Dark Born

28

Late Night Discussions

"You met with the Queen again," Elsa asked in surprise.

Adam gave a nod. They were in his room, lately, they almost were. Elsa all but shared the space with him, but Adam had no complaints. He liked having her close, more than he'd expected, and it was still a little surprising. Before arriving in this world, he knew he had a solitary nature. Now, not so much... not with her.

It seemed he had changed in more ways than he realized.

Elsa perked up immediately, her emerald eyes narrowing in concern and worry as she held his gaze. Adam couldn't really fault her reaction, she knew about his last encounter with the Queen where he had pressed a sword to her neck, and she still worried there might be consequences in the future, even though things seemed mostly fine now.

"I don't understand, were you summoned?" she asked.

Adam folded his arms, leaning back against the wall of his room. "Invited, actually," he replied calmly. "She invited me for tea."

Her brows tightened further in confusion. "What?"

"Yeah, I was surprised too. But she really just wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"Apparently, she wants me to work for her," Adam replied. "In return, she's willing to offer information about who was controlling the Hand."

Elsa fell quiet, and her gaze flicked away momentarily in thought.

Adam knew that she'd been searching for that exact information for the past two weeks and getting nowhere. There was no trail to follow except for Julius, and that was her final, desperate option because of the overwhelming risks involved.

"I see," she murmured after a while. "Somehow, I'm not surprised she knows."

"There's also something else," Adam said with a weary sigh, dropping his arms from his chest. "She says they're interested in me now, that's why nothing has happened for the past two weeks. They're observing... they want something."

Elsa shook her head, her eyes drawing closer, confusion and worry both fighting for space on her face. "They want something?" she repeated carefully. "What?"

"I have a few ideas, but I don't for certain yet. She doesn't seem to know either, or at least she's not saying," he replied thoughtfully and pushed himself off the wall, approaching the bed. "Can you tell me what you know about her?"

Elsa didn't respond immediately, she just paused, lowering her gaze as though trying to recall and neatly line everything she knew about the woman. Then, she drew a slow breath and lifted her head. "She's not from here," she began slowly. "The Queen is from Lorndale, a kingdom in the west."

"A foreign Queen?" Adam lifted a brow.

"Yes. It was a political marriage, meant to ease tensions and bring stability as our kingdoms weren't on friendly terms at the time. Even now, there are some who call her a foreign Queen, and not always kindly." Elsa paused briefly, then continued. "There are nobles as well, powerful ones, who never approved of the marriage. To them, she's still an outsider."

Hmm, that was interesting.

Adam recalled what the woman had told him, that she didn't have a lot of power in the kingdom because there were factors limiting her, was this the real reason? Because she was a foreign Queen? And these nobles, were they the same group now after him?

"That sounds like it would be a nightmare to handle," he muttered.

"It is," Elsa agreed. "But she's managed to do it somehow. Despite rumors constantly swirling around her, there's been no scandal that stuck, no open opposition or threat that lasted, and anyone who moves against her either fails or just becomes irrelevant."

Anyone? That was impressive honestly.

"And then there's the other part," Elsa continued, her voice dropping, becoming quieter. "She's extremely secretive. Even within the castle, very few people actually know her. She keeps information about herself tightly controlled, no one is certain of anything, not even her likes and dislikes. Most people only know what they've heard in rumors, and I've always had the thought that she creates them herself to confuse potential enemies." She looked back up at him, her green eyes flashing with warning. "She's not someone to take lightly, Adam."

That was a lot, but Adam couldn't say that he was surprised. He had already realized how intelligent and dangerous the woman was on their first meeting. It was why he couldn't simply let his guard down around her, even though she hadn't actually done or hinted at anything that could be interpreted as a threat to him.

"Yeah, I kinda figured. But I'll be fine, no need to worry," he said quietly.

Elsa let out a deep sigh and rose to her feet, her nightgown brushing the floor as she crossed the space between them. "What does she want you to do exactly?"

"She wants me to destroy a smuggling ring in the lower," Adam said.

Elsa's head tilted slightly, a confused look entering her face.

"Yeah, I thought it was odd too."

"Did you agree?" she asked, stopping in front of him.

Adam gave a shrug. "I need the information she has," he answered simply.

"Then I'll come with you," she replied at once.

"No," Adam said quickly, shaking his head. "You can't."

The refusal was immediate and left little room for argument, but still, Elsa didn't back down. She studied him for a moment, searching his face, as though unable to understand his decision.

"Why not?" she asked with a sharp frown on her face.

Adam hesitated, wondering what excuse he should give. He didn't want her to come with him for several reasons; the first was that he didn't know what this smuggling ring actually was, and if there was more to it. Knowing the woman, there was probably more. He didn't want him and Elsa walking into something uncertain, he wanted to keep her safe, and it was a bit ridiculous to have a thought like that because she was so much stronger than he was. Still, he couldn't suppress that instinct.

The other reason he didn't want her to come along was much more sinister. The Queen wanted the smugglers to be destroyed, not stopped or arrested, but destroyed. Her words had been clear, and she definitely wasn't someone who made mistakes with orders she gave. Elsa was a knight, an honorable one. She would offer them a chance to surrender, and given who she was, her status as a Gold-Rank knight, they might take it. They were just smugglers after all, not hired killers like those at the warehouse she'd killed several weeks back.

But their surrender wasn't what the Queen wanted...

Adam intended to carry out her request exactly as it had been given, with no option for mercy. They were going to be destroyed. He wasn't doing this out of blind obedience or loyalty, far from it. He just didn't want to give her an excuse to claim that he hadn't held up his own end of the bargain. If it was to be a complete massacre, then that was what it would be. He had no qualms about it at all.

He just didn't want Elsa there to stop it, or to witness him do it...

"I just think I should handle it alone," he replied finally, giving a shrug.

"Adam, dealing with crimes in the kingdom are the knights' responsibilities. I can't let you just go handle it as you see fit, without any supervision."

"I thought adventurers could do stuff like this," he replied.

She folded arms across her breast. "Was this sanctioned by the Guild?"

Adam paused to consider. "Fair enough," he replied. "But you wouldn't know about this if I hadn't told you. Besides, there might not even be a smuggling ring, maybe it's some kind of weird test. I really think it'll be best if I went alone, Elsa."

She said nothing for a while, just studying him. Then, after a short silence, she spoke. "Are you just trying to keep me safe?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Adam angled his head. "Is that a bad thing?"

Her cheeks flushed, and she briefly threw her gaze to the side before meeting his gaze again. "It makes me glad that you feel that way," she said in a low voice. "But you know well that I can protect myself. You remember what I am, don't you?"

For a moment, Adam said nothing. At her words, his mind flickered unbidden to a very different image of her. Not the composed and competent knight commander she usually carried herself as, but something else entirely; an image of her undone, shaking on the bed, her breath ragged and her composure broken completely. He did remember what she was, it was why the contrast always struck him.

A faint, smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he stared at her. "Trust me," he said at last, his voice quiet and steady. "I never forget."

Elsa blinked, and slowly, the meaning caught up with her. Her blush deepened in an instant, rising fast across her cheeks and spreading far too quickly for her to hide. "You--" she started, then stopped, clearly deciding against finishing that sentence. Her gaze shifted away again for a second, her composure slipping. She was always so easy to fluster. "...Don't think you can distract me," she muttered quickly.

Adam didn't respond to that, he simply smiled and stepped closer. But before he could do anything else, a gentle knock sounded at the door and both of them quickly turned toward it. Adam was irritated at first, but that faded away as he did a swift count in his head, imagining who it could be, and only one person came to mind.

"Come in," Adam called as he took a step back from Elsa, retreating all the way to lean against the wall once more.

"Don't think we're done talking about this," Elsa said in a hushed voice.

The smile didn't fall away from Adam's lips.

The door pushed open with a tiny creak, and Katryn hesitantly stepped inside the room, not moving past the door. Her gaze flicked between them, as if trying to read the atmosphere first, then she found her voice. "Sorry... I didn't mean to disturb," she said, her voice calm, though there was a faint tremor underneath it. "I can--"

"No, it's fine," Elsa cut in gently. She moved to the door without hesitation and took Katryn's hand, pulling her further into the room. With her other hand, she pushed the door closed behind her. "You don't have to leave. Please stay."

Elsa guided her to sit on the edge of the bed, then sat beside her. Adam watched the two of them, silently observing. He hadn't seen Katryn since this morning. She was gone when he returned from his meeting with the Queen, and after she came back, she'd just stayed in her room. Usually, the two of them would have spent time talking as long as they were both in the compound, but clearly she was nervous about facing him. Even now, though she'd come by herself, she was still nervous. Adam could see it plain as day, from the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes to the stiffness in her posture, yet she was here. He couldn't decide whether it was simply courage or because Elsa had suggested they should all talk tonight, and she was simply following that.

"I was going to come get you so we could all talk," Elsa said gently, her fingers still wrapped around Katryn's hand where it rested on the bed. "I'm glad you came."

There was something in Elsa's voice as she spoke, something that seemed deeper than concern. Adam recognized it for what it was; guilt. It reminded him of how people spoke to someone who had self-harmed, or done something reckless that could hurt them in ways they didn't fully grasp. The oath Katryn had sworn... it wasn't just serious, it was dangerous. He understood that much, it had been explained to him. But watching Elsa now, he realized he still didn't fully grasp how dangerous it truly was. Elsa did, and she felt partly responsible for why Katryn had done it.

"I wanted to talk as well," Katryn responded, then her eyes flicked to him as he stared at her, lingering a second before swiftly darting away. "I wanted to apologize."

Elsa shook her head in mild confusion. "Apologize? For what?"

"For what I did," Katryn said. "It was stupid... and impulsive. I should have thought about it more. I just--" She hesitated, her fingers tightening slightly in Elsa's grasp. "I wanted things to go back to how they were, I wanted both of you to accept and trust me again... to believe that I would never hurt either of you. I didn't know how else to prove it." Her gaze dropped to her lap, voice growing quieter. "But I didn't think about what it would mean for you, the position it would put you in... how uncomfortable it might make things. Even if it was my oath, I still forced that choice onto you. And the more I think about it, the more afraid I get..." She swallowed lightly. "Afraid you might see it as another manipulation to get attached to you. But it wasn't, I swear it wasn't. I'm sorry. I don't want you to hate me... again."

"That's why you've been anxious?" Adam asked her quietly.

She gave a slow, heavy nod. "I know I made a mess of things again, and I'm sorry," she apologized once more, seeming almost on the verge of tears now.

Without so much as a word, Elsa pulled Katryn into a tight embrace. "You don't have to keep apologizing, Kat. It's alright," she said in a soft, reassuring tone. Then she pulled back. "Besides, if anyone should be apologizing here, it should be me."

Katryn shook her head, confused. "I don't understand," she said.

"When you told me about your... feelings," Elsa began slowly, her voice softer now, and careful. "I should have given you an answer sooner. I shouldn't have left you so uncertain for so long." Her fingers tightened slightly around Katryn's. "Maybe if I had said something then, you wouldn't have felt the need to do... what you did."

Katryn shook her head immediately. "No... it's not your fault."

"It is, at least partly," Elsa insisted gently, not relenting on her culpability. "You were waiting, and I knew that. I just... I didn't know what to say to you. I'm sorry my silence made you feel like you had to do something so drastic to prove yourself."

Katryn's lips parted, but no words came, and the room fell quiet.

Adam watched them both, his expression calm and thoughtful. Elsa's guilt made sense now, it wasn't just about Katryn's oath, but what she believed had led to it. He considered, briefly, whether he should feel the same. After all, he had been the main reason why she swore the oath. But he didn't feel a thing. As awful as it sounded, if Katryn hadn't sworn that oath, how he saw her would not have changed. The slight sense of distrust, the hard line he'd drawn between them would still very much exist. That much was clear to him. Still... Elsa had stepped forward and said something to her. It would be strange for him to just remain silent.

He pushed himself off the wall and walked toward them. "Elsa is right, we share some responsibility for what happened," he said, causing both women to immediately lift their heads and look at him. "But what's done is done, we just need to figure out how to move forward, and keep things from changing too much." His gaze settled calmly on Katryn. "I'm not going to start treating you like a slave, Kat."

"Of course not, we would never do something like that," Elsa affirmed strongly.

Katryn stared, caught slightly off guard. "I didn't ruin everything?"

"No, you didn't," Elsa answered before Adam had a chance to. "You made a mistake, but as Adam said... what's done is done. Until a way exists to break the oath, I'll try and ignore it as much as I can. It won't be easy, but I'll try. That's all I can do."

"...Are we... fine?" Katryn asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Elsa didn't answer with words this time. She just gathered Katryn into her arms, wrapping her in another firm, reassuring hug. This one lasted longer, and when she finally let go, the tension in Katryn's shoulders had eased. It wasn't entirely gone, but it was no longer pressing down on her like a weight, not visibly at least.

Katryn drew in a breath, steadying herself, then she turned to him. "Are... we fine as well?" she asked, and there was a tightness in her voice as the words came.

Adam held her gaze, then smiled softly. "Yeah, we're fine."

Relief flashed across her face, and before Adam could think to add anything else, Katryn rose from the bed and rushed toward him, wrapping her slender arms around his back. The movement was sudden, impulsive. He stiffened for half a second, but he didn't push her away. Instead, he returned the hug, holding her firmly.

"Thank you," she said in a silent whisper.

After a moment, Katryn pulled away and stepped back from him, her composure returning piece by piece. Her eyes shot briefly toward the door, then settled once more on him and Elsa. "I should go... I've already interrupted enough."

Elsa rose from the bed. "Wait," she said, and Katryn paused right in her steps, turning back around. "There's something I want to say... before you leave."

That captured Katryn's attention instantly.

For a moment, the two women simply stood facing each other, a sudden and loud silence settling over the room. Adam stepped back, leaning against the wall, already knowing what Elsa was about to say. He briefly considered leaving the room entirely to give them some privacy, but if Elsa was willing to have this conversation in front of him, then she obviously didn't mind him staying. Maybe she even wanted him here. She was still new to all of this--still learning how to navigate her own feelings--and perhaps she needed his presence to help her.

Elsa drew a breath, then she found her voice. "Kat... I never knew about your feelings... for me. Before Adam, I didn't think about things like this, what they mean, what to do with them. Even now, I'm still figuring it out," she said, glancing at Adam before shifting back to Katryn. "I don't know what this becomes, or how it'll work between you and me... or between the three of us. But I do know that I don't want to lose you. So... if you're willing... I'd like to try. Can we just take it slow?"

Katryn stood frozen, her eyes wide, disbelief flooding her expression. Then, almost instinctively, she glanced at Adam, as though waiting for his own decision before allowing herself to react more. His response was just a shrug. Elsa was fine with it, and with his reservations about her gone after the oath, he wasn't opposed to it.

His lack of objection was all she needed.

"I accept," Katryn said to Elsa, sounding almost breathless, her hands fluttering wildly at her sides. A bright smile stretched her lips, and the remnants of her tension evaporated utterly. "I accept everything. I just... I don't want to lose you either."

Elsa smiled, looking a little relieved. "I'm glad."

"I'll leave you two alone now," she said, turning back toward the door.

Elsa moved after her, following her all the way to the door. Katryn's hand closed around the handle, and she pulled the door open, stepping halfway through it before she stopped. Her shoulders tensed, and slowly, she turned back, as if something had caught hold of her at the last second. Her lips parted, and it seemed as though she was about to speak, to add something more, but no words came out.

She hesitated there in the doorway, caught between leaving and staying, her gaze flickering uncertainly between Elsa and Adam. Adam didn't know what she wanted to say, but it seemed Elsa had an idea.

With slow steps, she moved forward, stopping just in front of Katryn. She stood there, uncertain just as Katryn was, and her gaze flicked down, then back up, searching Katryn's face as if trying to confirm something that hadn't been said aloud. For a second, it seemed like she might step back, like she was reconsidering the decision entirely. But she didn't. Instead, she drew in a quiet breath, closed her eyes, and leaned forward, pressing a soft, tentative, fleeting kiss against Katryn's lips.

Adam raised a brow, surprised, but not entirely displeased.