Silent green eyes surveyed the grounds of the manor, tense with anticipation. Relief coursed through her petite form as she spotted his silvery white hair and the hilt of his greatsword amongst the always bustling people hurrying to and from the estate. His and the master's backs were turned towards her.

The elf rushed forward, a cry on her lips, "Leto!"

If he heard her, Leto didn't turn. Their master heard and angled his gaze in her direction abruptly halting her. A tight, conceited half smile played across his lips. His grey eyes glinted tauntingly with a cold mirth.

A feeling of dread seemed to choke the breath from her lungs. Leto… It had to do with him, something terrible. She wasn't sure how she knew but the feeling sat in her stomach like a burning coal. Suddenly she had the urge to run to him, to see his face. She needed to see his face.

A warning cut through her reeling thoughts. She needed to learn to control her emotions better. The moment she had seen Leto she had abandoned what she had been taught since birth; someone of her status was never to approach the Magister without being called for. Under most circumstances death was the penalty. She had run towards Leto until the Magister's eyes turned on her, it was almost lucky that she had frozen under his gaze. But in that instant, Danarius' eyes burned more than any knife in the back. So Varania held back the urge now, quivering slightly as she stood frozen in place, for if she moved she wasn't sure if she could stop herself from flying forwards.

Her thoughts were reeling over the possibilities. Glancing down at the two pieces of parchment in her hand, Varania tightened her grip. Never before had she been presented with a full sheet of paper, slaves did not get handed a luxury such as this, only torn scraps on the rare occasions paper was needed. Since Varania couldn't read she hadn't ever had any use of paper anyways. Even so, Varania had known what these papers meant when a steward handed them to her. These were documents with their freedom scrawled across them.

Was Danarius going snatch them away and deny them their freedom? The given word of a magister was an empty promise, never to be trusted. Or on a darker note; perhaps Leto had changed his request…

The very idea was an act of unfaithfulness but sent fear coursing through her. Varania quickly banished the thought; he brother would never betray them…

She reassured herself, but a looming thought threatened to shatter her false sense of security; Leto would never betray them willingly.

Even after Danarius and Leto were out of sight, lost to the crowd again, Varania remained unmoving in the middle of the pathway. Other passing slaves and higher up citizens alike shot her demeaning looks but Varania paid them no mind. Not working was a quick way for a slave to be punished with a beating or no meals, but a lowly slave standing in the middle of a path as if she had some right to walk upon it would receive much a much steeper punishment. Varania scolded herself silently for being so doubting of her brother's word. Yet her breath still caught in her throat as Hadriana approached.

The Magister's apprentice looked her over with distain and a flicker of amusement making Varania's jaw clench together tighter.

"My my, already acting like you think you're free. It is rather grand, isn't it? The path does offer such a splendid view of the grounds." Her lips curved into a wicked smile, clearly taking pleasure in humiliating her, refusing to let her slip away without reminding her of her stature once more. Varania ignored the bait and kept her eyes averted to the ground.

It was unwise to make an enemy of Hadriana, her cruelty was widely known amongst all the slaves on the estate; enjoying depriving her favorites of food and sleep. Those who misbehaved or rebelled quickly learned to fear and hate her name and any thoughts of being out of line was stripped away.

"The Magister finds these affairs…distasteful. So I will speak in his place." The woman spoke with an air of self-importance wearing it proudly like the glinting jeweled necklace around her neck. Her gaze jumped to Danarius who stood a little further away than he had been earlier. Leto stood a little ways behind him, his back still to her. While the Magister was conversing with another man it seemed to her that he was aware of his apprentice and herself and their proceedings.

"Leto has requested that his family is to be set free as his boon for winning the honor of bearing the markings of lyrium. The Magister will except this under the conditions that you leave immediately and that should you return, you will receive no aid and will not be welcomed on the Magister's estate." Varania noted she reserved her courteous tongue for only speaking about her master or when she did Danarious' bidding.

"My brother will be set free as well would he not, seeing as he is a part of our family?" Varania asked through gritted teeth, unable to keep the dislike of this woman out of her voice; but she already knew the answer. She was not a fool to think Danarius would allow the lyrium warrior, the true prize of the competition, to ever be free.

Hadriana's blue eyes narrowed into an icy gaze. "Watch your tone; it doesn't take much to destroy your already precarious position. You are not free until Danarius has signed your release." There was a dangerous tremor in her frigid voice. "He knew the sacrifices to set his family free and he agreed to be bound by them." She said this with a sickening tone of satisfaction.

The Magister would have known Leto would choose their freedom over his own…and she hated him for it.

"You will not speak to the Magister and waste his time when you present these papers to him; as soon as they are signed you will leave."

As Hadriana walked past her, she leaned in, her breath hot on Varainia's neck, "The world will break you soon enough. When the veils of your ignorance have been torn to pieces, you'll come crawling back begging for our help." She whispered in her ear.

A shiver travel through Varania as she watched the Magister's apprentice stalk away. Shaking off the Hadriana's last words, she sought out Danarius, who she had lost in the crowds during her encounter with his apprentice.

When she spotted his intimidating figure, every footfall seemed to weigh a ton, trying to drag her back, as she walked towards the Magister. The sense of dread seemed to close more solidly around her, but it would give her a chance to see her brother and perhaps speak to him, so she kept walking.

Neither stirred from their positions as she neared, Danarius was speaking with several other people now, several other magisters by the looks of them. Varania swallowed, her throat dry.

"ah yes, a…remarkable process indeed…" Varania tilted her heard but the Magister did not elaborate any further on whatever they had been discussing.

When she got within twenty paces, Leto suddenly whipped around, his hand on the hilt of the greatsword, as if she had passed an invisible boundary and was too close.

His piercing green eyes met her own. She had thought seeing his face, and looking into his eyes would erase her fears but instead horror bubbled up inside her. There was no recognition. Nor was there any trace of that cocky gleam that lingered or hardened persistence in his eyes.

The moment their gazes met she knew everything that had made him Leto, was gone. Stubbornly she clung to a desperate hope. Varania could taste the dryness on her tongue.

"Leto?" She tried to ask but it was more of a strangled gasp that parted her lips. The elf did not reply, once he seemed to have concluded she was not a threat to Danarius he released his grip on his sword and turned back to the Magister.

A hollow feeling rose inside her as if her heart had been ripped from her breast. Her mother and Leto were everything she had and now her brother had been torn away from her.

Varania could feel her voice rising in anger before she could suppress it.

"What have you done to him?"

Danarius' hand moved faster than she could see, striking her hard across the cheek. The blow stung long after he lashed out and it would probably leave a mark later.

The Magister narrowed his eyes.

"You are still a slave of my property, remember you place! The papers in your hand that you clutch as if they were a lifeline are worthless until they bear my signature. Give them here before I change my mind." He snapped.

Varania remained mute, she didn't dare address him by question again for fear that he would go back on his word. Holding her breath, she watched as Danarius wrote his name in fluid symbols across the bottom of each sheet.

"Now you and I have no further business, you had better get out before Hadriana finds you." He turned away. "Come along Fenris, my little wolf."