The feeling like she needed to entertain Cadmus felt almost claustrophobic. What did she care if he snuck away again? Raizel looked at his cup and then nodded to his question about the purpose of coffee. Why was she so tired? Blue eyes flicked to her bag, the concoction of herbs hidden away that kept her up.

Raizel closed her eyes and looked down at her ankle, still wrapped up from the night before. "I'll ask Albert, he's kind of like you, y'know?" She tried to make a motion with her hand that appeared like feathers on her head, "He's not a real human man. Some sort of orange bi-" as if on cue, Albert pushed the door open, looking surprised at his own actions and gave a sigh of relief when the image of the pair registered before him.

"I was genuinely worried for a second I'd walk in to you two humping and let me tell you, I'm glad I didn't. Realized a second too late Raizel wasn't alone and she's usually sleeping right now," Albert sighed with relief, Raizel giving him a sneer, before he collected various used dishes and placed them on a small table in the hallway, he then stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips. "Let's see them," his voice was commanding, though not unlike a parent demanding to see bad grades. "The wounds," he waved his hand impatiently towards Cadmus to come stand before him first, "you had the most superficial ones and I apologize about the scratches yesterday."

Albert paused for a moment, "sometimes when I'm stressed or woken from a dead sleep," he glared at Raizel, "I'm extra prickly. Literally." Albert in the daytime was kind looking, flame bright hair held loosely in a tie over his shoulder, green and blue eyes, he smelled of fresh bread and sugary treats, "I'm going to heal you, by the way, is why I'm here, and collect your dishes."

Cadreinth was a foolhardy man, following the lightning and thunder like he was warned not to. It was the smell that hit him first, the scent of burnt humanoid corpse. Having trained with the military for his role, but never having served, he was mostly unfamiliar with dead things. Least of all things that seemingly died by lightning strike.

His running turned earnest when he spotted the person down on the ground, dropping to his knees to check for a pulse, disheartened to find none. Of course he was alarmed then, to have such control over lightning was a thing he couldn't quite fathom. He could channel it, sure, but to conjure it?

Cadreinth chose not to think of what a nightmare this would be on the paperwork side when he got up and kept moving again. His hood had fallen and his opal hair stuck to his face, his green golden eyes squinting in the dark stormy weather. It was morbid, following charged spots on the ground even more so when he realized he was following corpses too, knowing he was on the right track because of them. The rumours were true. The lady of lightning and storms. Or some such.

The high lord had been running for a while, with his hood down the rain seeped between his neck and his cloak. He'd be miserable tomorrow, he knew that much. "Hello?" He yelled into the darkness, past a particularly charred smelling area. "Hello! I'm looking for the person who killed a fuck load of people! With lightning apparently! Hello!" Was he just chasing ghosts? Spirits? A phantom? Maybe it wasn't a goddess at all, but an insatiable demon. Cadreinth slightly regretted his run, because a demon disguised as a goddess was seeming more likely.

"A title" Sunniva said, voice soft, taking Krahs hand and placing it on the underside of her belly because his were warmer and much bigger than her own. She leaned in closer to his side and pressed her cheek to his chest, giving a content sigh.

"Do you think they'll have a good life? Our child?" Sunniva frowned, trying to imagine being loved by parents. Having a choice in their future of what they'd do. Would they be a mordecai? An adhara like her? A talented artist? Blue eyes? Brown? "Do you know how many bastards you have or is this the first one you'll meet?" Was the much darker and less optimistic follow-up inquiry.

Medina didn't know where they were going, the hallway of the building looked like so much of the same. Instinct or impulse had her grab for a door handle and rip it open before going in, shushing Hope as his cries continued, her lips against his temple. Quickly she went to the windows to close the curtains and then moved to a corner where she could see the door, her side to it and the wall to the other side.

Zannrick wasn't totally forgotten, she was hyper aware of her surroundings, but Hope was her focus. The toddler continued to cry, unhurt but sending the stress and anxiety coming from his mother. "You're okay, Mommy's here," she whispered to her baby, starting to hum the lullaby in an attempt to sooth. Still, she looked him over again, fingers running over his clothing and checking for blood that was his. Quickly, she removed his coat and flung it across the room, covered in the killed maids blood.

"Zannrick," Medina said breathlessly, turning to her most disliked hero, "are you okay,too?" Hope had started to calm down now that Medina was stationary and calming down herself, his big pale eyes looking at her while he snuggled in agaisnt her. 

Cadreinth was caught off guard, sure thunder and lightning weren't common and this particular storm was bad, but he wouldn't say the worst in 20 years. Probably. He glanced at the frightened person and gave a solemn nod and held out his hand, fingers pinched together. Pulling them apart and electricity arcing over his fingertips before he shook it off his hand like spiderwebs, leaving his fingertips tingling.

"It's just a little electricity," he gave the other person a clap on the shoulder, "anything can kill someone if there's enough of it." He nodded to the drink as a point and took the threat of death by lightning as a minor hiccup in his search. There was a goal. Cadreinth wasn't about to run away from the one thing all the rumours led to.

"Feels a bit like following a rainbow," he commented jovially before he was out the door. Another crack of lightning followed by the chest rumbling sound of thunder. It was a bit of a blind venture, the rain so bad he would be soaked anyway despite the cloak. Luckily following the general direction of flashes of lightning wasn't overly difficult.

Follow the lightning, the man said, and Cadreinth did so fully prepared for his funeral. Would he know when he got there? "Maybe I'll find a pot of riches," he commented to himself, looking up at the sky and sighing. Waiting for another sharp visual of lightning in the sky.

He was close. The lightning was brighter and he could feel the static tingling on his skin.

A scoff.

Cadreinth looked out the window, tilting his head and blinking at the thunder and lightning. "Trust you?" He sat, an eyebrow raised and his head tilted in slight confusion. He looked outside the window and a streak of lightning cracked the sky.

"That just makes me want to go out into it more, what's the worst that can happen?" Cadreinth looked to the gentleman beside him and gave a smile and pat his leg before he stood up. Going back for a moment to get his cloak and pull the hood up. Pausing before he went for the door, he glanced at the scared man on the chair.

"Unless you have a good reason why I shouldn't besides 'trust me', which, I'm sorry to say, is a very weak reason." A wolfish smile and a raised eyebrow, "It's just a little bit of bad weather. Nothing to be afraid of."

Cadreinth was unprepared for thunder and he'd been giving the contemplative man a long look. The flash and while he was expecting it, it sounded a little more loud. A little unsettling. Probably just the mood of the place.

He lifted his cup to his mouth and placed it back on the table before he made his way over. "Greetings," Cadreinth started giving a polite smile, "you're looking troubled, friend. Might I ask what has you looking at the storm so... intently?" Maybe, just maybe that woman was involved.

Little steps to the end goal. Very little steps. Cadreinth was an inch away from hiring a private investigator instead and just going home. People loved money. Surely the fire-lightning woman did, too.

It was a rare day, or evening in this case, that Cadreinth was away from his desk, let alone out of the building. It had been gloomy for days, the reports he'd read was that were was an upward tick in cult-like activity and he just didn't have the time for that. There was a difference between shitty kids being weird and playing with magic and cults.

Cadreinth couldn't think of any cult-like magic he tried as a kid, but perhaps that was because he was busy all the time. Now though, his cloak on and hood up, he meandered the streets. The rain was loud on his hood, the whole thing a little too fancy looking to be out in the bad weather. Still, the water beaded off of it, enchanted that was it. A dagger sheathed at his thigh, rapier at his hip, if it weren't for his too opulent brown cloak, Cadreinth would look like anyone else.

Additionally he's heard rumours of some fire wizard passing through. No, that wasn't right. Someone claiming to be the embodiment of fire and lightning. Cadreinth 's boots were loud on the ground as he walked to the tavern that this person was spotted at last. Were they staying here? The name escaped him, and while his informant mentioned it was a woman, Cadreinth had met some waify men in his time so who reallynew.

The door opened to the establishment, the air warm and inviting. The smell of food reminded him he hadn't eaten since breakfast, so wrapped up in his sneaking-out plans he'd forgotten. Still, he took a seat at a table with his back facing the tavern keeper, front facing the door, before he removed his cloak and sighed, pressing his hands to his face and trying to rub the sleepiness away.

Cadreinth wasn't a bad looking man, his face was narrow with high cheek bones, lips that easily fell into a smirk. A straight narrow nose and golden green eyes that gave a nasty glare for how vibrant the colour was. Pale but with a rosy blush at his cheeks and slightly pointed ears, Cadreinths only real feature that stood out was his opalescent hair, swept back out of his face. He left his cloak behind him on his chair and he sighed and pat his pockets, finding his coin and going to the counter.

"One drink and whatever hot meal is available to you," his voice got a little more loud, trying to draw attention "I'm also looking for someone, a woman. Deals with fire and lightning," Cad placed the coin on the counter and the tavern keeper eyed it wearily before giving him his drink, a bowl of stew and pondering on information. "I can't say I seen anyone," the tavern keeper said, taking the coin, "but rumours been tumbling 'round about a girl who's been taking care of some of the darker dealings." The tavern keeper shrugged, the 'dark dealings' not lost on the High Lord "I can't say I've seen her, but I've been hearing people talk and everyone's gotta eat."

Cadreinth nodded and went back to his seat with a sigh, taking a drink and tucking into his food. Did he leave a message for this girl? Did he just sit here and stare at the door until he couldn't anymore? His own informants said she'd been spotted here, but the tavern keeper just gave conflicting information. With nothing left to do but eat and pout, Cadreinth did both, on hand holding his head up while he ate unenthusiastically.

Kal made a face when the girl claimed to not need to wash them and he blinked while he processed. "I..." the question caught him off guard and he stood up quickly to his full height, his tail going still behind him.

Was he a dragon?

"I..." Kal sighed and crouched back down, offering a hand out and trying his best to appear less intimidating. "I'm not sure," a nice vague answerbecause he didn't actuallyknow, "I am called a Kulshedra, we're kind of dragon-ie I guess."

He wiggled his fingers at the girl, "please. I insist. Once you rinse it in water your food will be fine, it grows in the dirt anyway so a little mud and some breaks won't be the end of it." He eyed the meat and decided that would probably be fine with a bit of a bath, too.

"You should keep a better eye in it," Kal chided, giving his head a shake and putting the boy down gently. He kneeled and pat the kids pockets before sighing and shooing the boy off. He chewed on his lower lip, ears turned down in an expressive way he'd never managed to hide.

"Look, Kid," Kal helped with the remainder of the fruits and veggies, dusting them off  and picking a pebble out of something else. "I'm sorry you have it rough," she mentioned her parents dying and he could assume, their means of income also going down with that.

"Do you have somewhere to stay? Or a place to wash off your food?" Kal wanted to be comforting, but smiling only showed off his sharp teeth. Instead, he did his best to look disarming and approachable, which was difficult when he was absolutely massive.

"I rent a room not far from here, I can pay your room and board for a few days and you can get your feet under you, hmm?" Kal gave a small close mouthed smile and tilted his head, the end of his tail gave a tick-tock and his ears perked up. Then he stood up and held out a hand, "I can help you carry your things, if you'd like."

Ketra was a regular jumping point. Right in the middle of everything. He'd stayed here a few times, before setting off again - a nice little calm before the storms. There was an older woman he rented a room from and had been for a good number of years. He may have lied a little bit about his scaled heritage but he wasn't a terrible person beyond that, if they worshipped dragons and he looked like a humanoid distant relative to one, maybe he was? Currently, he was out collecting groceries for the pair, he'd gotten his breads and had been browsing the fruits and vegetables. The meat was for last and he still didn't understand why humans insisted on cooking it. Yuck.

Kal was very good at minding his own business. One didn't travel the world and survive by shoving his nose where it didn't belong, so when the young girl beside him got caught for her quick sticky fingers all he did was flick his ear and keep a side-eye on it. While he was good at not sticking his nose into things, it was mostly he was good at not getting caught eavesdropping.

His ear flicked and Kal swallowed, his spine shivering at being addressed and he repressed a sigh and a grimace when he pretended to finally notice what was going on. Had he seen another kid steal her coin? His sharp eyes looked from her and followed her line of pointing and Kal's lizard brain kicked in, his tail gave one wave before flicking off to the side and he took off.

A sleek hunter, his golden eyes caught onto his quarry and no amount of zigzagging from the boy tricked Kal's eyes. It was a child though, or at least was small enough to be one, so he was careful when he finally caught up to not dig his sharp nails into the back of the kid. Then up he went and under the arm.

The smaller person struggled and kicked, screamed but Kal brought him back to the young lady who'd cried for help and frowned down at the boy, his mouth opening slightly in a threatening display of teeth. "I sure hope this is the right boy or I'm going to get flogged," Kal said, his words and then gave the boy a little shake, "give the lady her coin purse back. Quickly."

For a flash Raizel thought she'd greatly offended Cadmus, and half waited for the fall out. After he wiped his face she watched him go through the whole range of 'wait hang on's that she did and didn't want to say it, but was relieved at the comment that it wasn't bestiality. Raizel chewed on her lower lip and glanced him up and down while he explained and she nodded along, eating her food.

A small smile when he said pups at first and then she watched him confirm that currently, he was a human man. Sort of. "A toad," She corrected, the spoon in her mouth muffling her words, "The frog is the gryphon." Which made sense to her, after a fashion. It was also an interesting thing to think about, that he was always himself no matter what physical form he was in. Raizel could picture herself kindly kissing a beak, like one would nuzzle a cat or hug a dog, before she could picture herself kissing Cadmus the man. She looked across at him, at his lips and when she tried to picture it, it came up blank.

Raizel put the empty bowl down and brought a hand to her lips, tracing her index finger along her bottom lip before she cast her gaze down at the ground. Was she herself? She moved her hands to flex her fingers in front of her, did she have the same personality? The same morals? Was muscle memory the frog and the rest was the toad? The dream clung to the back of her neck and she ducked her head down and breathed.

If she remembered everything, who would she be? Raizel pressed her hands to her face before she sat up straight and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "We can't do anything until nightfall," she said, pausing and then looking at her ankle, "maybe not anything tonight either. Albert might have something better than 'rest'. I'll have to ask him." another moment and she gave a wry smile at Cadmus.

"You're free to do anything with your day," she said this carefully, almost a little hesitant because Cadmus getting up and leaving was a very real possibility - not that she would blame him. " I'll probably lay back down and read something until I fall asleep, being awake during the day is weird," a sort of tired-but-not-sleepy smile and Raizel stretched before rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands, "No more daggers on the bed if you're still tired, I swear."

"Wait, really?"

Raizel pushed her long dark hair over her shoulder and brought the cup to her lips, inhaling before taking a scalding hot gulp of her drink. It was bitter but the heat warmed her and she put the cup back down and sighed a little, most of it gone already. "It's like the opposite of alcohol. Wakes you up, kind of bitter," It was really bitter, but Cadmus could discover that if he chose to drink it "You're not... Human... So maybe Coffee won't agree with you."

She gave a pause, as if thinking before she took a bite of food, still not looking at him. Bowl in one hand, spoon in the other, half way towards her mouth before she looked up, a little puzzled, eyebrows drawing in. "Do you count as an animal," Raizel asked, looking at his lips briefly, "like... Did I kiss a man or a gryphon." Another kind of squinted look while she tried to ponder that out, "Is this like a frog and a toad? All toads are frogs?"

Raizel put her bowl down and brought the coffee back to her lips to take a sip while she pondered, not looking distraught but looking puzzled, her voice got quiet, if only because it was muffled slightly into her cup. "You're always a gryphon - the frog - but sometimes you're a man, the toad. So all man-cadmus's are toads and all toads are gryphons." Raizel tilted her head back and finished her coffee, placing it down on the tray and pulling her hair back into a quick tie-less braid to keep it out of her face and off her shoulders.

Another question flitted into her mind and out her mouth before she could think about it at all, "If you have babies, do they come out as eggs."

When was the last time she'd had such a dream?

Raizel closed her eyes when Cadmus brushed away the last of her tears and she remained for just a moment longer. There was comfort in the warmth and the comfort almost stung, like warming up after being so cold for so long. The cold caused numbness, but once it started to thaw, the pain set in. A wry smile pulled at once side of her mouth when he suggested keeping knives away in the future. A little nod and she removed herself from her perch on her companions hips.

"Most things are nicer than being stabbed, I promise not to stab you anymore," she said, voice cracking while she carefully moved to stand up, putting weight on her bad ankle for a short moment before steeling herself and standing straight up. The pain was a limitation and she wasn't about to let herself be limited. "You should go back to sleep," She said over her shoulder softly before Raizel walked with careful steps to a bag against the wall. She pressed her hands to her face for a moment before she pulled out a tank top and pulling that on.

Sleep wouldn't come back. Her hands still shook slightly while she closed the bag, took a deep shuddering breath and looked to the window before getting up. "I'll... Get some food, I'm sure you're hungry." She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes, "you can eat it when you wake up again." Raizel put a small pouch into her pants pocket before she took a steadying breath and started towards the door.

What was she going to do? Pain shot up her leg with each step but it did little than make her wince, Raizel too stubborn to let something like pain keep her from doing what she wanted. Which was leave the room. Running away completely wasn't an option anymore, there was a bed that was made and... Her hand pressed to her chest, her palm flat against her, and just felt her heartbeat. Why was her heart still pounding? Her cheek still tingled.  There was a singular moment, when she let herself think about what the kiss could have been like but that was quickly replaced by the dream.

"Stop it," she said out loud to herself before she pushed herself off the wall and limped her way down the hall and down the stairs. Raizel didn't return to the room for a half hour or so, double the set of steps echoed down the hall on the return trip, quiet voices, a deep chuckle. The door opened and Raizel entered with a tray in hand, as quietly as she could. Two mugs of black coffee and two bowls of some sort of stew, some bread.

She frowned at the bedside table and wrinkled her nose, having forgotten all the appropriate tray space had been taken over by wound-cleaning supplies. The floor it was. It was just one big flat seating place, anyway, and while it wasn't clean enough to eat off of, it was clean.

Raizel balanced carefully while she placed the tray on the floor and sat down, her wounded leg stuck out to the side, the other tucked under its knee, while she leaned back on her good arm and sipped the coffee. It was probably close to noon, maybe past, she hadn't asked Albert when she went downstairs. She just stole his food.

"If you're awake, I brought food. I'm assuming you can eat like a human, so sorry if coffee fucks you up." Her voice was soft, an attempt to let Cadmus still snooze if he'd fallen back asleep. Raizel didn't check, not sure if it was embarrassment or shame that kept her from glancing around for him. Even now, her eyes were downcast, watching the steam rise from the bowls.

They were even now.

Raizel listened to Cadmus's heartbeat, the quick pounding that almost matched her own. She let his hands run over her back but it wasn't until he pushed her hair from her face that she felt comforted. Perhaps it was the state her back was in, that kept the touches from being truly soothing.

She further tucked her hair behind her ear, breath evening out. She caused the racing heart. The bleeding. Maybe it was deserved. Some quiet monster in the back of her mind, out for revenge for the betrayal. Even if the betrayal hadn't been intentional at all. Raizel didn't lift her head, instead she took his hand and pressed it to her cheek and closed her eyes again, just for a moment.

"I..." Raizel's voice croaked out and she was still a bit off from waking up having almost gutted her companion "yeah." She didn't want to get up or move, Cadmus was warm and despite the heartbeat under her ear sounding like a frightened rabbit, it was a comforting sound. But then her hand moved and the slick of his blood destroyed the haze of comfort.

The various things Albert had left were still on the bedside table beside Cadmus's side of the bed and Raizel sat up and leaned over him to grab some. Her hair was long enough to keep her modest when she was sitting up, but leaning over was a different story.

There was a wound to tend though, one she caused, so her breasts being out was just a matter of temperature control - of which it was not working and being in the sunlight was making her feel incredibly warm. Her hand was covered in blood, both dry and wet and she quickly wet a cloth before turning back to the wound.

Gently Raizel cleaned the slice, opening her mouth to talk but then shutting it again. "It wasn't you. In the dream," she started softly, wiping away the dried blood, she looked at his face and golden eyes before looking back down. "I'm... I think it was a memory, but it was like looking through fog. It felt like I knew who everyone was, but... I don't know them now." Raizel shook her head, then paused finally having a look about her like she was a wind-up toy whose winds had run out,a little lost,  little confused  "I didnt kiss you, Did I? I'm so sorry."

Falling was a weird sensation. Especially when you were falling but there was no wind, nothing was moving. The body that had burst into fabric and feathers had the eyes change from green to gold. A familiar scar on the face before she dug the dagger in again, just a little bit. The name spoken was familiar but the way the mouth moved to say it was all wrong.

The pressure felt real and instead of before, when the dagger sunk right in, it felt wrong and like... Raizel blinked, her mind filtering the words Cadmus has spoken from the weird bird chirping it had turned into into real words.

She didn't want to do this, did she?

The warmth of the body below her had her hand tighten on the dagger, frowned at the tip of it was missing beneath flesh. It was a strange way to wake up, being sharp with panic but still so tired. Her eyelids felt like sleeping limbs and it took a great amount of effort for reason to push through, and the dagger stayed dug in and stationary while her mind returned to her body.

Confusion drew her features together and it took a long moment to process what was going on. "Cadmus?" She whispered, voice tired and confused, though her hand snapped away from his neck the hand holding the dagger was lifted and looked at before realization struck and she dropped it onto the bed beside them.

"What happened?" She whispered, panic making her voice breathy and soft, grabbing some of the blankets and pressing them to the wound she'd made on his chest. Raizel couldn't help it, when tears filled her eyes. The dream flooded back and she pulled the blanket away from the wound as soon as she pressed down on it to examine her companion further, a tear falling down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, I- I was having a bad dream and I..." she whispered, hands moving on his chest, his sides, looking for more wounds. A flicker of the dream came back and she moved her hands to his neck, smoothing her thumbs over whatever discoloration she'd caused there. A small sigh of relief there weren't any cuts there and she moved her trembling palm back to the cut she'd left on his torso. It wasn't so deep to cause serious harm, but it was deep enough to bleed.

Shaking like a leaf, Raizel couldn't quite muster up the strength to move away. Instead, she leaned forward and let her head rest on his chest, staying silent and listening to his heart beat. "I'm sorry, I don't... know what happened, I can't feel my legs so just... bear with me for a moment and then you can ... stab me back or something."

It didn't take any coaxing for Sunniva to cuddle in closer when Krah tucked his arm around her. She listened, her head on his chest and her hands resting in front of her.

She wasn't like you.

What was that supposed to mean? Sunniva frowned and grew quiet for a moment, bringing a hand to her lips to draw her thumb over the lower one in thought. What wasn't she? Maybe the confusion was that Krah remembered any women, let alone a singular one to compare her to. It gnawed at her for a moment, before she willed it again and let her hand drop.

Sunniva pat Krahs leg and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Sometimes reputations are just veils to hide behind. Being a White Lily means I'm virginal and chaste. Stoic. A devout follower of Ansgar," she sighed then and returned a kick of the babe with a soothing rub to her side. "We both know none of that is true about me," Sunniva, moving her hair over her shoulder to braid it, "maybe at one point it was... but not for a while now."

"Have you ever been yourself? Truly yourself? Or have you always chosen to be Krah The God of War," and while her voice definitely took on a tone when she said his name, it wasn't mocking. Perhaps an attempt to lighten the mood.

Startled was one thing that Luna was immediately, she jerked back a step and then froze. Like a scared rabbit her eyes went wide and she just... stared. Words failed her and while her vision wasn't the best she could tell how tall this person was and intimidating and Luna found both her hands on Zhirai's shoulder, half ducking behind him automatically with the initial cheerful hello.

"It..." Luna didn't move from behind Zhirai, eyes still wide and mouth dry, "it's alright." She whispered out, collecting herself. She'd been expecting more... regular height elfin people but... "hurt?" Luna reeled herself back in and she looked over herself confused.

There was nothing to see under the thick black clothing, she pat the sides of her head and gave her arms a squeeze. "No, I'm not hurt..." she trailed off and then looked at Zhirai, realizing what had happened. "Zhirai was lost," Luna started, "So I was helping him back."

Luna bowed forward, her pale braid falling from her shoulder so the end almost swept the floor. "Apologies for being startled, I wasn't expecting anyone of such..." Luna stood back up, back straight and lifted a hand, "stature. I'm Luna. I care for the young dragons. Sort of like daycare, now that I think about explaining it." The last bit was mostly to herself and a bit mumbled.

The pale woman took a step back and made way for Zhirai, "I guess we've found your home away from home." Her voice got quiet and she smiled at Zhirai and then at Kirsikka, "it was lovely meeting the both of you."

Everything happened faster than Medina could process it. One second she was angry at Zannrick and the taste of blood in her mouth and the next she could only watch as everything ... Happened. Medina wasn't a fighter. She'd never taken combat lessons. She was a healer and she was ashamed to say that she was so frightened she was frozen in place, eyes wide and mouth open - until she heard the shrill cry of her baby.

Zannrick blasted past her and her hands were barely in her skirts to lift them up so she could run before the guard was at the assassin. Medina had a singular focus though and she caught up in time for Zannrick to be kicking the body off his blade. Her hands trembled and she had tears in her eyes, they clutched at her skirts and it was quick and impulsive when she rushed forward to Hope in Zannricks arms.

She didn't grab Hope away, instead taking a moment to inspect the boy and look for any cuts or bruises. Any of his own blood. Of course she was distraught over the death of the maid but... "Oh, thank you," she whimpered out, pressing a hand to Zannricks neck giving his shoulder a squeeze, pressing her forehead to the side of his head for a moment before she slipped her arms around his and her son. "You must be so frightened," she said in a hushed tone, pressing her cheek to Hope's head and holding him tight, her eyes scanning all directions.

"Can you lead us inside? Please?" She whispered, her displease and distaste of Zannrick momentarily gone. Instead, she was grateful for the man, even if he was infuriating.

"That's a dangerous question," Sunniva said softly, finding she'd kept her colder hands over his warm one. Slowly, she nestled her side against Krahs, only for warmth she told herself, while she pondered. Where would she have found herself?

"Educated. Travel. Maybe meet someone wonderful, fall in love and then we'd go on adventures together," A juvenile answer but if all the wandering Sunniva has done taught her anything, it was her sense of wanderlust. Being cooped up in a church had her unhappy but out in the wilderness, she felt free, even if it was only pretend. Her hand remained on top of Krahs and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'd be free. Truly free. I wouldn't feel guilt for making a choice for myself because maybe someone in the church wouldn't agree with it." Sunniva sighed and knew her future didn't have any of those things. She'd go back, be sentenced to the library to dust and then never leave it. "I'd ask you the same, but you've selfishly been yourself forever. Whoring and cheating your way through the land, not a care in the world," there was a pause and she rest her hand on his knee and gave it a squeeze, "Have you ever had anyone love you before?" She smiled slightly, "I thought I did for a time. Surely I wouldn't do anything so depraved with someone I didn't love, even if we'd just met," She mocked herself, "Silly me."