Falling for you

Noor was used to feeling out of her depth at this point, most of her adult life had been her jumping into the deep end and having to learn how to swim. Seeing the real world for the first time, learning how to bake, learning how the world really worked... Hell, she hadn't even been in a kitchen before the plan. She brushed a paw along the floor, feeling the loose silt that stuck to her paws. But was that from the cave in or was the ground beneath them also likely to fall out from under them? "And we haven't felt any aftershocks since the spires, so what triggered the cave in this time? It couldn't have been just the digging... Right?" It wasn't like she knew any more than Fable did...

Did it even really matter? They weren't getting out by climbing the walls so they had to find another way out, maybe one of the walls had collapsed in such a way it would make a slope back up somewhere further in... Noor swallowed down the lump forming in her throat as they started off into the dark, leaving the sunlight, even dim and red as it was, behind. The darkness felt heavy with the silence between them and Noor put more effort into making sure she didn't swerve into Fable than anything else. At least until Fable started to speak, then her attention was rapt on the other woman and she stumbled slightly towards her before quickly righting herself.

"Honestly, most of what I remember has been crowded out by... The aftermath..." It wasn't even a lie. She did remember what had happened, how she'd distracted Fable to ensure her plate made it to the other agent to be taken out... But she couldn't even seem to remember what she'd said, what anyone had said. She remembered the screams, the poor staff that had been tending the dinner and the terrible gurgling of her dying family when the kitchen rushed in... She remembered the glassy eyes. She remembered the shock of seeing the whole table, not just her father and brother, dead. Every part of her family, everyone she'd ever known or cared about in her early life...

And she remembered the sound of approaching paws, the royal guard. She remembered turning to look at Fable, wide eyed and terrified. She remembered the "run" she'd whispered to Fable, said in vain. "I know... I know I was distracted." Noor chuckled darkly. "I can't even remember by what exactly. I know I was preoccupied... By..." Noor sighed. By Fable. "I've spent a lot of time wishing I'd done things differently, that I'd been more... Focused. Been less... In your way." It was the most truth she could manage, not a word of lie and still... She didn't admit to her guilt. If she could have done it over she'd have seen the others working outside even her knowledge to massacre the whole table... If she could have done it over, she'd never have agreed to it. She'd never have darkened Fable's door. She'd choose not ruining Fable's life over the brief glimpses of happiness they'd shared. She'd choose Fable's life over her own love.

"Speech"