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mercless · 1 year ago

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There was no surprise at Katarina knowing where they had been shipped off to; whether it had been her own skills of deduction, or Jareden's failure to cover his tracks before his demise at her hands, mattered little in the long run. The last time the assassin had parted ways with the man was when he had handed them into the fussing arms of the matriarch. "It was different." Talon eventually glances up from her work, though it is already cast down again before eyes meet. It wasn't just the location, the temperature; it was the situation. The villa had been far more a hospice than a new home to settle into. The way there was always movement, other life in the house when they had laid perfectly still for days. Laid down in another world so separated from the capital they had known for so long. Separated from their relation to the family. How their arrival brought the news of Marcus... They decide to not bring up Soreana here.

Teeth gnaw into gums with the casual threat of violence. It wasn't because Talon doubted the truth those words carry, but how right they were. The only reason the younger assassin had even been able to step foot onto the manor's grounds again was because she allowed it. Her and the empathy that betrayed her judgement still. Their jaw shifts. "I'm trying your advice. Deciding my own path." The dubious truth was more likely than a flimsy lie, under her scrutiny. Talon did have unfinished business in the capital before the incident. "And here specifically, because I knew where medical supplies were. Didn't know you were taking up residence though."

Flexing against the restraining bandage, Talon shifts in their seating with a slow creak. "It's in your name now, isn't it?"

The reply is only yet another reminder of how foolish she is to let any fondness linger, but it isn't enough to stop her. This is an old flaw, one she has come to see as incurable: her heart can never be hardened enough to be entirely uncaring, not even to them — not even to the family that would see her dead at the first opportunity they had.

Bitterness and irritation are made manifest only in a scoff. So much hangs between them, the air thick with words unsaid; Katarina doubts speaking them would make anything better. Some wounds are simply bound to leave scars, those left untreated for so long most of all. At any rate, she had expected Talon would have only tried to take her life again, once they met (and perhaps they would, were they not injured like that).

"I didn't even expect you'd be around again so soon," she says, not allowing silence to return after they speak. Emerald eyes study her sibling, little kindness shining in them. "Was Shurima not to your liking?"

Cheap provocation, beneath what she expects might get a rise out of them. But it should not be news Katarina knew of it; not unless mother had kept her dealings with the Black Rose, and its assassin's subsequent failure, from Talon. Regardless of her feelings, she had to know how involved with it they had become.

"If I wanted you out of the way I'd have made it happen," She finishes securing the bandage, carefully done to stay in place even knowing they were likely not going to stay very still. "What I want is to know why you're back. Why are you here, Talon?"

#‡ rp #‡ find their sharpest thorns. let it remain in your heart #noxianwill #how long can they talk around it you think

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