Indigo watched the stones light up in fascination, then chuckled softly. The bioluminescence in their skin lit up as well, turning it a glowing indigo color. Not that they needed it, it just naturally did that upon first entering dark spaces.
Lor glanced at her, startled by the bioluminescence, but didn't say a word about it. "Come on." they said softly, leading her down the hallway. Every now and again, dark passages loomed off to the sides, though Lor did not lead them down any of them, instead staying on the main passage.
(Indigo: male? Female? Nah, I identify as a nightlight)
They followed, occasionally peering down the passages to see what she could spot. It was too dark though, and it got boring pretty quick.
“Um… nice place?” They murmured.
(lmaoo)
Lor laughed faintly. "We'll be at our destination in a few minutes." they replied, glancing over at her for a moment, before returning their attention to the passageway.
Indigo held up a glowing "OK" sign before adjusting the shawl around her. Was Lor the only one who knew about this place? Did other servants of the palace live here? They stayed quiet, despite her questions.
Lor took a turn down one of the other passageways, touching the wall and lighting it up as well. As they moved into the new hallway, the lights of the old one gradually dimmed and faded to nothing.
As they followed, Indigo started assessing her morals again. Would she report Lor if they told her something illegal? Something so bad that they were going down hallways no one else seemed to know existed to talk about it?
Well, it depends, was the answer they kept coming to. If it was just something that was considered illegal because it was written in law, Indigo could care less. If it was something that got other people in trouble or hurt, then she would probably less inclined to keep quiet.
Lor stopped in front of an old wooden door, and knocked, following a strange pattern. After a moment or so, the door was poened by a half fae, half human person, who looked to be in their mid to late thirties. Their eyes flashed from Lor to Indigo and back.
"Lor, we sent you to talk with them, not bring them here." they hissed, eyes narrowing.
Lor grimaced. "I'm not so good at explaining everything, and it didn't feel safe to discuss this in the prince's quarters." they replied, giving Indigo an apologetic glance.
The other person sighed loudly. "Lor, now we have to do a silence spell on them, and they aren't part of us yet, if they even choose to be. This was not a good choice."
So other people did know about this place. At the sight of the figure in the doorway, Indigo let the light in her skin go dark. Not only did other people lurk in this place, but they were in on whatever Lor had wanted to talk with her about. A hunch wormed it’s way into their brain, but they couldn’t be sure until something proved it.
After a moment’s hesitation, she said awkwardly, “Um, hi. If I may be so bold, I think I can keep whatever’s going on here a secret. Even if Lor didn’t really… explain things, I’m intrigued. Perhaps you wouldn’t even need a silence spell.”
Admittedly, despite the many books they’ve read, Indigo didn’t know much about spell casting. It wasn’t something she was good at, and so they mostly stuck to their innate abilities and making tea. So now she was probably getting the purpose of the silence spell wrong, which made them start to regret their words.
The half fae studied Indigo. "The silence spell just ensures that you cannot speak of the tunnels, nor anyone or anything you see while down here." they replied, crossing their arms across their chest. "It is supposed to be a requirement for entry." their gaze snapped back to Lor. "You are flagrantly disobeying our rules, Lor."
Lor winced. "My apologies. I already explained why and I have nothing else I can say."
“I… I see,” she said. So they weren’t completely wrong about the purpose of the spell. “Smart precaution, in any case.”
They went silent again, though they felt sympathy for Lor. She just felt like saying any more wouldn’t make things better. She was the intruder here, after all.
The person sighed faintly. "Well." they turned their gaze to Indigo. "We'll need your consent for a silence spell before we bring you inside." they said. "The spell does not mena you have to become one of us, it is only a precaution, and it won't affect your normal life."
Indigo raised a finger to their chin, then shrugged. She did not mind keeping this a secret. The presence of Fae would’ve made her more suspicious and cautious, but they has seen none so far. It didn’t make sense for a Fae to be involved with a human like Lor in something like this.
Nodding to the person, they said, “I give my consent for you to perform the spell.”
The person inclined their head. "Thank you, Indigo." they said, using her name this time. "It won't hurt." they reached out, gently pressing two fingers to Indigo's forehead. They closed their eyes, lips moving faintly as they worked on the spell. It took only a minute, and then they stepped back again. "There. Now you will only be able to talk about the things that have happened here to someone that has also been here." they opened the door again, light spilling into the dim hallway.
No, it didn’t hurt, but there was a tingling feeling in her skin as the person muttered the spell. But Indigo was still thinking about a few moments before. How the people around them rarely ever used their name, but here was this stranger, using it within the first five minutes of meeting her. And so sincerely, too. They nodded to them, then peered into the light.
The person sighed faintly. "My name is Arabelle, and apparently I'll be explaining all of this to you." she turned and led Indigo inside, with Lor following at the back to close the door. "First of all, this is a…rebellion, I suppose is the best term." she placed a hand on her hip, looking over at the half-human.
(Low-key kinda freaking out bc I also have a character named Arabelle—)
(ksdfkjhfb lmao)
“Ahh, a rebellion, eh?” They had figured this was the case. “Sounds fun. Nice to meet you Arabelle, by the way.”
Arabelle dipped her head in a nod. "Nice to meet you as well." she led Indigo and Lor into a side room, which was also lit up. There was a set of chairs and a couch, along with a low coffee table. "Sit down so we can talk." she plopped down on one of the chairs, and Lor sat down on the couch.
Indigo scanned their surroundings, then sat in the other chair. They looked to Arabelle expectantly. “Talk. What exactly are we talking about?”
Arabelle sighed faintly. "Why Lor brought you here. You are the prince's personal slave, and that gives you access to him that the rest of us don't have." she said bluntly. "This rebellion cannot succeed, ever, with this family in power. They will never allow humans and half humans to have the same level of rights and opportunities that they do."
They nodded. “So, am I to understand that this rebellion’s goal is to advocate for human and half human rights?”
She wanted to be sure of that before the conversation continued.
"Yes, precisely." Arabelle laced her fingers together, keeping her gaze on Indigo. "By force, if necessary." the look in her eyes seemed to speak for the fact that she believed force was indeed necessary in this case.
“Alright, I can get behind that,” Indigo said, folding their hands in her lap. “And you have me here because I’m close to the prince, yes? What exactly do you want to accomplish with that?”