"Ethan!" I shouted, the young mage paralysed by the scene before him, he snapped his head to look at me "Cancel his spell, break it!" Ethan was one of few mages here with the ability to take Kalin's sight away

"But he'll go into shock, it could kill him" Ethan said shaking his head, scared, he was sweating

"He's dying Ethan!" I cried "Please!" Wide eyed he nodded and sat beside the old man's breaking body

"Heaven hold him steady" He whispered then channelled energy, drawing it from the very air around him. Beneath me Kalin cried out in pain, tears streaming.

"Run child!" he cried "He is coming for you!" at that moment Ethan's spell hit him wholly and hard, there was the audible crack of bone then Kalin's body went limp

"Kalin?!" I checked the old man's breathing, shallow but there, Wodan struck up a new chant, The Master looked to me, his eyes telling me to pull away so the healers could take him to the infirmary. Strong warm arms lifted me, pulling me from Kalin, I struggled, but I was too numb and in shock to resist much, Ethan, as numb as I was moved back as they carried Kalin away, stepping back and collapsing into the old man's chair, the young mage's eyes found mine, he was worn, trembling. "Thank you Ethan" I told him, he nodded numbly, the rest of the Brothers began murmured conversations, the meal now decidedly over they began to depart the room, no doubt to discuss the events that had just taken place. Warm arms still held me steady, and I realised I was trembling, my name, Kalin had called me by my name. I turned to find Whisperer holding me, he looked concerned, his eyes not on me however, but on the table of abandoned food, dishes half empty, half eaten. He pulled me away slowly, gently, Ethan now conversing with another brother did not see us step into the shadows.

"Cast a veil" he whispered "And stay quiet" What? Why? I asked him with my eyes, but cast the spell anyway, slowly disappearing entirely from view, still he held me, there was no real need to, my magic stronger and more focused now I didn't need contact, but after what I had just seen it was somewhat comforting to have someone else close by. He leaned to whisper into my ear "Watch for the servants as they come to clear the table, keep your eyes on where Kalin had been sitting" the servants? We waited, impatient; I held my nervousness until the last of the brothers had left the great hall.

Silence was loud; I had never truly understood the phrase until now, but it was fitting. After a short time there was movement in the room, a young servant girl entered pushing a large trolley, the same servant girl I had noticed Ethan looking at earlier. Expecting her to start at one of the near sides and work down I was very much surprised to find her walk straight to my seat, she glanced nervously around and I held my breath despite knowing I was invisible to her eyes, she looked about carefully around the table, setting her eyes on Kalin's place. Leaning across she removed the half eaten bread roll to tuck into her pocket, she then began to move to the furthest end of the great table and began clearing away the dishes as normal. I felt Whisperer move, his arms gone I had to shift my perception to that of astral in order to see his ghostly form walk towards the servant girl. She screamed as he caught her up in his arms, pinning her to the rough wood of the table. I dispelled my cast; she might think him to be after something she wasn't willing to give. The girl's eyes widened with shock when she saw him, in the corridor leading to the kitchen there was the rattle of more servant trolleys.

"Who sent you?" Whisperer asked, I felt instantly the push of magic, he was influencing her to answer, the girl began to cry, but said nothing "Who sent you?" he asked again. Several servants entered the hall, worried looks on their faces, I held up a hand lest they start to panic. Again Whisperer asked his questions, I told a servant to fetch one of the Masters "Ghost, her pocket" Whisperer said, I nodded moving forward to remove the bread roll, my bread roll, so someone had been after me, Kalin's hurt was my fault.

Master Wodan entered the room, ushering the servants away, he placed a hand on Whisperer and bid him to draw back. He muttered something beneath his breath and the servant girl went limp, but still conscious, she would be unable to move.

"Tell me little one, who gave you this bread?" he asked, I almost started shaking with the force of his influence, the magic was incredibly strong, the girl cried in earnest, her body bending in pain, her eyes wide, that much power would be jarring like razor blades in her mind but still did not speak, how? How under that presence could she not say who she had been speaking with? Unless . . . The pressure of master Wodan's magic increased further, the air felt heavy and thick with it, had I still been viewing the astral world the power might have appeared solid and impassable. The girl began screaming and my heart clenched.

"Master Wodan?" I asked gently placing a hand on the old Orc's arm, I could feel the protectiveness of the Master, a member of his family had been hurt, a second targeted, all right under his very nose, and he wanted answers. "Master Wodan?" I tried again, this time stepping between him and the screaming servant girl. The old Master's focus wavered for a second, enough for me to catch him directly in the eye. "Master, can you not see? She is protecting someone she loves"

"She would love a murderer?" he growled he moved to gain sight of the girl again, I stepped before him once more, Whisperer catching on stood beside me. "This is not your place King Pin" the Orc growled "Step aside"

"Master please she is afraid for someone, she is protecting them, your spell will not work whilst she believes that the person she loves will come to harm if she tells you what she knows!" I had heard rumours that truly loving someone protected your mind against the force of influence, if you believed in something hard enough you could withstand even a Master's power. "Someone she loves is being threatened, it is the only reason for her strength of mind" I tried to sound calm, rational "I want to know what happened to Kalin too Master, but if you push her too hard she will die and you will have still learnt nothing" At this the Master glanced from the girl to Whisperer and then to me, the anger fading from him, his great shoulders sagged heavily.

"It is a sad day when your pupil speaks greater wisdom than you do" he muttered "Very well, I will push her no longer." He turned to Whisperer "I would have you see this through, get me some information I can use" he said, he looked at me through tired eyes as I pulled the slip of a girl close to me, murmuring reassurances "Kalin is alive, but barely, I do not want such troubles in this temple, deal with your demons" and with that he turned and left me. Demons? I had brought trouble to Wodan, Kalin had almost died, a girl's family likely held captive, just by my being here. Torrin had been right, I was too well known and I was attracting trouble; I needed to get as far away from the people I cared about as possible. If someone wanted my attention they had certainly got it.

". . . listening Ghost?" my mind snapped back to the present, Whisperer gave me a worried look, the girl still crying into my robe, he sighed heavily shoving his glasses up his nose as he did so and brushed his hair from his eyes. "We should go somewhere quiet where we can speak with her" he said, I glanced down at the shaking girl and nodded. "Come, we'll take her to my room" he led the way; the rest of the servant crew began tentatively moving back into the room to clear the dinner items.