Tallulah had made it back before Talon, which she thought was weird, she'd departed from the group before him. She brushed it away.
He came back to the tent, a letter in hand. She looked at him, along with everyone else.
"We have a meeting with my contact tomorrow tonight," she forced herself to look intrigued, instead of throwing a glare. She had intended to go with Talon tonight to meet Iris. Thankfully she hadn't set those plans in stone. Her arm was getting progressively worse though and if she didn't get it looked at soon, she would fear losing those scales to more scarred flesh.
"I suppose we'll have to leave under the guise of night for more than one reason?" Reylan asked.
"Aye, these men here are not loyal to the crown, they are creating an uprising. There are apparently even more people in the capital that support this. More than I'd originally thought," Atlas replied.
"You knew there were those who were traitors, but didn't address it before we left?" Tallulah asked.
"Yes, but that was because I needed to know more before I came back for their punishment," he said. "They don't have as much leeway to do as they please in Aria, as they do out here, practically undisturbed," Tallulah understood what he was saying and glanced around, heads nodded in agreement as well.
"There are some still loyal to us in this camp," Tallulah said quietly.
"Yes, but they must hide all the time because of this treachery," Reylan hissed. Tallulah thought of Talon. Could Iris be a part of this group? She brushed the thought away, thinking it silly.
She was slow to fall asleep and the morning came too quickly, sweating from the hot night.
She was up before anyone, allowing her a bit of time to wrap her shoulder. She got as far as putting her boots on before anyone stirred. Reylan was the second to wake. She had to glance away at his bare chest. She wished she could at least take her wraps off so she too wouldn't sweat during the night.
"You act such a prude, Talon, we are all men here," he remarked at her gesture.
She had no response other than a shrug. How wrong he was and what a rude awakening it would be once he knew the truth. It would be something to laugh at in time. That she was certain of.
The comment caused the others to stir. Much like the day before they trained with the soldiers here. Their efforts seemed lack luster to Tallulah. It was like they didn't really care about learning or fighting in general.
She wasn't the only one annoyed with the lackadaisical attitude. Each of her companions seemed ready to chuck their weapon at something...or someone.
After a frustrating session they parted ways. Once more she went to a secluded pool to bathe away the grime in peace.
Her shoulder, after closely examining it, she concluded that she'd lose some scales. None of her methods were working. Hopefully this Iris person would be helpful.
She spent her downtime alone in the tent stretching and laying in her cot with her own thoughts. It was weird not having any responsibilities. She was so used to going all over and doing everything during the day that the mere act of doing nothing left her anxious.
Atlas found her drawing in the sand whilst sitting next to her cot.
"You've been oddly quiet this trip. You're usually yaking my head off about random things," she let out a laugh. She usually did, but this trip has been nothing but anxiety inducing. Each day she was closer to revealing who she was to atlas and the thoughts that would follow had her head to numb to think about anything else. Coupling that with her wound that refused to heal she wasn't sure where to go from here.
"Aye, there's been plenty weighing heavy on my mind, especially since we left Idris," she responded.
"Is there anything I can help with?" She wanted to laugh. He could help with all of her issues, but they weren't his to bear.
"No, but I appreciate the concern," she replied mildly.
Gods he was a handsome man. She'd assessed him before, but the burning inside of her could not ignore it any longer. His dark hair hung in waves around his face shaping it nicely and his broad stature dwarfed hers easily. She couldn't help the attraction as it was so blatant to her but she had to reign it in no matter the burning desire.
Slowly, everyone returned to the tent. Atlas had left her be after their exchange.
They waited until the camp was silent aside from the fires roaring within the tents surrounding them before they departed their own tent.
It was a long trek into the surrounding wood, they had gone southwest from the encampment only to stumble upon another encampment in that direction.
"We're here," Atlas spoke. They halted, and then proceeded, approaching the camp slowly.
"Halt! Who goes there?!" A deep, gruff voice called.
"An ally, we had a summons," Atlas replied.
"Ver'a well, come forth and lay down your weapons. We don't allow strangers to keep them," Atlas seemed unperturbed by this, but Tallulah could seen the hesitation in everyone else, including herself.
Nonetheless, everyone put down their weapons. She was reluctant to part from her axe, but knew she had a fighting chance with her hands if needed. She was all too good at hand to hand combat...
The sentinel then felt pressed to put everyone down. She was the last. Ander had hidden a dagger in his boot and the sentinel was extra careful with everyone else.
When he got to her she held out her arms in a spread eagle pose. He patted her injured shoulder and she hissed.
"What's th' matter, boy?"
"An injury," she replied, not elaborating further. He made it a point to feel the bandage that covered her wound and she would've knocked his teeth in if she could. His hands lingered at her torso, skepticism laced his glaze.
"And this?" He asked, tugging on the wraps that lay under her tunic.
"Just my tunic, sir," she ground out.
"Yea, we'll see abou' that. Remove what lay beneath, I'll not have yo-
"I heard the boy has an injury, Bennet, let me attend to him and I'll discover any untruths," a soft voice drowned out the loud gruff voice of Bennet.
"Lady Iris, are you sure? He could be hiding anything," Tallulah scoffed. Was this the Iris? The one her brother knew?
"I'm sure of it, but I can handle myself if need be, come boy," she beckoned towards her, a glint of mischief sparkled in her eyes. "The others are good to enter, so let them pass, I'll make sure this one doesn't miss too much of the briefing," Tallulah followed Iris.
"One more minute with that oaf and you'd have been dog meat. I should've been there sooner. Poor thing, Talon mentioned I'd be seeing you soon, but I didn't expect in the presence of our prince," the woman bit out. Tallulah was shocked, shocked that she wasn't the one to share her secret. But also glad to know Iris would keep it.
There was something different about Iris. The way she carried herself, she was a proud creature. Her dark skin was beautiful against the warm flame colors embossed on her garb. She'd never met a person as exotic as her. She could already see the appeal for Talon.
"You're assessing me, your dragon must feel odd around a cat." She had to blink before she registered Iris' words.
"I don't have a dragon," she replied.
"You're in transition, stuck, that's for sure, which is why your body isn't healing like it should," Iris explained. The words were hardly registering with Tallulah. Since when did she have a dragon? She had never shifted forms a day in her life.
"The biggest issue, is why you're stuck. You've met your mate, which is what stirred your inner dragon, but the fact that yiu have neither shifted nor mated and that your mate has seemingly no clue who you are...." she trailed off before muttering something under her breath. She sniffed Tallulah's breath, carching her off guard as she dulled her chin down. Her eyes slitted, unnerving Tallulah. She had mentioned being a cat very briefly and it was just now that Tallulah was getting a glimpse of it.
"Foxblossom! Did no one warn you of the side effects! What an outrageous! Your body is destroying itself from the inside out! No wonder you can't shift or heal yourself, you're lucky you're here now, had you waited another two days the damage would have been irreparable," she all but shouted in her scolding tone. Tallulah felt hot waves of guilt rush over her.
"Talon has explained your situation to me, all of it. I'd wager that your mate would love you regardless. Cats are blessed with many mates, so our bonds while sacred to us, are nowhere near as sacred as the bonds are for dragons,"
"How could he? When I've deceived him so," she all but wailed. "Each day I want nothing more than to tell him, but I can't," tears spilled from her eyes.
"Hush. Now take this, it'll begin cleansing your body. Don't take anymore of that Fox Blossom,"
"Is there something else I can take that'll do something similar?" She asked.
"No, your fate is inevitable, Tallulah," she said tersely.
Tallulah gagged when the liquid touched her tongue. She glowered at the woman before her.
"I did not say it would taste good. You have about four days until your true self comes forward. Four days to decide how to address your mate before it becomes inevitable," Iris all but shoved her out of the tent once she'd taken care of the damaged flesh on Tallulah's shoulder.
She followed Iris to a large tent, nowhere near as grand as the generals tent, but it served its purpose.
"You'll find your friends in there, listen, and only speak if needed," and with that she entered the tent.