Once common greetings were said, the two of them burst into a quick fury of words in a language that was foreign to me. For a moment the woman looked annoyed, like the man had just stepped on the toes of every person in the North Cardinal then dropped an infant in the snow.

Her two companions scanned the Northerners uncertainly, gazing upon each in a surprisingly jerky manner, like they weren’t used to moving their necks. Their eyes moved over every face, studied every feature, took in every detail as if they were going to be tested on it later. They were trying so hard to hide what they were doing, that – at least to me – it was obvious.

None of the others appeared to notice, though. They were all focused on the dark skinned woman chatting with Briar. The Northerners’ hands were subtly clenched tightly at their sides like they were expecting a fight. I glanced the woman again. Aria, she called herself, a majorette of Scendo. I could only imply what that meant.

Taurus had once mentioned that Major was the title of the Cardinal leaders. Not Kings or Queens or monarchs of any kind. There was nothing there to differentiate the leader from the others, nothing that implied a gender or a type of noble bloodline. A major was just another person, one who happened to lead. So I could only assume that majorette was some sort of under title, like a noble to a king.

Aria narrowed her eyes at Briar, and blood rushed to her face making her skin glow a dark red beneath the black tattoos. Her gaze snapped to me and she beckoned for me to step closer. I obeyed clumsily, and her thick lips pressed into a line, like my walking somehow pained her. “You are aware of what you have done.”

I was about to nod when she cut me off. “You are in the Cardinals now, boy. You use sound, not movement. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll ask again. Are you aware of what you have done?”

“Yes.”

“And what is it you did?”

I honestly wasn’t sure, since it was Taurus and Briar who had gotten me this far, but ‘I don’t know’ didn’t feel like a very acceptable answer, so instead, I replied whilst trying to keep my chin up. “Crossed the border to the North Cardinal.”

“Wow, this is a smart one, isn’t he?” The majorette paced around me stealthily, making a big deal out of getting sound from her step. There was something about her features, about the way she moved, for a moment I wondered if she reminded me of Taurus – her eyes were big enough, like she had spent her entire lifetime in the dark. But there was something else familiar about her, if not in the walk, but in the tenor of her voice.

I searched through my memories carefully, sifting through each one as Aria eyed me like I was her next meal.  It was recent, that was the only thing I could grasp. Those skin patterns were eerily familiar; like they had once tried to kill me.

“Hbéakut,” I blurted without thinking.

Under the swirling tattoo’s her face seemed to falter. “What?”

“You were there – well maybe not you, but others like you. That’s why you seem familiar, someone like you tried to kill me. Easterners, you’re an Easterner.”

Aria winced at the words, ‘someone like you.’ “I’m not an Easterner,” she replied slowly. “If I was, I would have been expelled the moment I got within ten miles of these people. No, an Easterner, I am not.” Her stare burned into me like embers of a falling flame. “You don’t make these accusations, boy. Not here, and definitely not at me.”

Suddenly my legs were kicked out from under me; my knees crashed into the solid ground causing cracks of pain to travel up my legs. I threw out my hands out to break my fall and a sharp intake of breath whistled through my teeth.

Around me, the three Cardinals flocked. A cold breath of metal danced dangerously across my neck, forcing my head up and away from the rest of my body. Small explosions went off inside my skull, like something alive was bursting out inside my brain, and for the moment, I was paralyzed within my own body. I couldn’t even look at the person who held a blade to my throat.

“Why did you come here?” Aria hissed through her teeth.

“There was no other place,” I gasped as I tried to bring my hands to my head. They were quickly forced away by the nick of steel. “The East moves fast; they were looking for us. Atrixes.”

“But why here?” Those words alone shouldn’t have seemed so threatening, but beneath them, I could hear the entire weight of the North Cardinal anticipating my answer like a storm.

”We were told,” I started, moving my head away from the sword. “That this was the last place resisting the East.” My vision waned and the world started spinning. “They are afraid of you; therefore, you are safe.”

Aria clicked her tongue at me warily, her expression changing so fast that it was uncanny. Her eyes grew larger; a smile hid behind her lips. “But that’s not what you really want, is it? To be safe?”

I gulped uneasily and tried to square my shoulders. “Of course it is.”

“I sense something else.” The majorette leaned in close, the red skin making her large eyes pulse with darkness. A smell not unlike cinnamon washed over me, making my stomach drop and my head spin harder than ever before. There was something wrong; I could feel my body begin to tremble uncontrollably. “You’re missing someone,” she whispered. “Maybe more than one someone.”

She circled me again like a wildcat. Her fingers traced the back of my hairline, causing my skin to burn. I tried to protest, but she cut me off. “You are a Confederate, yes?”

I managed a weak nod.

“Family then, they took your family like they did with many others. You are looking for a way to find them.”

“They escaped,” I whispered in a voice so low, that I couldn’t even hear myself, yet she seemed to understand it just fine.

“But still you wish to seek them out – of course you wish to seek them, they are your family.”

I said nothing.

“But there is turmoil there as well, hmm.” The fact seemed to amuse the majorette greatly. “The girl you travel with, yes…yes, there it is. You do not wish to bring her with you, you wish her to be safe – out of harm’s way in case something happens on your voyage. Yes, yes, that is it.”

I turned my eyes up slowly. Did she read minds, or was my story that open?

She turned to Briar, whose face was still as stone. “Well I suppose it’s good that the girl isn’t around to hear this then, from the look on his face, she wouldn’t enjoy hearing her friend’s whims of the heart.”

“It’s not the worst thing to yearn,” Briar replied monotonously.  “The safety of your friends. Protection for your family.”

     A sharp roll of notes murmured under my ears. It was soft and gentle, like striking chimes made of wood in a scale succession. The rhythm rivaled Briar’s words, making me wonder what else could be hidden behind his mask of servitude. There was something he wasn’t saying.

Aria’s words cut off the rest of my thoughts. “What did your searches turn up?” She easily twisted away from me and turned to face the section leader.

Briar faltered, he quickly tried to cover it up, but the majorette had already seen it.

“What do I pay you for, imbeciles?” She demanded.

“You don’t pay us,” Briar replied mutely. “We are a volunteer unit, but I guess little Northerners aren’t worthy of being remembered by even the most common Anthrans such as yourself.”

He had just thrown a hot coal into a puddle, and I could see the steam starting to hiss. Yet despite this, the only thing I could really concentrate on was the fact that I had gone my whole life not knowing that Athrans looked like angry red, normal eared, elves who had fallen on top of a pile of burning octopi legs.

“Search them,” Aria snapped angrily.

The blades disappeared from my throat and I was yanked unsteadily to my feet. The rest of the Northerners who had been ringing the clearing, were now splitting off into two groups. Most of them went for the tent where Aldyth and I had been staying, and a small group of them approached Taurus who had leapt to his feet like someone was burning him.

Briar approached him slowly with his hands raised. “Sorry, it’s procedure.”

The elf’s eyes flared dangerously and his pupils dilated until they seemed to take up a quarter of his face. “No,” he growled, yanking his pack onto his shoulders where the others couldn’t reach it. His teeth looked sharper than ever as he bared them at the Northerner.

“You’re just making this harder on yourself – “

“NO!” Taurus thundered as a person jumped out and grabbed him roughly from. I recognized the face, his dark eyes and full lips just as they had been in Hbéakut. Aldyth and I had left the boy tied to a stake in the ground.

   Simon yanked the bag from Taurus’s shoulders before leaping out of reach. Several Northerners ran to restrain the elf as he struggled manically like a rabid animal.

“Taurus,” I breathed, and tried to take a step toward him, but someone placed their hand on my shoulder. I looked turned to find Aria shaking her head at me.

“Let it happen,” she murmured.

Simon untied Taurus’s pack and turned it upside down. A cascade of objects fell to the ground, including cloth, knives, and a book that looked to be on the verge of falling apart. I didn’t understand the elf’s plight; there didn’t appear to be anything that could incriminate him of anything other than being a scattered brained hobbyist.

Simon pushed aside most of the stuff before straightening up with a wooden case in his hands. The object was a little over two hand lengths long and one hand length wide, and the casing was made of dark oak that was polished until it gleamed. Taurus’s eyes caught the reflection as he struggled against his restrainers.

Simon turned the box over to look at the bottom, and his composition paled a shade. For a moment, the boy cardinal appeared unsure of what to do. Then, in an almost ghost-like manner, he made his way over to Aria and presented her with the case.

She took it slowly like someone had just handed her the most dangerous weapon in the world. She peered at the bottom of the box momentarily before flipping the latches and lifting the lid. Its keys shone silver, seeming like Taurus’s eyes, to absorb any light it came in contact with before reflecting it back out. The wind started whistling as if by the flute’s command.

A shudder ran down my spine.

“Easterner,” Aria breathed and took a startled step back.

Taurus stopped struggling and leveled his gaze directly at me. The light faded quickly from his eyes as he shot me a sharp, humorless smile. “Yes,” he agreed.

Then he lunged outward and there was a tearing sound as his teeth sank into flesh.

    That’s when the screaming began.

A/N
Don we now our gay apparel falalalalaaalalalala. I don't know what to say here. Happy Holidays?

So what do you think  about Aria? Opinions on her and Briar? That thing that happened in the end? No it's not a joke so you can start having me now.

I feel like everyone has backwards feelings about all the characters. Hmmm