May disposed of poison five more people before the gossips reached all ears in the village. Wolf was following her, mostly for getting more water and carrying pot with the poison beads. And of course watching. When a group of people who obviously weren't from the village came to her, the templar set everything aside and was ready to draw his weapons.

"What's going on here?" an arrogant female voice asked. May finished the healing, put the poison bead into the pot and then got up to face the newcomer. She had light brown hair and green eyes as May did, but that was the only thing they had in common. The imposter wore various jewelery and rich dress and on the first look she could be mistaken for the Lady of Life, but her gaze was cruel and full of anger.

"These people are dying, they need to be healed quickly," May replied.

"I gave the order not to do anything before I start healing them!" the imposter nodded at the two bodyguards beside her. "Arrest them."

"Don't you dare to touch her," Wolf stepped in front of them. The two armored men hesitated. They didn't expect anyone to resist.

"How dare you defy me?!" the woman bristled up. "Do you know who I am?!"

"No, I don't," May answered with calm. "Wolf, step back, please, I'll handle it myself."

"But..."

"That is not a request, Wolf. That's an order. Step back," the Lady of Life in hiding was serious.

"As you wish," Wolf bowed and stood by her right side, one step behind her.

"How... how dare you?!" the imposter was confused and mad.

"Please, calm down," May raised her hands in a calming gesture. "There is no need to yell. I apologize, I don't know all the Elyos, can you tell me your name?"

"Such insolence! I am May, the Lady of Life!" she said though gritted teeth. "And I will have your heads for..."

"No, you are not," May shook her head. "Please, stop insulting lady Yustiel by claiming she would give her power to someone who requires payment for healing people in need."

"W what?" the imposter obviously didn't expect such defiance.

"You've made a mistake," May continued. "If you started healing those people, they might believe you are actually a Lady of Life. But you had to insist on payment beforehand. Lady Yustiel would never do that. And she would never give her power to someone who does. No, you aren't even close to her disciples."

"Shut up!" she yelled. "I am the Lady of Life! I will show you my power and after that you will crawl before me and beg me to kill you!"

"Can we go outside the village then? A show like this could endanger the people here."

"Who cares about them?"

"I do! And if you want them to believe you are the Lady of Life, you should too."

"Stop with this crap," the impostor raised her hands in front of her and the stones on her bracelets started glowing. In a split second she fired a blast of aether at May who conjured her shield just in time to deflect the energy to the sky.

"Please, don't do this!" May called at her and raised an aether barrier around them. "If you hate me, then... by all means, yell at me, hit me, or... whatever. Just don't hurt these people!"

"You... it's you!" the other woman stopped her movements in shock. "It's you... it's your fault! You killed her!" All her jewels started shining. The air around them was cracking from being filled with aether. "I will never forgive you!" As she tried to charge the stones to deal the biggest blast she could imagine in her rage, she overloaded them and they exploded in bright colours and smoke, shattering the barrier May set up. Fortunately no one outside was affected by the explosion.

May coughed and ran towards the woman. She was lying on the ground with burns and blisters all over her skin. May knelt next to her and started with healing.

"Why?" the no longer impostor coughed. "Why..."

"I miss lady Yustiel too," May whispered. "I never wanted this power..."

"I didn't know..." tears ran down on the woman's face. "They didn't... tell me..."

"Shhh, don't talk, let me heal you."

"No, I don't deserve to live anymore, I... I betrayed my lady... they never told me... about the village... but I should know... heal the people instead..."

"Traitor!" one of the guards recovered from the shock caused by the explosion and drew his sword. But he never had a chance to attack, as Wolf bashed into him with his shield and knocked him down. The other guard realised, who was more dangerous at the moment, and attempted to attack him from behind, but Wolf turned, blocked the blow with his shield and with one swing of his sword he gave the man a deep cut from his neck to waist. The guard's armor apparently wasn't first rate. When the man on the ground witnessed what happened to his companion, his gaze become fanatically devoted and in order to avoid arrest, he chewed a little capsule he had instead of one tooth. Before May could shift her attention from the woman and cast a healing spell on him, he coughed foam and his body became feeble.

~ x ~

"I never thought I would say that, but I have no choice now," Nezekan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. All his moral principles were against bribing, but his conscience couldn't allow him to let his daughter die. "What do you want for letting Chellia go?"

"You know what I want, Nezekan. But I know you won't give me that."

"As I told you before, bring up that topic again and I won't consider you an ally anymore."

"Yes, I know. That's why I won't ask for that and she's going to die, no matter what."

"You can't kill her, dammit!" Nezekan hit the wall beside him so hard that several pieces of parging fell off.

"I can and I will," Kaisinel insisted. "Now please leave Inggison, you have no business here. I know you're hurt and I'm sorry for that, but it's for Elysea. You will understand in time, even if you will never forgive me."

"This is not right. If you really have to kill someone, choose me. I'm offerring you my life in exchange for hers."

"You're missing the point," the Lord of Illusions objected. "You are the Seraphim Lord of Justice, important to Elysea. She's just some Asmodian spy, she's nothing."

"She's not just some Asmodian, she's our hope for peace with them!"

"Oh, peace? Since when you want piece with Asmodians?"

"I've been thinking about it for some time already," Nezekan admitted. "The only ones who profit from this war are the Balaur. Can't you see it, Kaisinel? With every daeva or human killed, the Tiamat's and Beritra's forces are growing stronger. And those are the only ones we know about. I'm more concerned about those we don't know, Meslamtaeda, Ereshkigal and Fredgion. And if we want to survive those, we have to cooperate with both, Reians and Asmodians."

"You're talking nonsense and looking for excuses," Kaisinel shook his head. "Leave Inggison before you disgrace yourself even more."

"But she's my..."

"Yes! I know that! Fine! If you insist, I will interrogate her personally. And if she knows at least something useful, I will reconsider her punishment. And don't try co convince me any further. She might be yours, but you don't know her. She's still an Asmodian and now, after you told her everything, she can try to use it against you. Now leave and let me handle it."

They stared at each other in silence. Then Nezekan took a deep breath and sat on nearest chair.

"I'm tired," he sighed. "I can't even think straight. Since Yustiel died, everything went wrong. When I was talking to Chellia, it was the only bright moment in these days. You know what she told me? All her life she thought she was an orphan. Triniel had to put her away to protect her. But if we had peace, I would have protected her, she would have a family."

"You really should have a rest," Kaisinel nodded. "I will give her one chance, out of respect to you. It will be up to her if she uses it or discards it. You can't ask me for more. We're still at war with them."

"Can I at least say goodbye to her?"

"No. I don't want you to warn her."

"Right. I get it," Nezekan stood up and left the room slowly arranging his thoughts and trying to trust Kasinel. He knew he could rely on him in almost everything about Elysea, but this was completely different case. The Lord of Illusions just hated the girl too much.

Kaisinel waited until Nezekan was safely teleported to the Inggison Illusion fortress and then visited the prisoner. She was lying on the bed, motionless, staring at the ceiling. She didn't even touch the food. He watched her and tried to decide what to do with her.

"You know," she sat and looked at him. "You can always forget to lock the door and let the guards kill me when I attempt to run away."

"And why would I doo that?" he frowned.

"He might hate you less if I die that way," she shrugged.

"I'm not here to kill you now," he said calmly.

"Oh?" she was surprised. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"You really should learn some manners," he grunted and clenched his fist. "I'm here for information."

"Don't waste your time. I won't tell you a thing."

"Just on the contrary," before she could react, he made two steps towards her and placed his palm on her forehead. "You will tell me everything."

Kaisinel unleashed his spell and the girl's eyes widened in horror. This cost him a lot of energy, but it was the most effective and reliable way to get information. And she was very young, her mind was neither trained nor prepared for any outside interference. He closed his eyes and enetered her mind. This spell allowed him to access all the memories of any person, who was weak enough to succumb to it. The downside of it was, it showed him everything. He had to sort the memories one by one and find those useful. That's why this spell was so exhausting. He really wasn't interested in her first steps or any of her personal adventures. He wanted to know what she saw and heard on her missions as Triniel's spy. But the information he found was no use to him. She didn't get many specific mission, her orders were mostly watching her surroundings and report anything unusual. And he had to admit she was good at it. She couldn't read minds like he could, but she was able to uncover characters just from watching people for several minutes. At one point he got a glimpse of a familiar face in her memories. He strenghtened his spell to see every detail of that moment. Then everything related to it. Another face appeared. Kaisinel stopped breathing for the moment. Immediately after he recovered from shock, he left her mind. She fell to the bed, eyes still widened in horror and unable to move.

"Veille!" Kaisinel yelled. Several seconds later he heard quick steps and a blonde woman in purple robe entered the room.

"My lord?" she said.

"How long I've been here?"

"About two hours, my lord," one quick look at the girl was enough for Veille to tell what happened. The side effects of that mind reading spell were disrupted perception of time for the caster and total mind collapse for the victim.

"Take care of her," he ordered. "If she's a drooling idiot when I return, this base will get a new commander."

"Yes, my lord," the Inggison general bowed. She was surprised by the order, but lord Kaisinel was known for his sudden changes of mood. She wasn't in position to question his orders. If he had plans with the prisoner, it was his call.

Kaisinel nodded and left the room. He was in hurry. In the girl's mind he found a danger for Elysea. A danger far greater than she was.

~ x ~

May put another black bead into the pot and with a simple spell, which she cast countless times already, calmed the patient down and put him to sleep. Then she got up and looked at her bodyguard with worries.

"This was the last one, right?" she asked. Fatigue was permeating her voice.

"Yes, my lady. The villagers didn't report any other ill or poisoned people," Wolf replied.

"I'm glad," May smiled. "Did you talk to her?"

"Yes, she introduced herself as Lora, one of lady Yustiel's disciples."

"Did she say something about... her actions here?"

"It was hard to get any infromation from her, she was apologizing after every sentence and claiming she didn't know they were going to poison the village," Wolf reported.

"They?"

"The Lepharists," he clarified. "She joined them after she found out lady Yustiel died. She blamed you, my lady, and she wanted revenge."

"Yes, I could tell that from her behaviour," May nodded. "Did she say anything about them?"

"Only a little. She wasn't there for long, she didn't know anything about their plans or secret hideouts. She was blindfolded every time she went there, so we only know it's somewhere near Poya Jungle or Manduri Valley. The fact she was chosen to impersonate you, was because they couldn't find anyone else who looked similar. Basically they decided for this after they have seen her. But they didn't trust her. To earn their trust she would have to personally meet Lephar. It is said, that once you meet Lephar in person, you can't betray the Lepharists."

"Can't betray? Is he doing something with their minds?" the Lady of Life frowned.

"It is possible. We know almost nothing about him. What do you plan to do with her?"

"We can't leave her here, there is no actual prison in this village," May pondered. "You will speak to Nibeon to re enable the flight transporting device again and you will accompany Lora to New Heiron Gate, where she will wait for her trial. Then you will go to Sanctum and find Jumentis, he's expert on poisons and you will give him sample of this one and ask him to come here. I will remain here and help those people until you return."

"But... my orders..." Wolf objected.

"I just gave you your orders."

"Yes, my lady, as you wish. But please try to rest, you look really exhausted."

"No, I'm fine," she shook her head. "I'm tired, yes, but it's nothing I couldn't..."

In that instant she felt a sudden lack of aether. The fight with Lora and healing of the people took all of her energy reserves and her body which just started to adapt to the Power of Life couldn't cope with the lack of it. She wavered and fell. Wolf cought her just before she would hit the ground. Already uncoscious she whispered few words. To her luck the templar was the only person who heard them.

~ x ~

When Nezekan returned to Sanctum, he wanted to visit May. She was already emotionally stable, but he was still worried. After all, she was a lover of his greatest enemy. He didn't, he couldn't blame her for falling in love with a Shedim lord. In this matter, he was as guilty as she was. He missed Triniel. He has never forgotten about her. But he also never let his feelings to interfere with his duties. May was too kind, too gentle. He was certain that if she and Zikel ever met, something terrible would happen.

But she wasn't in her house and her servants didn't know where she went. He hoped it was only library or shops. Instead of just waiting for her, he went to his home to do some paperwork, until she returns. After a while an urgent cough woke him up. Nezekan raised his head from the desk and shame pierced his mind for falling asleep. His butler was standing at the door, patiently waiting until he noticed him.

"My lord, Geralt of Miragent's Holy Templars asks for an urgent audience," the buttler said.

"Is May with him?" he asked.

"No, my lord, he's alone."

"Send him in, please."

"Yes, my lord," the buttler bowed and left the room. In few moments the young templar entered the room and knelt.

"My lord."

"Rise. Where's May?" Nezekan asked.

"She stayed at Jeiaparan village..."

"What is she doing in Jeiaparan village?" the Lord of Justice raised his voice. "I gave you orders to keep her in Sanctum until I return!"

"I am sorry, my lord. I told lady May of your orders, but she insisted on going to Jeiaparan village. Her words were: 'Either force me to stay or follow me.' And I would never raise a hand against her, my lord."

That explanation has taken Nezekan by surprise. The last time he saw her she hesitated even when asking him for books. This wasn't like her. No, actually, it was like her, back in Reshanta she was determined to defend Zikel at any cost. And then he remembered one report about some disease in that village. If she somehow learnt that information... He cursed himself for forgetting to send healers there in time.

"Why did she want to go there?" he asked, already calmed down.

"She heard there was some disease and wanted to solve it. She looked very distressed about it. So I followed her to Heiron," the young templar reported everything what happened. "And then she ordered me to escort the imposter to New Heiron Gate and tell Jumentis to go to the village to help decontaminate it. But before I could follow the order, she collapsed and..."

A sudden knock on the door interrupted him.

"My lord," the butler entered the room. "Lord Kaisinel is..."

"I can speak for myself, thanks," the Lord of Illusions hurried into the room. Nezekan released the butler with a wave of hand. "Where is she? Tell me so I can kill her!"

"Who? And calm down! You can't kill people just because you're angry!"

"May is Asmodian spy!" Kaisinel snapped. "She's..."

"She's no spy, Kaisinel. Stop being paranoid."

"Ehm, my lord..." Wolf coughed to get their attention.

"Sorry, Geralt, you'll continue with your orders, get Jumentis to the village, he's needed there. Dismissed," Nezekan told him.

"Actually, my lord, there is one more thing I have to report," Wolf nervously swallowed. "After lady May collapsed, she... I think she was already uncoscious, but she whispered: 'Please, forgive me, Zikel.' I'm afraid lord Kaisinel might be correct."

"That's serious," Nezekan frowned and took a deep breath. "But still you will follow your orders. The village needs the help of Jumentis. I will bring May back to Sanctum, and no, Kaisinel, you're not going with me, we don't want to scare her, right?" he glared at the lord of Illusions and prevented his objections. "You, Kaisinel, find lady Ariel and Vaizel, please, we will deal with her together. And we don't want to create panic among the people, they wouldn't take it well, if the Lady of Life died again."

"Yes, my lord. As you wish," Wolf bowed.

"Dismissed."

Wolf bowed again and left lord Nezekan's office. He had a feeling that he just bumped into some game the Seraphim lords played. He didn't become templar for this. He just wanted to protect his friends. Friends... not many of them remained because of this war.

Kaisinel waited until the templar left the building and then scowled at Nezekan.

"You knew about it," he grunted.

"Yes, I did," Nezekan nodded.

"Then why did you let her... She's Zikel's whore!" the Lord of Illusions shouted. "That's scandalous! No, not scandalous, you endangered whole Elysea! Just... why?!"

"She's a good person and Yustiel trusted her," the templar objected. "She believed that May can help to establish peace. That's why she sacrificed herself. And I knew she would do it anyway, with my help or not, so I decided to help. May is no danger to Elysea, if she's guided properly."

"And you are supposed to be that guide?" Kaisinel snorted.

"Yes, I'm her guide."

"You're insane, Nezekan! First you meet Triniel in secret, then there's that... girl and then this? She's Zikel's whore, how can you defend her?!"

"Stop calling her that, she's no whore," Nezekan frowned. "More importantly, how did you found out?"

"From that girl. She has some memories of Zikel and May."

"She told you that?"

"No. I never bothered with asking. I just took what information I needed," Kaisinel shrugged.

"You used that spell on my daughter?! Are you mad?!" Nezekan hit the desk. "Did she survive at least?"

"She's in Veille's care now," Kaisinel rolled his eyes. "I'll never get used to you defending Asmodians."

"I am not defending Asmodians," Nezekan growled. "Chellia is half Elyos and May's life as Asmodian is over. She can never change back. At least that's what Yustiel told me. Now if you're done blaming me, can you inform lady Ariel, so we can solve this?"

"Fine. I'll inform her. And you better bring May here."

~ x ~

Chellia was slowly waking up. Her mind was clouded by a pale soothing haze. She could barely remember what happened. At one moment Kaisinel touched her head and then it was like she was forced to call up all of her memories. And then there was pain. Tears rolled from her eyes, when she tried to recall that.

"Tell me, seer, why must there be war?" she heard a quiet whisper. Someone was holding her and gently carresing her hair.

"What seer?" Chellia mumbled and opened her eyes. She rested in a lap of a blonde woman with gentle face. It took her few seconds to recognise her. "What are you doing to me?" she panicked and quickly sat.

"I am repairing the damage lord Kaisinel's spell left in your mind," Veille replied and smiled.

"Why?" Chellia sobbed.

"Lord Kaisinel's orders."

"He won't kill me?"

"No," the Inggison general shook her head. "Though I don't know either his reasons or his plans with you. But you appear to be somehow important to lord Nezekan. Do you know why?"

"I'm... he's..." Chellia wasn't able to to say what he told her. When she forced herself to think and find words to describe it, she found it sounded really silly. And she still wasn't sure he was telling the truth. He believed that, yes, but it didn't mean he couldn't be fooled. "I can't tell you," she finally said and turned away from Veille.

"Fine, I won't ask you then," Veille stood up.

"Why? I'm obviously keeping some secret from you," the Asmodian girl didn't understand.

"But I wasn't tasked with your interrogation. My job with you was to heal your mind and that's done now," she smiled and left the room.

Chellia laid down on her bed and looked at the bright ceiling. It was a strange feeling to regain her own mind. It felt like it was shattered and Veille put it back together like pieces of puzzle. But something was still wrong. Like some pieces were missing or misplaced. She couldn't stop thinking about what could he do to her.

~ x ~

When May woke up, she felt feeble and weak. She vaguely remembered she was giving orders to Wolf, but then nothing.

"You're up, good," she heard a familiar voice. "How are you feeling."

"Nezekan?" she sat up and focused her sight on him. "I... I'm fine, thank you. What are you doing here?"

"You should have stayed in Sanctum," he said seriously.

"But these people needed my help," she objected.

"You're not the only healer in Elysea, May."

"I'm sorry, Nezekan, but... they said it was my fault, I had to go."

"Who said that?"

"I don't know. I heard some nobles talking about it. I... I know people of Elysea hate me, I just wanted... to be useful. I'm sorry I failed. Again."

"No, I'm not here to yell at you," Nezekan shook his head. "You did the right thing. You could do it better, but you will learn that in time. I'm here to take you back to Sanctum."

"But I have to stay here, to help them..."

"You're barely standing. You're completely exhausted. How do you expect to help them now? I called other healers here, the village will be fine. And besides, you are requested in Sanctum."

"I am requested? Why? Did something happen?" May gave him a questioning look.

"Kaisinel found out," Nezekan lowered his voice. "I have to bring you before lady Ariel now."

"I... understand," she nodded and stood up. "Where am I now, anyway?"

"When you collapsed, the village mayor offered his house as a place for you, until you get better."

"That's... kind of him."

"Let's go."

When they emerged from the house, a crowd of almost healed people gathered around them.

"My lady," one man said and knelt before her. Everyone followed him. She was completely speechless. "We're very grateful, my lady. You saved our lives and lives of our families."

"No, please, there is no need to kneel," May looked cluelessly at Nezekan, but he said nothing. So she turned back to the man who was speaking. "I healed you, yes, but... it's my duty to protect people of Elysea. I'm just glad you're all alright."

"You saved us, my lady," the man continued still on his knees. "Without you we wouldn't be here anymore. Please, accept this as a token of our gratitude," he offered her a small package wrapped in linen cloth.

"But... I don't require any payment..."

"Accept it," Nezekan whispered. "They want you to have it."

"I..." she hesitantly took the package and unwrapped it. There was a silver bracelet with a crystal in shape of a snowflake. "It's... beautiful..."

"It was our village treasure for centuries, my lady."

"But... are you certain you want to give away such valuable item?"

"My lady, without our lives it would have no value," the man said. "We all wish for you to have it."

"Thank you," tears entered her eyes. "Really... this... means a lot... Now, please rise, you don't have to kneel."

The crowd obeyed.

"Glory to lady May!" someone called. "Glory to lady May!" the village responded in unison.