#naiari

It wasn’t something they could figure out, though, because they were hiding out in ruins, leading a patched-together force of survivors, moving constantly across the planet to avoid capture. There were too many other priorities, too many other people to worry about, to even mention the word to one another.

In the end, Zarra never got the chance. 

Naiari set herself fiercely in front of her Queen as Empire soldiers and drones surrounded the last stronghold of the remnant Rehwani leadership. Zarra was just as capable of defending herself, but Naiari never let her forget that she was the last of the royal line, and that if anyone should reestablish their people it should be her. Most of their other kin were dead already.

The druids were watching from a distance as the soldiers closed in and took Zarra and her bedraggled, depopulated court. Zarra could taste the bitter whisper of their magic, and when Naiari growled and spat, she knew she wasn’t the only one.

The two of them were kept restrained against opposite walls of the same cell after their capture. With cracked throats and weak bodies, they couldn’t share much more than wordless gazes as they listened to their comrades suffering, but at least they were together. At least they had each other.