[Lauchenoiria]

Maytown Military Airfield, Kerlile
Approximately 6am

Councillor Hale stood with Councillor Pierre, chatting idly about the EUDCA amendments that they both supported as they waited for the helicopter to arrive. They were here to welcome the Aurora back to Kerlile, and neither of them were particularly pleased about the early hour of the morning, but Pierre was determined to see each Aurora home, and Hale was determined to oversee all contact between Pierre and Auroras.

“There we go,” Hale said, spotting it approaching, and the two Councillors fell silent, watching as the helicopter carrying Janet Ashton came ever-closer to the ground. Though the two of them had long been rivals, Hale didn’t trust Pierre, and Pierre thought Hale was more loyal to Lauchenoiria than Kerlile, they both understood each other in a way that made it easy to spend time together.

Once the blades had stopped spinning, and the Aurora had been led out of the helicopter, the two Councillors approached, with their security details following at a two-metre distance. Ashton looked disoriented, slightly malnourished and was clutching a jacket she’d been given like it was a shield.

“Janet Ashton, Aurora Jade, welcome back to the Matriarchy,” Councillor Pierre said warmly, holding out her hand for the Aurora to shake.

But Janet Ashton didn’t take her hand. In fact, Janet Ashton turned so incredibly pale it was like all the blood had been drained from her by magic. Janet Ashton stepped backwards, shaking so hard that even that simple action caused her to tumble to the tarmac, her hands automatically reaching out to steady her in a way that was instinctive. Then, Janet Ashton, Aurora of Kerlile, screamed at the top of her lungs.

“WHY!?” she yelled, at the ground, at the Councillors, at the Goddess. “I COULDN’T! I WISH I COULD BUT I COULDN’T. IT WAS TOO MUCH!”

“Ms Ashton, are you okay?” Hale asked, in spite of the very clear evidence she was not.

“I know, I know, I know what I was trained to do, but it’s so different in the moment, it’s so sore, it’s so painful, it’s so relentless and you know that it will never end, it will never end for all of time unless you… please, please, please!”

“Ms Ashton,” Jennifer said softly, crouching so she could look in the Aurora’s eyes. “I’m Councillor Jennifer Hale, I don’t know what was done to you, but you’re safe now.”

“Please, Councillor, I had no choice!” Janet met Jennifer’s eyes, tears streaming down them, the salty water pooling on a raised scar that looked old on her cheek.

“Ms Ashton, it doesn’t matter what you told them,” Councillor Hale tried to soothe her. “All has been forgiven, and you can now live whatever life you…”

“LIAR!” Ashton hissed in Hale’s face, causing the Councillor to jump back in shock and her security detail to raise their weapons. “LIAR, LIAR, LIAR! You never forgive, you never forgive, you’ll kill me, you’ll kill ALL OF US because YOU SENT US TO DIE!”

The Aurora let out a wordless scream of rage, loud enough that Councillor Pierre moved to cover her ears. Janet Ashton was rocking on the ground, her nails scraping along the tarmac as she dripped tears all down her body. Hale edged backwards until she was within whispering range of Pierre.

“I’ve not seen one this broken yet,” Pierre said, calmly. Hale stepped back again, further from the other Councillor. She couldn’t take her eyes off the Aurora.

“You TOOK US, you USED US, you HURT US, and you EXPECTED US TO DIE. We only come back if we fail, right? RIGHT? So I’m a failure and Goddess forbid I’m a failure. I’m a traitor, I’m a traitor and I will die. I deserve to die. I SHOULD DIE. But I don’t want to die!”

“Jade…” Pierre tried saying.

“THAT IS NOT MY NAME. NONE OF IT IS MY NAME. I DON’T EXIST. JUST KILL ME. JUST KILL ME. JUST KILL ME.”

The Aurora continued to repeat those three words, as Hale walked backwards, beginning to shake herself as her personal assistant Emma approached and put her hand on the Councillor’s shoulder.

“Councillor Hale, security would like us to depart while they calm the Aurora,” Emma said in a low voice to her employer.

“Look at her,” Jennifer whispered, staring at Janet Ashton. “We just rescued her from a torture centre and she’s… look what she thinks of us.”

“She probably hasn’t seen the news, she doesn’t know about the reformists, so…”

“She wouldn’t listen, why should she? Kerlile has been… to her we must seem like…”

“Councillor,” Emma prompted, gesturing to one of the vehicles. “We need to get you to safety.”

Jennifer Hale allowed Emma to lead her to the car and open the door for her, but all the time she couldn’t take her eyes off the shaking, weeping, screaming Aurora who looked like she’d been through hell and back… but hadn’t made it through unscathed.