Rebellion, Part Two

{Mariana}

"You lost?" The Duchess asked as Mariana and Alverion sat in front of her. Her office felt cramped with both Inquisitors and two guards visiting it, but it didn't seem like the Duchess minded that much. No, she seemed rather amused, actually.

"She was incredibly powerful," Alverion replied. "I can't say I've seen anything like her before. She took out one of our allies in the blink of an eye. If she'd aimed to kill me as well instead of just impairing me, I probably wouldn't be here right now. If she hadn't been panicking, things could have gone so much worse."

"You speak quite highly of her."

"If you're going to take someone down, it's best to know their strengths as well as their weaknesses," Alverion replied quietly, shrugging.

Mariana could barely focus on their words. As she sat there, her hand resting lazily on her thighs, she thought back to that moment.

The light grey-skinned girl's blade, stolen from her Inquisitor ally and made entirely the girl's own, pressed against Mariana's neck. Her eyes, righteously furious and judgmental, locked with Mariana's. And, the overwhelming heat that Mariana's body experienced, as though the woman's anger was a flame threatening to reduce her to ashes.

[If the God-King asked you to kill someone who had never hurt anyone in their lives, would you want to do it?]

That question she'd asked continued to dance in Mariana's mind for so long after the woman had spared her and left.

[I don't know,] Mariana answered, over and over again, but the question wouldn't leave her thoughts. [I just don't know.]

"What will you do, then?" The Duchess asked. "I already sent word to the God-King about her. Will you wait to hear back or chase her into the ashen woods?"

"Well, first, I think I want to figure out what exactly we should do with you."

"Me?" The Duchess asked, raising an elegant brow.

"Yes," Alverion replied, slightly narrowing his eyes at her. "It is because of *you* that the girl was not put down the moment she was caught. Therefore, it is because of you that an Inquisitor was lost today."

[... How are you supposed to figure out whether you want to kill someone or not?] Mariana asked herself as the Duchess and Alverion stared each other down. [It's my job. I want to do a good job. So... This is frustrating.]

"Coping with your failure is understandable, but I feel I should remind you that your idea was the same as mine. You wanted to contact the God-King before acting as well, lest you kill someone he wanted to look into. Needless to say, just because this happened does not mean you should rewrite history to justify being angry with me."

Alverion frowned deeply. The Duchess's polite smile was unshaken.

"Your tongue has grown thorns over time. Don't forget that you aren't human. If the God-King ever changes his mind about you, I will not hesitate to thrust my sword into you."

"Usually when I hear people say they want to thrust things into me, it always sounds so much more pleasant. Hm. Well," she stood up. "Judging by the fact that you're here venting your frustrations with me, I take it you will not be chasing her?"

"... No."

"Understood," the Duchess replied, bowing. "I will have the guards return to their posts and we will resume our regular activities once all of the bodies have been cleaned off the streets. I suggest you go drink some tea and maybe watch a hanging or two. You know, to calm down a little."

"Mariana," he said, taking the girl out of her thoughts. "Come on." He stood up, using a crutch to keep himself steady.

Wordlessly, she went to follow him out of the office, but, just before they left, the Duchess called out.

"Mariana," she said and the Inquisitor turned toward her.

"Yes?"

"How exactly did *you* come out of this unscathed?" She suddenly asked. Alverion, who had his hand on the door ready to leave, turned and took a step back. It seemed he too was curious. "One Inquisitor died. Your senior lost a leg. And yet... The only signs that you even went through a fight at all are some dirt on your armor, a missing arm, and a couple of stains of others' blood. What happened?"

Having that question placed on her lap forced Mariana's mind to go back to what it had been pondering for the past hour.

She looked down as everyone in the office, the Duchess, Alverion, and the two guards subtly throwing curious looks her way, all waited to hear her words.

Mariana replied mechanically. Her words came out in a monotone, with no emotion in them.

"After Alverion's leg was cut off, I chased her into the woods. I caught up and she talked to me for a little bit. Then, she disarmed me and pinned me to the ground, holding Allen's sword to my neck. She asked me if I had... wanted to kill people. I told her I haven't done that yet. Then, she let me go."

"She... let you go?" The Duchess asked, smiling with amusement.

"Yes," Mariana nodded. "I asked why and she said it was because she didn't want to kill me. And, that I should think about that."

The room fell into silence for a while. No one said anything, as the Duchess smirked and visibly held back some giggles. Alverion quickly turned around and opened the door, walking out of the office.

"Goodbye," Mariana said to the Duchess before following her teacher out.

The two Inquisitors went into the mansion's halls but it didn't take long before Alverion paused and turned back toward Mariana.

"Mariana..." He said.

"Yes?"

"What she said," he told her, "don't think about it too hard. The words of a demon hold no weight and exist only to cloud your mind. To sting your heart. The words of the God-King are all that matter to us. Understand?"

"I do."

"Good."

Unfortunately, however, she couldn't do as he asked.

Even if she didn't want to think about those words, the woman's eyes, along with her furious expression, burned themselves into her memory.

[... She must have used some magic that I didn't notice. I think she cursed me,] Mariana thought. [I can't get her out of my mind.]