Page 3744

Gema said nothing more, finding herself abruptly unsettled. It was a rare thing to have Ozolos speak to her so much like this. But it was rare still for him to speak with such clear intensity.

If he was a telling her all of this, then perhaps she had misjudged their present circumstances a bit.

Perhaps this place was even more dangerous than she’d realized.

She recalled the last time Ozolos had spoken to her in such a tone. In fact, she might never be able to forget it, because it had been when the Second Continental War began.

Ozolos had been more vocal--and more irritable--that entire day, even before they had heard about the invasions. He’d told her again and again to pay attention.

‘See the world around you,’ he’d said privately. ‘Do not simply look. See it. Listen to it. Read between its lines. Uncover what it is trying to hide from you.’

And the time before that, it had been when she’d learned about the Rainlords’ betrayal of the Vanguard. Ozolos had been especially strange on that day.

‘The Veil shudders, my dear. It shudders and cries. It weeps, and it lies. It sells, and it buys. It whispers, and it dies. Listen to it carefully. But don’t believe it overly. Our people, our people. Who are they truly?’

And so on. She certainly hadn’t understood what he was talking about, but at the very least, she could tell that he’d been greatly upset. Even moreso after they heard the news.

As had she, of course.

Ever since leaving home, she’d harbored conflicting feelings about her heritage. Not once had she actually told anyone in the CID that she was a Rainlord.

She wasn’t trying to hide it, necessarily, and she was certain that plenty of the higher-ups already knew, but it still wasn’t something she’d wanted to advertise. Would it have made people treat her differently?

Probably.

Did she even deserve to use that label, anymore?

No idea.

She’d learned the history. Her parents had drilled that into her, most certainly. She’d learned about the larger-than-life heroes of yore. And about the ideals they tried to hold to throughout their difficult lives.

But she’d never really known what to make of all that stuff, never known if she really believed in it like everyone else did. Or like they seemed to, at least.

And yet, when that news first arrived, when she’d heard that her kin had “betrayed” the Vanguard and even fought against the Gargoyle of Korgum, of all people... she’d still ended up feeling profoundly hurt and confused.