"I don't see why I can't leave!"

Emme flung herself down onto the makeshift bed, little more than a few bales of hay covered in a scratchy blanket. Her face was red and streaked with tears, and she sobbed bitterly into the bed.

Behind her, watching with disdain, Alyssa Pierre attempted to put on a "helpful and sympathetic" face. It was hard. She worried that she would strain something.

"Look," she said finally, "it's only until we can get you set up somewhere in town. A new name, a haircut maybe...you'll be invisible. Jon only wanted you here for the rally-"

"That was a dirty trick!" spat Emme. "You never told me there would be that many people! And now they all know...about mum..." She buried her face again, not wanting to think about the horrible things she had learned during her stay at the How, about the rape, the lies she'd been told...

Good gods, this girl cries more than a little baby, thought Alyssa.

"He knows what he's doing," she interrupted, exasperated; she put her hands on her hips and frowned at the display Emme was putting on. "You think he'd put you in danger? Every one of those people is guaranteed to help you now. We're probably going to get hundreds of new recruits from this alone."

"Stop saying 'we'," said Emme fiercely. "I'm not bloody one of you, all right? W-willy was, but I'm not. I want to go home, to my bakery, to my life. I don't want a part in this!"

"Coward," said Alyssa coldly. "You'd sit by and let your own people be killed? You know what happened to your precious bakery while we had you in custody, sweetheart...?"

Emme sat up as though she'd been struck by lightning. She stared at Alyssa, wondering if she was only toying with her...

"What," she whispered, not fully wanting to know.

Alyssa strode over to the bed and stood next to it, folding her arms. "They torched it," she said simply. "Bunch of gollies. They'd have killed you, but..."

"WHAT?" screamed Emme, before Alyssa could finished.

There was a silence.

"Your people got out. Some of our lot saved them, so it seems like you owe us a godsdamn apology, now, doesn't it?"

"Hania? Jott?" said Emme, in a small, weak voice.

"They're bloody fine, we've already found them a new home. The gollies weren't really after them. They just like killing, by now."

Sitting down beside Emme, Alyssa hesitated before reaching over and stroking her hair to calm her down. Hey, it works for horses...

"It'll be all right," she said, trying to sound comforting. "They'll come see you as soon as we have you set up in the city. Jon says it'll be just a few more days. That's all."

Defeated, exhausted, Emme found herself nodding. She just wanted to be left alone. The dull shock from learning about her parentage was bad enough; having it public knowledge was shameful and horrifying. And now she couldn't go back to her life, even if she wanted to; she was someone else now, and Hania and Jott would probably move on and start a new business. How could she endanger them again? The pit of her chest felt hollow, as though her heart had been ripped out, and she found herself wishing she could speak to Triar for a moment of comfort.

She hardly noticed when Alyssa left. She lay there on the pathetic little bed, staring off into space, trying to forget everything that had just happened.


((edit: sorry it took so long to wrap up the Rally. I hope to post a few more of these soon to catch everyone up.))