Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Thirty: Blood Bound

"Good afternoon, Silver Knight," Tuila said dryly, a clear sign that she was not happy with being forced to wait this long to speak with the Silver Knight with the mask finally cast aside. "It's been quite a while since we last saw each other. We have much to discuss."

Jay let out a sigh and looked over to Jayler, praying that he would understand that their meeting and subsequent conversations would have to wait a little while longer. Jayler deflated slightly, but he still seemed to get it. He shook his head and waved Jay off as he slowly pulled his fingers away from hers. "Go on and take care of that. Besides, I bet that I'm going to have to focus on getting the power source for the castle up and running again. You know all that fun stuff," he told her. Jay pretended that she couldn't hear the disappointment in his voice, a product of being forced to wait so long to speak with his sister again despite their previous promises. If there was one thing that Jay felt bad for about all of this, it had to be that. She didn't like keeping Jayler in suspense this way, and with her mission finally completed, she was at long last in a position where that didn't have to be the case. 

"I'll come and see you as soon as we're finished," Jay promised as she started to walk away with Tuila. She gave him a gentle smile that said that she wasn't going to be leaving this time, and Jayler returned the gesture, albeit shakily and without anything resembling certainty. Jay knew that his feelings towards the situation must have been complicated. After all, he was aware of how important it was for Jay to explain everything to Tuila after she had barely managed to slip away without explaining last time they were together. That did little to keep him from being swallowed whole by his own disappointment after he had waited so long to see her again though. 

Jay watched as Jayler disappeared around the corner and focused on walking as carefully as she could behind Tuila. The woman refused to meet her eyes, and Jay resisted the urge to openly wince. She could tell that the Rauleighan mage wasn't going to be tolerating any excuses, and while Jay didn't exactly have anything to offer in that department, it still left her feeling anxious and on edge. She wasn't sure of how to handle this conversation, but she supposed that it would simply have to wait until after she and Tuila had started talking. If all went well, she would be able to figure out what to say as the chat was taking place. If that wasn't the case, then she was just going to have to put up with the consequences of her actions on her own. 

Tuila took Jay to a room at the heart of the castle that Jay recognized as having once been a training ground space. There were actually training areas around the back of the castle that were much better for open displays of magic, but it wasn't as if Tuila was aiming for something effective on that front. She was trying to find an isolated area that would make it easier for her to talk to Jay without being interrupted, and Jay got the feeling that was a bad thing given the circumstances of their new encounter.

"You've been gone for a while," Tuila commented as she pushed the door to the training hall shut. She didn't say anything after that, instead walking back over to Jay and looking down on her with a gaze that was both passive and critical at the same time. It sent a shiver running up Jay's spine, but she did her best to hide such a fact from her superior. 

"You could say that," Jay murmured in response, trying her best to remain level in the face of Tuila's inquisitive eyes. It was hard for her to keep her composure, but she knew that it was for the best if she tried to speak with as much professionalism as she could manage. Breaking down under the stress of the past few days wasn't going to do her any favors. In fact, it would just leave her in even worse condition, something that Jay really didn't want to grapple with in that moment. 

"I want to hear the truth," Tuila announced. "The full story of who you are and where you come from. Why did you hide your face in the first place? What kind of magic do you have? I get the feeling that there's a lot of things that you didn't tell us about the first time that we were together during the war on Daragon... You shouldn't have even appeared during that conflict. In fact, I doubt that you would have made yourself known if not for your connection with Jayler."