Episode Two, Part 3: 
Debts

Sol stood with her arms folded as she stood in her father's room, frustratingly awaiting for his disapproval to arrive. Although they hadn't figured out how they had left or when, they were now well aware of missing guard equipment reported, and it hadn't taken long for Sol or her father to trace it back to the people from the Bunker. 

Eryx ventured into his room shortly after being informed that Sol was waiting for him, and in no time at all, he had dived into his well rehearsed warnings. 

"I don't know what else to say to you. You know how careful we have to be because of our position in camp. Something like this could cause distrust among our people-" 

"It's just a few backpacks and a couple of radios; a weapon or two which they definitely don't know how to use. And the food they stole will just come out of their rations, anyway." 

"Young Sovereign-" 

"I wish you would stop calling me that, dad." 

"When I call you 'Sol', you have a problem with that as well." 

"That's because I don't like my name," she argued, folding her arms in front of her chest. 

"What's the problem here?" 

Sol let out a heavy breath, unable to escape the real confrontation now. "...I'm not a Sovereign." 

"Not yet." 

"Not ever," she mumbled, bitterly avoiding his eyes. 

"Well, if that's how you feel, then I can bring an end to your training with Dreea and Kodiak, and pull you out of the running to be a Sovereign-" 

"No!" Sol panicked, suddenly desperate for her dad to not take her too seriously and, dare she say it, think of her irrationally. 

But Eryx sighed - his reaction not as abrupt and irritated as she was expecting - and took hold of Sol's arm. "I know you think being a Sovereign isn't for you," he began, pulling her over to the ottoman by his bed and encouraging her to sit down. 

"I want it to be so badly," she said. "But I can't fight like Dreea, and I'm not steadfast as Kodiak-" 

"That may be true, but whilst Dreea can fight better than anyone I've ever seen, she almost always lets her temper get the better of her. Have you ever seen her back down from a fight - even one that didn't need to be fought?" 

Sol shook her head after a few moment's reluctance. 

"And Kodiak is strong, and he's undoubtably the peacemaker among you three and whatever you come up against, but he's not fearless when it comes to fighting. You see, you, young Sovereign, are the best in both of them."  

Sol dropped her head and managed a fond smile. She knew that was the best she was going to get from her father, so she clung onto it tightly. 

"Whether you like it or not, being a Sovereign is in your blood. When your mother was pregnant with you, we talked about what you'd be like, whose temper you'd have; definitely mine, unfortunately." 

His rare occasion of a joke made her laugh, and she did her best to savour the moment in case she wouldn't have one like it again for a while. 

"But we always knew you'd take my place as a Sovereign; I practically raised you to be one before you could even walk. I knew my child would be destined for the same greatness as me." 

"Why can't the Blood Sovereign be from Joren or Scout? Why does the direct descendant from the prior Sovereigns have to be me? I don't think I'm cut out for it, that's all I'm saying. I don't want to let you down." 

"You know why it's you. You're destined to command these people, just as I have done for the past twenty years. It won't be long until you're running things around here and then who knows, maybe it'll be your kid replacing you when you're old and grey." 

Sol let out a huff that resembled some sort of laugh, but she wasn't all that amused. 

"If it helps, I was terrified, too." 

She looked up, suddenly hyper-focused on what he had said, searching for every reason to believe it was true. "You were?" 

Eryx nodded. "Of course. Haven't you seen Joren and Scout? I thought I had no idea what I was doing, either." 

"Then how did you figure it out?" 

"I knew what my people needed because I  was my people. If I was weak, they were weak. If I was strong, they were strong. It sounds like it should be more complicated than that, but it's not.  Once you toughen up and learn not to get emotional about every little thing, you have the potential to make a great leader." 

Sol looked away in contemplation, running her fingers along some of the debts tattooed onto her skin. The thought of soon having to take her father's place as Sovereign of her clan terrified her, and the date was approaching quicker than she had realised. She had already exercised every attempt to worm her way out of the official ceremony - to stay out of sight whilst Basilisk processed the news that she would be their new leader - but there was no getting out of it. All she could do was accept her awaiting authority when it finally came. 

"Back to what I really came here to talk about with you," Eryx returned back to conversation. "It was your choice to evacuate that Bunker; that means that the people we found are your responsibility." 

Sol let out an exaggerated sigh and stood to her feet, pacing the room in a matter of seconds. "Dad, I didn't kill those people in the raid. I already told you, Blood Riders came and tried to claim them for themselves-" 

"I know. I'm not pinning those deaths on you. But the people we brought back here - the survivors - they're your responsibility. This is your final preparation for being a Sovereign; you have to lead them, train them, make them one of us." 

Sol nodded, displaying to her father that she understood his request. 

"In case you weren't aware, two of them got out." 

"So I heard," she said, shaking her head. 

"I'm not amused by this, I'm disappointed. You need to find them." 

"Can't it wait until light?" 

"You know what will happen if you do..." Eryx extended his hand out, offering Sol a weapon so she would be able to defend herself outside of camp. 

Sol took hold of it, carefully securing it in the weapon belt on her side, and sighed again - a little softer now that her father's evident frustration with her seemed to be growing. 

"Try and bring them back in one piece," he said. "I know what you're like." 

Two // Part Three
You, young Sovereign, are the best in both of them.

13/08/22.