"It's good to be home," Alyxia sighed in relief as she emerged from their dark alley into the tiny space which worked as the safehouse's front yard. She hadn't realised how much tension she'd been carrying on her shoulders since the meeting with the Alpha.
You'll have to learn to handle the pressure if you need to keep this act up successfully, she reminded herself. You can't let Reiley down.
As they entered their broom closet of a room, Reiley scanned her from head to toe. "You look terrible," she stated blankly.
"Wow, thank you so much."
"Just saying the truth," Reiley replied. "Think you could benefit from a hot shower."
Alyxia's heart stopped for a second. "Wait a minute. You're letting me have the hot water privileges for the day?" Her heart almost burst with the hope filling her. Since the water in their bathroom was hot only for 10 minutes a day, the three of them usually had specific days when each could take a hot shower. And it seemed that Alyxia now had a respite from the frigid cycle.
Reiley shrugged. "Yeah sure, why not."
Alyxia immediately tackled her with a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She heard a grunt, which she took as a 'no problem'. Or maybe it was a 'get off of me'. Either way, Reiley didn't pushed her away, so she counted that as a win.
"Hold up," Farron's voice broke through as Alyxia pulled away. "Reiley, you gave Alyxia hot water privileges? Today was my day though!"
Alyxia quickly flashed an innocent smile at Farron. "Is it alright if I steal it this one time? I hope you don't mind."
Farron blinked at her, and then shook his head as if to put a thought away. "No problem at all. It's just.." He trailed off wistfully, and Alyxia felt a twinge of pain in her chest.
"Well there has to be a solution!" She offered, stumbling over her words. "You can take my next hot water day. Or maybe we can share the hot water!"
Farron's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean... share the shower? You and I?"
This was when she knew, she messed up.
Alyxia felt white-hot embarrassment surge through her, turning her face a brilliant crimson. She mentally cursed herself for not thinking that suggestion through. What would Farron think about her now?
"That was not what I meant!" Alyxia burst out before her mind could torment her anymore. "I just thought maybe I could give you some of my hot water in a bucket. Not...that."
Farron chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair. "Oh, that's good. 'Cause I wouldn't want to- I mean, I couldn't possibly-"
The sharp sound of Reiley hitting her face with her palm in exasperation pulled the twosome out of their awkward moment. "Just get in that hot shower before this dumpster fire of a conversation gets any worse."
Silently thanking Reiley with her eyes, Alyxia scampered off into the bathroom with her life and honour. Quickly bolting the bathroom door, she leaned her forehead against the cold wood to calm herself . However a few flakes of the peeling paint got into her mouth, and she promptly spat it out into the sink.
"The things I do for some hot water," she whispered in disbelief to herself.
***
In the books she often read, the heroes or heroines would have lengthy conversations with themselves in the shower. Oddly enough, Alyxia never really felt the urge to talk to herself in the shower.
That was, until now.
Why do you never think things through? Now Farron will get weirded out by you!
Or maybe he just thinks you're super freaky and can't wait to tap that.
Tap that? Alyxia scoffed. Farron is a gentleman. He would never.
Do you not know how men work? Even if they don't know it, there's some ulterior motive at play.
Okay, now that sounds way too much like Reiley. I can't have my guard up all the time!
You don't have to. You really don't know what to do with yourself, do you?
Alyxia felt her chest tighten. What do you mean? I'm just trying my best, I'm not built for this stuff.
You don't know what to face and what to guard. You still haven't tried to come to terms with what's happened to you.
Of course I've come to terms with what's happened to me! I'm fighting to get my throne back!
A throne which you wouldn't have to fight for if your father was still here.
Well he isn't here, is he? He's gone!
Alyxia opened her eyes, which were stinging with the tears and the hot shower water. "He's...gone," Alyxia whispered to no one.
"Dad's dead, and he can't protect me anymore," She whispered again, the realisation crashing down onto her. "Dad's dead, and mom's dead, and Aunt Ember wants to kill me, and Ignis wants to erase the entire royal family-"
She choked on her words and the shower water, her breaths coming in and out as short, desperate gasps. Finally the sobs came, wracking her whole body with a pain she had never known before. She tried to hold herself back, and turned the tap up to the maximum so that Reiley and Farron wouldn't hear her cry.
The water which was once so delightfully warm and soothing was now scalding, every drop another scar to her.
Drip.
Your life as you knew it is completely gone.
Drip.
You'll live alone and poor and throneless forever.
But from the depths of her despaired consciousness, a voice rose up. Unless you actually fight hard to defeat Aunt Ember and regain your kingdom. You need to work to make sure that never happens to you.
A spark of hope flared up inside Alyxia. That's right. I'll do everything in my power to make sure I take the Peninsula back. For my people, my parents and my friends.
Furiously wiping her tears away, Alyxia swtiched the water off, the thrill of the hot bath spent and evanescent. Well that was nice, she thought wryly. Maybe I should do this more often.
Bathroom breakdowns aren't exactly the best look.
Well I don't care, so that's that.
As she dried her hair with the thin cotton towel, she examined her reflection in the grimy mirror. It had barely been a month since she had gone into hiding, and yet she had changed so much. Her hair had lost its lustre, her red-rimmed eyes had lost their sparkle and her cheeks seemed so hollow. A look hardly befitting a princess.
The sound of Reiley's voice from outside distracted Alyxia from her train of thought, and she tuned into the conversation. "I still don't get it," Reiley stated, seemingly frustrated. "Why would Ignis want to know everything possible about the Commander?"
"The Commander is the main obstacle to Ignis' efforts," Farron replied. "They obviously don't see the point in allowing one tyrannical government replacing another tyrannical government." Alyxia pressed her ear to the bathroom door, hoping that the flimsy wood would somehow amplify their voices.
"Well, that's obvious," Reiley snapped. "But there's something more to it. I can feel it. If it was a simple coup the Alpha is after, why would she ask about the Commander's emotional weaknesses?"
There was a small pause, and Alyxia assumed that was Farron shrugging noncommittally. "Dunno, maybe the plan is to distract the Commander with something so that Ignis can seize power. Emotion can be a powerful tool of destruction to a person's awareness."
There was a sound of someone tapping a surface insistently. "You're not wrong, but that can't be it though. 'What her routine is, how she thinks, who she cares about, her motivations.' That's what the Alpha wants. The Commander's filial connections wouldn't normally be of any use to her." Another pause ensued, but this one was different. Like a dawn of realisation. "Unless-"
"The Alpha wants to deliberately hurt the Commander by using her loved ones," Farron finished. "It isn't just a political play; something personal is at stake here."
Reiley's sharp, acerbic chuckle reverberated in Alyxia's ears. Her mind raced with questions; what personal connection could the Alpha and Aunt Ember possibly have? In her confusion, she almost missed Reiley's quiet comment: "Well good luck with that Alpha; she loves no one but herself."
A pause arose once again, so pregnant with tension the Alyxia could practically feel it through the door. She could the hear the sound of soft footsteps, one, two, three, four. "Reiley, I'm sure she loves you. In some twisted, dark, psychopathic sort of way."
"That makes me feel so much better," Reiley retorted, but the usual edge to her sarcasm was nowhere to be found. "It's no wonder Alyx is head over heels for you."
Alyxia felt her cheeks heat up despite the cold door that she had her face pressed up against. Something inside her flared up: anger? Embarrassment? Indignation? Either way, she had burst into the room before she could process it. "Am not!" She declared defiantly, despite herself.
Reiley whipped around to face her, raising an eyebrow at her exclamation. Farron's hand seemed to be hovering near her shoulder, but he quickly used it to give Alyxia a tentative wave.
"Nice entrance," Reiley remarked nonchalantly. "So I take it your heard everything?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," Alyxia sniffed. "But egregious misconception aside, what personal connection could the Alpha and Ember have?"
"I could hazard a guess," Sylvie's soft voice echoed through the room.
Alyxia spun on the ball of her foot to see Sylvie standing at the doorway, a knowing sort of look on her face. "Don't worry. I wasn't monitoring you kids," the woman explained. "It's just that the walls are pretty thin."
"Of course they are," Reiley muttered under her breath.
"What is your guess?" Farron asked, with a nonplussed expression that Alyxia had never seen before.
Sylvie shrugged, but even her shrug seemed so elegant and poised to Alyxia. "Have you two had the briefing on the founding members of Ignis yet?"
"Not yet, no," Alyxia replied, her confusion growing. "What does this have to do with anything?"
Sylvie stepped into the room, her arms crossed in front of her. "20 years ago, Ignis was formed by the five founding members in order to combat the tyranny of the autocratic royals. As per the rules, they had codenames so we never knew their real names. Like the Alpha."
Alyxia sucked a breath in through her teeth. "The Alpha's a founding member?"
Sylvie nodded in reply. "The youngest, and the very last in fact. All of the other founding members either died, got captured by the Imperial Army or-" A shadow crossed Sylvie's face, twisting her normally beautiful features into a mask of displeasure. "Defected."
"Why would a founding member defect from the very organisation they helped to create?" Farron sputtered. "What purpose would that serve?" In the background, Reiley snorted derisively.
Sylvie looked at Reiley in almost a reproachful manner. "Would you happen to have a hunch about that?"
"Hunger for power makes one think crazy and illogical things," Reiley spat in reply. "That's the only thing I have. But does this story have a point?"
"Let me finish," Sylvie urged. "Back when I was an active member, I was perusing the Ignis archives out of boredom. I was going through the minutes of the first few meetings, and I saw the names of the founding members signed on the documents. And one of those names was Ember Griffin, AKA our current ruler Commander Ash."
A look passed between Alyxia and Farron for a second. Ember Griffin, the king's right-hand woman, was a founder of the organisation that rivaled the very people she served? It seemed practically impossible. Then again, she thought that Ember could have never possibly betrayed her father.
"After everything that's happened, I can't say I'm too surprised," Alyxia admitted, crossing her arms in front of her. "If Reiley's reasoning is right, the Commander would have used decided that neither the royal family nor Ignis could get her the power that she wanted. So she took matters into her own hands."
Alyxia could swear that for a moment, she saw both of Reiley's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Then her face went back to its default emotionless state. "I see. So the Commander became the very thing she swore to destroy. And the Alpha, as the last founding member, wants to teach the renegade a lesson."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Sylvie agreed. "Though I mist say, it is quite ironic that after everything that happened, a Griffin is back in Ignis." A chill suddenly ran through Alyxia's spine as Sylvie fixed Reiley with a look she couldn't quite describe. Curiosity? Amusement? Or was it derision?
With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she realised that by giving Sylvie their real names, Sylvie probably knew that Reiley was Ember's daughter. And Reiley Griffin was last seen with Alyxia Peyton, the secret heir to the throne. Target number one of Ignis.
And if she knew that, then their cover was completely and utterly blown.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A/N
So I've been waiting to drop that bombshell about Ember for a while now, and I'm lowkey proud of myself heh heh.
All I can say is: get ready.
Lav.