Young Writers Society

(Hah! Way to start now, Gaius lol)

She nodded, getting more sure of herself the more she considered it. Her father's line had held the crown for a long, long time. “Hm… I wonder if she’ll get called to be a herald too, maybe. Or my other sisters?” She glanced at him.

Gaius gave a noncommittal hum, picking up the pace.

(Who did we give her other sister again? Who's the god?)

(Don’t recall lol do you think Flotti might be a good fit? I think we may have toyed with the idea of Froenig but I like him as a fit for Gaius wat better than Rana. What’s Flotti like?)

She looked at him suspiciously. “I’m right, aren’t I? Who is it?”

(Flotti is pretty cool; she's kind of high-energy since she's the messenger god. A direct descendant of Haelar--she's his daughter. She can be a bit fickle, though)

"That's not for you to know yet," he said slowly.

(Ooh nice! Let’s go for that, then)

Ky furrowed her brow. “Who is it?”

(Awesome!)

"Don't ask me again," he warned. "It's not for you to know."

“I’m going to stop telling you what Haelar says to me if you’re going to keep information from me,” she threatened. “And the ghosts. And Rönn.”

"Oh, no," he said without passion. "What ever will I do."

She looked at him irritably. Fine. She supposed withholding knowledge wasn’t a good enough threat for him anymore. Time to up the antics, then. “I’ll tell everyone you’re Froenig’s herald.”

He sighed and dragged up the possibilities of that going wrong. It would be awkward and frustrating, to be sure, but not catastrophic. He could get there first, anyway.
"But you won't," he said. That was the thing--he could see quite a few paths where she was simply bluffing. She meant it now, to be sure, but who knew how long her courage would last?

Anger surged through her. He was even more infuriating than before. Condescending. Frustrating. Patronizing. Before she had a chance to actually think through it — or realize what a bad idea it was — she decided to put her hand on his shoulder, briefly, so he could see how awful he was being. Apparently he didn’t understand unless he felt the emotions himself. Fine. She’d show him. How unreasonable he was being, keeping information about her own family from her.

Gaius jerked backward as her thoughts surged to the front of his mind all at once, along with her feelings and frustrations. He buffed out a sharp breath as if he'd been punched, bringing a hand to his temple as he tried to blink it all away.

She almost felt guilty. But he deserved it. He was the reason she was having those feelings; so he could deal with them, too. Suffer through his own mess, not just dump it on her to deal with. She buried her hand deep in her pocket and kept walking, satisfied that it’d worked. As payback, if not leverage.

He didn't follow, steadying himself against the wall until her thoughts disappeared back into the whirlwind. Catching his breath, he looked after her. "There will be consequences if you do that again," he panted. "This--this is not a joke, not some petty thing to play around with. It does me harm. Do you understand that?"

She glanced back at him irritably. “Oh, no. Whatever will I do.” See how he liked being on the receiving end of his own words.