Twin D' Tal's legacy

A few days later, Ami was moving her shoulder around like normal. "So, get your fill in Sto?" she smiled.

"Yup!" I beamed.

"Good, cuz we're heading back to Traditsye."

I began to tremble.

"I'm not recovered to the point I can fly, so stop shaking."

I let out a sigh of relief. "So are we taking a carriage back?"

"Only to Flódni, then we take a ship down the canal directly to Traditsye."

"Hmm? We're not going all the way in a carriage?"

"This is the fastest and most secure way back, not to mention, we're not traveling alone."

Hearing footsteps, I turned to see Mariamne, Perl, Penina, Duke Ober, Duke Praha, Piposhka, Debora, and Sascha along with some knights.

"Wait, are we all traveling together!? I gasped.

"Yeah. I'm diplomat now, so, uh, I gotta get to the capital I guess," Piposhka shrugged.

"I'll be coming to the capital as well to give the report on all that happened between the invasion and your kidnapping," Duke Ober glared.

"I'm coming to restock on cool blue," Duke Praha giggled.

We all gave Duke Praha a disappointed stare.

"We're both in the same boat as Ami, as Perl and I are unable to fly, meaning we must travel on foot," Penina smiled.

"And since they can't really fight either, I'm sticking with them for the journey just in case a fight breaks out," Mariamne smirked.

"Are all the knights coming too?" I asked.

"Most will just be coming with us back to Ober as they are mostly my men. Some will naturally accompany us to Traditsye though," Duke Ober nodded.

I turned to look at the carriage, then back at everyone. "Uh, I don't think we're all gonna fit."

...

I nervously bobbed my head back and forth as I sat in the carriage along with Ami, Perl, Penina, Piposhka, Debora, and Sascha.

"You really thought we'd all cram into a single carriage?" Ami grumbled.

"Come on, Ami, there's no way I could've known Duke Praha would ride his horse, Mariamne would ride on top the carriage, and that Duke Ober and his men would all walk!" I cried as my cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

"I'll give you the first two, but you should've gotten the last one. Ober and his men were literally about to march out to Sto without any horses or carriages when we first arrived in Flódni."

I slowly began to pout as I curled my legs up onto the seat.

...

"Lookie who's back! Remembered ya wanted some fish n carrots, or is that ya just can't avoid passing through Gelfite!?" Gelffi laughed.

"Think it's mostly the latter, although... Think we could have some carrots?" Ami asked.

Gelffi let out a laugh. "Got a fresh harvest right here! Help yourself as thanks for saving the country."

"You heard of what happened?" I asked.

"Course I did. News is a few days old, and when news spreads from Sto, it always comes through here. Oh, and speaking of which, I hear some new perfume's sweeping the Ober-Kreplach route. Ain't getting through me though, cuz here, the only smells we like are fish... n' carrots. Not whatever that smell was my nephew was showing me."

"Your nephew came by?" Ami asked.

"Yeah, even brought a dang perfume bottle with him. I told him to bring it back, but my yelling spooked him so much, he left without taking the bottle. Oh, think you could take it off my hands?"

I began to frown as Tal popped into my mind.

"We haven't put out anything publicly on Tal yet in regards to the incident," Ami whispered.

I wearily nodded my head.

"Think it's a great day for us both. I actually wanted to help improve upon that perfume, but we ran out of perfume before I could try," Ami smiled.

After loading up on supplies, we were back on the road and made it toFlódni in just under 15 minutes.

"The ship will leave in 30 minutes. That's all the time you get to explore if you choose to," Duke Ober scoffed as he parted ways with us.

I turned to Ami.

"Don't bother, I already know what you're thinking, and that's why he delayed our departure," Ami sighed as she began leading me to the barracks.

...

Tal perked her head up as we approached her cell. "My, it's been a while," she chuckled.

"It sure has. So, they hand the verdict down to you?" Ami asked.

"Execution."

"Figured."

"I'm told it'll be in the same vain as Count Dalphon's, whom I heard was possessed by a dybbuk."

"Did you know about that?"

The chains clanked as Tal curled her feet up. "No, I knew not. Count Dalphon was already a court mage when I joined the inquisitors. Any other questions?"

Ami nodded towards me.

"Tal... Why did you do all this?" I frowned.

"Hmm? Did I not answer that... Oh, how many days ago was it? They don't exactly keep me informed of such things down here."

"No, I'm asking why did you decide to throw away your legacy."

"Sorry, I don't follow."

"House Twin D' Tal. You said you wanted to restore it. So why? Why did you tarnish it in the end by deciding to kidnap us?"

"I was an inquisitor from the start-"

"No, you weren't," Ami growled as she pulled out the bottle of Tal's perfume. "This scent... It's from a rare genus of rose that only grows on Myrtle Isle, and used to be cultivated on the mainland by House Twin D' Tal. It was said to be their greatest pride."

"All the more reason I make use of it to craft the perfect perfume for the perfect cover," Tal smiled.

"So without remorse?" Ami asked as she slid a cup of cool blue into the cell.

Tal began to frown as she crawled over and picked up the cup. "Why should I drink this when I possess the option to just dump it out?"

"Because it's the only way to see if you truly were the perfect agent you claim to be. Last time, we were so focused on Dalphon and what information you knew, we didn't actually probe more into you. Now that things have calmed down, I want to pick up where we left off."

"I ask again, why-"

"I ultimately decide your fate."

I tilted my head in confusion as Tal let out a heavy sigh before picking up the cup and chugging down all the truth potion.

"Now, did you feel any regrets when you enacted the plan to kidnap me?"

"Yes."

"What were they?"

Tal glanced at the perfume. "When I perfected the perfume, a sense of joy overtook me. The scent I long thought I'd never smell again had been brought back by my own hand. For the first time since the day the inquisitors attacked, I thought I could escape them. However, I'd been conditioned to serve them for far too many years. I couldn't just rebel even if I wanted to. When I saw the people of Tzeitel praising my perfume, I wanted to cry, but couldn't. Cry because... because..."

Tears slowly started dripping out of Tal's eyes.

"...Because I knew that once my involvement with the inquisitors came to light, my perfume, the scent of House Twin D' Tal that was near extinguished by the inquisitors, the pride of my lineage, would be scorned and smashed to bits by the wayside. To have our pride eradicated again... I wanted to stop. I wanted to stop the plan, but you can see for yourself, I can only speak my mind if a potion forces me to! I never truly wanted the inquisitors to win. All I wanted when I agreed to join them was to survive. I wanted to survive, but I sacrificed my life in the process. And now... House Twin D' Tal's legacy will be my swinging treasonous corpse, and shattered bottles of scorned perfume."

I slowly shook my head. I knew firsthand how much inquisitors bringing about destruction could change people. My father used to be a calm soul, then after the raid, he was a being of pure anger and wrath.

"We haven't made anything public about you've done. My entire kidnapping itself is still classified info only to the knights. That means House Twin D' Tal's legacy has yet to be tarnished," Ami grumbled.

A soft chuckle escaped Tal's lips. "Then if I may request it, disfigure my appearance and execute me under a different name."

"It's decided then?" Duke Ober growled as he stepped out of the darkness.

Ami nodded. "Yes. My verdict..."

My eyes widened as I heard what she said. 

"Tch, very well. We'll have the matter settled in Traditsye then," Duke Ober growled as he opened the cell and marched over to Tal. "But first, we can't have you be recognizable," he glared as he grabbed hold of Tal's drill tail and hacked it off with a knife.