Mirror, Mirror

[DragonSong]

"Oh gods. Let's just get moving." Kiara rolled her eyes, turning toward Kit--and then hesitating. The young dragon had already started to crouch down so they could mount, but it seemed to strike him at the same time it did her that...they had never done this. Not really, not the two of them.

Riding her own Kit was second nature to her--to them both. But this wasn't her Kit.

[MadEmperor]

Oblivious to the thoughts running through the minds of his companions, Grav climbed on without a moment's hesitation. Looking down at her, he raised a brow at her delay. "Well? Hurrying was your idea, wasn't it?"

[DragonSong]

"...Right." Kiara shook her head briefly. "Yeah, right."

She climbed up onto Kit's back--both young woman and dragon pretending it didn't feel familiar-but-alien--and settled herself where she would normally have sat just above the dip of Kit's shoulders.

She took a breath and started to draw on her magic. "This'll take me a minute," she warned in a mumble, her skin already starting to glow with that faint golden glimmer that now seemed to indicate her use of magic.

[MadEmperor]

Meanwhile, in the other world...

Dan and Kiara approached the mercenary encampment, prodding their prisoner ahead of them. As soon as they were noticed, bows were drawn and they were commanded to halt.

"You must have a deathwish coming here with only one hostage," said a tall bearded Connloathian man as he approached. Kiara recognized the voice from Augustin's study; he could only be Ballentyne, leader of the Black Talon. 

[DragonSong]

Well.

Time to bluff.

Kiara shot her strange Grav-but-not companion a look that pleaded,Play along, and just had to hope he understood it.

"I'm afraid the deal's changed, Ser Ballentyne," she said with a shrug—one that casually displayed the sharp glint of her counterpart's dagger. "Augustine's had a change of heart. We're merely returning your man."

[MadEmperor]

Ballentyne frowned suspiciously, filling the air with a sense of danger. "He wouldn't send some rando I've never laid eyes on to tell me that. Besides, Vannier isn't the type to get cold feet. Try again."

Dan managed to keep his mouth shut. Even he knew it would be dangerous to inform the mercenary that he had killed his employer. No doubt their prisoner would tell him once he was released, but hopefully they would be some distance away before that happened.

[DragonSong]

"Who said anything about cold feet?" She lifted one brow, head cocked to the side. "I said change of plan--which is where I come in. And that's all you need to know, serrah."

She pushed their prisoner forward a step, waving her other hand airily. "Now take him so I can be done with this."

[MadEmperor]

Ballentyne sneered unhappily. With a snap of his fingers, he sent the men flanking him to retrieve the prisoner. Yet he was still suspicious. More so when his eyes fell again on Dan and something seemed to click.

Dan noticed the look of dawning realization and he glanced at Kiara, wondering how she would cover for his familial resemblance. If she couldn't, things were about to get ugly.

[DragonSong]

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

Thinking fast, Kiara allowed a deliberate air of laziness to saturate her posture and looked from Ballentyne to Dan and back.

"Oh, him? Clever work, isn't it?" She grinned. "Like I said, the plan has changed. Good thing a mordecai's field can't affect faerie glamour, huh?"

She really, really hoped this mercenary had been briefed on her counterpart's run in with Dan's—or rather his brother's—mordecai friend. And that he wouldn't require more "proof" from her.

[MadEmperor]

"So your plan is what—to frame his idiot brother for the slaughter?" Ballentyne asked, still suspicious. "Not much of a change of heart, I have to say. Unless you mean to tell me his lordship is suddenly above using our services."

The powerfully built mercenary was on the edge of anger, but whether this was from having his payday threatened or from being lied to was anyone's guess.

[DragonSong]

It took pretty much all her willpower to keep any of her panicked thoughts from showing in her expression.

She shrugged in the face of Ballentyne's anger. "Not my plan, I'm just doing what I'm paid for. Vanier said to return your man, and tell you to--what was it? Ah, yeah." She dropped her voice into a bad imitation of Dan's brother's. Though her Connlaothian accent was actually passable. "Wait for further orders, and you can collect your coin when the new plan is done." Another shrug. "Couldn't tell you what it is. Something about meeting at your second rendezvous point?"

[MadEmperor]

Ballentyne didn't appear completely satisfied, but he relaxed a bit. Apparently, there actually was a second rendezvous point. The mercenary would, of course, eventually figure out that he'd been misled, but it would be long enough to allow Dan and his parents to think of a solution that didn't involve paying off the unscrupulous mercenaries.

"You heard the woman!" Ballentyne called out as he turned. "Pack up and move out!"

[DragonSong]

Kiara nodded briskly. "Pleasure doing business, serrah."

Holy shit holy shit holy shit did that actually work?!

She looked back over her shoulder at Dan and arched one eyebrow before nodding away from the mercenaries' now bustling encampment. "Shall we?"

Please just let us walk away, please please please...

[MadEmperor]

When the pair were some distance away and well out of earshot of even the most sensitive of ears, Dan started laughing hysterically. He couldn't believe that bluff worked. "Ansgar's beard—I thought for sure he would kill us on the spot! You are either incredibly lucky or the gods are looking out for you. Maybe both."

[DragonSong]

Kiara leaned back against the nearest tree, a vaugely shaky and just slightly too high laugh of her own catching in her throat.

"Fucking hells." She snorted and scrubbed both hands down her face. "Would you believe I'm out of practice at that? And shiiiit you're lucky it was me with you--I'd bet you solid copper the other me has the whole Fae-can't-lie thing going on, doesn't she?"

[MadEmperor]

"She always seemed bluntly honest, at least with me. But, yes, I suppose she's gotten more so since her Fae side took over," he answered after a moment's thought.

"We should... probably rendezvous with Ser Kit before he dies of worry. My parents too, for that matter, as hard as it will be to face them after what I had to do."

[DragonSong]

"Right. Right, yeah, we should." It felt so strange that she couldn't simply reach out to Kit and assure him of their safety--or that Grav couldn't.

Dan.

Whoever.

The hysterical laughter dried up quickly, and she rolled her shoulders back as she shrugged away from the tree. "C'mon, let's get moving."

[MadEmperor]

After reuniting with the young dragon, the group headed back towards the manor. As they traveled, Dan turned to her with a question likely also on Kit's mind. "So... I suppose it is time for you to return your world and stop your version of my brother."

[DragonSong]

Li it very clearly tried not to let his wings sag in relief as Kiara nodded. "I just...hope they've had enough time," she murmured with a small frown down at her feet. "We were in a pretty bad spot when I...left."

She shook her head briskly and glanced up at them. "And you? You going to find your parents at the refugee camp, when, ah, she gets back?"

[MadEmperor]

Dan nodded. "Yes. Then discuss how to handle the mercenaries when they realize they have been duped. Paying them off certainly does not sit right, but in the end we may have no better alternative. But that is a matter for us, not you. We will likely not meet again after this."

"I wish you luck and a decisive victory."