Their previous exchanges had been fine, but Adrianna hardly considered Taliya a confidant. She had healed Jerard, and in exchange was given a sort of safe haven here for a short while. Additionally, Taliya had agreed to look into the whereabouts of a friend. Adrianna hadn’t said why she wanted Taliya to find out where her ‘friend’ had ended up, and fortunately the woman hadn’t particularly cared. Over the few weeks Adrianna had spent in Mutebo, she had only spoken with Taliya a handful of times.

As such, when Taliya made an overly obvious crack at her not actually being ‘Adrian,’ the woman tilted her head to the side. She knew she hadn’t confided in the woman. There had been a few over the years she had trusted with such information, but Taliya hadn’t even come close to such a status.  She didn’t address the strange statement correctly, telling herself that she was jumping to conclusions. Perhaps Taliya merely realized that ‘Adrian’ might not have given his actual name.

As she continued to draw out the words that were more gender specific, like [i]man[/i], the last of the hope Adrianna had of her identity being protected fizzled away. It wasn’t so much that Adrianna was worried about Taliya in particular turning her in to the Church. She seriously doubted the woman would do such a thing. It was more that Adrianna kept that part of her very quiet, and she took precautions to protect herself, like everyone did. To have Taliya suddenly know, when she believed that she had been discrete, was unsettling.

In any case, she was summoned to get the information Taliya found. But she had found him. She found Finneas. Adrianna couldn’t help but smile, even as she complained that Adrianna wouldn’t like the answer. He was in Midkemia. Adrianna had heard of the city, and had been steering clear of it, like the rest of the larger cities. All of those places reeked of the Church. Taliya seemed to know this as well, and told her about a cult that was there, along with the Church’s dogs. “Got it. And I wasn’t going to ask.” Adrianna replied regarding asking for men to go with her. She would find him alone. Or at least find a way to send word to him, make sure that he was safe.

Still, Taliya was willing to tell her what they did know about Midkemia, which would be useful. Adrianna turned her head towards the closed window as Taliya summoned another person into the room. Lionel opened the door from the outside and smiled in an infuriatingly stupid manner. Adrianna glared at the man, the pieces suddenly falling into place as to why Taliya suddenly seemed to find her name and gender so interesting. She clenched her fist at her side, having to resist the urge to punch the man, even with Taliya’s assurance that the information had come from the man.

A few deep breaths later, Adrianna had calmed down enough to listen to Lionel’s words, though they only served to infuriate her further. She wasn’t at all worried about paying him back. Hadn’t even crossed her mind. “That…is none of your business.” Adrianna said when Lionel asked when she would go. “I’m sure I will manage better without you there.” She replied.

“Is there anything else you need of me?” Adrianna asked Taliya. The woman indicated that there was not, and Adrianna glanced once more at the annoying man who had told her just a few hours before that he would keep her secret between them. He was obviously completely untrustworthy, and she wouldn’t waste any more time chatting with him as if he was anything else. With nothing else pressing, Adrianna left the room, walking briskly out of the building. She needed to get some fresh air. Lionel was infuriating, and now she was even more eager to get out of Mutebo. 

She had to remind herself of the positives in all of this, though. She knew where Finneas was. Finally. After almost seven years, she had a chance of seeing him, and making sure that he was okay. When he left Feldspar, Adrianna hadn’t understood. She couldn’t fathom why someone would want to leave the Church. It was their family just as much as their blood kin. She had been wrong, and he had left…without her. He was supposed to go out to the country—get a farm of something. But he was in Midkemia. Why? What drove him back to the cities? What drove him closer to the Church’s influence? She could speculate for days, but it would do no good. She would just have to find him, and ask him in person.