Everyone was sent out of the house. Guards stood outside. Some on the porch, others others on the roof. Not even a fly could get inside.

Sienna threw herself down on a sofa and spread her arms. "Alright, out with it, both of you. No wasting time, just get directly to the point. I am not a child or idiot tax payer for the falcons. Let’s start with Paris Rocland, my not so smart DNA donator. What did he do?"

Both men remained silent.

She rose, "I guess I will go and agree to Edris’s terms then."

Her grandfather’s aura surged again, rattling the walls. "Don’t even think about it."

Elias’s tails lashed. "Sienna, some truths are poison."

She crossed her arms. "Poison or not, I want it bottled and labeled."

The tension thickened.

"Do I need to summon my pan?" She screamed in frustration.

Grandpa Corven sighed. "Sienna your father was mixed up in something bad. It wasn’t a case of immorality like most people whisper."

Sienna leaned forward, breath caught. "What was he involved in?"

Elias’s voice cut in, sharp as a blade. "Enough. Now you know more than you did yesterday. Old man, if you say more, you doom us all."

Grandpa Corven laughed, a sound that sent shivers down spines. "It has already come in the form of Edris. These brazen demands they are making of my granddaughter, don’t you realize that they are only doing so because they think they have the upper hand?

How long until they strangle us all with their demands. What else will they ask for after this? It is better for Sienna to know what we are up against."

Elias sunk into a chair, sighing softly. "Then you say it."

Sienna tapped her fingers nervously. What was this secret and why was it causing so much fear?

"Have you heard the rumored story about the king’s uncle that almost rebelled?" Grandpa Corven asked, settling down in a chair across from Sienna.

She nodded. "Geo told me all about it." Her eyes widened and her skin paled. "Don’t tell me that is what Paris was involved in?"

Both men remained silent, but their silence told her all she needed to know.

It was bad...no, worse. It was the worst!

She had been prepared for something like: he had intimate relations in the temple of the falcon god. Maybe even something criminal or insidious. Definitely not treasonous!

In a low voice that had a tremble, she said, "Tell me everything. And I mean everything because this could explain the interest of the royals in me." All those tests the queen sent her way, perhaps this explained them.

Grandpa Corven started slowly, "That is exactly what your father was involved in. When the king’s uncle sought to steal the throne, he built an underground force. He knew that it would not be easy influencing adults, so he opted to twist the minds of the younger ones.

Those involved in the plot infiltrated schools in different positions, in different cities. They used music as their weapons--songs that hinted at rebellious behavior towards rules.

Songs that encouraged students to fight back against tyranny with weapons. Songs that promised glory for returned heroes. Of course they didn’t make it obvious that they wanted to overthrow the king and his leadership or else they would have been arrested immediately.

These rebels built businesses that funded concerts which promoted those songs and built rebellious ideals. And your father...my son Paris, was one of the students that was recruited."

Sienna’s breath caught.

"He dropped out of school and started traveling from city to city, promoting these concerts. He gathered young believers in breaking rules." The old man sighed again.

"He was a recruiter!" Sienna exploded.

Elias nodded. "I just found out about this two days ago."

The old man’s aura flared. "He was young when he was approached by a teacher. Someone that he trusted. He was misled, he was not a rebel. The school is to blame for this, they should have protected the students from the bad adults."

Elias’s voice cut in, cold and sharp. "You are losing the trail old man. His innocence or guilt does not matter. On the outside, the rebel plot ended with the death of the royal uncle. But beneath the surface, the royals are still hunting for those who were involved actively. Recruiters, business men and the like. Apparently your father forgot his bag at work and someone found letters implicating him. Faced with exposure, he killed himself."

Sienna was taken aback. "Killed himself....?" All this while she thought he had died a natural death.

Grandpa Corven’s face twisted with grief. "He chose death rather than drag us all down."

Elias’s eyes gleamed. "And the falcon lord expelled the rest of the Rocland’s because he was worried that the tribe would be implicated. Paris opened some businesses and employed tribesmen. Lord Edris is expelling anyone he thinks was involved and selling off any businesses they built. Your family is not the only one that has fallen victim."

Sienna’s fists clenched. "The rebellion was crushed what...three years ago? It didn’t even have the chance to kick off the ground. Paris had not traveled anywhere in the last five years, according to aunt Linera. It is obvious that he was already done with the rebels. How could an entire family be expelled because of this? It is not fair."

Elias’s tails lashed. "It isn’t. But the royals are merciless. It is one thing if the plot to rebel was only in-house but it involved other tribes. This made it dangerous on a much larger scale. Even now, the royals continue to hunt shadows. Paris knew that if the truth came out, even accidentally, his family’s honor would be destroyed."

Sienna’s humor flickered through her rage. "Wonderful. So he dies, my relatives are expelled, I become the daughter of a rebel. And now, I am supposed to pay taxes to the birds that don’t want to be affiliated with my family or else they might spill what they know. Truly, the universe has a sense of comedy."