Talith’s Safehouse
69 Autumn 217
Talith
WOOSH
Talith had yanked aside a dusty old drape full of holes to let a bit of sunlight into his new home, or what was left of it anyways. The wooden rod that had held the drapes now crashed to the floor as the rot at its center had finally eaten away to the point of decay. Dust particles shimmered and danced in the new protruding light when Talith placed the back of his hand to his mouth, an attempt to keep from inhaling it all. He did the same to another window, just down the wall from the first, which had fortunately remained intact. Talith turned to face the rest of the room - his first time seeing the place in light.
The house was rather small and only consisted of two different rooms. The main one, which was spacious enough for living space, kitchen area, and a hearth; and a bedroom which began just to the left of the entrance down the wall. The entire place was covered in dust, webs, and broken furniture that littered the floor. Talith had without a doubt some cleaning to do as well as a bit of repair. Near the center sat a rustic looking table which seemed surprisingly sturdy compared to everything else. Above the table shone a beam of morning light penetrating through the roof, visible dust scattered through it before settling.
“I’ve got my work cut out for me.” Talith said as he set his pack on the table and began to remove items from practical ones to sentimental ones.
Ripples of vapor like substance began to drift beside Talith until taking the form of a young girl, his older sister. “It looks different in the light..” Vivian’s tone carried a bit of sorrow and sentiment as she walked towards the ajar door leading into the bedroom.
She examined the door for a moment. The wood had been chipped off in various places and a hole had punctured through the lower center. It seemed likely that someone had forced their way in upon further inspection. The door had been ajar, yes, but it was so only because the bottom had been detached from it’s hinge putting more strain on the top hinge than it was designed for.
She lifted a hand to press on the door itself, and that’s when the whole thing came crashing through the ground, falling right through Vivian. Once again, dust moved and settled as the girl peered into the room.
The room was much like the rest of the house, broken and in despair. She scanned from the window to the bed and to the corner. It was in that corner that she noticed a small wooden horse with specks of dried blood on its mane.
Vivian kept her gaze fixed on the toy. “This must be where Jackla…”
Ethan
Ethan walks alone through the unusually empty streets in the early morning hours. The days and nights of the festival involved copious amounts of alcohol and sweets - the mornings that followed were a time of rest for most. Not so for Ethan Fairchild. It’s said there’s little rest for his kind.
He leisurely made his way through the modest neighborhood towards the safe house where Talith was set to live. The house was left abandoned after the family within had a fatal encounter with the Painted Swans. Theft of some kind was involved, but Ethan wasn’t entirely certain of the details. The house itself had been on the decline for some time before the family met their demise, leading many of the neighbors to shun the property. The words ‘haunted’ were occasionally thrown around.
Ethan didn’t have feelings about ghosts one way or the other; they had never bothered him, so he was happy to claim the conveniently located piece of real estate. If the ghosts that lived there minded, they had yet to voice any of their concerns to their new landlord.
The night before, Talith made it clear he wished to talk to Ethan further. Ethan wasn’t entirely certain what all the discussion would entail, but he hoped it was an easy one. There were several conversations on his agenda already.
As he neared the safe house, he tried to enjoy the quiet moments on the street. While the characters he played had many interactions (and even “friends”), Ethan Fairchild had gone nearly a year without much human interaction. He had often wished his friends were around but now that all of them had returned at once, their presence felt almost overwhelming. So many people needed to share so much. And there seemed so little time for any of it.
But, such was always the case.
He knocked on the door, waited for brief moment and then let himself inside.
Talith
Talith was expecting Ethan within the hour. He’d left earlier than planned last night only to stop outside and collect himself. It had only been minutes later that Ethan had emerged outside and Talith had given him a timeframe to meet. Normally, he would have had the conversation then and there, but enough had already been said for the night. He’d decided it best to wait.
Talith was nearing the end of his self imposed task as he reached into his pack to grab the last remaining items, the bones of his old friend snake, Tsurugi, and a single jar of dirt.
Vivian looked to Talith from the doorway. “You really are growing up, brother.”
“I am.” Talith offered the words as a simple matter of fact.
He placed the bones on the table next to the other items before placing the jar of dirt down as well. The ray of light from the punctured roof seemed to highlight the jar as Talith took a moment, seemingly lost in thought, gazing at the glass.
knock
And the door to the house had opened. A silhouette moved through the entrance before it’s features revealed his friend, Ethan.
Talith turned his attention from the jar to a more welcoming sight as a smile edged on either corner of his lips.
“Hey, Ethan! Welcome,” Talith gives a lively bow “to my new home.”
Ethan
Ethan stepped inside and looked around the dilapidated house. The inside was every bit as bad as its exterior suggested. Whoever lived here definitely had issues long before they encountered whatever fate finally evicted them. There was even a hole in the roof.
Who leaves a hole in their roof?! No wonder it’s so cold in here…!
Talith appeared in good spirits. Ethan tried to match his friends mood and managed to fake it fairly well. Perfectly, actually.
Ethan realized what he was doing and made himself stop. He would not lie to his friends - his family.
His perfect, fake smile was washed away and he now wore the sincere expression of a man who was happy but very busy. He did not have long to catch up with his friend. Not yet. That could take hours, days or more.
He would not pretend to have more time than he did. And he would not fein a sense of leisure that didn’t exist.
But most of all, he would not fake parts of who he was to ensure that Talith would like him. He did that for work. This was a personal affair; this was Talith. He would be entirely himself and trust Talith would be satisfied with who that was.
“Hey! Sorry about the place. I tried to find safe houses that would work for nine people and…” he looked around the room. “Well, some of them are better than others.” He offered an embarrassed smile.
“But, hey, at least this place has…” He eyes the hole in the ceiling. “…lots of fresh air! And…” he looks at the broken blinds, “plenty of sunlight…?”
Talith
There was no hiding that Talith was absolutely thrilled to see his friend again. He wanted more than anything to take the time to catch up with his friends. Ethan, however, wore the expression of a man who had much to do.
There was a short window of silence after Ethan’s fresh air and sunlight joke. And though he tried to hold it in - to now hold an expression that matched Ethan’s, he broke into a brief fit of laughter. It was nice for a moment, almost like they were kids again. They weren’t kids, however, and there were more important matters that Talith wanted to discuss.
Just as Talith had hoped, Ethan expressed his own thoughts on the place. It was a perfect segue to lead into the topic. It wouldn’t seem so out of the blue and awkward, Talith imagined.
“Yes, it could definitely use a bit of work.” he chuckled “I don’t mind it too much though. Actually, I’m glad this is where I’m staying.”
Talith knelt down and pulled a rag from his pack before moving aside some items on the table and placing his shield, which was currently a steel rod-like object in the shape of the symbol around his neck, onto said table. Back and forth he scrubbed as he attempted to remove any visible dirt.
“You see, I actually knew the tenants that used to live here - well, one of them.” His words were light and plain. “Even been here before. Fate’s kind of funny sometimes, huh?” Talith lets out another chuckle as he flips the shield over and begins to work on the other side.
Ethan
“You knew the people who lived here…?” he asked, his surprise evident.
Ethan watches, attempting to understand what Talith has prepared but unable to put the pieces together. He would have to wait.
Talith
“I did.” Talith explains. “Well, like I said, I only actually met one of them, the daughter, Jackla. It was a family of four - A mother, father, and Jackls’s brother, Jacklen. She said her dad used to be a blacksmith before he lost everything. The family plummeted into poverty after that to the point that people saw them as nothing more than beggars. Eventually people seemed to forget that they even had names. Just wild, stray animals living in the city.”
Talith finishes scrubbing his shield before hoisting it up and placing it against the wall. He proceeds to take a moment to lean his right shoulder against the wall above the shield, crossing his arms as well as crossing his right leg in front of his left.
“One day, the father had no choice but to resort to theft in order to provide for his family. He’d stolen some grapes, nothing more, nothing less. He managed to make it back to their home unseen, or at least he thought. He was murdered in the back by two Swans as soon as he stepped in his - this house.” Talith finds himself staring at the floor. “Next, they murdered the mother. Jackla told me that she and her brother were escaping out of the bedroom window. She managed to get out, but as her brother was climbing through the window…well.” Talith assumed he didn’t need to finish the sentence.
There were only two chairs at the table. One seemed to be in working condition while the other was missing it’s back leg, broken off midway down. Vivan sat in the latter of the chairs before pulling a dagger from her boot and tapping away at the jar of dirt, the light above reflecting off the blade with each tap.
“Months later is when I found the girl.” Talith continued, “She had been running from those same two Swans. I managed to pull her into an alley and hide her until they gave up. That’s when she explained everything to me. Her brother had already been strung up in the gallows, though she never saw the bodies of her parents after that day. She also mentioned that the two Swans claimed that she and her brother had used magic and attacked them. And so, as a result, the Swans had put up wanted posters for the girl.”
Talith shifted his weight a little and redirected his vision back to Ethan. “Those two Swans just wanted nothing more than to kill, to feel powerful. If it were really the theft they were concerned about, they’d have arrested the father during the act. Jackla then told me that she had attempted to get back into her home to collect a wooden horse, the last gift her parents were able to get her. She wanted to grow up and spend her days riding and taming horses” A chuckle left Talith’s lips, though it sounded misplaced. It was a sound that shouldn’t have belonged, one that attempted to mask grief. “A horsetamer, talk about an innocent dream, yeah?”
Reality quickly drowned out the chuckle as he continued. “I wanted to take her back to the estate with me, but seeing as my agreement with The Petriars already put myself at risk, I couldn’t impose more danger on the girl. Not to mention that they were already taking a big risk by housing a wanted man. I spent the day with her, fed her, and tried my best to put her at ease. I implored her not to return to the house until I returned the next day and she promised me that she wouldn’t. The only person I could think of to go to was Amberlyn. She of course, offered to help in secret. When I returned to the spot I had left Jackla, she wasn’t waiting for me. The house was abandoned as well. It wasn’t long that I witnessed a Swan removing her wanted poster. And that’s when I found her hanging in the gallows. The family was no more and there was nobody left who cared to remember their names.”
Talith tilted his head towards the table before lifting a hand and weaving his finger in a strange, seemingly erratic pattern. Within seconds, a pitch black slit etched through the air itself when falling from it, a shadowy silhouette of a hand seemingly burning with black flames reached and clawed its way out. The hand crawled onto the tabletop, grasped the bones of Tsurugi, and crawled through the air before placing them in the palms of Talith’s now outstretched fingers.
“I thought about it for days afterwards. The girl, Jackla, it was a foolish decision that she had made.” He hesitated a moment, “At least in my eyes anyways. Though, in my past, I can’t say I haven’t done similar foolish things. The only difference is, I had luck…” The man strokes a finger down the bones as if it were still alive. “…and the help of friends. That time I snuck back to Aelorean’s Crossing because I had to check to see if my sister really was there after it had already been under siege - it was foolish of me and I didn’t think about the consequences. But, in my eyes at the time, it was too important to me to let it go unchecked. The thought of her still being alive had kept me going for so long…every inch of my being told me to go despite logic’s protest.”
Talith lifts the bones just below his eye level as his eyes drift across them. “To Jackla, going back for that wooden toy wasn’t foolish. It was everything to her, it was all she had left in this world. The foolish thing to do, in her eyes, would have been to leave it.”
Vivan ceases her tapping on the jar before looking to Talith.
“At what point is it okay to put ourselves at risk for something that another might see as foolish? At what point was it okay for Jackla to go back for her toy? At what point was it okay for Bax to risk himself going back to Aelorean’s Crossing to scope the place out? Regardless of what we do and our reasons for them, it’s ultimately because we believe it is the necessary thing to do for ourselves. Even if we tell ourselves the reason is to help or protect others, we do it because it’s something we ourselves want to do. So, in reality, we’re all a bit selfish in the end..”
Talith delicately outstretches Tsurugi’s bones from left to right. “Last night, you told me that I shouldn’t see Amberlyn even if she means to help us and even if it’s to communicate to her that meeting only puts her at risk. And though I wanted to,” he cuts himself off “and still do, I chose to trust you because you weren’t looking at the situation through my own foolish, subjective eyes.. So, Ethan…at one point is it wrong for me to risk visiting someone I care about, an ally, but it’s okay for you to risk visiting someone you care about, a dangerous Swan who killed our friend?
Talith’s dark brown eyes are now just above the outstretched bones. Though his tone and inflection are calm and collected, his eyes are filled with focus and unwavering confidence.
Ethan
Ethan’s face is pensive as Talith tells his story. There is a silence that lingers for several moments. He looks around the interior as if, having learned its tragic history, he is now seeing the house for the first time. Finally, he speaks.
“…grapes?” He asks, incredulously. “Why was he stealing grapes? Weren’t they starving? A bundle of grapes wouldn’t feed anyone. Bread would have made sense. Or coins. But grapes…?”
This clearly wasn’t the point Talith was making so Ethan forced himself to relinquish this line of discussion for now.
He sighed.
“I spent the better part of this past year living as two men who weren’t myself. One of those men was a blind baker with a mobile food cart called Small Potatoes. This cover allowed me to travel the city more or less undetected - it was setup to eventually allow me to move contraband throughout the city as well. Do you have any idea how much stuff you can hide in a food cart that’s lazily checked by guards?
“Anyway, the disguise worked because the only people that Small Potatoes means anything to are the people from AC. So it would ideally signal my friends that it was me in disguise.
“And it worked.
“Eventually, it led Bax to get in touch with me.
“But one day, about a month ago - just before Bax made contact - the Wolf rode up on his horse and watched me. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t buy any food. Just watched me until I walked away.
“I should have felt pretty good. Or lucky. Or something positive. After all, the disguise let me slip through the Wolf’s grasp. I was literally right in front of him and he didn’t even know it!
“Instead, I couldn’t shake this weird feeling…
“Eventually my brain put a few pieces together and I realized the Wolf was probably one of my family - either my dad, or one of my brothers. But the Wolf is entirely covered in bandages so there’s no way to be sure who it was even when he’s not wearing that damn helmet. The only way to know for certain was to get close - really close. So… I slipped on a disguise and met him at a tavern.”
He took another deep breath. He wasn’t used to explaining himself to anyone other than Bishop and, by now, Bishop understood enough about Ethan to rarely need to question his actions.
“Look, I met with the Wolf to confirm who I was going to kill. Because it gave me information. It would tell me something about my target.
“And because it would confirm whether or not I would have to destroy the Baker identity. If the Wolf was one of my family members then they knew the Baker was me in disguise; otherwise, I could keep the cover that I had worked so hard to create.”
“Talith, I’ll probably always love my brother, even if he may not have ever have really thought that much of me. But I didn’t go and see him out of love - it was a strategic choice, not an emotional one. And, at the time I made it, the only other person I was putting at risk was Vanja. I didn’t know where anyone else was, so I couldn’t tell them, even if they captured me and tortured me.”
Talith
Talith lowered the bones to his side when the shadow hand curled them around its own fingers before setting them back on the table and dissipating into nothing.
Vivian was fixed on Ethan. “It’s still so hard to believe…”
It was true. Vivian and Roland had been the same age and so were naturally rivals when it came to athletic competitions. Hearing of her childhood rival become what he is now wasn’t a pleasant melody to her ears.
Talith sighed. “I see.”
He thought he’d had Ethan in the corner with that logic, but alas, Talith always seemed to be lacking when it came to intellect. Despite the bit of education he’d received while in the estate, he still couldn’t quite match Ethan, especially since his friend’s key weapon over this past year had been his mind, it seemed. Even still, Talith gave one last attempt.
“But wouldn’t Amberlyn’s assistance be a strategic move? Yes, she’s a member of the Petriar family, but she knows people. It was because of her that I was able to see that Jacklen and Jackla received proper burials.”
Ethan
“Any help she can give us is likely to pale in comparison to the risk her she brings.
“If the father of the Petriar family ever found out, he would be beside himself with anger and we’d lose any future help from the entire family. No questions, no second chances - that’s it. They’re out!
“And if one family gets cold feet or decides to back out, the other families are likely to get nervous, because now they’re exposed, but the Petriar family (or whoever) isn’t.
“And lastly, if the Swans ever caught her, not only would she be in trouble, but her whole family and the conspiracy at large could be put in jeopardy. And, I can assure you, they would use that girl to make an example of - she wouldn’t die quickly. It would be slow, painful and public. They want everyone to know, it doesn’t matter how royal your blood it THIS is what happens if you stand against us…”
“I’m sorry, Talith. But there is no half-measure here - there are those who are in it - us - and those who will only help if there is NO connecting link, NO risk that their family won’t end up like House Yorendon.”
Talith
Ethan was right. Talith knew he was grasping at thin air when he gave his last attempt, and as he expected, there was no way around the undeniable truth. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated before a new thought came to mind.
“Right—” Talith ran his fingers through his hair, more out of frustrated defeat than anything, “You’re absolutely right Ethan.” Vivian glanced in Talith’s direction at those words.
“She’s helped me so much in the past, it just felt wrong to exclude her from everything. And so I’d hoped that maybe I could shed some new light on the situation, maybe trigger a path that you hadn’t thought of. But,” Talith shrugs, “you really have thought of everything.”
He sighed before walking to the bedroom, the dilapidated wooden floor creaked with each step. Once he entered the room, he saw Vivian standing in the corner, pointing at the floor. “It’s here.” She said. Talith moved to the said corner, picked up the wooden toy horse, dotted with bloodstain, and walked back to the main room within arms reach of Ethan. Vivian was once again at the table as though she’d never left.
“That’s probably why I see you as a leader.” Talith said, “You might or might not have wanted to be seen as so, but that’s how I see it. You’re the one who went through all the trouble of putting all of this together after all.”
Talith gazed at the wooden horse in his hand. “If something ever happens and I die, there would be nobody left to remember the names of Jackla and Jacklen. So, as a leader, would you remember their names with me?” Talith reaches out his hand, the wooden horse laying across it. He waits for Ethan to accept the gift.
Ethan
“Most of the names I remember aren’t for good reasons. I’d be honored to help you carry theirs…” he says, taking the gift.
“But none of this ‘leader,’ nonsense. I’m just putting things together until someone else offers to do it better. Until then, I’m just gonna keep trying to help make the best decisions we can. I don’t think of everything - not even close. So you keep throwing out your ideas because you’re definitely gonna have ones I couldn’t think of without you.” He smiles, happy that Talith is going to be around once again. He’d missed seeing his friend’s face.
“You sure you want to stay here? The place needs a lot of work. I can try to find something better…”
Talith
A smile beams across Talith’s face before he quickly pivots around and covers his mouth, an attempt to hold in his laughter. It would have been a good attempt had a muffled snort not escaped through closed lips. It wasn’t that Talith was laughing at his friend, but more so that he simply felt a surge of joy too great to contain. Talith wasn’t having doubts, but it was nice to hear that his skillset was appreciated, especially from an old friend whom he now saw as a leader. He turned around with an attempt to mask the snort by clearing his throat.
“Ahem Sorry! I’m not laughing AT you, Ethan. I’m just—just glad that we’re all back together again. But, okay. No leader stuff. You’re once again demoted to,” He thinks back to when they were kids, “a walnut. Yeah, that was it—a walnut.” Talith hesitates a moment. “Huh…it’s actually not that funny now. Fifteen year old me had an embarrassing sense of humor I guess. Anyways, I would actually prefer to stay here. I want to fix the place up a bit if I’m being honest.”
Talith pulls the door open. “Well, we both have things to do and stuff to plan so I won’t keep you any longer.” Talith offers a smile. “It’s good to see you again, friend.”
Ethan exits and Talith shuts the door behind him.
“All of you kids really have grown up,” Vivian states from the table. “And suuure, Ethan might not care for all of this leader stuff, but since when do leaders start out knowing that they are so? Just like heroes.”
Talith pauses a moment to catch her meaning. “Viv, we’ve gone over this. I’m no longer searching to be a hero. I just want to end… well, you know what I want to do.”
“Yes, I know. But I wasn’t talking about you anyway. I was speaking of Bax.”
“Ah, yeah I can see that if I’m being honest. I wanted to be a hero, sure, but it sometimes feels like he really IS one.” He ponders for just a bit. “Still, I can’t help but wonder what all of these new faces will turn out to be.”
Vivian tilts her head. “Don’t you mean, ‘Pretty new faces?’”
“Well, no.”
Vivian laughs. “Astaraeeelllllll~”
Talith turns to face the door. “No, no. I see her as a respectable ally. Really. Ahem I don’t even know her!”
Vivian simply giggles before fading away.
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