6.12 – Heritage

6.12 – Heritage

The four of them caught each other up on their circumstances. It seemed Delta's predicament had been the only serious problem they'd run into, and that had been solved in short order, thanks to the key Zoey and Maddy had found.

The chastity cage itself they stored away in their inventory. An artifact that reduced a wayfarer's stats by half was definitely an interesting item—though, admittedly, considering how it had to be equipped, probably more of a novelty than anything. Zoey imagined Fe would love to get her hands on it for study. Sadly, she wouldn't be headed to Mantle immediately; it might be some time before Zoey saw her again. If ever.

Like Zoey and Maddy, Rosalie and Delta's bodysuits had been changing color as they progressed through the shard. They had discovered that combat fed the material, but not that lewd activities did the same. Which was fair, since without Zoey there, Rosalie and Delta had hardly needed to take 'rest-stops' every handful of encounters.

Their suits were roughly the same shade of gray as her and Maddy's. As a party of two, Rosalie and Delta had been far more effective in combat, likely progressing far faster than Zoey and Maddy to begin with. But Delta's mishap with the wall-pussy had slowed their progress down considerably, putting the bulk of the responsibility on Rosalie. Thus, the two teams were in roughly the same position when it came to suit progression.

Like them, Rosalie and Delta didn't have many ideas about what the changing color of the suits meant. As Zoey and Maddy had concluded, they would simply figure it out when the time arrived.

After the team caught each other up, Rosalie requested a moment to speak to Zoey alone. That, of course, piqued her interest, since Zoey had no idea what they might need to talk about. Delta and Maddy were also obviously interested, but neither were nosy enough to press for details. So Rosalie pulled Zoey to the side, out of earshot of their two teammates.

For a moment, the platinum blonde studied Zoey, chewing her lip with indecision, as if she couldn't quite force herself to get started. That doubled Zoey's curiosity. And, admittedly, her concern.

"So?" Zoey prompted. "What is it?"

"I wanted to talk to you about this earlier," Rosalie said, with a hint of reluctance. "Much earlier, in fact. And I've put it off too long. I would've told you when Lucinda found us, but I wanted a moment of privacy, which we haven't had much of, considering everything that's been happening the past few days."

"Okay ... ?" Zoey asked, her concern growing proportionally with Rosalie's reluctance. She could read it on Rosalie's face: she was worried about how Zoey would react to whatever her announcement was.

"I haven't been completely honest with you."

"You haven't?"

"Or rather, I've been omitting some important details. About ..." Rosalie hesitated. "About who I am."

"Who you are?"

Rosalie shifted from foot to foot, seeming uncomfortable. Her eyes didn't quite meet Zoey's. Whatever this was, Zoey could tell it was a big deal to her—which was probably why it had been so delayed in its arrival.

Seeing Rosalie squirm, Zoey couldn't help herself: she took a step forward and grabbed both of Rosalie's hands. She got her face in Rosalie's vision, forcing their eyes to meet.

"Rosie," Zoey said firmly. "There shouldn't be anything you're scared to tell me. It doesn't matter what it is. We'll face it together. I'm your girlfriend. That's how it works." She squeezed gently on her hands. "And nothing you can say will make me think less of you, if that's what you're worried about. You know that, right?"

For a moment, Rosalie met Zoey's eyes. Then her cheeks colored and she glanced away. The reassurance didn't seem to completely do the job.

"You shouldn't say something like that so confidently," Rosalie murmured. "You don't even know what it is."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does," Rosalie insisted, meeting her eyes again. "What if I was about to tell you—oh, I don't know. That I was a member of the Talanak Clan? That my father was its leader?" She delivered the question like it was some devastating rebuttal.

Instead, Zoey asked, "What's the Talanak Clan?"

"The—" Abruptly, the wind went out of her sails. Rosalie huffed loudly, annoyed that the point she'd been trying to make had been invalidated by Zoey's lack of common knowledge. "They're an infamous tribe of wandering cannibals. They prey on wayfarers between cities."

"Oh," Zoey said. "That's, uh, interesting. Your family is a clan of cannibals?"

"I'm not really—" Rosalie started, then shook her head. "Ugh."

Zoey, for her part, was just amused at the hypothetical. And pleased that she was breaking Rosalie out of her reluctant demeanor. Better to have her agitated than cagey and worried.

Delta liked to tease Rosalie by calling her 'princess' at times—but Zoey realized, suddenly, that she'd been dead accurate in using the term. Princess. The word might not even fully do Rosalie's position justice. Enzo was essentially an emperor, even if he didn't go by that title.

So, Zoey was dating an actual princess?

Rosalie studied her silently, Zoey still holding her hands in her own. She waited with an inscrutable expression for Zoey's reaction. Despite her shock, Zoey forced herself to calm her suddenly racing brain. The implications behind the reveal were staggering in so many ways—personal and political. Obviously, this had serious implications on Zoey's dreams of—well. Future romance with Rosalie. And in the bigger picture, Zoey's mission for saving the world, which, inappropriately, felt less important. Dating one of the world's most eminent figures complicated so many things. How was that going to work?

How was Zoey supposed to introduce herself to her dad, the Emperor? Not that that was his actual title, but by all rights, that was what Enzo was.

But that didn't matter, right now. Not with Rosalie having frozen up in front of her, waiting to see how Zoey would react.

Zoey forced herself to relax. She squeezed her girlfriend's hands reassuringly, then leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. Rosalie stiffened.

"Thank you for telling me," Zoey said. "That's, uh, a big deal—I can tell. We'll need to talk about what it means."

"You aren't mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"It's a rather significant thing to hide from a teammate," Rosalie protested. "Much less the woman I'm dating."

"Maybe," Zoey said. "And, if I'm honest, I can't fully sympathize with the situation you were in. Why you were so nervous to tell me. I've never been hidden royalty. But you did. And I'm definitely not mad at you."

Rosalie watched her with a strange expression. Zoey could see the way relief slowly washed through her, the way her tension drained away bit by bit. She took a short, instinctive step closer to Zoey.

"Honestly, I didn't think you would be," Rosalie said softly. "You've always been ridiculously understanding. Almost too much so. Still, I was worried."

"You shouldn't have been. But that's okay."

Rosalie placed her head on Zoey's chest, and Zoey pulled her in for a hug. Rosalie sighed into her.

"You're right. There's a lot to talk about, when it comes to my family. But maybe it's better saved for the trip to Mantle. There'll be time to talk, then." She groaned into Zoey. "I need to tell Delta, too. I don't think I should until we leave the shard, in case she reacts poorly."

"Reacts poorly?" Zoey asked in surprise.

Rosalie pulled away, looking up at her curiously. "Zoey, she despises entrenched, influential wayfaring families. That's why she disliked me. And the d'Celestins are the entrenched, influential family."

"That's ..." Zoey was going to say 'not true', but the borderline hatred Delta showed when talking about 'oldbloods' was definitely clear to see. And even Zoey had heard some ... not so good things about the d'Celestin family. "Delta doesn't seem like the kind of woman to judge a person based entirely on their name," Zoey said instead—believing that wholeheartedly. "She's met you and already formed her opinion. It might come as ... a bit of a shock ... but it won't change how she treats you." She paused. "She won't suddenly start to hate you," she corrected.

"You think?"

"Swear it," Zoey said.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I told you, you shouldn't make promises like that. How can you possibly guarantee that? But thank you." She didn't seem entirely convinced, and admittedly, Zoey wasn't certain how Delta would react. For that matter, even Zoey hadn't fully processed Rosalie's announcement. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you, since I'd put it off for too long. And you deserved to know, of course." She paused. "Also, Maddy knows too."

"She does?"

"She's from an influential family as well," Rosalie said. "Nothing like mine, but—" she shrugged. "She put it together." She glanced over at Delta and Maddy, who were waiting on the other side of the cavern. "Let's go rejoin them. You're fine with finishing this talk later?"

Honestly, Zoey wanted to organize her own thoughts on the matter before tackling all of the long-term implications—and maybe Rosalie recognized that. "Yeah. Still have a shard to clear."

"Yes, we do." She smiled at Zoey, and like always, it made her heart jump. The soft looks were definitely rarer from her than most girls—she was a literal warrior, as much as she was, apparently, a princess. A princess. Wow. That revelation was going to take some adjusting to. "The sooner we're headed for Mantle," Rosalie said, "the better."