Kiri maintained to her husband that the only reason she visited Sella was to help the other elf transition. That Sella was a necessary evil. If she was callous, she would have avoided the cheerful woman just to spite Marak, but Kiri felt responsible for Sella's capture. Thus she felt required to spend time with her and give her a taste of the world both women had lost. Or so she said. Truthfully, she was thankful for Marak's consideration, but she would never admit it. Instead she griped every time she left for a visit, hoping to guilt him into releasing Sella from her marriage.

After complaining to her husband, Kiri would pick up her dignity, and walk down to the forest room with Bendric. They would exchange some pleasantries, but Bendric knew his place as a guard and was usually unresponsive after a few sentences. This frustrated Kiri, all the other guards were fawning, and she should appreciate a change in pace. However Kiri wanted nothing more than to consider the blue goblin her friend. She never imagined that he was best friends with the King and passed everything he learned to Marak. Oblivious, she continued her attempts at making him talk.

One afternoon, while she was talking to Sella, her mind wandered out to the hallway where she and Bendric had made almost conversation earlier that day. She was thrilled by the progress, and realized she lost track of the present conversation only after Sella's chatter fell silent.

Sella seemed to be waiting for a response, her delicate hands were folded, and her blue eyes were shining.

"I'm sorry; I didn't hear what you last said." Kiri said politely, desperately hoping it wasn't anything important.

"I said that I'm pregnant. Karesh and I are going to have a baby!" Sella looked ecstatic, and Kiri felt slightly nauseated.

"Congratulations." She muttered. Kiri stood quickly, "I'm afraid I have to go now. Marak is taking me to the library this afternoon."

"But you only just got here." Sella protested, grabbing Kiri's hand and pulling her back down. "And I need someone to talk to about my baby. Anyways, since when have you wanted to spend time with your husband?" And she resumed a happy babbling about names, and gender, and what she hoped the baby would look like.

Kiri lost it. "Are you serious? How can you possibly be happy about this? You've lost everything from up there, and now you're trapped even more. A goblin baby and you're thrilled. It's sickening."

Kiri watched unmoved as Sella teared up and ran to her tent. She was disgusted by the treachery. Sella had adjusted perfectly to kingdom life. She was having a baby. She didn't know how to act like an elf. They may have been born only a few months apart, but Kiri felt eons older. She never imagined that she was the one acting childish. As she watched Karesh run his hands through his wife's hair and whisper words of comfort, Kiri turned on her heel and left the room. She had no greater wish than that she could also leave the kingdom.

Bendric was waiting for her at the door, but Kiri ran past him. She knew the path to her rooms, and did not want to see any goblin. Especially a goblin that she wished was her friend. On the royal level, she ran onto her balcony and began sobbing at the injustice of it all.