Aramora

Chapter 33: Waves and Sand

Naomi's eyes dart across the scene before her, feeling her heart tear apart as the reality fails to set in as it plays out in front of her. She sees Nisha standing at that man's side with her head down and his hand on her shoulder. She knows what's going on, but she still struggles to understand and come to terms with it.

Why is Nisha standing with the spies...? She knows the answer, she just wishes she doesn't.

She slowly shakes her head. "I... I don't understand. What's going on?" she demands, not realizing how choked up her voice sounds as it breaks out of her throat.

Nisha's ears fold back flat against her head and she goes to take a step towards her, "Naomi... I can ex—" Val'Ceraan's grip on her shoulder tightens and she halts in her place.

"Now now, Hu'Nisha. He thinks you have done enough. No need to burden you with explanations as well, yes?" Val'Ceraan lightly pushes Nisha back as he approaches Naomi. She slightly struggles against the magical tethers keeping her frozen in place, but she never lets her glare break from his intimidating gaze.

The Tus'Felnis smiles down at her. "You are angry. He gets it. But you must understand that this wasn't personal. Hu'Nisha was given a task, and she has performed it dutifully. She was simply doing as she was told. Isn't that right, Hu'Nisha?" he turns back to see Nisha glaring at him as she stands trembling in place and biting her tongue.

Naomi growls. "You're tricking her! You have to be! This must be that... 'Mind Magic' shit!"

Malachi shakes his head with a sigh. "No. The Tus'Felnis work for the Orcs, who don't inherently have magic. This... This is her," he states darkly and narrows his eyes at Nisha, but she just turns her face away from them all to stare at the ground.

Val'Ceraan walks back over to Nisha, but she doesn't look at him yet even though she can feel his eyes burning the top of her head and the cocky smirk on his face making her stomach churn. "Do not beat yourself up about it, Hu'Nisha. You have done excellently thus far. Val'Ceraan is impressed with your work," he says, which makes her body tense some more.

She turns her head to look up at him and she tries to breathe steadily. "...I did everything you wanted. I brought you Athemar's Emissaries... Please... Please, let that be enough to serve my contract... Please, Ceraan..." she whispers and her hands begin to shake as her violently beating heart begins drumming in her ears.

Val'Ceraan's eyes flash dangerously and he loses his smile. "No!" he hisses, "You will fulfil your contract and see your mission through to the end. Is that clear?" he snaps, his stern voice only adding to her tension enough to make her blood freeze.

Her eyes turn pleading. "But—"

Already tired of her begging, he silences her with a swift backhand. "Is that clear?" he repeats himself and raises his voice.

She slightly shrinks back and stiffly nods. "Y... yes. Of course, Val'Ceraan... I'm sorry..."

"Who is sorry?" he growls.

Nisha takes a deep breath to suppress her building tears. "...Hu'Nisha is sorry, sir..." she casts her eyes away from him once again.

He nods his approval. "Good. Now, if you are done whining, we can get to work," he turns to two of the other spies in the room. "Geana. Safry. Execute the Emissaries so we can finally move on to phase four," he orders and the two Tus'Felnis nod and draw their blades.

Nisha gasps and doesn't think before reaching out to Val'Ceraan and grabbing his arm to get his attention back on her. "Wait! I thought you said you would just send them to the dungeon. You never mentioned killing them!" she stares up at him with pleading eyes once again.