Hi!

As you may have noticed, there will be some poems thrown in here and there for you guys - in case you didn't know, they're relevant to the story so enjoy them and let me know your thoughts! It's my first time really dabbling in writing poems so hopefully they're okay, haha!

Also, you'll be meeting Niall in this chapter, so you can check out a post on his aesthetics on my tiktok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@thannucharms/video/7155928914961992966

I wish I could just post the video here but I can't, unfortunately, haha!

Thank you again for reading and don't forget to vote and comment to let me know your thoughts! <3

Love, Luckycharms!



---



The only thing that Niall enjoyed about the bar he was seated in was the smell of smoke in the air and the dull lighting made duller by the dark, expensive looking wooden walls. Aside from that, the red cushioning on all the seating, the gold trim along nearly all the tables, the unnecessarily large chandeliers and the lines and lines of expensive bottles put on display behind the bar were all a little too gaudy for his taste.

He could see, just from a quick glance, that this kind of place seemed to attract all the rich folk, dressed to the nines for no reason other than to talk politics, or money or women... and of course, to get drunk.

Though he certainly realized that he really couldn't be the one to talk. He too was dressed near to perfection, his uniform perfectly pressed, his boots spotlessly polished and not a single button or badge or anything of the sort out of place.

Even his dark hair was combed back as neatly as it could be, though a few strands did manage to escape, falling over his forehead after a very long day of work.

But that really wasn't unusual for General Killian. He was just always like that. In fact, whether or not this General ever looked unkempt was a mystery among the State Military. Some even went as far as assuming that even his pajamas were as finely pressed as his uniform was... not a wrinkle in sight.

That wasn't true, of course.

Niall Killian wasn't insane.

Whatever the case, he waited in his seat rather impatiently, tapping the table with his fingers until his coworker and friend Colonel Kaya Jaylen eventually walked into the bar.

As always, the woman's presence caused heads to turn as she crossed the room, but not necessarily because she was beautiful. What made her turn heads was the fact that the Colonel was a woman in uniform.

Niall could see it, how quickly the looks of the men would turn from curiosity to fear and then to disgust or mockery. How easy it was for them to fear a confident woman. And despite Colonel Jaylen being a good friend of his, the looks didn't upset him. In fact, the looks always made him smirk.

If only they knew that she was not only a successful Colonel in her own right, but also the Chief of the State Military's Logistics Branch, a woman that most men in the military had to bow their heads to and one of the few reasons why the Aiverian State was able to maintain control over the Elorians.

She was more competent than most of the men in this entire room.

When Colonel Jaylen reached him, she greeted him before she tossed her hat on the round table, revealing her messy bun, and sat in the chair to the left of him. As she often did, she then proceeded to cross her arms and lean back, balancing her chair on the back two legs.

"Why did you pick this bar?" Niall asked, cutting straight to the chase. "There are too many people and─"

"I knew you wouldn't like this place but hear me out," Kaya said, leaning forward and letting, as they were meant to, the front two legs of her chair touch the floor again. "I was told that this place has an amazing steak dish. And you know how much I love steak."

Niall leaned to a side as he looked at the woman, resting his elbow on the table and his cheek on his closed fist. Kaya was smiling enthusiastically at him and he wondered, as he often did, how someone who was entirely the opposite of him could be so close to him.

Despite her high position in the military, she was rather easygoing, friendly and loving. Women in high positions in the military were rare, but those that made it were almost always rather cut-throat and somewhat cruel. But not Kaya. She was well loved by her subordinates and Niall knew without a doubt in his mind that the people who served her would fight for her and even risk dying for her. He knew that well because even though he was technically her superior, he would have done it too... he had done it too... he had the bullet wound in his left shoulder to prove it. "We didn't come here to eat, idiot."

She leaned back in her chair again, rolling her eyes as she pushed a few strands of the brown hair which had fallen out of her messy bun behind her ear. It wasn't really her fault that her hair was often so messy. She had short, very curly hair and she often complained about how near to impossible it was for her to keep it in the bun that military women were required to keep their hair in. "You didn't, I did," she said, as she threw her hand up in the air and flagged a waiter down.

Niall sighed as he pushed the folder that was in front of him towards her. "Her graduate school records," he said. "Julian will be here soon with a more complete profile."

After placing her order of whatever steak dish it was that she wanted, two of them actually, since she wanted Niall to have one too in order to prove to him that this establishment was worth it, she opened the folder and skimmed through it.

As she read, Niall sat and just listened to the drone of the deep voiced men in the bar conversing with each other, and when she had finished, she let out a surprised scoff. "She wrote on the significance of educating all Aiverians of the situation in Elore as well as the cause of the Elorian people in order to allow for the development of empathy and mutual understanding," Kaya summarized, "which would ultimately allow for the creation of a society of Aiverians and Elorians that can coexist side by side... and potentially even create an understanding that would eventually lead to the return of Elorian lands to their ancestors?" Kaya's brows rose as she continued to flip through the pages. "Not necessarily that radical, but I can see why the Elorian Times panicked. I wouldn't want my name to be associated with something like this, especially if there were State Soldiers nearby."

Niall swirled the whisky in his glass, he always enjoyed the sound the ice made as it hit the side of it, finding it refreshing. "She has guts," he said, remembering the look on her face when their eyes met earlier today. "Even if she's out of her mind and a terribly foolish idealist."

Kaya sighed, setting the pages down. "I don't know if it's idealism or naivety." When her own cocktail arrived, she chugged it down quickly before speaking again. "Students these days–"

"General Killian, Colonel Jaylen," Niall suddenly heard.

He looked up and saw Julian Brayne, his aide-de-camp, standing at attention next to their table. "Have a seat, Julian," Niall said. "And grab a drink."

As instructed, Julian took a seat to the right of his General at their round table, placing another folder down in front of him.

"You found us an interesting one this time around, Julian," Kaya said, her smile instantly growing as the waiter arrived and placed a steak dish down in front of Kaya and another in front of Niall. "Order whatever you want," she added. "I'll cover the tab tonight."

Niall watched as the two conversed but when his eyes flickered over to a man that was sitting at a table across from him, a man who was staring at him, Niall became a little distracted.

He looked back at his two comrades with a slight frown, knowing exactly what the stranger was thinking.

It was what everyone in this room was probably thinking.

Aiverians, the ruling race of Aiveria, had a distinct look to them that anyone who cared enough could pick out with ease. Reminiscent of springtime leaves and grass in the fields of the iconic stag that graced all of the Aiverian State flags, they had bright green eyes and hair which was a cool shade of brown.

Julian and Kaya, both of whom were the most perfect specimens of Aiverians, also reminded him of said fields and stags, both with their cool brown hair and their spring green eyes.

That being said, Elorian's themselves, the people who inhabited these ancient lands first, had their own distinct look, a look nearly opposite to the Aiverians. With their golden, brown skin, and eyes and hair that were the blackest of blacks, Niall was reminded of the silhouettes caused by the rising sun at dusk. A look that seemed to also coincide well with the flag of their people, the simple black flag with the golden sun in the center.

Even their unofficial flag, the red flag with the golden sun and black open winged crow seemed to work too.

He looked around, noticing that most of the folk in the bar were Elorians, which of course was unsurprising seeing as they were still in the province of Elore. He also noted, from the moment Kaya and Julian walked in, the slight fear in the eyes of the men that filled this bar. Rich or not, Aiverian's were the ruling race, and the sight of the two Aiverians in their military uniform was enough to make any Elorian pause.

But it wasn't them that they were staring at right now.

It was him.

Kaya and Julian may have been the only Aiverians in the room, but it was Niall that everyone was intrigued by.

He was different, and Niall was well aware of the eyes on him whenever he walked into any room. He knew well the curiosity brought forth by the sight of a high ranking military official who was neither Elorian or Aiverian.

The sight of a man who was so clearly both.

With obsidian black hair that he got from his Elorian mother and springtime green eyes that contrasted his dark hair so much that they almost looked gray, a gift from his Aiverian father, Niall always made heads turn.

But that wasn't all. He had the almond shaped, upturned eyes of the Aiverians, the pointed nose of the Elorians, the fairer skin of the Aiverians and even the fuller lips of the Elorians. He had stared at his face long enough and with enough scrutiny to know exactly what came from where.

But one didn't need to stare long to be able to pinpoint every detail. There had been enough conflict between the two groups for them to be able to pick out the other race's flaws and differences in an instant. They would smile to his face, but behind his back the Aiverians would comment on how the contrast between his black hair and fairer skin made him look sickly... certainly not a man who should be in a position of power. And the Elorians would do the same, except comment on the fact that his upturned, ghostly green eyes made him look sinister... certainly not a man to trust.

Of course, he was no fool and was well aware of these comments, and also well aware of the fact that maybe the reason behind his well kept hair, his consistently clean shaven face and his always freshly pressed outfits was to make up for the confusion caused by his mixed blood.

Surely a man as put together as him could be in a position of power and could be well trusted.

He also always knew that he should have been used to it, seeing as he was only three years away from going through this for three decades, and moreover, ever since he got the power he now holds, the entire nation knew of him. Everyone knew of the half-breed who was in direct contact with the President himself. He should have certainly been used to it, especially since in all other realms of his life, Niall Killian was nearly perfect and strikingly confident.

Yet somehow, this fact continuously made life so much more challenging for him.

Because yes, though he was so clearly both Elorian and Aiverian... somehow, he was also neither of those.

He was on his own.

"General?"

Niall looked up at Julian, who gently patted the folder that he had placed in front of him.

"Please have a look, Sir," Julian said. "This was all the information I was able to get on the girl... and I think you'll find it all very interesting."

Niall took another sip of his whisky, the oaky and rich flavour of it engulfing him in the warmth that he loved with every sip, before setting it aside and flipping open the folder. In it was a stack of papers and a small photo of the girl at the very top.

Kaya scooted her seat closer to Niall, bringing her steak with her. She leaned over and looked at the documents. "The-aah-vai?" She tried. "That's unique."

"Theavi," Niall corrected, pronouncing it 'Thi-a-vee,' before he glanced at the girl's photograph. "She looks rather young in this photo, when was it taken?" She had looked much more mature at the interview earlier today. In this black and white photo, however, she looked more childlike, with a bright but tight-lipped smile, overly happy eyes and short, shoulder-length hair.

His eyes lingered for a moment on her short hair, which was a relatively odd sight.

Hair was a significant part of a woman's being in the Elorian culture, its length associated with beauty, the styling of it associated with bonding among women and even the cutting of it was usually linked with some traditional ceremonies. Usually women who had started menstruating kept it long, yet this one kept it short. Niall wondered if maybe it was an act of rebellion. Or maybe she wasn't very traditional.

As he pondered that though, he then also noticed that the entire exaggerated joy on her face seemed to look... faked.

Something about the picture seemed off.

"Close to four years ago, Sir," Julian answered. "It was a photo taken from one of her earlier campus identification cards, which was issued almost four years ago."

That still seemed odd. He had imagined her to be in her mid twenties, yet she looked like a child in this photo. Niall narrowed his eyes as he did the math, using the birthday he was able to spot in the documents. "She's twenty-one?" He asked. He already thought she was young... but twenty-one?

"Yes, Sir," Julian responded. "Turning twenty-two in a couple months."

Niall looked at Kaya, who was equally surprised. "How does a twenty-one year old girl have an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree, and how is she trying to get a job at the Elorian Times... the biggest news agency in Elore?" He asked, placing the photo aside and looking at the next page for answers.

Nevertheless, Julian spoke up to answer. "She finished her undergraduate degree at Aiverian National University in two years instead of the usual four before returning to Elore and doing her two year graduate degree at the University of Elore."

Kaya nearly choked on her steak. "Impossible! Is she some sort of genius?"

Even Niall was impressed. Not only was getting into the Aiverian National University extremely competitive, especially for Elorian's, but its courses and workload were notoriously difficult. Finishing it all in two years was no small feat.

"I'll be completely honest with you," Julian said. "Though she is quite intelligent, I've found no evidence of her being any sort of genius. My assumption is that since A.N.U. is not exactly a welcoming environment for Elorians, she may have just wanted to get all of it over with and leave as fast as possible."

"Her grades were good though," Niall said, looking at her transcript.

"Presumably because she also wasn't a part of any clubs or teams or anything of the sort. She probably didn't have very many friends there either," Julian responded. "In fact, it's something to note since her two years at the University of Elore were quite different. She participated in a vast variety of clubs and did quite a lot of extracurriculars."

Niall nodded, pleased with Julian's input, though he certainly wanted to look into this further when he had the time to do so.

For now, he continued to flip through the documents that Julian had put together, all consisting of transcripts, copies of her diploma's, driving records, bank statements, and even records of the books she had borrowed from libraries. Julian was certainly thorough, but that was exactly why Niall trusted him so much.

It was however, when Niall flipped to the section with her family's information that Julian took more of a lead in discussing the information.

"Abureth," Niall said, referring to the region she was from. It was a significant region just West of the Elorian Province's capital Gaila, which was where they were now. "She comes from quite a well respected family in Abureth Town. My understanding is that her family, the Rhaanans, have existed there for generations, but the respect comes from the fact that her paternal great grandmother, paternal grandmother and now her paternal aunt were all principals of Abureth College."

Niall nodded slowly. "Hmm, that's important."

"Why?" Kaya asked.

Julian nodded too. "Abureth College is the primary feeder school of Elorian's into the Aiverian National University. It is one of the top preparatory high schools in Elore. Getting in involves rigorous testing and screening, but what's most significant about the school is that it is also the school where many of the original Crows came from in the forties."

Niall continued to nod. The Crows.

The group of Elorian Rebels who were the biggest thorn in his side.

It was certainly true that the original Crows were initially just a group of students at A.N.U. who had created the Elorian Student Union at the university. Eventually, however, as tensions rose between the Elorians and the Aiverians, the student union picked up arms and developed into the Elorian Revolutionary Armed Forces, ERAF, though much better known as the Crows, a guerilla force that the State has been dealing with for years now.

It was only two years after the rise of the Elorian Crows in the early forties that the squirmishes broke out into an outright Civil War that lasted nine years, ending only about a decade ago with the State's victory when they regained control over Elore and most of the leaders of the Crows fled out of the country.

It was this war that brought General Killian to power after playing a key role in recapturing Elore and sending the leaders of the Crows running, despite only being a teenager at the time.

And all of those original members came straight from Abureth College. "Do you believe that there is any connection between the principals and the Crows?"

"My honest assumption is no," Julian responded.

"How?" Kaya snorted, "when their school is where all of them are coming from?"

"There is no legitimate evidence that Rhaanan's as a whole are a radical family at all," he said. "There is no history of any of their family members fighting as Crows in the Civil War─"

"So Abureth just spits out smart, free thinkers who go on to be Crows?" Kaya asked, skeptically.

Niall looked at her with an expression that suggested that she think a little more deeply about what she just said.

She frowned, before doing as he wanted and then nodding slowly. "Right. Makes sense."

There was a reason why the State did as much as they could to prevent Elorian's from getting a higher education. From defunding schools and universities within Elore, to increasing the average that was required for any individual from Elore to get into universities outside of the province, the State wanted to keep Elorian's uneducated.

Because an educated Elorian was a dangerous one. They were the ones who knew exactly what the State was doing. They were the ones who would learn about their ancestry and their ties to their homeland, the land that the State was trying to claim as their own. They were the ones who could speak up. And they were the ones who could potentially fight.

The ones who did fight.

"The oppressed stay oppressed when they are not educated. How can you escape tyranny if you don't even know it exists?" Kaya said, quoting Rhys, the original leader of the Crows himself. She then proceeded to nod before she put a bite of her steak in her mouth. "I get it."

Niall looked at Julian, who nodded. "Exactly. The Crows originating from there seem to have more of a connection with the fact that it is the best school for them to be educated at, not necessarily because the principals are influencing them to be radical," Julian said. "And to add to that, most of the Crows only become Crows after leaving the school and going through undergraduate or graduate studies... specifically at A.N.U."

"So her family is clear of any connections with any Crows?" Niall asked, taking a sip of his whisky.

"No, Sir," Julian responded, making both Niall and Kaya look at him. "As I mentioned, there's no evidence that the family as a whole are radical thinkers." Julian then proceeded to reach out and flip the page, revealing another photograph of a young man.

Niall's eyes flickered over to the photo of Theavi and then back at the young man, identifying the similarities between the two. They had the same down turned eyes and the same Elorian features.

"This is her older brother, Theus Rhaanan, and there is a possibility that he is a Crow."

Niall let out a frustrated sigh as he proceeded to pull out his silver cigarette case and open it up. "Evidence?" He asked as he placed a cigarette at his lips.

"Graduate of Abureth, top of his class. Graduated from the University of Elore with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, top of his class. Tried to get into the A.N.U.'s Aeronautical Engineering Graduate Program, the only school in the nation that offers the program where graduates receive a degree that is required to start a career in that field... and was rejected."

Niall lit his cigarette and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling as he took a drag.

"I was able to look into the records of the individuals who got accepted into that program that year from the University of Elore... there were two, and both of them were Aiverians who live in the Elorian province, both of whom scored substantially lower grades than him."

Niall closed his eyes and let out a smokey breath as the cigarette sat lazily between his lips.

If the first way to make a Crow was to educate them, the second way was to unfairly deny them an education.

And a good chunk of the Crows that existed today were smart individuals who were denied a higher education... in fact, one of the leading factors that led to the Civil War starting a decade ago was the unfair education system.

Really, it was basically a lose-lose situation that the State had put itself in.

After a moment, he leaned forward again, taking his cigarette between his fingers before cursing. "Damn it," he started. "That complicates things."

"An extremely smart Crow with the knowledge to build aircrafts?" Kaya asked. "Yeah, that definitely complicates things."

"He could have been useful to us too," Niall mumbled before looking back at Julian. "Is that your only evidence that he's a Crow?"

"That and the fact that he has been seen numerous times with known Crows."

"It's still not a complete certainty then," Niall said. "Give Aari a call tonight. He's from Abureth and he's the reason we're looking into this girl anyways... he may know this man too and may have some insight."

"Understood, Sir."

"So do you still plan on proceeding with this girl?" Kaya asked the General.

He stroked his beardless chin before taking another deep drag of his cigarette, causing its tip to turn a bright, hot red with embers. He released a smokey sigh before responding. "I'll think about it tonight," he said. "Depending on what I decide, we'll approach her tomorrow."

"Understood," Kaya said, before reaching out and pushing the extra steak towards Niall. "Now eat the steak and tell me how delicious it is, it's already cold."



---



Hi everyone!

I hope you enjoyed!! =D Please don't forget to vote and comment! <3

love, luckycharms