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Official request for increased production of fishing boats in harbor cities... approved. Citywide ban request for nomad tea in public establishments... denied. Formal request for more bacon to be delivered for breakfast to the quarters of- Rath facepalmed, and grumbled under his breath. "...Heath!" Denied. Rath gave a deep sigh, and kept going with his work. Now where was he? Oh yes, boring stacks of-

Yet another knock. It hadn't even been ten minutes since- Oh no, wait, it had already been around hour since Songhua left, according to the position of the sun. ..Well then, perhaps another break could be spared after all. When the knocker called out to him, he recognized Isadora's voice, but was somewhat unhappy about her message. He expected that she would come eventually, that is true, but... well, seeing her wouldn't hurt any, he supposed. "... ...See her in."

Rath looked up from his desk, as the door opened, and Alihi walked in. He took no specific notes on her appearance, but noticed that she seemed off. Choosing to ignore this, he greeted her. "Welcome Alihi... What can I do for you..?" He knew the answer already.. Rath just wished he would find the right words to say.

It was hard to hear these words. Though his heart felt pity for Alihi, he did not outwardly show it. Instead, he kept his same calm demeanor, as he began to reply to her.

"Unfortunately, we know nothing you haven't been able to figure out on your own, given your talents. A raven laguz who uses swords and magic." He made sure to leave out the part where he thought it was something more than just a kidnapping. It was not in his nature to claim something without certainty. He would look into it, at a later time. "...You.. must understand... In our current situation, there is not much that can be done."

He turned away slightly, feeling uncomfortable looking her in the eye, for some reason Rath could not recognize. "My.. current stance is to wait to see if the kidnapper makes contact. If a search was made, it would be bound to come up empty." He shut his eyes for a moment. "...I suppose... we could technically send out some scouts by air, but... it is unknown if the kidnapper is still in Learania, and we cannot simply send troops into another country."

He looked back at Alihi, and felt like he had swallowed a boulder. He tried to be as reasonable as possible, though words were not his strong point. Still, to say that there's nothing you could do to help a mother who's lost her child... not only is it hard, but it felt wrong, despite the rational facts. The look on her face reminded him of someone special. What if it had been his daughter? Ignoring that fact that he wouldn't have allowed that to happen... what would he do, if it did? Surely his reason would bend in that case. Such thoughts made Rath uneasy... he wasn't sure if he would be able to continue to stand firm, if she asked again.

Rath's eyes opened slightly wider, as she asked him the first question. It was not a question easily answered. His first thoughts said that it would depend on which country she was in. If it was Adliana or Estarcia, it would just require getting permission. ...Other countries would be.. much more difficult.

However, before he could conger up the words for his reply, she hit him with another question. Rath choked on his words. He couldn't answer such a thing. The answer... was fairly obvious. In reply to the question, Rath closed his eyes and spoke lowly. "It is... not rational to focus on such... unknown possibilities." It was an obvious step around the question he was asked. He looked at her once more, and could see the pain in her eyes. It was overwhelming. It was too much.

He turned away from, and sighed. "I... will have Captain Vaida send out some scouts on wyverns. I cannot promise you that they will be successful! ...But they will be extremely thorough." He remained turned away. For somebody to make him take back what he said, and give a different command was quite rare. Only Nino had been able to do that. It made him feel soft. Letting others see that was unacceptable.

Not wanting this feeling of insecurity to continue, he turned back around slightly, and looked at Alihi. "...In the meantime... I'm aware that you have a.. friend.. who is still resting in the healing facilities." He turned back around. "..You should go see him. I'll call you if there's any news."

After the girl departed from his office, Rath called out to one of the guards. "....Bring The Guard Captain to me at once." He then made his way around the desk and sat down behind it. He gave a deep sigh. It seemed the more involved into things Learania became, the worse headache he received.

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What happened? He had looked back into the ballroom, after hearing a loud shattering noise, and turned around to see a black winged figure coming right at him. After that, everything went dark. Pain surged through his entire body. He could still hear voices. He heard orders being given to the guards, he heard the hawk king speak to him, but then the voices faded as well. The next thing he heard was his name.

Abel's eyes opened, when he heard a familiar voice. "..Alihi?" He looked over to her, and smiled when he saw that it really was her. "You're here... What.. what happened? Where are we? Where is everyone?" He tried to sit up, but cringed a little, as his body was still really sore, despite having been fully healed, so he didn't make it all the way. The bandages weren't just for show.

He looked at her, and noticed that she wasn't looking alright. And she wasn't answering his questions right off, either. "...Are you ok?" He waited for her to say something, but nothing had yet come. His face grew from confusion to concern. "...Alihi?"

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He could tell that her voice was off. Something wasn't right. But what could it be? He was in the medical area, so he must have been hurt pretty badly, but he was all healed now. ...Did something happen at the party? As he continued to ponder, his answer was given.

His heart sank. "W...what?" What did she mean Amara was kidnapped? How could that have happened? Amara was right there. She was right beside him. "No, that's..." He looked down, and his hands started to shake a little. "That's not..."

He then was able to put together what had happened. "...It's my fault..." He stammered. "I was there with her... I didn't protect her... I was too weak." He raised an arm over his eyes, as they started to get red. He couldn't show his sadness. He didn't like to cry. He had to grow up. But this was too much. It was like losing a sister, or a daughter. And he couldn't do anything to stop it, even though he was right there. "Please.. don't hate me. I'm sorry..." He sniffed. "I'm so sorry..."

Something moving in the emptiness

Something drew me near

Someone told me of my future deeds

Whispered them in my ear

Tibarn sighed softly as he removed and hung up his belt, lowering his wings and stretching them out as he shrugged his shoulders. His coat slid back, slithering over the elegant feathered structures, and as it passed the second joint he arched them upward, flicking them a bit and lifting from the shoulders so that the collar caught on his coat rack. He had winced for a moment as his left arm had caught in the shoulder of his jacket, and he quietly sighed. He'd heard his wife, knew exactly what she was talking about, knew what he wanted to ask.

But he was going to make her wait. He was going to let her sit there, watching him get comfortable, unwinding and getting himself comfortable. It was a bit chilly in the room-- the fire was low, and his skin on his bare, battle-scarred chest pulled tight to his muscles. He glanced at Ayra, as if to simply acknowledge her, and wandered over to the fireplace, poking the embers a bit before tossing in another log. It didn't light immediately, and he slowly spread and flapped his wings to circulate air into it until the fresh log caught flame.

He reached for his left arm as he turned, rubbing it-- then winced again and once more resisted the temptation to scratch at his bandages. When he turned to face his wife, illuminated from the sight by the new yellow flame, shadows curled and swam around his eyes, but they could not disguise the fatigue. He had been waking up before Ayra the last few weeks, and she'd recently felt him awakening in the middle of the night or shifting as if trying to run or fly. His obsession with the meals for the party hadn't helped, and had been a worrisome addition to his existing fatigue. At one point a few days prior, he had fallen asleep in the middle of a conference with Vah's reading tutor. Now that he no longer had the party to drive him, he seemed to be stalling in the air. He'd been up all night dealing with the kidnapping, but there was none of the normal ferocity with which the Hawk King attacked his agenda.

He blinked slowly, then sighed. "Ayra," he said, "Yes. I did hear him. I knew you were married when I fell in love with you. At the same time, I was certain you had no children with your husband. You are still young, for a beorc-- too young for..." He closed his eyes. "From Jugdral. Why," he murmured. It was less a question than it was a simple statement, a single word that summed up the frustration, the fear, and the ultimate disappointment that had plagued him the last eight hours. "Why would you keep that secret from me? What, was I to find out when your ex-husband arrived? Or your child? Or... your grandchild? I love you, Ayra. Why would you hide this from me?" He had turned to look at the fire, and his wings twitched as anger and fear hitched in his chest, the anger and fear that had been simmering since the party. When he turned to look at her again, his eyes were narrowed to a sharp glare.

"How can I trust you when you can't trust me?"


From darkness I stepped

Onto the paths of

stars