"It can run, but it can't hide--
Like the unspoken feelings on your mind.
I'm too tense to be tender,
You're too weak to be true.
You try to make it easier upon yourself,
By makin' it hard on you.
But it's the lies in your eyes,
That make me wanna cry--
It's just sometimes I get so lonesome
--I could die.
But it's the words that remain unsaid,
That are the words I wanna hear you speak.
I bet the birds start singing, and the sun comes up,
Before we fall asleep--
Oh the tears in your eyes, just make me wanna cry,
It's just sometimes I get so lonesome--
I could die."
- Slow Train to Dawn; The The.
How could one in a position of power, one who could help those who needed it, one who was always nearby the woman he loved, be so unhappy?
Fallon had been part of Troya's council since his third decade, and in love with her since his fifth. She was strong, doing things no one should be made to do, all for her people. Even Fallon himself had benefited from her struggles. She brought medical care to their ill territory, enough so to stop Fallon's flesh from continuing to rot, as it had before, costing him an arm.
But he had to watch her pain, watch her play the clown for the masses, prostrate herself before Tsao. How many times had he walked into a room, to see his hands all over her.. Even though Fallon had been graced with the chance to show Troya his love through physical means, more then once, he could not help but feel as though Tsao had ruined her. He had taken this beautiful, smart, kind girl, and pinned her like a butterfly under glass.
Fallon could barely keep his sanity. Continually he tried to open up to her, and to get her to do the same, and though he was her closest friend, she could not love him. Perhaps Tsao had destroyed her capacity to love.
And since he could not have her, he would risk his life for her. There was nothing to lose.
In secret, he contacted the resistance, and formed an alliance that would surely wound Tsao...
But he was careless. And he was caught. And Iha, wanting to protect Troya, handed Fallon over to Tsao. In the citadel, so far from Troya's influence, Fallon endured great torture. But what was worse... he was used as a bargaining chip. Tsao used Fallon to force Troya to become his mate. If Troya agreed, she was signing away her life. Tsao would kill her to gain total control over her lands. And much to Fallon's dismay... she agreed.
Fallon was returned to Troya, but she distanced herself from him. Preparing for her own death, trying to make it easier on those around her by pulling away.
Fallon was slowly dying as well.
---
Years passed, and there was no change in Troya's attitude towards him. But her daughter, Veva, now grown, was beginning to show interest in him, if only for amusement. Fallon wasn't quite sure what to think.
