“Why are you here?”

In the near week that Tya had been away from the small treasonous group, they had not become any more adept in subtly nor in planning, as they had been during their excursion into the castle.

Nisaki, as the spy, had been surprisingly transparent in his distaste for Tya’s new company when last they’d slowed to assess the situation, and now was no different.

“Well, Mr. Hundera, my home was just savagely attacked. You were quite close, I had thought you’d noticed,” came The Man’s response. Tya’s lips had the hint of a smirk toward his sass.

“You know very well what I’m asking you,” there was a certain bite in Nisaki’s voice that sounded so out of place among the ever present smoothness of it.

Melody stepped away from the horses, kicking water off her boots and into the grass as she approached and pulled at Nisaki’s arm. They’d stopped, if only for a moment, in a small alcove made from a cliff on the plains. Somewhere in it,the stone had worn through to let cool, fresh spring water pour out and gather in a pool the horses now waded in and drank from.

“Are you gonna hurt us?” The fox practically demanded, her voice heavy with finality. The Man shook his head, opening his mouth as if he had the intention of carrying on with a verbal answer, but he was given no chance. “Then we don’t got time to worry ‘’bout him,” she continued, looking to Nisaki, then to Lillia, then to Tya. “You okay?”

She cocked a brow, head tilting to the side. “Yes,” she answered. “I am surprised you asked.”

“Don’t be,” she said. “And you gotta be okay cuz we’re gonna need your help to get to Skye and Sarobie.”

Helping was admittedly the last thing she wanted to do for these people- or…

Tya glanced between the three of them, eyes narrowing on Lillia who had yet to look her in the eye. For once, it didn’t seem to be her fault specifically, but rather, the company she was keeping. She could see the fear that was tensing Lillia’s shoulders.

Perhaps it was just her, she didn’t want to help.

But she was here, and they’d very well just saved her life from… Something?

“What exactly is happening?” Tya asked, her eyes closing as she tried to backtrack and put things together lest she get overwhelmed.

The ambush had been well organized and actually planned, it seemed, which came as odd to her. With every other instance of the Sékan she had seen thus far, she was inclined to believe that organization and competence was something they were adverse to. But they’d come well prepared, with planning, tools, and even formation. The same as they had the night they’d initially drug her from her home, which, now, she also found odd in comparison to the complete disregard for defense, fortifications, and whatever else might have been necessary for leading a group of people committing genocide.

“We fucked up,” Melody said. Nisaki wasn’t the only one who sounded out of place tonight; such crass wording in the fox’s high, bubbly voice seemed just as out of place as his aggression.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” though she wasn’t sure which group of people exactly had been the ones to blame, and whether or not she’d had a hand in that too. It was likely, but Tya failed to see how one could really ‘fuck up’ what they’d done. Valya was turned to ash all over the floor, to be swept up when next someone decided to clean the third floor.

Did anyone clean that floor?

Staff hadn’t been allowed up there, so perhaps Valya’s ashes would forever remain there, unless the Princess took it upon herself to behave like a lowly peasant and clean her own house.

Tya’s eyes narrowed at said Princess. High Queen, rather. Right?

She had read up on Evolian politics. Some of the driest of her experiences with books, but from one thing she understood, the succession of High Queens was not done through bloodline as it was in Emtiris. The High Queen, upon her coronation and oath to the kingdom, would name an official heir to the throne that she thought would be suitable to carry the burdens of her power. Throughout her lifetime, it was subject to change, and should that document be destroyed, whomever had the ability, could take over in her place upon her death.

“Did you forget that you were not named the heir? Did someone else seize the throne before you had the chance?”

Lillia glanced up at her, though she didn’t begin to tilt her head up for any air of confidence. “No,” she said. “I had destroyed the documents that would name her successor.”

“Then what exactly did we ‘fuck up’?”

Melody faltered. In an idle movement, one hand pressed to the other side’s forearm- the one that had been injured when last they saw each other. Given her ability to shoot, she seemed to have healed well with Veselin and Skye’s assistance, but Tya couldn’t tell. She’d replaced her bracers with a new pair of thick leather ones that would be covering the area.

“I don’t know,” she answered.

That was unhelpful. Tya crossed her arms over her chest, an idle gaze set on the way Melody plucked at the edges of an etched design in the leather.

All at once, she seemed to pull herself from her thoughts, straightening and shaking herself free from their grasp so she could continue.

“We gotta get to Skye and Sarobie. Then we should try ‘n get Veselin, if he’s even still in the country, or alive.”

“Hopefully the people he’s traveling with will be capable of dealing with any threats. The one against Tya should have been the largest given how dangerous she is to them.” Lillia tried to assure though there was an undeniable hesitance in her voice. “They’re Amaloran- they should know how to deal with Sékan.”

Hope again. Had they ever, anything solid to go off of?

“None of that answers my question,” Tya reminded as she snapped her fingers to try and grab their attention again. “What is happening?”

Melody let out a huff, dropping her hands to her sides and staring at her for a long moment. Impatience rose in her core, yet she didn’t make the effort to rush her.

“We should make a camp here ‘n let the horses rest a little. We’ll kill them if we try and get to Cotéfaise without letting them get some sleep,” she said back to Lillia and Nisaki. While Nisaki nodded and turned to find a comfortable spot to settle into, Lillia was just left to look around rather cluelessly until he held a hand out to her.

She wasn’t fit for this outdoor experience, and it looked as if she hadn’t even tried to be. They had no equipment, therefore no gear with which to camp, and Lillia was dressed in a once lovely pink gown. Judging by the tulle, sweetheart neckline, and floral print, it was imported, since those were all hallmarks of Hannic fashion. It certainly hadn’t held up well in this time given how dirty it was.

“I’ll keep watch and let you guys know if we get spotted,” Melody told them, her voice having lowered as she gave an idle, needless wave of dismissal. Her attention fell back onto Tya then, and a heavy sigh escaped her.

“I dunno what we did wrong,” she reiterated. This time she fortunately didn’t just leave it at that, but her next words were far from helpful: “I just know Valya’s not dead.”