"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
It all somehow reminded Hart of a song he'd heard once. Trouble, trouble trouble trouble~"Speaking in Common"
Worry, worry worry worry~
It was a simple sort of song, bluesy and full of woe, and he couldn't remember where he'd picked it up. Maybe in Melrath.
Truth be told Hart did not know a lot about the Eastern Settlement. He didn't know if Tristan would be safe there or not, if the people would rebel or leave their new leader alone. He hoped for the latter, but it seemed like a lot for the king to have put on Tristan's shoulders, especially because Tristan claimed Cassander as a friend. And yet effectively the boy king was risking the Venora's life.
"You said you were moving to Oakleigh?" Hart asked. "Will your new place have a lot of guards?" The way Hart imagined it, this new home would be a far cry from the abode Hart had come to know in Andaris, where it was only Tristan, his workshop, and his cat now that Faith was gone.
"Remember," he muttered, trying to think of all he had heard and seen and felt when he had been with the Alliance, then realized, when Tristan mentioned it, that the cup of wine in his hand was empty. He couldn't even remember drinking it. He nodded at the offer of another drink, and watched as Tristan signaled a waiter, ordering a mulled ale, which would be warm and soothing on this cold, rainy day.
"I can't remember much," he finally said, when the new drink was settled in his hands, already doing its best to warm him. He shivered. "I was at a woman's apartment when they found me. I could go back there, I remember where that was at least," he said. And he remembered the place they had dropped him off at when they were done with him. "Though I don't know her real name, just the false one she used. It was the woman I found out in the street, injured." He paused.
"She may have been an actress," so maybe Tristan would know of her if Hart gave a description, "But I'm almost entirely certain she was also a prostitute. But not for the House of Roses." If she had worked for the House of Roses they would have protected her from whatever had hurt her in the first place. She wouldn't have been outside in the bitter cold.
"From there I was blindfolded and led out into a carriage. It was me and the woman and three men who had come when she called them. We drove for a long time. No one spoke. We seemed to take a lot of unnecessary turns," he said, brow furrowing as he tried to remember anything of importance. "All I remember from the ride is the creaking of the back wheel and that the cabin of the carriage smelled a little like mint," he said, memory exhausted. Maybe that would be useful if the Alliance had rented a carriage. They might be able to find the driver and question him.
"Can't remember what it smelled like when we stopped." It had been very cold. Maybe it had smelled wet, like mud. "All I know is we couldn't have been in hightown."
Tristan spoke then to doubt the Alliance's intelligence and Hart had thought the same thing after he had first been released back to the streets. Death to nobility and Equality for all seemed like conflicting statements. Until he had realized what it meant. "I don't think they consider nobles to be people," he said. Taking a sip of the hot, spiced mead. "Maybe they think of equality and nobility as antithetical. That equality can never be attained when there is the nobility in place upholding the class system." He had thought about this a lot. Trying to make sense of it.
"They most definitely have plans to kill people," he said. "And they have spies in the city. When I was in their base they brought in a different prostitute, one from the House of Roses, to confirm that I wasn't you. She must have been someone the both of us knew. She told them willingly about us. Her name is Hana?" Maybe Tristan would remember her. Hart supposed she was yet another lead. He had met her a couple times when he had visited the House. He had thought her a friend. He supposed in a way she had saved his life. So maybe she still was.
"The only problem is they said not to go to the authorities," Hart finally said. Jack had seemed to fall asleep on his lap, her head lying on his stomach, and he smoothed the fur down around her face with a gentle hand. He smiled. "I wonder, do you think you count as an authority?" He hadn't thought of it before, he had been thinking of Tristan as his brother. But Tristan was a Duke now. Hart could be in trouble for speaking to him.
"I know it's a risk but everything's a risk now, so," Hart suddenly said. He sat up a little straighter, making up his mind, though his face was still very pale. "I'm in a position to do something about the Alliance, to stop them from hurting people. And as much as I don't like it they know about you, so you're in danger as well. I don't think right now we should go to the king. I wouldn't have very much to tell them that would be of use. So we just need to figure out what it is we should do." Together was left unspoken. But as much as Hart didn't want Tristan to be hurt, he couldn't help but want his half-brother to help him with this.
Off Topic
1 mulled ale = -0.1.0gn
1 glass of Venora Red = -0.8.0gn
= -0.9.0gn TOTAL
Song mentioned is Trouble by Ray LaMontagne
1 glass of Venora Red = -0.8.0gn
= -0.9.0gn TOTAL
Song mentioned is Trouble by Ray LaMontagne
