Of Lines crossed

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Costia  

The new kings first order of business was as simple as it was bold: A good nights sleep in a proper bed. Once that was done, he looked around the place. It had been a long time since he had been here. The last time everything felt like it was falling apart. And it had been. It was apparent by his banishment. His banishment spoke for itself. As did the state of his home. Once it had been happy. His father taught him. Then his father got killed. His mother was fierce. His mother was powerful. His mother was all about war not about survival. It was all about schemes. It was pure coincidence that he uncovered a huge scheme.

He ran. He ran down to the cells in disbelieve. Honestly, he prayed to be wrong. He wasn't. Down there he found a woman he thought dead. The commanders former lover. The one they all thought dead. Shock coursed through his veins. He saw the alliance, unstable as it was, fall apart over this already.

"Costia..." Without another word he reached for a key to release her. "All those years. I had no idea."

[Costia]

Costia had no idea how long she'd been in the cell that now held her, there was no way for her to measure time down in the cell where there were no windows. She knew that she'd been down there for a long time, longer than she ever expected to be. In the beginning, when the Ice Queen first locked her down there she thought that she'd be dead within days but time stretched on and still she remained alive until eventually she realised that maybe they planned on keeping her alive. Costia had no idea why Nia kept her alive, all she knew was that there was no way for her to escape her prison and the meagre diet they kept her on made her too weak to fight even if by some miracle she managed to escape.

It wasn't often that people visited her cell, they appeared every so often to deliver her food and then disappeared again up the stairs and out of sight. Now Costia heard the hurried footsteps of somebody running down the stairs that led to her cell and she shuffled backwards, unsure of who it would be. Then a man appeared and she recognised him instantly as the prince of Azgeda, she hadn't seen him since his mother had locked her in that cell and the expression on his face told her that he had not been expecting to find her down there. "Roan?" she asked in confusion, her voice hoarse from lack of use and she struggled to her feet and took a weary step forward. He spoke her name but what interested her most were the words that followed 'All those years. I had no idea'. Years, it had been years, had she really been gone that long?

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He was overcome with emotions. So many emotions. His mother was dead. His mother. He hated and loved her. Despite everything she was his mother. And now she was gone. A part of him was satisfied with it. Another part of him was terrified of a world without her. But, Wanheda had been right, nobody can banish a king form his kingdom. He could make it right. He could negotiate. And his main ally in it was still alive it seemed. Overcome with relief and terror - because Lexa would be furious - he moved forward. Strong arms enveloped Costia in what he suspected might just be the first friendly embrace or touch in years. He held her. He held her close, just strong enough to hopefully give her a sense of security. Because she was safe now. He would not hurt her. He would not try. But he had to plot. With her, not against her. 

"This is good news I got. And terrifying at the same time. I did not expect to return to my people and find you alive. This could destroy every bit of the fragile peace we have with Lexa." And he wasn't exactly willing to do that. Peace was hard earned. And it was meant to last. He had started to talk with Costia about that peace just before she was apaprently imprisoned and he banished. Both pawns in his mothers plans, things could change. "We have to be careful. Are you willing to work with me to get you back to your people without destroying me and mine?" Sure his people held her captive. But he didn't. Back then he had always been open with her about what he planned, what he intended. And so he had to be open, too. "Would you be willing to support Azgedas new king and work with me? It is your choice. I will not continue your imprisonment. You are free. But... if we play our cards right, my mothers mistake doesn't have to start another war."

Costia

[Costia]

Costia watched as Roan opened the door to her cell and walked towards her, she wasn't fearful of the man despite all that his people had put her through. He'd never given her a reason to fear him and from what she'd heard so far, it didn't sound as though he knew that she was down there at all. However, if it really had been years since they'd last seen each other, a lot could have changed and she was aware of that. She might have expected the prince to greet her in any number of ways after finding her the way that he had but what she was not expecting was for him to step up to her and wrap his arms her in the first hug that she'd felt in what felt like forever. For a moment she didn't react, frozen in surprise at the action but then something in her mind clicked and she wrapped her arms around him, breathing a sigh of relief as she did so. She hadn't felt the friendly embrace of another human in such a long time, it felt strange to her, almost alien but the contact was far from unwelcome.

After he released her, some of what he said didn't make immediate sense to her, she could admit that much. He spoke about returning to his people and she wanted so much to understand what he was talking about but the truth was that thanks to his mother, she'd lost years of her life wasting away in a cell and it would take her a while to catch up on everything that had happened in her absence. "Azgeda joined the coalition?" she asked, the idea that their clans had come to an agreement was reassuring, but Roan had mentioned that their peace with Lexa was fragile. "How are things in Polis?" hearing the commander's name brought her some comfort as she'd had no way to know if she was even still alive and on the throne whilst she was in the cell. Even if the time apart had caused irreparable damage to their relationship, Costia could at least be grateful that she was still alive and that providing she was returned to her people, she would soon see her again.

It definitely sounded as though Roan intended to return her to her people, providing it wouldn't spark another war. Another war was the opposite of what Costia wanted, for her own people as well as the people of the other eleven clans "I think it's in all of our best interests if we avoid starting another war" she said, clearing her throat in an attempt to make her voice sound a little less hoarse and restore a little normalcy to the way she sounded. She was eager to be returned to her people and was more than willing to cooperate with Roan so that she could return to her own clan, she'd spent more than enough time on Azgeda land for one lifetime. "Azgeda's new king?" she questioned him, confused by his new title "things really have changed around here" she muttered, guessing that Roan's promotion was the only reason that they were talking about her release at all. "I guess before we do anything, I should thank you for releasing me" smiling, she imagined that it could have ended very differently for her. If Nia had decided it was more trouble than it was worth to keep her alive for so long, or if the new king decided that releasing her wasn't worth the risk.

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