Thorn wasn't truly sure about there being pain for others. It was difficult to read a person's aura who clearly didn't want it to be read so that's what made it all the better to actually get permission first...and allowing someone to share his gift, well, he'd never tried that before, but if it meant progress, hell, he'd try anything.
"It might," he was all he said. He carefully reached for her head, placing both palms on either side of her temples and began to concentrate, hard. It took more than he anticipated as colors shot through both of their minds a rainbow of pain and delight. He saw the image of a man she must have known, a lover, perhaps a husband. Words would interrupt the connection, so he said nothing and dove deeper into her thoughts. He saw a moment of pain, she was walking away from something, something that meant a great deal to her. Exile? Further still. The child...must have been, she clung to her skirts in shyness... But something was wrong. A stranger. He couldn't see his face very well, he struck violently, taking what he wanted. Frankly it was more than he wanted to see, but he had to keep reading.
The man momentarily showed his face, scarred as she had described. Thorn pressed the thought, rewound the memory, playing it over as he fought to reach the entity of the stranger. He was dark, dangerous, demented, a killer to the core. He had something printed on his neck, a small symbol but prominent painted red. An X with a rose entwined around it. He replayed the memory much to his horror and focused harder.... The rose...the X...what did it mean? The Abbey of Gilhelm...
Finally Thorn let go of her, finding himself sweating and taking a step back staring at her with wide eys. He was silent for a long time. When he regained his composure, he wiped the sweat from his brow and wiped his hands clean from his sweaty palms. "Does the Abby of Gilhelm mean anything to you? A church maybe? A sanctuary of some kind?"
