A/N -- Check out the song if you please!
Iris found Hench's room with relative ease. The rogue had sped down the hallway, heart pounding and head spinning from the news she'd just received. She had a sister --a sister! Somewhere in the world, there was someone --or at least, had once been someone-- who shared her blood.
Iris was impatient. Without thinking, she'd all but stormed into her mentor's bedchambers completely unannounced --she didn't even knock on the door. So, naturally, when Iris still heard Hench shuffling around in her bathing room, she was heavily disappointed. There was so much she wanted to know right at that moment.
But she had to wait.
Iris paced around Hench's room a few times, doing her best to settle her nerves. When that didn't work? She just sat down on Hench's bed and stared at the painting in her palms. The more that Iris stared, she saw that Cricket looked so much like her father. Iris broke her gaze after a second and fidgeted a little, placing the frame in her inner robe pocket.
For a moment, the rogue just took in the room around her. Kayde's room had been decorated a bit; he had various knick-knacks and plants, a few paintings of his family members, and other bits of memorabilia here and there. But Hench's? Hench's room had none of that. Her room was spotless and devoid of anything unique --almost to the point where it looked as if no one truly lived there. There were no sketches, no books, no games, no evidence of family or friends. Nothing.
Iris just sighed, giving up on the halfhearted search. But then, her eye finally caught something --a single, silver chain glinted from the top corner of Hench's mirror. Iris narrowed her eyes at it for a moment and stopped breathing for a moment so she could listen out for her mentor, who still moved about in the washroom.
While the coast was seemingly clear, Iris got up to inspect the chain closer. She walked up to it and swiped it from the corner to get a better look at its charm. And when she did, Iris realized just how little she truly knew about her mentor. Hanging on the chain was a beautiful, gem-encrusted pendant --and set right in the middle was a symbol of two interlocking circles. This was an amulet of matrimony.
Hench was married?
Iris didn't have time to digest that revelation before she heard the washroom door open to her right --and with Hench's marriage symbol still hanging from her hand? Oh, Iris couldn't help but feel entirely like she was the cat that had just gotten caught in the cream.
Slowly, Iris turned on a heel to face Hench directly, visibly cringing at the situation at hand.
If Iris had startled the woman at all, she did not show it. She simply crossed her large arms and raised a pierced brow at Iris. "Something I can help you find, girl, or are you just browsing?" The question wasn't one that was meant to be answered.
Iris stared awkwardly in Hench's direction for a long while. And finally, "I don't know what you want me to say."
Hench exhaled through her nose. "How about this? Put that back on my mirror, and then you can tell me why you're in my room." The words weren't unkind.
"Fair enough," Iris said, quickly sticking the amulet back where it belonged. After doing so, she turned back to Hench, who still stood there with her arms crossed. "I didn't actually come in here to snoop around," she admitted. "I came to ask you about something. And before you say it, I know you don't like questions, but this one's really important to me. I just... saw your necklace while I was waiting on you to come out of your bath." Iris sheepishly shrugged. "It's possible I got a little nosy."
Hench finally unfolded her arms and chuckled --and that was something Iris didn't expect. "Points for honesty, I guess. Sit down, if you want. Ask your questions."
"Before I get into why I came," Iris began, "Am I allowed to ask about that?" She pointed to the amulet of matrimony.
"You're allowed to ask anything you want."
"I mean... would you answer if I asked?"
Hench walked over and directed Iris to a couple of chairs she had in her room. "I might." Both the women sat down now, face to face.
"Are you married?" Iris asked.
"I am not married --no," Hench replied. When a flash of confusion passed over Iris's face, Hench elaborated before Iris could ask her to explain. "At least, I am not married yet. I will be... soon." Now, the woman looked mighty awkward. "I recently became betrothed."
"I must admit," Iris said, "I am confused. Doesn't a man only give an amulet of matrimony to a woman after they're married?"
Hench just let out a loud laugh at the irony of that sentence. The abrupt quality of it startled Iris more than a little bit. "That is correct, girl."
Iris just stared, perplexed.
Hench's eyes held quite a bit of mirth, and she just shook her head at Iris, almost as if she were in disbelief. "Surely you're observational skills aren't that lacking. Surely you have some inkling about... well, about me." By now, the guardian figured everyone in the sanctuary knew that she cared for women --or suspected it at the very least.
Of course, Hench hadn't necessarily broadcasted it. But for fuck's sake, even Hench saw how masculine she looked.
"Of course I have no idea," Iris answered. "Hench, you've hardly talked about yourself in the entire near two months I've known you."
"You're killing me, girl," the woman replied with another shake of her head. "You're going to make me spell it out for you?" And at that moment, Hench looked at her kind trainee, remembering the promise she'd made to herself when she'd first signed the papers to take Iris under her wing --the promise that stated she'd try and make a real, honest-to-gods friend. So, Hench took a chance... and told Iris the truth.
"I'm the one giving the bond of matrimony away, girl." Hench took a deep breath. "When I get married, I will be giving it to my wife."
"Oh!" Iris choked. She finally understood the meaning of her mentor's words. "Oh." Iris paused, trying to sort through the new knowledge. "But who are you marr--" she trailed off. Oh gods, she was such an idiot. The answer to that question hit her a second later like a clear slap to the face. Iris just cast her eyes at the ceiling, smiled, and shook her head. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. The next guess was but a whisper on her lips. "Azabela."
"Aye," Hench admitted, not knowing what else to say. "Azabela."
When Iris took a minute to get used to the idea of Hench getting married to Azabela Stryder, a nefarious seed of curiosity planted itself into her mind.
"Say something," Hench finally bid her.
A sort of devilish grin curved the rogue's lips upward. She fidgeted her hands a bit in Hench's direction, not knowing what words to use to ask the question that picked at her head. And finally? "But... how does that... work?"
When Hench understood the implication of both Iris's words and strange gestures, she smacked her trainee on the back of the head. "Mind your own damn business." Despite herself, Hench let out another small laugh. Part of her was relieved that Iris didn't seemed to be bothered at her preference. In truth, the woman had been afraid for a long time that Iris would've been disgusted with her. After all, it had been known to happen.
Iris rubbed the spot where Hench had smacked, taking that no in stride.
"Surely you have better things to hassle me about," Hench said. Iris was then reminded why she was here.
The rogue's heart picked up in her chest. "Actually, I do." Her mood turned somber. "I came to ask you if you knew a girl named Cricket." Iris took out the picture from her pocket and placed it on Hench's lap.
The familiar dark look came back over her mentor's face --the look that shut Iris out. "I don't want to talk about that."
Iris pressed anyway. "No, I won't accept that," she denied. "Please, Rhalla. I need to know. I heard Master Dyran say her name to you! Do you know this girl in the painting?"
"Iris," Hench warned.
"You don't understand--"
"No, you don't understand," Hench cut her off. "I'm really not talking about this right now... or ever, actually. I don't want to."
"But this is my sister!" Iris snapped back, trying to explain herself. She reigned herself back in, not meaning to get angry with Hench. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. It's just... I had no idea that I had a sibling until today." Now, the rogue put her head in her hands. "Gods, I don't know what to do. All I know is that there's a chance I might still have family out there somewhere. I might have someone out there that still shares my blood."
A large hand grasped Iris's shoulder and squeezed it.
Iris just looked into Hench's face. "My parents... they lost her, Hench. When she was little. She's been gone for over twenty years now. They didn't even tell me about her," Iris spat out those words in disgust. "To spare me the fucking pain. Gods, I could've started looking for her ages ago. I'm tired of the secrets!" Iris abruptly grabbed Hench's shoulders. "You may be the only person that knows what happened to her. I beg you... tell me."
Hench sighed. Some nerve inside the woman had indeed been touched by her recruit. "Alright, girl," she said, "Yes. I know who Cricket is very well. I know what happened to her too, but Iris, it isn't a happy story. It's not going to be easy to tell and it's not going to be easy to hear, either. You need to understand that."
"Tell me," Iris bid. "I don't need anyone walking on eggshells around me. What happened to my sister?"
"Do you remember when I told you I, along with so many other girls, were kidnapped by Baron Riasion?"
"Is that what happened to her?" Iris whispered.
"It is," Hench answered.
"I don't understand." Iris shook her head. "What does one baron need with over a hundred women?
"He traffics them, girl. He dolls them up into being his little princesses and then, he uses them." When Hench saw that Iris didn't understand what that meant, she took in a great breath. "And what that means is he enslaves them --uses them for money. Along with so many others, he kidnapped your sister and sold her body for money from the very day she hit her flowering. He tied her down with so many others and charged countless men to have sex with her. That's what happened to Cricket."
Iris was dazed by the revelation. "I can't..." she sputtered. "I don't..." The rogue couldn't form a coherent thought for a very long time. She stood up and slammed a fist hard into the wall. "How many times was my sister raped?"
Hench swallowed. "Hundreds, girl."
"I'm going to kill him. I swear it." Even if her sister hadn't have been a victim, Iris would still ache for justice. Something hit the rogue like a heavy gust of wind. "Wait... how do you know what the baron did to those women?" Iris remembered as the words left her lips that Hench had borne a child at thirteen.
Hench didn't meet Iris's eyes.
"Oh gods," Iris's head was spinning. "No no... tell me he didn't..."
The guardian steeled herself and found the rogue's gaze. She expected Iris to have that pitiful look in her eyes --a look she'd come to dread. Gods, how Hench hated being babied or doted over. Yet, when she looked at Iris... she came to realize that Iris wasn't giving her that look. No, Iris was enraged. The next words were a growl in the rogue's throat. "Not... you."
The thought of Hench being violated countless times nearly made Iris ill. She was too good of a person... too kind. Were the gods truly that cruel?
"I'm afraid so, girl. But I really don't want to talk about this," Hench admitted. "It was hard enough to get over the first time."
"You don't have to talk about it," Iris told her, her voice dangerously low. "Just know that when the guardians march to his keep, I will help you tear him apart... limb by limb, I will break him for what he did to you and to my sister." Inwardly, Hench shared her fury... yet she did her best to calm her trainee down --for the time being, at least.
"Now, now, girl. Settle down," Hench crooned. "Easy now, before you break something in my room. He'll get what's coming to him, I assure you."
Iris took a breath. "Is she still there? Is my sister still there with that disgusting man?"
"No." Hench shook her head. "Cricket is no longer there."
"Then where?"
An indecipherable expression passed over the woman's face, and for a moment, there looked to be something Hench really wanted to say --but just didn't know how. Her eyes fell away from the rogue, but Iris stepped right back into the guardian's gaze.
"Where is Cricket now?" Iris repeated herself.
"Cricket," Hench said, pausing for a long moment, "...is dead."
A/N -- Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!