A/N: Here's chapter 10! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love you all! :D

Chapter 10

Tris watched them for a moment, and then reached out to Sandry and Daja. Briefly, through their connection, she told them what had happened. They were completely shocked, and wanted to go see Talia right away.

Briar gathered Talia in his arms and picked her up smoothly after pulling her skirts down to where they were supposed to be. He started walking with her down the street toward their house, and her arms came around his neck, holding him tightly while she cried.

She was still sobbing into his shirt when they arrived at home. Briar set her down on his bed and sat next to her. "I'm going to make you tea that will help you sleep, okay?" he said to her.

She clutched at his hand. "Don't leave me," she whispered.

"I'll be right back, I promise. You're safe here." Though he felt a pull on his heart, Briar let go of Talia's hand and went into the kitchen. As he waited for the water to heat, he scrubbed his hands over his face and discovered the tears that still lingered there. He hit his fist into the wall next to the fireplace but didn't say anything.

He brought a cup of tea into his room and set it gently on the table next to the bed. He sat down next to Talia. "I brought the tea." He looked down at her and saw how pale she still was, how empty her usually captivating blue eyes were, and he felt a rush of rage pass through him that made his hands shake.

He shook with anger, asking himself how anyone could do something like this to someone like Talia. He had to stand up and go to his shakkan, letting its infinite calm pour into him, before he could touch Talia and be sure that none of his rage at her attackers would cross over to his touch.

He put an arm around her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position. He took the cup of tea from the table and brought it to Talia's lips.

"Please, love, drink the tea," he murmured when she turned her face away. "Look at me."

She turned to meet his gaze with her own, and Briar could see that her eyes were filling with tears again. "Please don't cry, love. You're safe now. Drink the tea. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Finally, after some more coaxing, Talia drank the tea and was soon asleep. Briar had his arms around her, holding her close to him. He let the feel of her, warm and soft in his arms, chase the waking nightmares away.

Briar! Two voiced called to him in his head at once. We heard what happened! Is Talia okay? That was Sandry, but Briar could hear Daja's concern in her presence in his mind.

I'm not sure. I gave her tea and she's sleeping right now.

Let us know when she's awake, Daja said, and closed her connection. Sandry followed suit. Briar closed off his mind to his sisters so he wouldn't have to talk to them right now. He was feeling vulnerable enough as it was, without having his sisters around to poke around inside his head if they wanted to.

xXx

Tris herself went straight up to her tower room when she got home, totally bypassing the downstairs. She'd wait until Briar or Talia called for her. She picked up a book and tried to read it, but all she could see was Talia lying on the ground sobbing.

Through all the things she'd been through, from killing pirates to saving Sandry from a kidnapper in Namorn and defying an empress, she'd never seen anything that made her as angry as this. At least she and her friends had each other and their ability to speak mind to mind.

If Tris hadn't been able to see things on the wind, they probably wouldn't have known about Harold and what he did to Talia. Tris threw her book as hard as she could onto the bed and left the house as loudly as she dared. She went to Discipline, and saw Lark and Rosethorn. They knew her well enough to know that she would tell them what happened in her own time, if she wanted to.

They let her say nothing, even though they could tell she was in a vile mood. Lark mothered her and Rosethorn looked on, knowing that her most temperamental foster-daughter just needed to work through her anger.

Finally, Tris burst. She started yelling and screaming and ranting about men who thought it was okay to try and rape someone on a public street, just because they were men.

"Tris, dear, what brought this on?" Lark finally asked.

Tris paced around the room while she told them. When she'd finished, both of them were completely silent with shock. "Is she okay?" Lark finally asked.

"Briar's at home with her, taking care of her. I was there for a while, but I couldn't stand it there. I had to get out."

"Who was he?" Rosethorn asked. Her face told Tris that she was ready to go hurt the man who did this.

"I don't know," Tris said. "He got away before we could do anything."

"Did you get there…in time?" Lark asked.

Tris shrugged. "I don't know, and I doubt we will until Talia wakes up and feels ready to talk."

xXx

Briar didn't know how long she'd slept; a few minutes, a few hours. It was all the same to him right now. No matter how quickly or slowly time was passing, it felt the same.

She stirred in his arms as the sun set. "Briar?" her voice was weak and hoarse.

"I'm right here."

She turned in his grasp and looked up at him. "Briar." She reached up with a trembling hand and touched his face, her fingertips brushing his cheek and coasting over his jaw and up to his lips.

She let her hand drop and put her head on his chest. "Are you all right?" Briar asked hesitantly. He didn't know what to say; there was so much going on in his head, he wasn't sure if he should say any or all of it.

"Where's Tris?"

"What?" Confused and hurt, Briar asked her again. "Are you all right?"

"I want to speak to Tris, please."

"Talia…"

"Briar, please." She looked up at him, and he nodded.

"Okay."

Tris? Talia's asking for you, Briar said in her mind.

Is she okay? Tris asked.

I don't know. She just keeps asking for you.

I'll be right there. Tris looked at her foster-mothers. "Talia's awake. I'll let you know what happens."

xXx

"She's on her way," Briar said to Talia, still cradled against him.

"Thank you." She kissed his neck, all she could reach of him, and then put her head back down.

xXx

Tris raced back to Cheeseman Street, and Briar met her at the door to his room. "Go on in."

"Briar, is she all right?"

Briar closed his eyes and leaned against the doorframe. "I don't know, Tris. She doesn't seem to want to tell me anything. She doesn't even want me here while you talk."

Tris patted her brother's shoulder. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll be out soon."

xXx

Briar left the kitchen and went into his workshop through the garden. He saw the plant left on the table, and went to it. It was what he'd been working on before he'd gone up to tell Talia to go out to the market if she was bored. It was a present for her, an arrangement of roses he was growing in the shape of a heart. He didn't want her to see it until he was finished. The trick was getting all of the buds to bloom in tandem.

He hit the table with his hand, resisting the urge to knock the plant off his table. If he hadn't insisted that she get out of the house to do something, this never would have happened. If he hadn't wanted to finish her present in private, he could have been teaching her more. But he didn't even want her in the garden where she could sneak up on him too easily if she wanted to. This was all his fault. And Talia would probably never forgive him. He wouldn't want to forgive himself.

xXx

Tris entered Briar's room. Talia was looking at the door with undue concentration. When Tris came through it, Talia's gaze flickered over to her.

"Tris."

Tris came to sit on a chair next to the bed. Talia reached out and grasped her hand. "Does he hate me?"

"Briar?"

"Yes. Does he hate me for what happened?" Talia's voice was so soft that Tris almost couldn't hear her.

"No, Talia," Tris said, reaching out to touch Talia's hand with her own. "He doesn't hate you at all. He couldn't." She flinched suddenly, when she felt him slam his hand onto the table. "He's mad at himself for suggesting you go out."

Talia's face crumpled slightly. "At himself? If he's going to be mad, he should at least be mad at me."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Tris said firmly. "In fact, you did everything right."

Talia shook her head. "This is all my fault," she moaned.

"No, it isn't. You did well, Talia. I saw what happened." She pursed her lips. "Well, most of it. And you used your magic to protect yourself."

Talia looked over curiously. "I did?"

Tris nodded. "The bushes over your head. You did that, not Briar. You protected yourself from harm, Talia. There's no way Briar would fault you for that."

"Not for that. For getting into that situation in the first place."

"How is that your fault?"

"I knew him. Harold. He was my mistress' son, when I was a slave. I should have come back when I knew he were behind me. Or done something else, instead of pretend it wasn't happening. I'm a mage! This shouldn't have happened to me!"

Tris put a hand on Talia's shoulder. "But it did. And your magic helped you out of worse damage."

Talia was silent for a minute. Then she nodded. "I don't want him to feel like it's his fault."

Too late, Tris thought to herself, having seen Briar's anger for herself. "He's worried that you're not speaking to him," she finally said. "Because you asked for me instead of talking to him."

"I thought he was mad at me," Talia whispered.

"Well, he's not. Would you like to see him?"

Talia nodded. "Please."

Briar. She wants you, Tris told him, and he came running.

The door from his room to the outside burst open to admit him, and he rushed to Talia's bedside. She moved over so he would have more room, and he lay next to her and put his arms around her.

Tris got up and left the room quietly, leaving them to their discussions.

"I'm sorry," Talia said.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Briar replied sincerely. "I should be sorry."

"We're probably going to keep arguing about this forever if we don't stop now, because you really have nothing to be sorry for," Talia said.

Briar smiled a little. "I still am."

"You shouldn't be." She yawned, though she tried not to.

"You should sleep," Briar said, caressing her cheek.

"Don't leave," she said as her eyes drifted closed.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he whispered.

xXx

Talia spent the next twelve hours sleeping. She awoke with the sun, as she usually did, and found Briar's arms still around her. She looked at him, and saw his eyes slit open. "Good morning," she said softly.

His arms tightened a little around her. "Good morning. Are you feeling any differently today?"

She pursed her lips and thought about it. "I think I feel better."

Briar smiled. "I'm glad."

"I wanted to talk to you yesterday, but I got so tired," Talia said, and his eyes opened wider.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry about what happened. I don't want you to feel like it's your fault, because it's not."

"Talia, if I hadn't suggested you go out…"

"No! Let me finish." She covered his mouth with her palm. "This isn't your fault. I want you to know that. I knew him. He was my mistress' son, when I was a slave. He used to flirt with everyone, but especially with me. I always turned him down. I think that made him mad."

"How did you end up in the pens?" Briar asked. His voice was muffled through Talia's palm, but she still heard him.

"I didn't tell you that?" She took her hand off of his mouth.

"No. We were interrupted before I could ask."

"Oh. My mistress' son? He's around your age, maybe a year or so younger. He liked to make advances on the help, like I said. He went away when I was fourteen, about a year after I was taken from the streets, and came back right after my birthday this year. When he saw me, he started watching me. Then he would try to touch me or kiss me. The other servants watched out for me, so he was interrupted most of the time."

She shrugged. "When my mistress heard about it, she got very angry, and started yelling and throwing things at her son. When she sent me off to the pens, she told me that she was ashamed her son could be attracted to a slave. Someone so far beneath him I hardly existed. Even if I was pretty, she said. So I left. I didn't like it there anyway."

"Is it my turn to talk now?" Briar asked after a few minutes of silence. Talia nodded. "I want you to know that if you need me, I'll be there to protect you with everything I have and everything I am." He made sure she was looking into his eyes when he said this. "Any time you need me, I'll be there. I promise."

Talia smiled tremulously and tried not to let the tears of gratitude in her eyes fall to her cheeks. She buried her face in his chest and breathed in his scent.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review! Love to all, Sarah