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Somewhere in the world (Candira and runawayninja)

She blinked, utterly worried for a moment that something was really wrong with her, but then he started poking her as though he thought she were dead or some silly nonsense. Bursting out laughing, Candira looked up at him. "Well I seem to just be sick. But I suppose I might have been glowing. But what good is poking me?" She asked, tilting her head.
 
"I'm just...making sure I'm not dreaming." He smiled just a bit. "That still doesn't explain why you might have been glowing...like I said, maybe it was just a trick of the morning light, but I don't think so." He seemed more concerned about her. "Maybe I should go get Nora or one of the priests..."
 
She frowned softly and paused to think seriously about it. if she'd been glowing, than that would mean that her dream of the goddess was a true vision. if she told him that, she would have to tell him everything, and she wasn't sure how he would handle it. "I'll be alright, Rafe, but you should hold off on finding them. I have something to tell you, and it may be...unsettling. Perhaps even a bit...upsetting. At least it is for me." She looked up at him and took his hand in hers. "Stay with me for a bit, and let me tell you first. Please?"
 
Rafe looked at her for a moment and saw just how serious she was. He nodded slowly and sat back on his cot, looking at her. "Go ahead...you can tell me anything, Candira. I'll stay." He was her's to command. He'd believe whatever she had to say.
 
She wasn't worried so much about trust as she was about his reaction...so she took a deep breath and told him of her vision about the goddess and how she now had the ability to use a spell so powerful it could rip away the fragments of the gods...but in order to keep those fragments from returning, those who had summoned them must be killed. She looked to Rafe and shook her head softly. "The goddess told me that I must either release the raven lord and kill you, or release the raven lord last," she said, looking at him with a frown. "Obviously, I don't want to kill you, Rafe, but I know how you suffer..." she sighed and looked down.

"And then there's the matter of Nora's safety. According to the goddess none of us will be safe here for long. I've got to try and hurry to get better, and we have to tell Nora and Lionel about this...but I want to know if you want to tell them about the black riders...eventually they'll find out or need to know...but I want you to decide what to do about this."

She felt so horrible as she told him everything and waited to hear him out. It was agonizing to sit here in a state powerless to do anything to soften the blow.
 
Rafe had no negative response that she could detect. He wasn't jumping for joy, but he wasn't morose. He was certainly shocked about this turn of news. "Well...at least you have the power to undo what has been done. But I'm not surprised. Candira, I've done bad things and they won't go unpunished. Death is the least of what could happen to me, and since I've come to terms with it, I've had no illusions about what I'd suffer. I...should die for what I've done. But if such a thing were to happen to me, because I implicitly trust you...you have to take care of my sister. She'll be safe with you and she has no one else in the world." He turned to quoting something he had read once. "Such are the terrible wages of life, that what we have done, we shall live. That what we cast upon others, such will we cast upon ourselves."

He nodded slowly to her other comment. "Nora and Lionel should know. About it all."
 
Without thinking one bit of her sickness, she came to his side and hugged him immediately. "I promise. So long as it's in my power, I will protect both of you." She held him tightly for a moment and kissed his cheek before she let him go. She agreed that Nora and Lionel should know what was going on, so she resolved to let them know everything at once. "Alright then. You go find them and I'll wait for you here. Would you like me to tell it all? Or would you like to tell them about you?"
 
"You tell them...I...you know more than me at this point, I think. And I don't think I could..." He looked down and away from her. "I hope they take it well...but..." He looked at her. "No longer safe? Does that mean I'm a danger to all of you? Maybe I should go alone..."
 
She shook her head. "The Goddess indicated that the danger was to all of us, from the outside...I think someone knows we're here and they want to take care of us...permanently. We must find a new place to go and formulate another plan. We can't stay here any longer than necessary. But if there's one thing I know in my heart, it's that you should not be alone." She held him tightly again as if to emphasize this point.
 
He hugged her in returned and sighed softly. "Well, maybe I can still put this power to some good use if it means defending all of you...I think you should tell them everything. About me, about the riders, all of it. They should know."
 
She nodded and let him go after a long moment. "All right. I'll tell them everything. If you go and find them I'll tell them everything we know." She smiled softly and ran her fingers through his hair. "It'll be okay. The main thing is to get Nora on our side. She's the key." She smiled and hugged him one more time before letting him go. "And I think she has a thing for you too," she teased, though it did make her a little jealous. She went to her bag and pulled out a comb, running it through her red hair She was starting to look more like herself again, but she left her hair down for now, since she was sure she'd be forced to stay in bed for the day anyway.
 
Rafe rolled his eyes at the implication that Nora might have a thing for him, but he rose and headed out. He went over to Lionel's room and he got him awakened and Lionel started to get ready for the day. After that, Rafe knocked on Nora's door.
 
Nora rose to the sound of knocking on her door. She looked around and groaned before getting up and running a comb through her hair once. When she looked somewhat presentable she answered her door, the brunette wrapped in her robe. She was surprised to see Rafe standing there. "Oh. Good morning, Rafe," she said, opening the door a bit wider. "What can I do for you?"
 
He smiled softly at her, trying to look upon her with kind eyes considering what he she was soon going to be made to know. "Well...Candira and I want to speak with you and Lionel, I already told him. But we'd like you to come to Candira's room when you're ready."
 
Puzzled, but willing she nodded. "Sure. I'll be there in just a few moments. Is it something about her health?" she asked, tilting her head in both concern and curiosity. Something about this didn't sit well with her. "I suppose I'll find out anyway. I'll be right there," she said, politely waiting for him to leave before she closed the door and got ready. Moments later, the princess was ready--face washed, hair brushed, priestess robes on--and heading for Candira's room.

The redhead had put on some priestess clothing in the mean time and washed her face as well, though her hair remained loose--a change from all the braids it had been in along the way. She sat atop her bed which she'd made up in order to make it a bit more comfortable and a bit more presentable--and she'd done the same with Rafe's cot.
 
Rafe sat down and looked away from Lionel when he came in. Lionel, ever perceptive, saw this and looked at Candira questioningly, but he decided to wait for Nora. When she showed, Lionel was nigh impatient. "So...what's this all about?"
 
Candira sat up on her bed and motioned for Nora to have a seat. "Well, I've got something important to tell all of you. Now, before I begin, please understand that things will go much more smoothly and you're going to get faster answers if you just wait to ask questions or say anything until I'm finished." That said, she took a deep breath and began with the story of the Black Riders and how Rafe had once been a member of the group. She told them how she'd been saved and how much later, she'd found and saved him.

She told them how she'd found out about his darker side and what had happened since then. Finally, she told them of the vision the goddess had given her. When she was finished she looked around the room at them all.
 
Lionel pursed his lips a bit. He looked a little angry for a moment, but seemed to swallow it. He sighed a bit and rubbed his forehead, shielding his face with his hands. "Well...this complicates matters quite a bit...so we're not safe here? Where should we go from here then? Maybe you should tell the Abbess about this vision..."
 
Candira shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that. The more the abbess knows, the more danger she is in--as well as the rest of this temple. If we leave and whoever is following us discovers she knows something, not only will we be in danger of being found--but she'll likely be tortured to death." She frowned and sighed. Complicated was an understatement.

Nora frowned. "If what you say is true and I'm not safe here, it can only mean there's a traitor in the palace. Only someone high up would have overheard my father and brother." Of course, she refused to consider that either of the men she loved so dearly would be involved in any scheme to hurt her in any way. "I believe that Candira's vision was true... the question is who are we running from, and what is it that we can do about it?"
 
Rafe sighed softly and looked at them. "I think we can agree that staying here is probably not the best idea...and that we shouldn't let anyone in the palace know where we're going, or that we're leaving." Lionel looked fairly surprised at this, but nodded slowly after absorbing the knowledge and reasoning. "I have no clue where we're going though..."

Lionel thought for a moment, already mapping out possible routes that they might escape through. Something away from the main highways and someplace unexpected. "If we go to the north, Count Hadrian is a loyal lord, a veteran of the first war, I know him well enough to trust him with our mission."
 
Candira frowned and nodded. "Count Hadrian...I think I fought with him at one point as well," she said softly. "Alright. Lionel, I'll leave the planning of this venture to you. Nora's safety is your priority, after all. It looks like we're all in this together, but I'm all for keeping her as safe as possible while we figure out what we're trying to do." She looked over at Rafe and wished there was something she could do to make him feel better.

Nora had it covered. "Don't worry, you two. You've got my help. I know that some things cannot be undone, but perhaps they can be atoned for." She smiled softly. "In any case, I agree that Hadrian is a good choice. He's a devout follower of Dima, as well, so we'll be able to count on his believing our story.
 
Lionel thought more on it and he nodded firmly. "Count Hadrian has a somewhat martial bent to him so I should be able to relate well to him and his castle should be well guarded."

Rafe smiled just a little. "Well, this should turn out well enough, assuming one of us isn't the traitor." Lionel raised an odd eyebrow like he thought it wasn't funny, but Rafe smirked just a bit to try and put a light mood to the discusses. "Maybe...Candira is the traitor? Playing sick to slow us down, huh?"
 
Candira gave him a rather bland stare but rolled her eyes and smiled. "That's like saying Nora's the traitor," she said with a laugh. "Anyway, this isn't really the appropriate thing to joke about so soon. I'll work on getting better. In the mean time, just pretend like nothing has changed.
 
Rafe nodded a bit and sat in his chair, looking over at Candira and then at Lionel and Nora. Lionel was being really quiet, he was looking to Nora as if he were looking her for approval for the plan or to see how comfortable she was. He was looking for something from her.
 
Nora sighed and caught Rafe looking right at her. "I'm happy to help in any way I can. I agree with Candira's plan to stay here until she's better. We can make preparations to leave while we wait. I think it's best if we don't alert anyone to our plans. Don't worry, we'll get through this together." She smiled at Rafe and then moved her gaze to the others. "Now then, before I'm missed, I should go about finding out what chores they need me for. I'll bring some breakfast in a little while."

With that, she smiled and stood up, leaving the room just as tranquil as she'd ever been--at least on the surface. When Nora was gone, Candira sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Well that went over much better than I had expected."
 
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