Lord kelwin was baring down on Tallulah, thinking that she had something to do with Atlas leaving the city of Aria sooner. Indirectly, perhaps, but she received no communication from him directly, and part of her was saddened, but the other part of her knew the terrible consequences if she were to contact Atlas and be found out.

She was close to being found out by Gareth, Benna had left her chambers one night and was caught by him, but when he found out she was of dragon kin, his interest turned to disgust. His interest in Benna made Tallulah worried for her sake. Gareth did not confront Tallulah after that interaction, but perhaps he was waiting for the opportune moment. In fact, Gareth had left her well alone after the incident in the library, for which she was infinitely grateful. It was only a week since then, and Lord Kelwin was in frantic haste to muster his men in order to meet Atlas on open field rather than being caught in woods or a town. During this time, Tallulah spent most of it in her chambers, not being allowed to assist and know what was going on. She was fine with this, for it allowed her to make her own plans with her ladies.

Once they started their march north, Benna and Aurora would contact other women who had been sent on similar missions by Atlas to gather allies in the cities and towns they would pass. Hopefully, this would muster enough of a force to bring down Kelwin's rebellion from within and end the fighting before true damage could be inflicted. It was only a plan, which could go wrong at any point, but Tallulah hoped it wouldn't.

Tallulah wanted to see her brother, Talon, again, but she could only guess about his whereabouts with all the time passed. This lime of thought brought her to Iris and Ladrin as well. She would have known if they were captured along with her.

Currently, Tallulah sat perched on her bed. Benna, Rika, and Aurora surrounded her as they leafed through the huge volumes Tallulah had procured from the library before Kelwin confined her to her room for the foreseeable future.

"What is the point of reading these? They are such a bore," whine Rika.

"Because," said Tallulah, "if I am to be queen, I need to understand our history as dragon kind,"

"We could teach you what we know," Aurora said.

"Even what you know may be paltry to what these books contain. Did you know that the fourth King, Anrath, had a feline concubine," Benna wrinkled her nose at this piece of information.

"No,"

"-or that his son and heir was actually a Bastard," Tallulah interjected, "His mother was a chamber maid," when she'd read that tidbit of information it really intrigued her, but scales never lied and Andoran succeeded his father at age 60 after he died from losing his mate in childbirth to a sister, who survived, but nothing else was mentioned about her in any other books.

"Now that is an interesting bit of information, but those were only speculations and could never be proved," Aurora said in reply. Tallulah knew in her heart, though, that it was true.

"These books were written centuries ago, Lady Tallulah, and without checking them against the record keeper in Aria, there's no way of knowing their sincerity," added Rika.

Tallulah couldn't help but hope that this was true. It would over turn so much that the dragons felt was certain in their society.

They sat in silence for a while thereafter, Tallulah perusing through her volume. As time passed, the other women became bored with theirs and started embroidering fabric that Lunea had brought them two days ago, before Kelwin confined Tallulah to her chambers.

While Tallulah was decent at needle point, she preferred reading because growing up, she was only taught her letters and was not allowed to expand her knowledge aside from reading the books of healing that her mother used. Having left the confines of Idris before and given the opportunity to read and gain the knowledge Tallulah relished in that freedom.

While each of these women clearly had a level of education above hers, their lack of learning surprised her.

"When I ventured to the kitchens earlier, I overheard that Lord Kelwin was away from the keep on official business. It is the reason preparations took a halt today," said Benna. With such a sparse scale pattern, it was easy for the orange female to blend into human life, which is how Tallulah employed her when she herself couldn't leave her chambers. Kelwin only kept human servants to preserve the importance of race. What a crock of shite, Tallulah had thought. Kelwin only cared about preserving himself.

It was clear that this war, or at least what it has become, was to overthrow the rule of the black dragon. Moreover, it was clear from her perspective that even though Atlas was young by their standards, he was born to lead, and Kelwin's campaign would fall down upon him with the right move. That was her hope anways. Atlas would have to prove more cunning than Kelwin, and Tallulah couldn't see that from him. Atlas was a good man who cared about his people. It wasn't in him to lie his way to the top.

Tallulah knew this was where she would be of importance. She lied her way into his guard and lied her way to this point. Perhaps she was more like Kelwin in that regard. Tallulah shuddered at that and her dragon reared it's head within her. They weren't like him, they did what was necessary to survive. Tallulah had to calm her racing heart. It was the first time she felt such strong emotion from her other half.

The others could sense something was wrong, though, and she was flooded with questions of concern.

"I was just in my head too much, all is well," she told them.

A loud banging erupted on her door. Tallulah had to double check to make sure she wasn't wearing any self incriminating clothing in the event it was one of Kelwin's officers before scrambling to open the door. The women were quick to grab their things and hide in the left side of the room where no one would see them with the door open. Tallulah smelled the stench of spirits before she even opened the door and knew immediately who it was behind the door.

"So the boy is alive, I thought I saw a lovely little lady come in here just the other day. My squadron is going into the city tonight and I am inviting you to come with," flashbacks of painful nights assaulted her mind as the spirits washed over her from his breath. She had to fight the urge to gag.

"I will decline the invitation, I cannot and will not go out," her dragon was battling with her mind for dominance, the feral instinct to shred and gut the man before her coming forth. It was giving her a headache, and her heart was racing.

"Boy, you cannot stay in her all the time, other if so, why not share the women you keep to yourself," he slurred. Tallulah needed him to go. Something in her snapped and before she knew it, claws extended, and she blacked out.

She awoke some time later, on her bed, Benna standing over her, worry lacing her face.

"You literally threw him down the hall before we could do anything screaming that he leave you alone, but it wasnt your voice. It was half growl like your dragon was coming out from within. When you turned back around, your eyes were glowing and your hands had morphed into clawed appendages. Why does that man garner such a reaction from you? I've never seen you so hostile towards anyone, even Lord Kelwin," quipped Aurora.

Tallulah sat up before tucking her knees to her chest, her head pounding with unresolved nervous energy. She never wanted to share that part of her life again, but these women deserved an explanation, especially after her display.

"It's a long story, so you may want to get comfortable," Tallulah told them. And she began telling them, of her upbringing, her mother's deceit of her heritage, and everything else. There were times during her story that she couldn't look at the women before her because of the tears that leaked from their eyes. This was the third recounting of her story and for some odd reason she couldn't bring herself to feel any emotion about it now. When she had explained it all to Lunea weeks ago it was a flood of emotion and tears but e couldn't bring herself to grieve now.

When Tallulah got to the part of her two years with Gareth they understood everything. Rika even suggested it was her dragon healing and protecting her when she had these outbursts. It was an interesting theory, and one she wouldn't dismiss.

"Kelwin is even more cruel, since I assume he knows all of this information, or at least part of it, and holds it against you," Benna said.

"Indeed, and there are days that being a part of his schemes make me want to hurl my guts up and die in a hole, but I can't, for your sake and the sake of this war," Tallulah spat.

"Don't speak like that. You have a mate who would adore and cherish you," Rika said quietly.

"Yes, perhaps, but what about the husband who mutilated me? Law trumps feelings any day, and as much as I want to be with Atlas, I am still a married woman. I could not," There, she admitted it aloud.

"We could make him disappear," Benna said. "Make it seem like an accident of war," Tallulah had to laugh at this.

"It would be the only way to truly be rid of him," she agreed.

The tower bells rang outside, meaning that Lord Kelwin had returned. All of them went to the window. They could see a line of wagons entering the keep. Each of them were pulled by several horses. Kelwin was bringing in prisoners and Tallulah hoped it wasn't anyone she knew.