Dark Armor: Reintroductions

The figure on the floor of the carriage groaned, then shifted its position slightly and went very still. "Ashmiren?" he asked again. "It's Pallian. You're in the flying carriage of the Black Knight -- which is me, so please don't stab me or throw yourself out the door. I'm on the rear bench, and I have..." 

He paused, and looked across at the nightmare lord. "...I don't know how to refer to you. Do you have a name? Pronouns? A name for your people?"

The nightmare lord looked back at him. "I cannot give you my name. I cannot risk it."

"Then don't. Choose something else that I can call you by."

There was a momentary hesitation, and then it said: "I have been the flame's shadow, and the shadow's flame... but I am free now, and need not do those things. Ember, perhaps? A spark waiting to be extinguished, or grow into something new."

"Very well, Ember." He set the rest of his questions aside as the Shadow of Edrias stirred gently, then eased herself up into a crouch and looked around -- at least he thought so; it was hard to tell through the eyeless blankness of her mask. 

Very well, said the Shadow of Edrias, and her voice was a whisper on the night wind. How did I end up here? 

"My friend Ember rescued us both," Pallian told her, through the deep, slightly-distorted voice that the mask gave him. 

The Shadow of Edrias tilted her head in a way that made Pallian think she was studying him dubiously. "I didn't know the Black Knight kept company with a demon. That would explain a lot."

Pallian shook his head. "It's a new development, and something of a long story."

There was a momentary pause, and then the Shadow of Edrias drew herself up and seated herself on the seat beside him. After a moment she reached up, and drew the mask off her head to expose her face. "Fallen lords, Pallian," said Ashmiren. "You really will make friends with anyone, won't you?"

He put a hand to the Black Knight's helm, willing it to release him so he could place it in his lap. "Not just anyone," he said, once his face was exposed and his voice was his own. Not my family, certainly. "It's not like I've had a lot of practice at this."

Ashmiren studied him a moment longer, then turned to look at Ember. "And you... Summoned but not bound, I take it? But you helped us anyway."

"This is so," said the nightmare. "Pallian spared me and released me from my binding. I thought he would appreciate it if I... rescued... someone who had helped him similarly."

Third-princess Ashmiren chuckled at that. "Then I owe you both. Where are we bound?"

"Wherever the carriage takes us," Pallian said, trying -- but probably not succeeding -- at keeping the bitterness out of his voice. "My father has always set its path for me. At a guess, we're likely bound for the Crypt." Even if his father hadn't issued such a command, it might have been built into the carriage's enchantments as a default.

"Well," said Ashmiren, "I supposed that's definitely one way to go to ground."

"You'll be safe there," Pallian said quietly. "I lived there for several years, before my father dragged me back to the court." It would be a temporary safety, if the Second carried through on his threats, but even temporary safety and a chance to regroup would be welcome.

Ashmiren frowned. "So you were just... stranded there? Being the Black Knight?" 

Pallian nodded. "Whenever my father called. At least until you murdered my sister; then he condemned me for failing to save her. He rescinded the sentence when he realized that he would need me to help deal with the Emissary."

The third-princess looked away. "You attacked one of our cities, broke our defenses, murdered its champion, and stole the Spear of the First. You and your sister set all of this off."

Pallian hesitated for a long moment, then nodded to concede the point. Still... "I wasn't accusing you. I barely knew my sister. I was just sharing some very private and painful personal history."

"Oh." Ashmiren leaned her head back against the rear of the carriage. "Well, that's awkward. I'm... sorry?"

Pallian chuckled. "It's weirdly easy to forget, but our nations were bitter enemies until about a week ago. It was always going to be awkward."

Ashmiren chuckled back. "I suppose it was."

Across the carriage from them, Ember leaned forward. "If it helps to know this," it said, "this is no less awkward for me."

Ashmiren turned her head, studied those inhuman features, and said: "Ember... you saved both our lives, I think. If Pallian released you, then you've certainly repaid the debt -- and you don't owe me anything. You're free to do as you wish."

Ember nodded in a very definite fashion. "I wish to stay with the two of you. You will not try to bind me. You will show me how to live in this world."

"Ember," said Pallian carefully, and Ashmiren shut her mouth and turned her head to listen. "We're both in very great danger. If you stay with us, you will be too."

The nightmare lord shrugged. "Then I will help you to deal with that, so that you will not be in danger and we can all be happy."