//------------------------------//
// Secrets Unshared 
// Story: Dire Vale: Say Goodbye 
// by SymphonicSync 
//------------------------------//

Flurry Heart stood just inside the doorway to her chambers in the palace. Standing just outside was Shining Armor, the warden of the royal guard and her personal attendant. He was and would continue to be upset with her. Beside him stood her two person escorts of the elite guard. They remained still, either unaware or uncaring of what was being said.

"Please, Shining, I just want to spend some time outside of these hallways." Flurry begged, as she had done hundreds of times before. It hardly ever worked. "Why can't I go into the public? I've been appointed as an assessor and you allow me to carry out those duties despite the number of people that see me then."

"The less the general populace knows of you, the better." He rebuked her, not pausing to consider whatever she said. "Assessors are meant to be feared, and you match that role to a tee. You are an abomination by blood and nature. Everypony that sees you can sense it. Never forget that."

Normally, this was the point where she would sulk off and accept her impending punishment. It was useless to argue with him, he had the authority to determine where and what she did. The king had ordained it so. But at the mention of her hidden heredity, she felt an anger surface within her mind. "I did not ask to be born of her! Why will you not allow me to live outside of that shadow? You are the only one that knows the truth aside from the king, and it doesn't seem to bother hi-"

"The king has his own methods and motives," Shining cut her off mid sentence, "it is not for you or I to doubt them. And Flurry," he leaned toward her and lowered his voice to a growl, "never speak of your mother."

"What did she do to you? Why do you hate her?" She implored, desperate to know what crime had been added to her own record.

"It is not your mother that I hate." Standing tall once again, he glared down at her. "You are a stain in the history of this empire. One the king would rather leave unseen. The unclaimed daughter of a disgrace, on my life, I do not know why Sombra did not have you thrown to the tundra."

For a short while, they stood facing one another as neither spoke and silence filled the hall.

Shining began to walk towards the stairwell that lead back to the main body of the palace. He called back over his shoulder "You have twenty minutes to prepare yourself. Be in the training pit before then."

Enveloped in blue light, the door slammed itself and sent a jolt down the hallway, an action heard and felt by Shining Armor. Flurry Heart waited for a minute and then quietly opened it again. Glancing out in to the hallway, she saw that he was finally gone. Walking out in to the hallway, she opened the pouch on one of the guards' saddlebags. Bringing the half dozen jars to her side, she looked at the guard who had carried them for her and chuckled to herself "You can keep a secret, right?"

Shutting the door behind her, she wandered over to her cupboards and placed the jars beside an assortment of vegetables some small bundles of hay. She could remember a time when she was much younger that Shining Armor would not hesitate to buy her fruits and confections. It seemed that her earliest memories was of him feeding her mashed peas as a filly. Since then, it had been her favorite food.

He showed her no such kindness now as those days had long since passed.

Unscrewing the lid from one of the jars, she plunged a spoon into its contents and inconspicuously looked out the window. While her head traced the path of the streets below, her eyes scanned the spires across the horizon. A pegasus in black cloth could be seen atop a tower in the distance. She had grown accustomed to such figures in her life. It seemed that at any given time there was always one somewhere that a pegasus could reasonably reach. Unlike her escorts, the black-clad pegasi seemed capable of thought and avoided getting too near to her.

As she finished eating what was left of the peas, Flurry Heart flung the spoon across the room and set the now empty jar down on the counter. A series of clinks reverberated about her quarters as the spoon struck the side of the sink and landed on almost a dozen more that needed to be washed. Ignoring the sound, as much as she ignored the rest of her chores, she trotted over to her dresser and began to remove her official's robes. Gritting her teeth about a strap, she stole a glance out the window towards her audience. With the haste of the action, coupled with the awkward angle her head rested at, she hoped her otherwise apparent acknowledgement of their presence would go unnoticed.

Though she could not surely tell from this distance, it seemed that the figure had turned its head to the side. The pegasus was at least courteous enough to grant her these few moments of privacy. Such a thing was rare in her life, at most times there was always at least one set of eyes laid on her. Though she could not feel his presence now, his management of her life was unavoidable.

The few times that she had mentioned the pegasi to Shining, he had always sent guards to track them down. As far as she knew, those figures were not under his command and none had ever been caught. If ever some were, she wondered what must have become of them.

Her Warden was a pony highly devoted to retaining the Empire's secrets. And as they say, two can keep a secret...