Atria took no offense to the term ‘commoner’. She had been referred to as worse for much longer. But the tightening grip on her arm did deter her very slight from the term. Slightly.
“Oo this is new, where to now, soldier?” She asked, looking over her shoulder at Farah with interest. Instead of going down to the ground level, they were going up. Either a good sign or a bad sign. It could mean death, or something far from it.
Farah's gaze remained straightforward, a habit she had perfected over the years. "Keep your mouth shut," she muttered in reply as they mounted the stairs, and she pushed the girl before her. This commoner had revealed enough in their short dialogue that Farah had determined she had potential use for her. Ever the intensive strategist, different variants of plans were racing through her head non-stop as the pair made their way back up to the roof.
“Hmmmmm, no.” Atria replied, smiling a fake sweet smile.
She had no clue what the soldier was planning on doing with her, but there was a fifty fifty chance it wasn’t death. And frankly, those were better odds than she had before. Either she was going to end up with an issue on her hands, most likely the soldier here, or she wouldn’t be alive to deal with it.
Farah rolled her eyes and opened the door to the roof. As they stepped out on it, she kicked the door shut behind them. Then she sighed. I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought. My family will disown me, then kill me. She shook her head before speaking again.
"I think we should work together to find the princess."
It was the girl who had given her the idea in the first place when she mentioned knowing of the princess' absence. Why not use it to her advantage while she had the chance.
“That’s what you brought me up here to do? Talk about the finding the princess?” Amusement laced her words and Atria raised an eyebrow.
She had to say, it was a first to have someone ask about helping find the princess. But it was also strange. If they were in different circumstances, she wouldn’t hesitate to take the help. Mostly because parts of the rebellion didn’t believe she could find the princess, and even one person helping her would be an improvement.
“Sorry, but I can’t have you help. You do see why right?” She continued, shrugging, “I mean, there was the whole thing with the chasing…then with the talking…and frankly, you could very well be using me to get to the princess for the Queen. You were talking all high and mighty about her earlier.”
Farah closed her eyes for a brief moment to collect herself. Her patience was wearing thin with this girl, but Farah knew she needed her for this to work. "As much as I don't want your help… I need it. And I'll have you know that the way of speak of the queen does not always reflect my personal views of her," she stated, not meeting the girl's eye as she spoke. Well… there it is.
Her words made Atria grin. “You’re a little dirty traitor then?” She questioned teasingly, “And you need my help tracking down the princess?” It was almost too good to be true. Atria slowed her thoughts for a minute, then asked one more question, “How can I know I can trust you? Any way to show me that?”
There was no way even swearing on someone’s life would make Atria trust the woman, but it would be a start. At the very least it would mean something to the guard, and that would be enough to keep some trust.
Farah blenched as Atria chose a different but equally offensive name to call her by. "I have… personal issues to resolve with the princess," she replied vaguely. She needed this. Badly. And for this girl to work with her, she needed to prove her trust. Fair. Farah would've demanded the same in her position. She then took a moment to think. I can't swear on my parents, they have no meaning to me. If I swear on the queen, this girl won't trust me any more than the dirt on the bottom of her boot… With a realization, she reached up to her neck, wrapped her fingers around a string, and pulled. She winced slightly at the sound of the string tie snapping, but she then took a dagger out of a hidden sheath and used it to break the bond around the girl's wrists. Then, she slipped the necklace into the girl's fingers. The pendant on the necklace was an opal crystal. The touch of it was smooth, obviously having been rubbed incessantly. "I swear to you by the opal's fire," Farah declared. "You can trust me."
The gem that had been pressed into her hand had to be worth more than her life, Atria decided. Not that she showed the look on her face. With her hands freed, she took her time studying the opal, letting the sun bounce off it, making it shine just right. It was a gorgeous gem, but was it enough to swear on?
Yes. Atria made the decision quickly.
“Very well. Until you give me reason to take away your trust, I trust that you mean what you say.” She spoke, the same glint in her eye as before. Tucking the gem away in one of the pockets of her stolen uniform, she held out a hand to the guard, deciding trust had to be met with trust. “Atria Valens. It’s a pleasure to formally introduce myself. We’re going to get along well.”
Farah sheathed her dagger with a sigh. She'd accepted it. It was all she could've hoped for at this point. That opal meant more to Farah than this girl – Atria – could ever hope to know. Atria Valens, she thought, quickly committing the name to her memory. Not a bad name.
In response, she stuck out her own hand and place it in Atria's to shake it. "Farah Dowling," she revealed her own name, a bit reluctantly. "I hope we will."
Atria memorized Farah’s name. ‘Dowling’…she had heard that name before, though it wasn’t familiar enough to dwell upon. And they had more pressing matters at hand.
“Well, Farah, what do you know about the princess?” She shook her hand, then dropped it, deciding to sit down on the edge of the roof to talk.
Atria herself knew little about the lost heir, but she had clues to her whereabouts. If they could find her, then whatever she learned from Farah would be what would help convince her to join the rebels.
Much more than I'd like to was her immediate thought, but instead, she said, "Not much. I've only seen her in passing with her mother a few times. It's not like she trains with us or anything. She's with the queen most of, if not all the time." While most of what she said was true, it was all partial truths. But the princess did spend the vast majority of her time by the queen's side. Farah could understand why she left.
Atria was a little discouraged to hear that Farah didn’t know much about the princess, she didn’t find it strange at all. What she had said made sense.
“Well, we’ll have to find something about her, before we go looking for her. Anything about her mannerisms, or her general demeanor will help to know.”
She looked up at her new partner, adding on, “We should start looking for info soon. Today if we can. Though I might have to change into different clothes, something less likely to get me killed.” A small grin appeared on her face at that one, like she was willing to play the odds of being killed for treason and impersonating a royal guard.
Farah took time and considered this. If she was going to pick up and leave in search of the princess, she'd need to gather up supplies for the trip. Her parents would find out that she was leaving whether she told them or not, so she'd need to get their permission. It would be less suspicious that way. And she still had to report back to the queen about the battalion's progress for the day. The queen!
Farah's eyes narrowed in thought before she rose to her feet. "I have an idea. But you are not going to like it and there is a very high possibility of it turning south."
“I like the sound of it already. What’s your idea?” She asked, happy that already Farah was proving useful to her search.
Leaning forward to hear her words, the devilish grin stayed present. Anything they had to help them find out more about the princess was something she would at least listen to. No matter how much she supposedly wouldn’t like it.
Farah laughed very quietly at the too-eager tone in Atria's voice. "Well… I'm going to turn you in," she answered, waiting for her newly established partner's reaction. "It's the only way I can think of to get you into the places I need you to be so we can have the best chance of finding L– the princess." Farah internally cursed for very nearly letting the princess' name slip.
Atria’s grin faltered at the idea of being turned in, even if it was to get information. “And how do I know you won’t leave me there? Or simply use the excuse of turning me in to really do so?”
She had pretended to be turned in before, but it had been by people she trusted with her life, and whom she had worked with for years. Doing the same thing with a total stranger sounded less appealing than drinking straight fish oil from the docks.
"That necklace I gave you is my most prized possession in all of Eisha," Farah replied plainly. "I won't leave you there. I wouldn't have sworn by the opal's fire that you could trust me if you couldn't." She sighed, reluctant to admit what she was about to say, but she needed this… alliance, of sorts. "I… I need your help with this. I can't find the princess alone, she…" Farah shook her head. "She's… difficult to find."
“….Fine. But if you even think about leaving me there, I’m selling this opal so fast you don’t know it’s gone.” Atria narrowed her eyes, hoping she wasn’t making a horrible mistake agreeing to the plan.
“If the princess was easy to find, she wouldn’t have evaded capture for so long. I know she’s hard to find,” She added with a roll of her eyes, her hand drifting to her pocket to check that the opal and the jewelry she had stolen were still with her. “If this goes smoothly though…I can guarantee I know where to start looking for her.”
It's even harder when she's avoiding you specifically, Farah thought. She tugged at the sleeve of her tunic uniform and prepared to head back down the stairwell, but before she could move, Atria's comment made her immensely curious. "Oh, really? And how, may I ask, would you have found out that kind of information?"
Atria grinned and winked, standing and heading towards the stairs. “I have my ways, soldier. Sometimes it pays to be part of the rebellion.”
She passed Farah casually, pausing by the top of the stairs, “Are we going to get me turned in right now? Or should we go separate ways and meet up in a little bit?”
"We're doing this now," Farah quickly answered. "If I don't report back for my battalion soon, the queen will become suspicious. But once we're inside the palace, I just need to nab a few things, and then we can escape out the back. Sometimes it pays to be a part of the royal military." She added the last part with a smirk. "I'll also need to get into my own room in my house. There are some things I need from there as well."
“Fair enough. I need to stop by somewhere too, I have things I need. As long as we’re quick, we should be out of the city by dark.” She said, slightly annoyed that they would have to stop two times after the palace, but knowing it would be necessary.
Atria needed to tell the rebellion where she was going when she made her stop, and she needed her things. Specifically her own clothes, and her bag. Those she couldn’t leave behind. Her friends wouldn’t be happy, but they wouldn’t know the full truth. If they figured it out, they’d come hunt her down and drag her back themselves.
Farah nodded. "We'd better get moving then. And… I'll need to tie your wrists again, for effect. The queen has become very paranoid," she revealed, using her dagger blade to tear off another piece of her tunic to use as a binder. "If she doubts any part of my story, we're both as good as dead. Luckily, I've been lying consistently to her for the past five years, and she hasn't suspected a thing in that area, so we should be safe."
Atria grumbled under her breath about the paranoid Queen as she pulled her wrists behind her back, allowing Farah to tie them. “Lucky for you I’m a great actor too. I’ll make the story convincing. Though I do have to ask…what has someone so goody-two-shoes like you been doing lying to the Queen? Hmm?” She grinned over her shoulder at her, nodding to her pocket, “Before I forget, am I going to be searched at the palace? I need to know if you have to take anything for safekeeping.”