In her unconscious state Tiraris sputtered and coughed blood pouring out of her nose and lips, staining the blue-tinged skin the color of her hair. She only had a few scarce minutes of time remaining before her natural healing capabilities would fail to keep her alive.

Angered by Windsor's truth, Wood grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him to face him. Then, quickly he slammed his fist into Windsor's solar plexus before walking away. At the door he motioned for Cutler to follow before turning back to the healers. "When the Captain wakes you will be hearing about this. Mark my words healer, your days are numbered." Wood gave a final glare to them both before exiting the room, slamming the door with a harsh bang.

"Enough Sonia!" Zurna's mother Minali called out. "Have you not done enough with your accusations and actions? You have injured my daughter, the child that I prayed desperately to the gods for! Do you think I will just let you get away with it because you are married to my youngest son? No. Zurna is right, you must make a decision. You will have three days of solitude to decide. Now get out of our sight!" The older woman commanded it her voice all the while sounding sweet and motherly despite her words and the anger showing on her weathered face. Humiliated, Sonia fled with tears in her eyes.

"Go inside Zurna. I will make you some tea with honey for your throat No protesting!" she added as Zurna opened her mouth. "You did well daughter, you bring us all honor," she reassured. Zurna bowed her head before moving to beckon Brynmor to follow. Minali stopped her. "I have some things I wish to discuss with the man that saved my sea-daughter's life." Sparing one last look for Brynmor, Zurna nodded her head and went inside.

The rest of the family began to disperse going about their business. Many of the men could be seen entering the larger main tent, checking on their youngest sibling, reassuring themselves that the child who had brought their family joy was going to be okay.

"I do not think in my near hundred years of life I have ever been grateful to another person than I am to you today sir," she said addressing Brynmor. "Zurna is my little girl. She means more to me, to us than anything else. I feared we were going to lose her today." Tears formed in the older woman's eyes as the severity of what almost happened impacted her. "Sonia is not usually this way. She and Zurna have always fought. I do not what caused this escalate into such violence. Perhaps it was my seemingly indulgence. I believed if we ignored it, then it would pass. It seems  I am wrong. Thanks to your help I think that Sonia will now realize her mistakes and will end this foolishness." Taking Brynmor's hands in her own she kissed the back of each. "Thank you. Thank you for preserving my little one's life, as I could not."

Smiling she continued, "I think we best get inside. It really is too cold to be out here when there is a warm fire and a hot meal inside. Will you join me, Mr...?" Minali queried with a motherly smile once more gracing her features.

Tiraris smirked darkly baring her teeth as she did. "How about we split it 100/0 where I get the 100 of course. After all I am the one holding the knife here." Upon mentioning said knife, Tiraris crouched closely in front of the gnome her face in his and her blade sharply against his abdomen. "We are not what we seem. Do not mistake what you see on the surface for the madness within. I am no fool. You should not be one as well," she coaxed him. "Hand over the money and this can be over here and now with you no worse for wear." She pressed the blade harder into his flesh but not enough to pierce. "With me this close to you your blood is sure to stain my pretty dress. I would truly hate for that to happen," she claimed making the face of a pouting little girl.

She rolled her eyes at Windsor's cover for his pain. 'Could he be any worse of a liar?' She was not going to complain though when he got the guard off her hair. 'When this is all over he is going to hear it about stepping on my hair!'

It really was quite boring under the dusty bed. Tiraris had had worse hiding places during her career as an assassin and knew better than to fidget or make any noise. But, this was really, really boring, 'and uncomfortable.' Finding nothing better to do she began counting the number of rings on the wooden bed slats. When she ran out of that she counted the number of times the floor creaked under the movements of the room's other occupants.

Wood was making a nuisance of himself still but, refused to be sent outside the room, stating that he had every right to be there. "If you send me away I will have you both and your families executed for murder," he sneered. "Am I understood?" He took another step closer to the bed he foot connected hard with Tiraris' newly healing ribs.

Tiraris did not cry out despite how much she wanted to. She could not afford for another sound to endanger them all. She heard the distinct crack of bone come from her abdomen. The urge to vomit overwhelmed her as pain swam through her alighting already raw nerves. Her vision faded in and out and her breathing became severely difficult, she felt like she was chocking on something. The last thing she heard before she passed out was the guard yelling at Windsor and demanding to know what was under the bed. Unbeknownst to all, Tiraris had stopped breathing, her lungs drowning in their own blood.

"You're welcome," she replied moving back to her own bedroll on the other side of the fire. She paused at his second comment. Staring once more at the flames she cryptically replied, "it cost me something." Looking over to him she bowed her head, wishing him a goodnight before returning her brooding gaze to the flames.

She would not sleep this night, nor any other for as long as they were traveling. Her time was meant to be spent meditating so that she was prepared when she entered the holy grounds. Sleep was considered a selfish luxury. She was required to make such a sacrifice. Others in the past had chosen food, fire, warm clothes, and shoes. Zurna had seen enough frostbite to know how dangerous that all way. She hoped that by sacrificing sleep over food she would fare better longer.

She let her mind go. Breathing in the crisp night air. On the exhale a flood of memories swamped her in a jumbled mess. In her mind she swam through a mass of colors, sounds, scents, and feelings. Memories from childhood surfaced first. Her brothers throwing a ball. Her first bow. Her first kill. From there the memories took a different road, they became darker, hinting at pasts best left forgotten. Again as she stared at the flames she saw a related memory flash scenes in her mind's eye. A boy ran through the snow laughing has he chased a young Zurna about. A little foot standing on a crushed pile of fragile periwinkle eggshells. A child's scream. Hot red liquid covering and melting pure white snow.

Zurna jolted, gasping softly as she was torn from the memories. Stretching, her back cracked protesting after the hours of complete rigidity it had endured through the cold night. Looking up she noted that the sun was just starting is ascent into the new day. 'One long night done. However many more to go.'

Tiraris shakily exhaled as she was released back onto the bed. For several minutes she just lay there, her body giving off slight spasms as the nerves resettled. Her breathe gradually evened out again and she felt herself fading into sleep. As her body relaxed the pain began to dull. Only deeper breaths disturbed her and caused her pain if she was careful to not move.

Weakly she began to speak to him, her voice no louder than a whisper. "No touch....pain touch...huuuurt....heal you....pay pain price....your fault...your fault....Remina." Each set of words was broken up by long pauses where she just lay there trying to breathe as painlessly as possible. After the last word she fell completely silent once more. Sleep had claimed her once more.

Pain fired through her again as she was jostled by Caden's antics. She cried out again, arching her body. The pale column of her throat strained back and away, her chest thrust up by her straining shoulders, she hung like that upside down, hoping that it would all just end. She wished desperately to pass out again or to wake from this blind nightmare and be far away from all the pain and Caden's complications. She cursed her mother for driving her into becoming an assassin, her employer for hiring her, Remina for being Caden's brother, and Caden, she cursed Caden for being an incompetent individual. Then she mentally started the cursing all over again.

"Hurting me," she hissed out to him, praying he could figure it out on his own and could she go back to the dark lifeless world of sleep.

He was touching her head, moving strands of hair that sent rapid impulses of pain down throughout her entire body. She mewled in pain, sobbing as she caused her more and more pain and distress. She was frozen with the pain, blind and unable to move. Her throat was hoarse from all her screaming and crying. "Let me go. Let me go," she chanted over and over to him unintelligibly before swinging her arm down hard towards his nether regions.

Tiraris woke to a strange high-pitched keening noise. Then, the pain hit her and she realized she was the one making the sound. Her first reaction was to jerk to escape whatever was hurting her. She nearly threw up from the added pain that caused. Every miniscule movement, every heartbeat, every breathe sent waves of pain crashing onto the shores of insanity.

Her pained whining tripled in volume with each passing moment. She flailed her arm back hitting something soft and warm. Struggling to open her eyes, she found that she was temporarily blind. She knew from past experience it had taken her a week to even heal enough to wake up followed by another month of bed-rest after a forced healing.

Slowly she ran her hand down the surface she was in contact with. Smooth hard planes of flesh yielded under fingertips. When her fingers encountered the jagged scar, she realized who she was touching. 'I did it.'

"Caden," she whimpered. Her hand fell limply, brushing against him as it did. Tiraris tensed as she realized her hand had touched his lower abdomen and thighs without encountering anything besides warm flesh. Her entire body tensed in anger and she screamed in pain her hands coming back to curl in on herself. That was when she realized she was also naked.

Trying to take short even breaths and not cause herself anymore severe outbursts of pain she growled, "Now I am going to castrate you."

"You are foul. You are a spoiled little brat pretending to be a princess, who if she doesn't get her way throws a temper tantrum. Do you realize what you have done? You could've killed me and I wouldn't put it past you to believe that that was your intention. Do you forget who I am? I am the sister of your husband. The man you swore to love and work beside! Beside, Sonia. You do nothing for this family but bring it grief. You knew we had no money, that we were simple and yet you chose Yotar as your life companion. You may not like it Sonia but, I am the stand-in matriarch of this family. What I say goes unless unsupported by my parents," her voiced cracked as tears continued to stream down her face.

Looking around her she saw her entire family was gathered around listening, waiting for her judgement. Despite the pain she gave her ultimatum. "This is you last chance. Decide carefully Sonia, do you want to be a part of this family or do you want to be apart from this family? Leave and you will not have your daughters or our support. You will be cast out and abandoned. Stay, and you will work with this family. You will do the tasks we do. You will learn and learn properly what you do not know. You will apologize to my parents for your ways. You will not stop your childish temper trantrums and behave as the adult you claim to be. Is that understood" Zurna asked her voice finally giving out.

Sonia looked around at those gathered before her eyes settled behind Zurna. "How can you trust that thing? He is dangerous!" she screeched.

Tiraris still felt the energy crackling beneath the surface. It was shifting, changing as her emotions rose and fell. The ability to channel it had never been something she was capable of unless it was healing direction directed at herself. On one occasion she had managed to heal a bird with a broken neck, but that had been minor spontaneous magic spurred by extreme fear.

She did not feel such fear now. 'I can fix this. I must fix this and then I must end this.' Quickly before she lost her nerve she slammed her palm into his chest at the deepest part of the slash. Her face scrunched together in concentration as she forced the magic out. It painfully tore through her as she tried to control the channel. It burned through her nerve-endings sending waves of stabbing pain through her as it tried to find release. Her hand became hot as the energy began to slowly bit by bit mend torn flesh back together again.

Her breathing became ragged as she was drained in the effort to heal a wrong. She listened to the rain as it began to increase pour down on them. 'One. Two. Three. Four. His arrogant. Five. Six. Seven. He kisses like I am the only one. Eight. Nine. Ten. I am going to kill his sister. Eleven. I do not feel so good. Twel- what am I counting again?' She was gasping for breath when the energy finally stopped flowing, leaving a ragged scar behind. Every cell of her being shrieked in pain. She swayed dizzily her eyes half closed. "Going to castrate you," she stated before falling forward onto Caden.

Tiraris' sensitive ears picked up the sound of a large amount of coin clinking together. Following the sound she found her illusive thief. Walking up behind him she listened amused to his silly song before finishing it for him "with the money of a naive noblewoman." She stepped from behind him into his path. "I believe have something that belongs to me. In fact I think you have several hundred things that belong to me. I would really," she pulled out her dagger from her boot, "really like it all back." She pointed the the blade at him. "Now."

His forehead pressed into her placing his eyes so close to her own that all she saw was violet. "Dreamy purple eyes," she whispered smiling. She shook her head. "Forget it. Nothing for you to worry about." She sat back looking at his chest sadly before realizing she was watching blood run down him.

Giving a soft gasp she blinked and reached forward to place her hand on the wound. Her fingers nearly touched him before she paused. Her hand curled up into a loose fist before dropping between them defeated. She began shaking her head side to side slowly and then faster and faster. "What have I done?" she murmured horrified dropping her head into her hands, the tears now free-flowing.

Tiraris tried to tug the hair out from under the boot but it was no use, it was firmly trapped. She lay there ignoring the pain forming in her scalp. If she moved closer the pain would lessen but she would be closer to trouble. If she stayed put she would go insane from the pain. Making a decision she moved her arm to just under the end of the bed's safety. Her hand balled up into a tight fist. Sending one hasty prayer to a god she did not believe in she slung her fist out and down hard on what she hoped was Windsor's foot, before rapidly recoiling it once more.

Tiraris sheathed her sword before taking the necessary steps towards him. She stood toe to toe with him her hands flying up to grab him. One latched onto his throat and the other interlaced itself in his long hair. Roughly tugging his head to the side she moved her lips to his ear. "Now this is familiar," she whispered licking rain droplets off the lobe. "You are nothing!" She pulled away from him releasing his throat, her eyes locked on his. "And you are everything." She pulled him down to her level brutally kissing him.

After what seemed like an eternity she pulled away and released him. "I do not want to fight you. Why? Why do you make me do this? Why do you have to push, to complicate things?" She collapsed to her knees before him. Her head fell, chin to chest as the silent tears coursed down her face, intermingling and hiding in the rain. "If you only knew," she whispered.

Cutler returned with the healer in tow. "Leave off Wood. The healer is doing the best he can do. You are only getting in his way," he said to the obnoxious soldier.

Affronted, Officer Wood took a step forward. "Stand down Culter or do you want to be demoted. You will not talk to me that way! I can talk to this plebeian any way I very well please."

Tiraris flinched as the soldier stepped forward but, was stopped short. A small gasp escaped from her lips before she could contain it. Wood was now standing on her hair.

Her eyes widened as she realized he was not going to move out of the way. She hesitated for a moment, the blade twisting in her grasp causing more damage than she intended. They pulled away from each other, her stance returning to what it was before she lashed out. "Just getting started," she bit back at him, beginning a slow circle around him. Her eyes constantly looking for weaknesses, anything to use to her advantage.

She listened intently to his questions, each one piercing her deeply. 'How can I trust you? How can I be with you? I have to kill your sister. Would you still love me then? If you knew what it is I go to do would you still profess these things to me? No. You will turn on me and kill me. So I must beat you to it.'

"Haunting your dreams, what about you haunting my steps! I can nowhere without you breathing down my neck. Are you so blind, you do not see you are nothing to me? You were a toy for a night's amusement. And what a night it was. A worthless waste of time! How can you claim to care about me after a few hours? Is your brain so addled you stupid animal that you do not see I am not interested? Why can you not leave me be?"

The guard standing next to Windsor tilted his chin at the other guard. "Do as he says," commanded. "Be quick about it, Cutler!" The addressed guard fled from the run.

The remaining officer turned to Windsor and began another barrage of angry questions and insults. "What are you doing? That is not how you handle a wound! Are you trying to kill him nitwit? What kind of healer are you?"

Beneath the bed, Tiraris was torn between laughing at the guard and knocking his legs out from under him. 'Leave him alone, fool! He is the best healer you will ever find. It will be your fault if your precious captain dies.' Her near laughter fit was sobered by the shock of her own thoughts. 'Since when is Windsor the best healer?'

'Enamored? Soul? What does he know of my soul? What could he possibly know about me? Nothing! Filth! Scum! Monster! Demon! Murderer!'

"Liar!" she screamed blindly going in for the kill. Her blade swung up towards his throat, her eyes warily watching his hands. Her hair fanned out around her, a silken halo of crimson. 'All that they ever do is stab you in the heart. You are doing the right thing. Safe yourself before he destroys you. All men are the same. All that you love, all that you trust, all that you know is FALSE!'

She glared at Windsor, nostrils flaring. 'Great help he is!' She looked about searching for an exit. Finding none but the door with the approaching footsteps, she desperately searched for a hiding place. 'Of course! No one will search for me here,' she thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Carefully and quietly she dropped to the ground rolling under the bed. Unbeknownst to her, a lock of her red hair lay just outside the bed's hiding capabilities.

"Captain Henry has been wounded on duty. A group of bandits ambushed us while we were coming home from patrol," barked one of the two guards holding the severely wounded captain. Pushing past Windsor, the forefront of the two kicked open the door of the room that housed Tiraris. "Well what are you doing? Get him on the bed! And you healer, if the captain dies it will be on your head. Hurry up do you work, before I run you through and find another healer," he said as he stood by the bed, his foot bare inches away from Tiraris visible lock of hair.