Alex
She hadn't been lying when she'd told the doctor she had a full schedule. She only had a few hours before Charity was set to return home, and she had every intention of making them count. That was, until a rider arrived from South Feyshore, requesting an immediate meeting with the Queen on behalf of Sir Harmattan. It appeared, after months in an holding cell on the outskirts of Astoria, just along the border between itself and South Feyshore, Amalthea was ready to talk. 

The message gave no indication of what she'd said, considering that information was private and _not_ anything the queen wanted out to the public should the letter have been intercepted. He swore he hadn't been, but she couldn't take chances. Instead, she dressed immediately, and found herself on the first carriage to the borderlands. 

They had intentionally kept the woman stationed here as opposed to in Astoria's capital. For one, Anyanka didn't want prisoners so close to home, she'd worried about that with Mikhail and the new baby. Neither were a concern now, but she still wasn't fond of the idea of the possibility of escape leading the mad woman straight to her very bedroom. Keeping some distance felt better, and it muddied the paperwork in regards to _exactly_ she was being treated. South Feyshore had no solid laws in regards to, well, anything considering the near open season it had maintained on clearing out the bandits that had plagued it. If Amalthea's name happened to disappear under the rug with theirs, no one would think twice on it.

When she arrived at the stronghold, she was greeted by no more than five guards. Zane hadn't asked for much in his station, and the outfit she'd sent with him had dwindled over time. For a while, they were starting to believe the woman genuinely had nothing else to tell. When she pushed open the door, she was met with a small hearth that illuminated the dark room of the home her men were keeping. Two glanced her way, expecting to see one of their brethren, and they scrambled to their feet upon seeing the redheaded woman. 

"Where's Harmattan?" She asked, red cheeked and working to pluck her gloves off her fingers as she tried to catch her breath from having practically run the rest of the way up the hill when her coach insisted it couldn't surpass it with the ice.
Cheryll
"Right here." Zane called out, moving into the room. He was just outside the door when he heard the scrambling, and he knew who it was when he heard the men stammering out replies. Very few people could get that reaction out of them, and Zane didn't think Angelica would be sent for something like this.

Zane took note of the fact that Anyanka was red faced, her breaths coming in quickly. He rolled his eyes at that, waving towards the guards, "Go somewhere, do something, but don't bother us."

He extended his arm to Anyanka, a small smirk growing on his face, "If you'll come with me, Madame, I have some news that you might be excited in hearing."

He eyed the guards walking out, and decided he'd clarify to them real quick, "If you actually do need us, you can bother us. But we'll actually be in the office, not the cell I commandeered."
Alex
Anyanka's eyes lit up upon seeing the man, and her flushed features turned from harsh to excited. She wanted to hug him tightly, as it turned out she'd missed the man. When her trio of close friends dwindled to only one, the dynamic changed, and even Angelica wasn't a fan of the boys being gone. He shoo'd the others out of the room, and held his hand out to her. Giddy, she finished plucking her glove off and moved to take his hand, squeezing it firmly with her own cold one before letting him lead her out of the main room. 

"It's good to see you, even though you look like shit." She told him, her other hand clasping over the one that held his as she moved into step at his side. "I can only hope you've got a good wine to go with this story you're about to tell." She added.
Cheryll
"I must admit, I haven't had much sun during this time." He agreed, looking down at his skin, he had paled drastically during the torture of Amalthea. He didn't sleep much either, so the bags under his eyes probably helped add to the image.

"Sadly, I don't know which wines we have." He admitted, leading her towards the office. "Although, I hope you'll enjoy hearing how she broke. It's quite the tale. You may enjoy hearing that it wasn't just me who broke her."
Alex
Anya smirked, "And here I was, hoping I'd get to spend the rest of my days calling you my hero. Now you'll have to do something _else_ to impress me." She teased, but upon deciding that he actually did look exhausted and worn, she laid off. Zane and Angelica were the last two people she could speak to as equals in terms of humanity. Conversations with Charity or Bradai weren't this candid, and she didn't think she'd ever get that again from anyone with a title. 

They moved into the office, and she took a seat as he began his sordid tale. She cringed, more than once at the recap of how they had tried to break her so far. She'd give her this, the woman was stronger than she'd ever thought. Being raised on the icy cliffs had instilled a coldness in the woman she'd never seen matched, and hoped she never would again. When he got to the bit about the pillow and the guards, her lip curled and she had to turn her attention away. 

It would have broken her too.

"So what did she finally tell you?" She asked after a long silence.
Cheryll
Zane saw her turn as he mentioned what broke Amalthea, and he mumbled, "In my defense, I was told to get creative."

Zane stared at her, and sighed. He stood and opened the door quickly, peering down the hall both ways, confirming it was empty, before he closed it and sat on the desk. "Juliana De Barbaric. I don't know if there were more, but that's who I got out of her."

He drummed his hands softly on his legs for a brief moment, before he asked her, "So what happens now? What do we do with this knowledge?"
Alex
The name meant nothing to her, and the excitement she had felt immediately burst within her chest at the realization that, there wasn't much _too_ do with that information in this office. The redhead shook her head and raised a brow. "The name means nothing to me, I suppose we'll have to start asking around until it does." 

She could write to Bradai, or Lord Carter. Perhaps when she returned she'd catch Charity, and could ask her about the name and if it meant anything. There were libraries back home of recovered literature and histories from Stormalong, perhaps the name was somewhere within the shelves at home. 

Her brow furrowed the more she thought about it, and she pressed her lips into a tight line, smoothing her fingers over her forehead. "I'll be honest, Zane, I hoped this would be a more fulfilling revelation. I suppose, I genuinely was hoping there was no one else involved in this, and I could have just spent the rest of my days letting the worst of my men rip her apart and dragging her back from the brink of death to do it all over again." Anya glanced at him. "This means there were other players involved in my son's death, and I don't look forward to seeing how deep that well goes."
Cheryll
The news that she didn't know anything involved with that name didn't sit well with Zane, knowing that it either meant more torturing of Amalthea for him, or helping reading through libraries. Neither of which sat well with him at the current moment. 

"Now I really wish I knew what wine we have here." He groaned out, resting his head on his arm. The room was slightly spinning, and it was taking a bit out of him to keep awake.

Rolling his arms, he stepped around Anyanka and began to massage her shoulders. "Well, know that me, Angelica, and the rest of Astoria will be behind you." He let a small laugh escape him, unable to stop himself from his next remark. "And knowing Angelica, she'll only be behind us so that we actually get work done."
Alex
Zane moved from his perch on the desk around to the chair she sat in, and his hands found her shoulders. It was strange, that even though he was the exhausted and worn one of the pair, he was the one working over her shoulders. It immediately made her feel guilty, and her hand lifted up to rest over his.

"I can find some, or, you can leave this hell hole for a day." She offered, tilting her head back to look up at him. The hand that rested over his caught his jawline, her finger tracing over it carefully. "Get a real meal in you, a hot bath to soothe you, all the wine you could drink and a bed fit for a King." She mused. "There's more work to be done, but you're not going to get creative enough to fulfil it if you're unable to stand. Take the next day or two to recoup, I'll send out letters to see what I can find before we scour the libraries back home."
Cheryll
"That sounds perfect. The cot bed I stole down in the dungeon wasn't that great." He mumbled softly, leaning into her hand. "Who would've guessed?"

"I'll have to tell some of the guard captains that I'll be gone." He told her, still leaning into her hand. "They're hopefully smart enough to operate by themselves for the day, but they're some of the most worrying people I've ever met. Leave for an hour or so to stretch your legs, and next thing you know, I've got a full search party tracking me."

He smiled at that, remembering that day a little too well. It wasn't an hour or so that he was gone, it was the whole day. So that probably did warrant the search, but he wasn't going to admit that.

"So I take it we will be returning to Astoria then?" He asked, fighting down a yawn that threatened to escape.
Alex
The redhead nodded, moving to stand and turn. Her arms wrapped around him, though he was considerably taller than her, and she found herself with her head against his shoulder as she squeezed him. "Please. A day at least. I need you rested and to recount the events of the last few months so I can update the logs with anything I might have missed before I send out my own searches for information." 

She lifted her head from his shoulder, letting her chin rest against his chest as she looked up at him. A small smile formed, and she moved onto her toes to press a soft kiss to his jawline. "Go pack what you need, I'll inform the captains of your return to Astoria for the time being."
Cheryll
"You assume I had a chance to unpack anything. It's probably still all either in the pack still, or been thrown somewhere in the room." He mumbled, letting his chin drop onto her shoulder. "I don't truly need much, just need to grab whatever is still in my bags, and that'll be enough."

He squeezed her softly once, before letting go. "Shall we meet at the gate then? Or did you leave your coach somewhere again?" He couldn't help but remember her redness as she entered the stronghold, and he couldn't help but ask a question he felt he knew the answer too.
Alex
"The coach wouldn't attempt the hill on the ice, it's not a long walk." She assured him, and she glanced to the door she'd come through with him. She gave him a quick pat on the arm before returning to the main room. At once, the men stood at attention, and she gave them the news that their beloved torturer would be returning home with her for the evening. They were only stationed at the border a few more days before they were due to change guards, so she didn't feel much upset in the news. 

With that, she headed back to the door, and made her way back to her coach, waiting for Zane to come and join her. From the bench, she pulled a blanket, and had it ready for the man, intent on forcing him to try and get some sleep on their trip back to
Cheryll
Zane gathered up all of the items he felt like taking with him, one half full pack, a few reports, and a small knife. He took his time walking, not looking forward to the cold awaiting him. The goodbyes he got from the guards was a welcome one, and he spent a minute talking to them before making his way down to the coach.

The walk truly wasn't that bad, and the cold helped wake him a bit, but that didn't stop him from almost slipping onto his ass as he walked. Once he entered the coach, he took a spot next to Anyanka, and passed out at almost the exact moment he sat down, his pack falling to the floor.