Adrienne 721Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP50vQcXlUU
721Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOOxxvI0M8
There was no way my plan had failed. I couldn't have let all those people die for nothing.
The thought ran through my brain like ice water, seizing all function, save for my guilt. It shut down my surveying eyes, my attentive ears, and the feeling of my stomach tossing and turning at the punch it had received moments before.
I snapped into the moment. The room smelled like a wood fire. Or was it a room? My eyes strained to adjust, smoke and tears blurring my vision. I could hear people talking, switching between my native language and something lyrical and rhythmic I'd never heard before. A female led the conversation in what seemed an authoritative voice, while an elderly male offered suggestion, one young man seemed to intrude rudely, and another was timid in offering what I assumed to be an alternative to whatever the previous suggestion had been.
So that instructional exercise was useful. The Academy did do something right after all.
No. Back to focus. My eyes had started to clear up, and I could more accurately judge the situation. Unfortunately, the group had also become more attentive to my own awareness. Had my throat not been parched, I would have demanded release, but all that came from my lips was a pathetic whimper.
"We know who you are. And we know why you came here." The young woman's accent lulled over the r in 'here' and overemphasized the w's in 'we' and 'why', yet it only reinforced the commanding aura she exuded. "You will remain here until we see fit that you can walk free without running back to your precious Bastion."
"You speak well for savages." I remarked, as surprised by their mastery of the language as they were at my bold use of it. Another punch to the stomach, but I deserved that one.
"Who is savage here? The people who live in peace with the spirits? Or those that conquer and enslave the free people of this world?" The intruding boy spat from a few feet away. She raised a hand and he took a step back, brooding on what I had said.
"You are Adrienne Iselle, promising student of the Academy. You came here to destroy our resistance and enslave our people as part of your test. Am I wrong?" I shook my head and she scoffed. "So to prove you are powerful, you must take away the free people and bind them in chains. I find truth in what my brother has said. Truly savage."
"The test proves you are skilled, not powerful." I corrected. She turned back to face me with a cruel smile.
"Is skill different from power? Do your clever tricks not kill and enslave just the same as brute force?" When I didn't respond , she scoffed again and turned her back. "They are one in the same, mountain girl. You forget what you really are. A slave to your leader, no more."
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