"Be gentle," Celine said to Miyanna as she left the tent.
"Will your husband be okay?" Allegra asked.
"Oh, please, only he knows how to tame my sister. She is the one in danger, and that's exactly what she wants," Celine giggled.
"All of you are weird," Allegra replied.
"Call us what you want, you don't have to understand or agree with the way we do things," Celine added, slightly annoyed by Allegra's insult. "Come, let's join them."
"Now?" Allegra questioned.
"It would be best if you explained everything now so that by breakfast, you could be on your way," Celine replied, before leaving the tent.
With a sigh, Allegra followed close by, leaving the tent.
As she saw Celine take a seat next to Blanc, she saw a Blanc who had Miyanna in his lap, now calm, as he kissed her.
"See?" Celine giggled as she pointed with her head towards the two.
Allegra, overwhelmed by the situation, took a seat on a log on the opposite side of the fire.
But even though Blanc opened his eyes and tried to pull back, Miyanna caught the back of his head and didn't let go for another minute.
When she finally did, she got up and moved to Blanc's empty side with a smug look on her face as she looked at Allegra.
"So, what did you want to ask?" Allegra voiced her question.
"Ah, wait a minute," Celine said before she too went in and kissed her husband.
"This might take a while," Miyanna chuckled, "Get comfortable."
"I don't want to get comfortable, I want to leave," Allegra said, sighing deeply.
"There," said Celine, as she let go of Blanc, returning to her seat minutes later, "Where were we?"
"I don't know anymore," Blanc muttered, staring at the fire.
"How long until breakfast, hubby? I'm hungry," Miyanna wondered.
"Ah, uh," Blanc stuttered, returning to reality, as he stirred, "About twenty more minutes until the porridge is done. And another twenty for me to make some juice. Could you wait for that long, or should I make you something quick in the meantime?"
"I can wait, thanks," Miyanna replied, offering her husband a warm smile, forgetting altogether of Allegra's presence.
"Ah, yes," Celine remembered, ignoring Blanc's and Miyanna's conversation, "What do you want to do first? Explain how we met again, or answer our questions?"
"Ask away," Allegra replied, "But I will answer only what I deem fit."
Their words made Blanc and Miyanna turn their attention back to this conversation, just as Celine began asking.
"Where are you, Metamorphs from?" she asked.
"I can't answer that," Allegra replied coldly the next moment.
"Are the Metamorphs from the Silver Gardens?" Celine asked next.
"No, we are from a more magnificent place than this doomed, rundown place," Allegra replied.
Celine's eyes lowered, "Explain."
Allegra shook her head, "I cannot. Only know that our clan leaders would be offended if you asked such a thing."
"I don't care about your clans or your leaders," Celine shrugged her shoulders before asking the next question on her mind, "How can you Metamorphs turn into beasts?"
"I can't answer that," Allegra replied.
"Why not?" Miyanna questioned.
"Because it's a secret," Allegra answered coldly.
"Why are you here?" Blanc asked.
"I've been sent here."
"Why have you been sent here alone?" Celine questioned next, not allowing Allegra the time to think of a proper answer.
"I can't answer that," Allegra replied.
"Are you looking for something in the Silver Gardens?" Celine continued.
"I can't answer that." She repeated.
But Celine was unfazed by Allegra's silence. "Are you looking for someone?"
Allegra shook her head, "No."
"Are you looking for enemies? Or were you sent to follow us?" Celine asked.
"We don't care about you," Allegra replied, "I know you five are not as simple as you look, but we couldn't care less."
"Then why did you try sneaking into our campsite?" Celine kept on asking, barely letting Allegra breathe between questions.
"To kill enemies and gather food," Allegra explained, cold and as swift as she could.
Celine's plan in all these questions was a plan of hers to overwhelm her mind slowly.
Celine could see that Allegra was exhausted and that sooner or later, she would let something escape her lips.
Celine only had one real question that Allegra had already answered, but she was now making sure that the explanation Allegra would later give them would be the truth and only the truth, as she would be too exhausted to try lying and too overwhelmed to realize what her words meant.
"Are you here to kill enemies?" Celine continued.
"I can't answer that," Allegra replied.
Three more should do the trick, Celine thought, before she kept going.
"If you are not from here, how is the Domain of Noble Blood Certa your enemy?" she asked.
"We were… I, uh, I can't answer that," Allegra stuttered.
A smile slowly formed on Celine's face.
"After you defeat Noble Blood Certa, will you attack other Domains?" she questioned.
Allegra nodded to Celine's question without realizing it as she replied, "I can't answer that."
"Wonderful, and one last question," Celine said, straightening her back, "What do you think of our husband?"
"He's handsome," replied Allegra, completely overwhelmed by Celine.
"I know, right?" Celine giggled, covering her mouth in pride.
"Huh?" Allegra frowned, unsure of what Celine was talking about.
Only Blanc and Miyanna's eyes widened at Celine's question and Allegra's answer, as they looked slowly from one to the other.
Miyanna opened her mouth to speak, but Blanc swiftly placed his hand on her knee, stopping her.
He didn't know what Celine had planned, but he trusted her.
And it seemed Allegra was so overwhelmed that she did not even realize what she had just been asked or what she answered.
She only knew that the questioning was now over.
So, for a moment, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Nothing, thank you for answering," Celine said, smiling.
"What now?" Allegra wondered.
"Explain yourself and how you got here," Celine demanded.
"But in a way I did, no?" Allegra asked.
"By saying nothing," Celine sighed, "Explain what led you here from the moment we went our separate ways. Understand that you owe us this since your side broke their promise not to follow us."
"But we didn't follow you," Allegra sighed.
Celine shrugged her shoulders, "How are we supposed to know that? By believing you like we did last time? Look where that got us. So, seeing that you are unable to fight, you either tell us, eat some breakfast, and go your way, or we keep you as a prisoner, or maybe even as a pet. I always wanted a bear as a mount, you know?"
Allegra's mind was a blur already.
The heavy questioning, the stress of keeping everything shut, the wounds, the lack of food, and the lack of sleep were, at this moment, akin to poison to her brain.
She was holding on by threads, threads that were made of unknown material in Celine's mind.
Whether it was loyalty, faith, or anything else entirely, she was confident she knew how to break them, especially against a weakened Allegra.
"I'll talk," she said.
"Good," Celine said, getting on her feet, "Are you thirsty by any chance?"
"I would like a cup of water, yes, thank you," said Allegra gratefully.
"But of course," Celine smiled at her, as a response, heading inside the tent and coming out with a waterskin and her wooden cup, which she filled and offered to Allegra, "Drink as much water as you need and start whenever you are ready."
And after drinking several full cups of water and thanking Celine after every refill, she began talking.
"I won't be able to tell you everything, but you have been kind to me, so I will tell you that after we went our separate ways, we went and returned Heru to the chief and High-chief, who, as our next mission, or as punishment, they sent our group to take the City of Silver, Kanat, and the Silver Gardens," Allegra said, but Blanc's sigh stopped her from talking.
"I hate the fucker as much as the next guy, but attacking Kanat is a death sentence, not knowing the layout of the traps," Blanc explained.
"What? You know them?" Allegra muttered.
"Of course I do," Blanc replied.
"C-can you tell us?" Allegra stuttered, "Please, some of my people died like dogs because of those traps."
"And have you come here to look for what? Something to bypass the traps?" Celine asked.
"Yes," Allegra nodded.
"I'm sorry to tell you, but there isn't such a thing in the Silver Gardens." Celine shook her head, "But Heru can transform into an eagle, so there must be more like him, use them to infiltrate the city. How many men does your group have?"
"A thousand," Allegra replied.
And her response removed any type of pity from the married couple.
"What?" Allegra wondered, seeing their bored faces.
Blanc sighed yet again, "That is the first problem. The traps are too, but attacking the largest and the most protected city in this Domain with only a thousand soldiers, regardless of whether they can become birds, bears, cheetahs, or damn rabbits, is a death sentence. They sent you all to your death… And here I thought the Metamorphs were really a threat to the bastard, but it seems I was wrong."