AU Thear: Sophia: Meeting Kieron

[k_a_webb]

This story was also written when there were no inhabitants previously in North Square.

Sophia listened to conversations going on around the room. Bree was talking to Conall about the possibility of making a book of regularly used healing herbs and what remedies they could be used in. Quinn and Zander were talking about the protection of North Square, which was a subject that everyone was worried about. No one knew when they’d be found or what would happen when they were. The only voices she couldn’t hear were those of Aisling and Trey.

Aisling was in another room. Sophia had heard her leave and wanted to go after her, but knew she would never be able to convince her sister that she had done everything she can to make North Square ready. No one minded having to share their homes until more furniture could be made, no matter how long it took. It seemed to be hard for Aisling to understand that safety, especially for Quinn and his friends, was much more important that having a bed.

Trey, unfortunately, was still seen as an enemy by too many people. Bree was still his friend, because she realised what the others didn’t, but it was hard for Trey to spend too much time with her, and Conall would occasionally have the odd conversation with Trey, but in the end he was the son of the leader of the Dorma supremacist movement. It irritated Sophia. After one conversation with Trey it was easy to see that he was a good person trapped by circumstances beyond his control. She just couldn’t convince anyone and she was the blind one.

Sighing, Sophia stood. Normally the moment she stood up someone would be there, in case she needed help, and that time was no exception. There were days when she didn’t want anyone to help her, because she didn’t need help most of the time. As long as no one randomly moved the furniture she was fine. Occasionally she used it.

“Do you need help?” Trey asked, and Sophia smiled at her magical ability.

“I want you to come with me.”

“Sophia, I’m fine.”

“We both know that you’re not.”

“The past can’t be changed.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean that they have any right to treat you the way they do.” She shook her head. “Come with me to the moon garden.”

A hand gently took Sophia’s arm and they left the living room together. “I know you want everyone to accept me, but things aren’t that easy.” Trey sighed. “Sometimes I think they’re right.”

“About what?”

“Me. For all those years I had to project this image of being my father’s son in order to keep myself safe and…” He sighed. “Maybe I really am that person.”

“Trey, they don’t know you. Everything they say is based on judgements of the person you pretended to be and not the person you are. I know that your friends don’t agree with them, neither does Bree, and neither do I.”

“Some days it is hard to let me be me, rather than the High Priest of Herne. When I look at what’s not being done, for whatever reason, I want to take over and get it done. I have to force down that urge because if I did then I would be him rather than me.”

“Having the will power to push that urge down shows to me that you want to be you, but I don’t think you necessarily should.” She bit her lip. “Aisling needs someone to talk to her and convince her that she did everything she could, so it’s time to share the burden of looking after North Square with other people.”

“Surely you’re the best person for that.”

“I’ve tried.”

“Are you telling me that I should try talking to Aisling?”

“Yes, I am.”

“She’s not going to listen to me.”

“Maybe she won’t, but it’s worth a try. No one person, now, can look after the entirety of North Square. There are too many people and too many things that need to get done. Aisling feels like she has failed people by not providing enough furniture, which is illogical, but that’s my sister for you.”

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted the number of people who arrived in that first sennight, not even Persephone.”

“That’s what I’ve tried to tell Aisling, and that living in a safe town means much more to them right now than a bed. Getting behind that first wall is such a relief.”

“She never had that, did she?”

Sophia shook her head. “I think that’s part of the reason she can’t understand my point of view, and she is the only person who can’t, but I don’t know how to explain it to her. Conall and I weren’t really in any danger because there was plenty of time for us to get here before things got bad, but you were.”

“That’s not something I really want to talk about.”

Gently, she squeezed his hand where it was on her arm. “You don’t have to. All I’m saying is that for you, considering who you are, it must have been much more of a relief to get that first gate bolted behind you than it was for most other people.”

There was a long silence. Sophia didn’t want to speak during it because she didn’t know what Trey was thinking about. He hadn’t talked about what he’d seen while he was travelling around the country to warn his friends about what was happening, but Sophia had heard Quinn talk about some of the things he’d seen so she could imagine how bad it was for some people. It made her wish she’d been able to convince more of her friends that North Square was going to be a better place to live, even though it was still a work in progress.

“It was,” Trey said finally, and Sophia could hear the mix of emotions in his voice. “The real relief came when I walked into town and found my friends here.” He sighed. “I was never scared for myself, Sophia. If I was going to die then so be it, but I didn’t want anyone I cared about to get hurt, especially as I was the one who had set up those handfastings.”

“How did you feel when you saw Bree?”

“I knew she’d be safe. It was late when she left the Residence, so I knew she had plenty of time to get to North Square before people realised what had happened and what it meant. The real feeling of relief was when she walked up to me in the gardens of a burning building that I thought she’d be trapped in. At that moment I was just so grateful to whatever deity it was that had made her hate wine.”

“She does love you.”

“Just not in the same way that I love her. I know that.”

“You should tell her how you feel about her.”

“No, I really shouldn’t.”

“Why shouldn’t you?”

“I’d be doing it for selfish reasons and that’s really not fair on her. I think she likes Conall.”

“Everyone likes Conall.”

“You know what I mean.”

“It’s possible, but telling her how you feel isn’t going to change what’s going on with them.”

“Sophia, I just think it would be a bad idea, and when you love someone you have to do what’s best for them.”

She raised an eyebrow. “How do you know what’s best for her, Trey? In the end it’s up to her to decide what’s best for her and you’re just making excuses.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Nodding, Sophia tried not to think about the man who had left her behind because he was doing what was best for her. “I know how much it can hurt, and what hurts the most is not being given a choice. Bree won’t thank you for it.”

“Who was he?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“If you ever do want to talk about it, then I’m happy to listen.”

“Thank you.”

“He was an idiot.”

“Sophia?” a voice she recognised almost too well asked from the left of them.

Part of her wanted to tell him to go away, but she didn’t. “What are you doing here, Kieron?” she asked, trying to keep her voice level.

“I came here with my parents when the news of the fire at the the Residence reached us. I never thought you’d be here.”

“Aisling is my sister. Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“Your family is pure Uisdro.”

Sophia almost smiled. “That really doesn’t matter when you’re related to a priestess that the Dorma would love to get rid of.” She sighed. “Trey, go and talk to Aisling for me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Trey’s hand released her arm and Sophia felt very alone. She looked at Kieron, or at least where his voice came from, because she felt it was bad manners not to look at the person she was talking to even if she couldn’t see them. It was hard to think of what to say to him. Go away was still an option, but at the same time she wanted to ask if he had any explanation for what he’d done.

“Who was he?”

“Trey, the ex-High Priest of Herne.”

“I don’t think someone like him should be in North Square.”

“Someone like him? You don’t know Trey, so don’t start judging him based on what other people have said about him. He’s my friend.”

“He’s the son of the man who started this whole mess.”

Sophia laughed. “It started long before Trey’s father was even born, Kieron.” She shook her head. “Surely you know your history well enough to remember that every history book in the country was destroyed three hundred years ago.”

“They’re connected?”

“Of course they’re connected. Everything is connected. Why else do you think someone built a town behind two thick stone walls?”

“I thought this was a normal town for… well, whenever it was built.”

“North Square was built nearly a millenia ago by people known as the sect of Hecate. Hecate was their deity and she asked them to build this town for their descendants, for the descendants of people who would settle here looking for somewhere safe, because the history of this country would be forgotten. If it wasn’t for them, for Hecate, we wouldn’t have North Square. Nowhere would be safe for people with mixed blood or people who don’t believe what the majority do.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

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