Lydell leads Aria down the hall, towards the same conference room that she woke up in. Since their little bout in the gym, they both have had to tip toe around each other. Lydell has been more stoic, stern. She only served as a guide and didn’t make conversation with them anymore. Not that she did it much before, but she was warmer to them. Now, she can barely look at them. Aria on the other hand, has not been talking much. She was starting to open a bit before, able to make jokes and light conversation, but now she doesn’t talk to anyone much. Even the children have noticed the lack of light in her eyes.  

“What does your father want?”  Aria asks, her voice husky, barely reaching above a whisper.  

Lydell, shrugs. She doesn’t give an answer because she is unsure herself. But this does not feel right. Something is wrong. As they near the room, she notices Kial standing at the entrance, waiting on them. There’s a wide grin on his face, but it isn’t returned like she normally does. If anything, Lydell glares and stalks right past him. Kial’s grin falters, worry and guilt filling his eyes. He glances over at Aria, who doesn’t even spare him a glance. She is too stuck in her own thoughts and they don’t seem to be happy or encouraging at all.  

Clearing his throat, he opens the door for them and follows them into the room. Immediately, all three of them tense at the change in atmosphere in the room. Sitting in his chair behind the desk is Cambrell. With a wicked look in his blue eyes, he offers a thin smile,” Hello, again.” His expression has Aria clenching her fists. Cambrell snaps his fingers and two men grab ahold of Aria’s wrists, pulling her over towards the desk. As they approach the desk, the two men let go but stand close to her, ready for any mishap. Lydell’s eyes widen in shock and she glances over at her father, who is just sitting calmly, resting his chin in his palm. It’s unnerving.  

“You must have a death wish,” Aria snaps, her eyes narrowing, even as she gives no fight to the people holding onto her.  

Cambrell, not even fazed by her threat, sits comfortably, watching. Aria has to hold herself back as she snarls at the man. She glances back at Lydell and Kial, glaring to see if they had a hand in this, but her eyes soften at the confused and bewildered expressions on their faces as well.  

Turning her attention back to the snake in front of her, she takes a deep breath to keep her voice even and calm,” What do you want?”  

The glint in his blue eyes flash and he tosses a file across the desk towards her. She watches as it slides against the dark wood, not even making the effort to reach for the screen. This just doesn’t feel right.  

Reaching over, Cambrell taps a button on the file and screens spring up from it, providing an eerie blue light in the room. Aria’s eyes widen in realization at what he has. “Do you know how much your bounty is, Aria of the Eliari clan?” Aria gulps as she scrolls through the images. Each one has her throat closing as fear claws up, gripping tightly onto her vocal cords.   

He snickers, resting his hands on the desk and using the momentum to stand from his comfortable seat. He stalks around the desk, nearing Aria as she stands eerily still, her eyes glued to the screens that showcase her escape from the Citadel. “Can you imagine the surprise I had when my informant told me that you were the guardian? That you are quite possibly one of the most powerful beings in Allanus? I was quite shocked at this information. What I want to know is why you didn’t think to relay this information to us?” 

Aria gulps, her eyes narrowing before she looks up at Cambrell. She ignores the shocked expressions that Lydell and Kial are wearing, formulating her answer. “I am just escorting the two boys. They were searching for their parents and then were going to head to the outlands. Since I am also moving to the outlands, we had come to an agreement to journey together for the safety of each other at least.” She takes a deep breath, continuing,” I did not think this was important information, especially since my stay here is nearly over.”  

Cambrell, shocked at the response, sputters, before coughing out a chuckle. He stands, moving around his desk,” I want your power, guardian.”  

Lydell takes a step forward,” Father, what are you doing?” The glare from her father makes her stop in her tracks. “This is not right.”  

“What exactly do you want?” Aria asks.  

A satisfied smile grows on the man’s face and he crosses his arms. He can’t lean down and impose on her because she is taller than him. It's intimidating. Her silver eyes glow in anger as she stares at him. “Show the image,”  

The screen switches and the image that shows up has Aria’s heart racing. Fear builds up in her stomach, her eyes widening. She has to clench her fists to keep them from shaking as she stares at the figure on the screen. His blood red eyes are gleaming as his fangs poke through his smile. The pale grey skin seems to be translucent and his black veins pulse against his skin visibly.  

“What? Wh-why is he on here?” she asks, her voice stammering. She glances back at Cambrell, whose blue eyes lighten in delight.  

He answers,” This is our target. I want you to work with us to secure this man.” He walks back to his seat and comfortably sits down. He feels like he has the upper hand now, which pleases him and he haughtily begins to explain,” You seem familiar with this man and he has an important position in regards the General of Irion. If we can capture him, we would be able to get what we need in terms of supplies, information, and our demands could also be met as well.”  

Aria sputters. This plan is preposterous! What is this man thinking?! Oh, of course; he isn’t thinking at all! She glances back at Lydell and Kial, who both look a bit unnerved. The man in the image looks dastardly horrifying. Lydell gulps,” Uh, father. Have you thought this through? This doesn’t seem to be wise.” Kial has to gently grab her wrist so she doesn’t move forward as she tries to reason her father. Who doesn’t look moved by her question. If anything, he looks greedy, wild with power. The look in his eyes is like a snake’s, narrowing at Aria as if ensnaring her in a trap.  

“You don’t understand, Lydell. Let me handle this. We must get an upper hand in this battle. And she is our ticket to it.” Aria grimaces, but Cambrell’s next words has her bristling in anger and fear,” You don’t want anything to happen to those brothers, do you?”  

Cambrell watches in satisfaction as Aria glares at him, before barely nodding her head in agreement.  “You are playing a dangerous game, you snake,” she snarls, her eyes flashing at him. In response Cambrell shrugs, showcasing his bravado to the girl.  

“May we depart?” Lydell asks, shakily. This whole meeting has her on edge. This is not right. She can just feel the dread building up and washing over her like a bucket of ice water. At her father’s nod, she nudges for Kial and Aria to leave as well.  

~ 

“Did you know of this?” Aria asks, her eyes unfocused. Her mind is racing, fears rushing through as the scene plays out in her head. She’ll have to see that man... again. Shivers travel down her back but she does well to hide it.  

Lydell gulps, shaking her head,” No. I didn’t. This is a bit extreme, even for my father. He has always been ambitious but this is... reckless and I am not sure this is the best course of action.”  

Kial chuckles,” Of course it isn’t. This is just foolish. It's almost like he’s directly challenging the Generals.” He runs a hand through his loose curls, nervously.  This is starting to get out of hand. He's anxious about this, especially with the look that he noticed in Cambrell’s eyes. He's never had a great opinion of the man; but after being saved by him, he’s indebted to at least work under him. However, Kial has always noticed the looks of disdain and disgust that Cambrell throws at him, or any of the other ajins.   

Aria stares at the both of them, assessing the truth of their words. They don’t appear to be lying and even seem to be worrying over her. She sighs, relieved and then whispers,” I appreciate your concern and your words. Please do not mention any of this to Elias. I do not need him worrying and trying to accomplish something out of his means of expertise.”  

Kail and Lydell glance at each other and nod in agreement.  

~ 

Elias sighs, watching as Aria enters the canteen with Lydell. He stands, nervously.  Of course, Evritt found out why Aria had retreated back and then scolded him. Him? He knows he was right! So why does he feel like he just caused Aria to back away from them again? 

Aria takes her food and sits near where the children like she always does. Almost immediately, they all crowd around her, asking and pleading for another story. “Aria! Hello! Are you going to come to our festival of Hope tomorrow?”  Adna asks, her wide cedar brown eyes gazing with anticipation.  

Aria chuckles, her eyes closing as she offers a small grin,” Of course, little Adna.” She then glances around at the other children. “Now, what story should I tell today? What about how the pygmy horse shrunk?” she glances up, making eye contact with Elias and tenses. Shame clouds her brain but she shakes it off and looks back at the children, who are cheering in agreement. “Ok, ok. Well, as we all know a pygmy horse is only 92 centimeters!”  

Elias snickers, watching the expressions and faces that Aria displays throughout the story. A pygmy horse having four hoofs and being around 168 cm is preposterous! He couldn’t even imagine it. She talks of magic and spells and curses and quite honestly, it has nearly the whole room engaged. They have never heard stories like this, filled with such wonder and adventure.  

He finds Evritt in multitude of the children, laughing along with everyone else. “How are you feeling?” Lydell’s voice pipes up from behind him.  

He jolts, a little startled before turning around to acknowledge her. “What do you mean?”  

She raises an eyebrow,” You’re not as elitist as normal. If anything, you seem a bit unsure of yourself.”  

Elias rolls his eyes,” What are you talking about? I am fine.” 

Lydell’s eyes laugh at him as she sighs,” Alrighty then. I hope you figure it out then.” she then moves away, walking towards the growing crowd. A frown forms on Elias’ face as he watches.  

Great, even someone he doesn’t particularly care for is asking about his wellbeing. That means he needs to get it together!  

Squaring his shoulders, he makes his way to the crowd, his voice traveling through their mind link. Aria, his voice calls out.  

Yes? He hears her respond in his head. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself.  

We should talk after your story time, he announces. As soon as he says it puffs out his cheeks in frustration. He sounded like he had a declaration. How embarrassing.  

He even notices that Aria’s movements become a bit stiffer, forced, fearful. He doesn’t like that at all.  

~ 

Aria nervously steps into the room where Elias and Evritt are staying, her grey eyes locking onto Elias’ willowy form. Elias is sitting at his screen, examining something that she is unfamiliar with. “Hello,” she speaks, her voice softer than usual. It scares even Elias, who isn’t used to a soft Aria. She has always been guarded, intimidating with a voice that cuts through even the toughest of soldiers.  

He stands, turning his screen off and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Hello.” He sounds so formal. It is so unnatural.  

He takes a breath. “I want to apologize for how forceful I was the other day. I was very worried for you and in turn, I was not considering your circumstances as well. For that I am sorry.”  

Aria blinks, surprised. She knows she was reckless but to see an apology from Elias is interesting. She hasn’t really had anyone apologize to her before and she does not know how to handle it that well. “Um, I want to apologize for my recklessness. I know you were just being protective of your brother. I just felt that I was transported back to when I lived my village. I thought I was putting you in danger.”  

Elias chuckles, a warm smile on his lips,” Aria, we told you, you are one of us. I was worried about you because you are a part of our family. I don’t know how you were in your village and what you went through at the Citadel, but we have come to value you. You are worth the worry and we want you to continue being with us.”  

Aria gulps down her tears. She refuses to let him see her cry. “Are you going to cry?” Elias asks, leaning towards her. She glares, throwing a light punch in his arm. He winces, pain shooting through his body from that one punch.  

“Of course not,” she huffs.