Teenagers make dumb decisions

The more she spoke, the more Bramble looked concerned and perturbed by what Ember had been planning in secret. Bramble brought up the point that gathering intelligence on their enemies was their father's job and Ember immediately began to bristle on reflex, her response coming before her rational thought kicked in. "Well Tati's not doing a great job at that, so I think his decision making is compromised," she muttered from behind clenched teeth, the words coming out in a flurry as her filter failed to kick in before she spoke. Maybe a testament to how much she trusted Bramble, or perhaps a showing of just how in opposition to her father's trepidatious policies she was. Typical teenager behavior; always thinking they had all the answers.

Bramble motions for her to follow and Ember reluctantly goes with another huff. It wasn't like she was going to get away scot free now, not when her overprotective big sister had busted her. If she tried to make a break for it, Bramble would surely either chase her down or immediately run to their father and he would chase her down instead. Ember grumbled, but didn't protest as she followed her sister out to the gardens where they could speak in confidence. Walking down the well worn paths between the wisteria trees and flowerbeds, Em listened in silence while Bramble spoke, her expression dour and unhappy. She didn't want to meet Bramble's gaze; didn't want to see the disappointment or worry in her eyes. So she just listened for now and kept walking at her sister's side.

There was wisdom in Bramble's words of warning. Her insight of Sephiran Saxe was accurate and irrefutable. He was a deranged psychopath who would do awful things to her if given the chance. They'd all been warned by their father of what had almost happened to Talyssa. Bramble really hammered that point, emphasizing how Ember was still a young female and that the Syndicate would do all sorts of unspeakable atrocities to her. Ember wasn't completely naive; the threat of rape and sexual assault had crossed her mind time and again. But was it not worth the risk if it meant keeping her family and the Hallows safe? Hell, the whole world would benefit from a dead Sephiran! But their father refused to act and instead stood haplessly on the sidelines while their enemies multiplied.

"A raven cannot kill an alpha if it gets caught. I can," she rebuked, finally lifting her gaze to turn blazing eyes up to her tall sister. Ember's lips were pulled into a tight line, clearly still frustrated that she wasn't already on her way north. "This war is going to come sooner or later if the Saxes are allowed to go about unchecked, and if the meeting went as bad as you say, we can't wait for them to grow their strength and become an even greater threat. He have to act now and strike while the iron's hot. I just need to convince Tati that this is the right move." Ember was still fully convinced that the Hallows and its allies were strong enough to crush the Syndicate if they attacked right now. But waiting to let them fester and grow in the north would only make them a more difficult challenge later on.

Bramble made the suggestion of putting her time and effort into building diplomacy with the packs that had spurned the offer to join their coalition and Ember's nose wrinkled at the thought. "They wouldn't listen to Tati and he's the most influential alpha in the world. Why would they listen to me instead?" Amidst her brooding, Em had an epiphany that diplomacy could mean getting to spend time in Hemlock, where Erik lived. That thought made her heart skip a beat, but she kept those thoughts inside her head. "If the Syndicate is really as dangerous as Tati makes it sound, then why aren't we doing all we can to stop them? We have the best fighters in Ardent and all the weapons to boot. But Tati refuses to use any of them to end this war before it begins." This was why she had to go gather evidence to convince her sire that direction action against the Syndicate was the only way to bring them to justice.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"