At this Lucien had no response. Did he need to have one? In his own mind he had no explanation to why she admitted she was a monster. In the eyes of the lycans she was the only vampire that was lenient to them, on more then one occasion did her own hand meet the face of a guard that was too harsh. He remembered the first time as clear as day, the first time he saw her personally disciplining the guard who was whipping a lycan to death.

The arm reaches out again and Lucien saw in one second the near death friend lying on the ground. But the last strike never connected. Instead the vampire taskmaster was lifted up by the throat, the green jeweled cloak, scribed with runes of seemingly ages past, and an ageless face of someone turned so young were the features of the vampire, a vampire, lifting him off his feet without effort and as graceful as a lioness.

" 'Punishment' is to 'inspire' them to work, taskmaster, not to kill!" The voice was as Lucien expected, cold. But as he observed how she moved, how easily he held him by the neck, he noticed how similar she was to Viktor. 'So this was her' he thought, the beautiful and haunting death commander. 'The rumors of the lycans are true after all... about her.' She looked strikingly beautiful, her anger was a cold rage, never out of control and her eyes burned with intensity.

"F- Forgive me, C... commander." He could see he didn't mean it. She did let him go and as he kicked the lycan to get to his feet did suddenly a snapping neck silence all work as the lifeless body of the task master fell to the floor.

The commander looked at the lycans with a emotionless expression. "You know your tasks, do them. Get to it!" She snapped.

He was about to turn away before he heard his name.

"Lucien! Mind if you have a guest this night?" It wasn't a question.

Lucien nodded. "Of course, my lady."

"Good." Without effort did she pull Sabas, Lucien's friend to his feet and dragged him towards Lucien's smith forge. She didn't seem to care for his whimpering as she pulled him along, passing lycans giving him a sympathetic glance. Lucien opened the door and the commander dragged both inside. She promptly dropped Sabas on a bed on his back and sighed. "I'll be back."

Whilst Lucien began to try and clean his wounds, he spoke softly to him. "What the hell did you do now?"

"I was talking too much."

Lucien shook his head, that was really getting out of hand. Before he could respond Amilia came back with a small sack over her shoulder and began disinfecting his wounds without a word. Lucien watched with fascination as the cold and near white hands of the death commander healed his comrade and friend.

"You must be a skilled healer, my lady."

Amilia shrugged. "I do what I must in order to keep our lycans from being treated too badly. However I cannot be everywhere at once. You may have noticed this." she added dryly.

"Then just believe I do not accept this as truth."

The figure in front of the fireplace just shook her head.

Lucien sighed. "Why did you attack my men?"

Amilia shrugged. "They would ransack this room if I allowed them further. I won't allow it! In here is my world! My own! Outside is just some horror story you read in books. In here... In here.." Her voice lowered until barely able to be heard.

"In here are no mirrors, no reflections. Everything warms me. In here... it it it... It's like living! Like being human again!" Her moment of happiness however quickly collapsed as she slumped back down. "But you don't know what it's like to be human and I won't see the sun rise up ever again."

Lucien looked around the room, various paintings were on the wall of rising suns.

"Did you make those, my lady?"

But Amilia was no longer listening as she just stared aimlessly into the fire. Her pale complexion indeed almost seemed human the way her face reflected the light of the fire. He sighed and stood up, he'd try and talk to her later. It seemed both were in no state to talk. As he closed the door to the barracks he saw Raze standing in front of him.

"Is she dead?"

Lucien just shook his head as they both walked down the hallway.

"Raze... She died inside, eight hundred years ago."