truly clear or decisive.
"You only say that because you're angry. Why shouldn't I be loyal? Haven't I been harmed enough? She made me feel safe and strong when all I was capable of feeling was dread." Tears welded in her eyes. He paused slightly... before saying, "I have every right to be. When I left mother was whole or haven't you noticed. There are more men than women in this damn cave day in and day out. They are the ones to draw their last breath. If Vhaera is unable to decide upon her vengeance. The men who linger here will take it out on her. She isn't the only one who has lost someone."
He held his sister's hand. "Know that I take no pleasure in saying these things. Humiliation is for the shy. Fear is for the innocent." (Pretty woman quote)
Valeanna looked at her brother then, "all the more reason then, that it matters, because she deserves to grieve. This lie will be our undoing. She will never forgive us."
"I don't need her forgiveness I just want my sanity, my mother, my home, something to keep us safe at night so that we may close both of our eyes instead of leaving one eye open. How long are you willing to play the long game, he showed her the face of their people, and she could see the root taking hold spreading like wildfire. He wiped her tears. "We have remained united through our losses..." Alys interrupt's their conversation.
"Asshai has left us bone dry. I can hear the rustling of our blood. You are borne from my bone and flesh. We ask for the forgiveness for those who carry the blood of gold." He ends the prayer walking just close enough to be heard, but at a safe distance if Vhaera begins to wake. "I have already warned you both so in case you need a reminder. There is nought much more time for planning. No more reasoning. Our nights grow more uneasy."
"Always the prophet, aren't you Alys?" The man smiled.
"What are we to do now?" she asked.
"Nothing, we can only wait as we've been doing for the past four years." Aerion said bitterly.
Valeanna then asked her brother to show her the remains. Aerion gave his mother a gentle kiss upon her forehead before leading her deeper inside the cave. The walls began to dig deeply into her skin. When they finally came to a stop it was not the smell that made her blood boil, but her fear at all those they truly had lost.
She felt every limb, bone, and blood move as one in her body and felt nothing but skin and bones among so many corpses. She could not tell which was the begining of him or the end. "I fear, I am awake now, brother, but I still do not agree. When she wakes what will we tell her?"
"That the memory of her brother was real. A final farewell. That he went amongst the group with Vaemond to seek allies with a king. If we do not do this we will be next in line. Remember that as you continue to question my loyalty."
She takes a deep breath. "And, when Vaemond returns?"
"We say he died."
"You make it sound so easy. As much as you try to distance yourself from the monsters who took us. You do sure act like them when pushed against a corner. Their words were just as powerful as their strikes. Or don't you remember?"
He balled his hands into a fist, trembling, as her words had great affect upon his ego.
"How could I forget. Petty grievances is all we have and I intend to deliver. The lamb who is slaughtered... history rarely remembers, what the lamb men thought." (Ao3 quote)