Between her, George, and Numair, Abal Malikah was becoming a lot stronger. Jonathan dealt with her quite frequently, and actually had given her a prize position within the mages ranks. Numair had begun introducing her to the mages, and they were all extremely interested in knowing her.

"I know," George said now, laughing. "But I can't exactly call you my little sister, now can I?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Still. Call me Abal, Becca or something besides courtesan. Alright George?" Numair shook his head slightly, asking them to step outside the room if they wanted to talk.

"Oh, I actually came to talk to you," George said, laughing.

"Abal, you take care of the class for a bit," Numair said, before following George out of the room.

As soon as the door shut, all the boys laughed. "You've got Baron George and Master Numair on your side," one complained. "Plus the Lioness and King Jonathan. What can't you do here in Corus?"

"Let's just say I can't get along with my own sort," she said smiling. "I need to go do something, try to patch things up. All of you behave, practice smaller spells. Nothing that will result in explosion, fire, or injury though. Tell Numair I'll be back for supper tonight with all of you boys," she waved as she left through the window.

Returning to Corus, she wandered to her store. Entering, she smiled and picked up her cloak. There was a good chance she would be out late, and she had no desire to be cold. Even after years in Corus she still preferred warmth.

Clasping the cloak securely she flipped the hood up before leaving her store again. Of course, she knew that Briar would know it was she, but it made her feel more confident to do this. Walking through the streets, she looked constantly around, careful to make sure no one was following her. The streets were busy, but no one was following her at the time.

Entering the tavern, she saw that Court was in session. Shutting the heavy door behind her, she turned around to look at everyone. Sliding the hood back, they all recognized the dark auburn hair. The silence was immediate as Briar rose to his feet and walked towards her.

She met his cold eyes with her own calm ones. "Please, will you give me a minute of your time?"

"Why should I?" he asked, looking down at her. When he kept walking forward, she got pressed back against the wall. "Give me one good reason I should listen to anything you have to say to me."

"I don't like fighting with you Briar," she said, looking up at him.

"Then answer me straight," he said. "Why are you going up to the palace?"

Her eyes flashed. "Like I said, that doesn't concern you. You don't pester the other women about why they do their business. Why pester me?"

Briar's eyes flashed dangerously as he glared down at her. "Because I care. You saved my life, and its my turn to save yours." He was intense, looking down at her as she glared back up.

"Save my life?" she laughed slightly. Shaking her head, rolling her eyes. "What is there to save my life from with the palace? This life has always been more dangerous than that one. The nobles find me intriguing. Something about Bazhir put them in the mood for talking."

"They're using you!" Briar snapped, glaring down at her.

"Why do you care so much?" she asked, her dark green eyes flashing with fury now. "You've never cared before. Why now?" she looked pissed as he reached out and opened up her white shirt.

"This," he said, holding up the golden medallion. On its face was a dragon stamped into the face. "Remember what I promised you?"

"That you'd make sure I was protected," she whispered, looking at the medallion. Taking it back, she let it drop from her hand, to fall at her chest.

"Exactly," he said. "That's what I'm doing. Which is why I want to know what you're doing. They might be trying to bring me down, or put the Corus Court out of business. That can't happen, Becca and you know that."

"They haven't asked me anything about Court. It's an off-limit topic," she said. "Jonathan promised that to me."

Fury flashed in his eyes as he slammed a hand on each side of her face. "What did you just say?" he asked, looking down. When she repeated it, staring up at him, he snorted. "Jonathan? You actually listened to them?"

"Yes!" she snapped back, furious. "They don't care about you at the moment. I'm there to learn about the Gift, and to help out their knights-in-training."

"That's a lie," he snapped.

Loosing her temper, she slapped him hard across the face. "Shut up Briar," she growled. "You're mad at me, just admit it. I don't understand why though."

"Why?" he laughed. "I'll show you why." That was all he said before one of his hands slipped down her neck to slip around her waist. In the process though, her shirt got ripped open, almost to her waist. Then his lips crashed down onto hers, passionate, even as she seemed shocked by his actions.

His free hand cupped the back of her head, burying into her hair. All his emotion seemed to be put into this, even as she fought. She seemed nearly horrified, and tried to free herself of the branding kiss he gave her.

Struggling against his grip, she bit down hard on his lip. When he backed off, she hauled back and punched him.

Wiping off her mouth, she shivered. "That's a fine way to treat someone," she snapped. "Numair was right. It wasn't safe for me to stay here. He said someone would attack me. They said it would happen eventually, that my luck would never hold," she was tearing up now, her voice shaking. "I just never thought you would be the one to hurt me, Briar. I always thought you were the one person I could trust."

"Wait, Becca!" Briar reached out to stop her, but she slapped his hand away as she slipped out the open door.

When she got into the street, she put the hood back up to hide her tear-soaked face from view. The cloak she pulled tight around her as she walked for the palace.

When she made it up, she slipped into the palace by a side door, nodding at the man there. He recognized her hand as she held it out; the distinctive scar her only identification that was needed. So there was no need to stop her on her determined path to enter the palace.

He opened the door and smiled at her. Walking through the halls silently, she almost missed the supper hall she was going to enter. Shaking her head, she rested her back against the wall across from it. Sighing, she slumped to sit on the floor. "Stupid. How come I didn't believe him?"