Here's another update. I figure I'll say it again: I'm still accepting OC's. I'll harvest the mods i've been playing for the rest, and give credit where it's due. Onward and upward!

Sharah came awake like a barrel in a storm, surfacing for brief spurts of consciousness before being submerged again. Often those spurts were met with something being put to her lips. Sharah resisted at first, her ingestion of the Hist sap one of the few clear things in her mind. But she was weak and the vessel was persistent. She almost cried with relief when it was water. And there were later times when it became a flavorful broth. But, no matter the liquid, it was as likely to be heaven on the tongue as Oblivion in her gut. Which meant she drank it down and drifted off as often as she convulsed and retched until she passed out.

There were other unpleasantnesses. She would wake hot and clammy. Or shivering uncontrollably. But the one thing that was consistent was that, whenever she was aware of her surroundings, there was always someone there. Always someone there to ease her. And, even if her mind couldn't fish their identity from the haze, the fact that their voice was familiar was enough that she would slip back under without concern.

But while bobbing in and out was constant, coming fully awake was a challenge. The haze retreated slowly, returning senses and sensations one at a time. The warm, homey air flowing into her nose, the crackle of a fire some feet away, the presence of a pillow and mattress beneath her and the warm pressure of a blanket above.

Sharah lifted her eyelids and had to fight them open, as they clearly weighted a hundred pounds each. She was inside somewhere, sun streaming into the small room through a few windows, providing more light than the fire and candles could alone. It was probably a good thing her thoughts were sluggish or she might have started panicking about where she was.

Moving her head was even more of a challenge than the eyes. She managed to shift her head to one side. A closed door, a cabinet and crate. All set in or against a simple wooden wall. All generic and indistinct. Sharah slowly rolled the other way and immediately lay eyes on Oreyn dozing in a chair beside the bed. Questions shifted like undercurrents beneath the surface of her mind, fighting for air.

"Oreyn," she managed. Although it came out more as a croak.

The mer jolted awake and sat forward. He looked haggard and there were dark rings beneath his eyes, although his gaze was as fiery as ever.

"Easy," he said, "Just take it easy."

Sharah tried to swallow, but her throat felt like sandpaper. Oreyn was on it. He brought a cup of water to her and lifted her head so she could drink with little exertion.

After a sip, she tried again. "Oreyn." It came out more Cyrodiilic than Orcish this time. "How did—"

She rolled ogre-eyes on the liquid this time and lurched herself sideways to evict the contents of her stomach into a waiting bucket. Oreyn had moved to assist the moment her stomach started convulsing, helping her roll and holding her up until it was over. All that came out was water and bile, which said something for her diet lately. Oreyn eased her back and offered the water again. Sharah grimaced and turned away.

"Drink," he ordered. "You always keep it down after. And you need the fluid."

Sharah relented and did as she was told. Like Oreyn predicted, her stomach held it the second time, although it took a while for her to empty the entire glass. When it was done, Sharah lay back and went fishing for those questions, dragging them to the surface.

"Where…we?" She wasn't quite all there, but Oreyn got the gist.

"Cropsford. You've been out over two weeks. Recovering here one of those."

"What…happened?"

He leaned on one knee. "I was hoping you could tell me."

Sharah closed her eyes, trying to piece things together. But it was difficult. "You…first?"

He replied, "Vantus and his men found you on the road near Leyawiin in bad shape. Good men. Whatever you did with Blackwood, they still didn't hesitate to pick you up. They sent word to me and started bringing you north. I came down, met them part way and diverted you to Cropsford. They went back and I've been taking care of you."

Oreyn leaned forward toward her and continued, "You haven't been good, Wolf. Fever, shakes, nausea, hallucinations. You've been restless and mumbling regularly. I've seen skooma addicts going through withdrawal who looked better. What happened?"

Sharah tried to focus, although it irritated her stomach. Her memories were jumbled up with strange dreams and everything was hard to decipher. But she did remember—"Hist sap. They gave me…Hist sap. Blackwood uses it. Had to drink or…risk discovery."

Oreyn demanded, "Hist sap? They're importing Hist sap?"

Sharah shook her head, regaining her mind gradually. "Jeetum-Ze…Blackwood Officer…said they had a tree. There's a door in the basement. Locked and guarded. Probably there."

Oreyn sat back in his chair and stared into space while Sharah breathed evenly and tried to pull herself together. Her whole being felt like it was just sort of dumped around her center. Pulling it back into working order took time.

"Hist sap," Oreyn finally said, "Incredible…and insane."

"He took vials from a crate. There were others too. A lot of sap."

He asked intently, "How many? How much?"

She shook her head. "A lot. Couple gallons probably. And just what I saw. Might be more in the basement. Or shipped off. He said…they used it often. That it increased their skills."

Oreyn tapped his lip, thinking. "That's more sap than a dozen trees could give healthily. If they're drawing on one tree, they've probably done something to it. Must be what the mages are there for. Must be why they're so important to Blackwood. They'd need a lot of magic to get a Hist making that much sap."

"It tasted bad, Oreyn. Not just bad…but wrong." Sharah shuddered at the recollection of that sap on her tongue and down her throat. "The sap's all wrong."

"Hm…might be a side effect of whatever they've done to the tree. We'd have to see the tree to know for sure. As for the sap, I'm not surprised you were found the way you were. Hist sap is a hallucinogen. And that's just for Argonians. Non-Argonians…well, I don't have to tell you."

Sharah nodded and tried to gather her limbs to raise herself. Oreyn made a move to prevent it. "Oh no. Stay put and rest, Wolf."

Sharah furrowed her brow and tried to put a growl into her tone. "Want to…sit up." She was not going to be some invalid. Two weeks, no matter how bad the two weeks, was enough. She had to get right again. Blackwood was still out there.

Oreyn sighed and helped her to get partly vertical, although the headboard ended up supporting most of her weight. When she was sitting still, he said, "The tree's one thing. There are still a lot of Blackwoods to deal with. And Ri'Zakar has probably got that tree well-guarded. But if we could get to it somehow. Destroy it. Or at least sabotage it… It's their edge. Without it, they'd just be another mercenary band. Can you think of anything else about them? Their training, their methods? Anything we could use, or exploit. Getting at that tree is not going to be easy and we'll need every advantage."

Sharah leaned her head back, feeling the blood drain away from her forehead, "They train like an army. Mornings in the basement till early afternoon. Can't remember much…from the field though. I remember the contract. But can't remember what happened. Went to Water's Edge. And…I remember goblins, but…"

She paused on seeing Oreyn's expression go dark. Her head lolled forward a little. "What?"

His jaw tightened. "Odd that you'd mention that place." She waited for him to continue. It was a while in coming. "The trio passed it while bringing you north. Sharah…" She couldn't understand what made his voice so grave. "…The whole town was wiped out. There was an attack. None survived."

The room fell utterly quiet. Sharah could only blink as her mind tried to assimilate this. "…No…We…We were there. I remember we…were fighting goblins. I remember that. All of us. Blackwood and I…we were fighting off the goblins…"

Realizations tore unbidden from the depths of her mind. The mass of goblins in Water's Edge, not just within the town but within the buildings. The absence of the villagers. She couldn't remember seeing even one of them. And the blood on her blade had been red, not black.

The tears flowed hot and fast from her eyes. "Oh…Oreyn…it was us. We…we did it!" What strength she'd managed to gather drained out of her rapidly. "We killed them. I…I thought they were goblins. I don't know about the others. I swear, all I saw were goblins. But the blood on my sword was red. Oh, Gods. Oh, Gods!"

Oreyn sat completely still, but she couldn't see his face through the blur of her tears. Didn't want to. She rolled her head away and squeezed her eyes shut, although it did nothing to dampen the flow.

Abruptly her head was taken in hand and gentle fingers brushed away at the streams down her cheeks. "Listen to me, Sharah. This was not you! It was the Hist sap. It had to be. Maybe the mages tainted it. You wouldn't do this. This. Was. Not. You!"

Sharah hadn't even the strength to shake her head. He didn't know that. How could he? Oreyn didn't know about Hackdirt. She'd slaughtered the entire town. And now…she'd done it again. But not on purpose. Oh, Bien! She'd really liked that woman. And her father was getting better. Keeping away from the gambling more often than not. Sharah had really liked those people. But she'd killed them anyway. Or she probably had. Damn! Sharah didn't even know who she'd killed in that town. All she had seen were goblins. Any number of the villagers could have been the ones to fall to her blade. Sharah didn't even know who she had killed.

"Bad sap," she mumbled, "The sap was wrong. It was just wrong. I could taste it."

Oreyn growled. "Must be why there have been so many 'accidents' with Blackwood. They're using tainted Hist sap. You can't be the only one to suffer from these sorts of effects. Who knows how many innocents have gotten hurt because Blackwood couldn't tell friend from foe." The mer held her face more firmly. "Listen to me, Sharah. I know you must be disgusted with yourself right now. I'm sorry for that. I truly am. But I need you to be strong a bit longer. Can you do that?"

Sharah nodded clumsily, sucking down some halted air until she could see Oreyn's hard face clearly.

He made sure she was stable before he sat back down again. "Now we know the threat they pose. To everyone. And we probably know it better than they do. As long as they use that tainted sap, there's going to be a possibility of them hurting innocents. As long as they have access to it, we are all in danger. And if Blackwood takes over as the mercenary group of Cyrodiil, there will be many more deaths. Not just Water's Edge. And that tree is the source."

Oreyn looked absolutely steady and driven, his path and purpose clearly laid out before him. "We must take decisive action. That tree has to be destroyed. No matter the cost. Blackwood no longer knows what they're doing. That's obvious. They don't care who they hurt as long as their bottom line is met. We have to take matters into our own hands and rid Cyrodiil of the threat Blackwood poses."

His eyes softened as he looked at her. "Sharah, I know you feel responsible. But this needs to be done. And it needs to be done now."

Sharah heard him. He needed her. The Guild needed her. She inhaled while she let everything sink in. Blackwood. The Hist. Her draws of air were shaky and staggered at first, but grew more even, one after the other. They'd manipulated her. Used her. Made her do something horrible against her will. Sharah's anger sparked, then enflamed. They had used her. Tricked her.

Sharah's hand worked itself into a fist, then relaxed, then clenched again. She felt like her strength would return more swiftly if she had a blade in hand. Umbra sang from a way's away, as if answering her mental call. And Viranus, and Cargas, and Lashana. Blackwood had been on that sap when they'd killed them. Had to be. Blackwood and that damned Hist. Sharah let the rage flare and empower her. Blackwood was going to pay for this. For doing what they did to her. And to everyone else. She was going to make them pay.

XXX

It was more than a week before Sharah walked into the Leyawiin Fighters Guildhall again. She stood straight and tall, resolved and intense, with her Guild Champion patch back on her arm. She moved with her old fighter's ease, having shaken the lingering effects of the sap completely, and a touch of something else in her pace. A predatory quality that presaged her state of mind.

And she did not come alone. Oreyn was at her back, his expression as grim and resolute as her's. And not even the order from the Guildmaster was going to keep him from the Guild for this fight.

Once inside, Sherina was the first to see them. She elbowed the beefy Bosmer next to her. "See. I told you there was no way."

Sharah called out to them. "I need to speak to Ragar. And I need the entire Guildhall assembled immediately."

"What's going on?" Sherina asked, looking between the Champion and former Guild-second.

Sharah replied, "Blackwood's gone too far. And the Guild is going on the offensive. Now get moving! There's a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it."

XXX

Up in Ragar's office, Sharah stood by the window, partially concealed behind a curtain, looking out across the plaza at the Blackwood Company building. The briefing had gone as expected. Sharah stood on the first landing of the stair and told the entire Guildhall, in brief, what she and Oreyn had been doing. She told of the information gathering, her infiltration of the Company and what she had learned therein. And she ended it with the truth behind the Water's Edge slaughter. Including her involvement.

The Guild gave all the anticipated reactions: eagerness, disbelief, outrage, and approval when she called them to arms. They, like Oreyn, felt only sympathy for her and blamed the Hist sap for what she had done. Oreyn himself had stood half a dozen steps below her during the whole time she was speaking, faced toward those assembled as she'd been. But he'd refused to take charge of things, claiming he did not have the authority to lead the Guild having been stripped of his membership. Sharah wasn't so sure she believed him. But the mer had more practice being stubborn than she did, so there was no pushing him into it.

For the second time in a twice as many months she was mobilizing a Fighters Guildhall. On the floors below, the Guild was preparing for battle. And Sharah had come up here for a bit of quiet, embracing the calm before the storm while she was ordering her thoughts. On the plus side, her inner wolf wasn't going feral this time. And she hadn't howled to the rafters either. Improvements both.

The door opened and shut, and Oreyn stepped into her peripheral vision a moment later. "Any movement?"

"No," she replied softly. "Not that I'd expect it. I'm sure we look quiet from the outside, too." Even though there was a swarm of activity happening downstairs.

Oreyn asked, "You think they know?"

"Know what?" she asked, chuckling softly. "That I came back to the Fighters Guild? That we're mobilizing? There's no telling what they know and what they don't from here. And I'm not walking into that building alone again. But it doesn't matter. The important thing is the tree. And if it's producing sap at that pace, moving it won't be an option for them. It'll be there whenever we walk in."

The two of them stood looking out the window at their enemy's stronghold, letting their minds churn with what was to come. The door opened a second time. Oreyn looked back while Sharah kept her eyes on Blackwood.

She heard Ragar's armor move as he saluted them. "Wolf, the Count's agreed to give you an audience today. Two o'clock. It got so official, I can't imagine anything but the entire court'll be there."

"Thanks, Ragar," Sharah replied.

Oreyn questioned, "How about downstairs? How are the preparations?"

"The Guild's just about ready. Certainly we will be by the end of the audience."

Oreyn glanced at Sharah, but she gave no indication she had anything more to add. So the mer looked at Ragar and told him, "Keep at it. We'll let you know if there's anything else."

Ragar saluted the two. "Yes, sir…um, ma'am…uh…Right away." The Nord left the room hurriedly before his tongue could further trip him up whilst choosing between superiors. In the silence following his exit, Sharah continued her vigil out the window.

"You sure you know what you're doing, Wolf?"

Sharah replied, "We're outnumbered, Oreyn. If we go in alone, it'll be a massacre. We need the city's assistance if we want to take down Blackwood." She'd learned that lesson in Bruma, and learned it well.

"That's now what I meant," Oreyn said. "I just want to be certain you're not going to do anything foolish." Sharah cocked an eyebrow at him, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Oreyn shook his head and growled, "What I mean is…" he grew serious, "…no one outside the Guild needs to know what you did at Water's Edge. Our guildmates will keep the secret within the ranks if you ask them. They'll protect you."

She turned fully to the mer. "And what message would that send? I'm not going to hide from this, Oreyn."

"You don't even know if you killed anyone. You said yourself you don't remember what happened. For all you know you were in the paddock among the sheep," he pointed out.

"…I was in the houses, Oreyn. I know I killed someone. And I won't put anyone in the position of keeping my secrets." She did enough of that on her own. "Besides, this isn't about protecting me, it's about protecting the Guild. We have to take down Blackwood in the right way or it will only cause more problems."

She'd considered just finishing it on her own. Sneaking into Blackwood's basement and torching the tree in the dead of night. Hopefully burning the whole place to the ground at the same time, along with everyone in it. But that would be impulsive. Sharah might have done that sort of thing while she'd been crazy in Bruma, but now she had control. Well…more control. Her wolf still had this perpetual growl that echoed in her bones.

If she pulled a 'feral wolf' then, yes, Blackwood would be decimated, but all suspicion would be turned toward the Fighters Guild. Who else would have motive? Even if Sharah herself was not blamed, there would be consequences weighted upon the Guild from the public. They'd be considered as bad as Blackwood and shunned at the first opportunity. No, she had to do this right. She had to do this the Fighters Guild way…no matter how badly she wanted to light that place up.

Oreyn persisted, "So you're going through with this? All of it?"

Sharah tossed a slight smile at him. "If I do this right, we'll have all the help we need. Don't worry about me. Just worry about how much sap Blackwood will have on hand once it starts. If that's what happened to me from one dose, tolerance or not, Blackwood is going to go berserk when we walk through their front door."

XXX

"Sharah the Wolf. Champion of the Fighters Guild." The announcement echoed clearly through the entire audience chamber of Castle Leyawiin as Sharah stepped through the door.

Ragar hadn't been kidding. The entire court must've been present. Knights included. Sharah blamed that snooty Countess. Seemed the woman didn't have anything else to do today than turn this simple audience into a monumental event. But perhaps this could be turned to an advantage. If Sharah could convince them. But that was why she'd rehearsed her arguments to herself for so long, wasn't it? This had to go right. But, in the end, Sharah had the ultimate skeleton key.

Really, this was like any theft she'd ever been a part of. She prepared. She knew the political and social layout, was aware of the obstacles she would face, had planned out strategies and backup strategies and fall-back strategies. Now all that was left was the performance itself.

The Count and Countess sat upon their thrones. Sharah found it rather fitting that the thrones were identical and placed upon the same level. Fact was, Count Marius Caro didn't really rule in anything but name. Countess Alessia Caro had the backbone and knew how to use it. The Count had really gotten the short end of the stick with this marriage. Sharah wondered if he'd realized that yet.

She walked the length of the chamber toward the thrones with every eye upon her. Oreyn was standing among them and not at her back this time. She'd tried to talk him out of coming altogether. First of all, he probably wouldn't be welcome. The Countess didn't just take issue with the beast-folk. She was uncomfortable with Dunmer, too. Really, anything that wasn't white-bread Nibenean seemed to rub her wrong. But, again, that could prove to be an advantage.

And second, he was likely to jump to her defense if things started to turn bad. But Sharah needed control here. As well-meaning as Oren's defense would be, it would just get in the way. This was Sharah's time, and she needed the freedom to do her work.

Sharah stopped at the appropriate distance from the ruling parties and bowed deeply. "I am honored that the esteemed Count and Countess of Leyawiin have permitted me this audience."

"Indeed, this time is valued," the Count replied, loud enough for the whole of the chamber to hear. "Your guildmate assured us that the matter was urgent. So tell us, what has brought you before this court?"

So sending Ragar had done what it was meant to do. Not only leaving the court in period of suspense over what this important issue might be, but giving Sharah the appearance of authority. That she could send a subordinate to arrange things for her. Subconsciously, the gesture raised her up in the court's eyes.

"My lord, I have come to report a crime. And to make a humble request."

"Speak then," he said.

Sharah addressed the Count and Countess, but spoke to everyone present. "You are aware of the tragedy of the settlement of Water's Edge. You have heard of the massacre that occurred there."

"We are."

Of course they had. It had been the talk of the town since it occurred. Word had probably reached Anvil by now.

"But the perpetrators have not yet been caught or even identified. I have information that will rectify that."

The Count sat forward in his seat. "You're saying you know who did it?"

Sharah allowed her chin to drop slightly, a slight show of shame and humility. "Yes, my lord. I do."

"Then tell us," he pressed. Out of the corner of her eye, Sharah saw those on the sidelines standing with equal anticipation.

Sharah raised herself up and spoke clearly, "The criminals who murdered the people of Water's Edge were the Blackwood Company…and myself."

Quiet talk broke out all through the chamber. They'd perhaps expected her to accuse the Black Bow Bandits that frequented the area. Or one of the wild tribes of Black Marsh. Or even the Dark Brotherhood. Perhaps the accusation against the Blackwood Company wasn't too much of a stretch. But her open admission of personal guilt was utterly unexpected. She could see Oreyn looking around warily, likely identifying who he might have to fight if he needed to get her out in a hurry. Sharah hoped he wouldn't jump the bow before she'd finished.

The Count himself was dumbfounded, leaving Captain Draconis to shout for silence among those gathered. When it was mostly quiet again and the Count himself had recovered, he asked, "You lended to the slaughter of Water's Edge?"

Sharah nodded. "To my everlasting shame, my lord, yes."

"And you accuse the Blackwood Company with you. There must be more to this story. Or you wouldn't have asked for such an audience."

She said, "My lord, I requested this audience that you might know all as I have witnessed it. For I did not come just to accuse Blackwood and confess my crime. I came to tell you that the Blackwood Company is a danger to themselves and all around them. A danger I did not truly understand until I was among them. As you are aware, my lord, Blackwood Company is chartered within your city. But they have taken advantage of your welcome and now threaten the people of Leyawiin, and indeed the entire province."

Sharah began her story. She told of Blackwood's expansion and increased popularity, things which were not really news to anyone present. She told of the Fighters Guild's attempts to hold their own and that, ultimately, Sharah had chosen to infiltrate the Blackwood Company to learn about them from within. Sharah made certain to color her tale carefully. Not painting herself a hero, but describing her actions as risky and necessary for the protection of those she considered family.

Then she got to the part about Water's Edge. Sharah said she had been made to ingest a tonic that Blackwood used often and went on to describe the affects it had had upon her. That she had not known waking from sleeping, friend from foe. That she had only known enemies and aggression.

"I do not know who fell by my blade. I truly fear that the death of my friend, Bien Amelion, came by my own hand. But that will remain an agonizing mystery to me, as I cannot recall myself. And there was no one left alive within the town to witness. I fear what I did under the influence of that tonic. And the fact that I will never know will torture me all the more."

The Count was rigid in his throne. "And you say Blackwood was there with you. And that they did the same."

She replied, "They were with me, my lord. But I can remember their actions no more than my own. But they did not stop me. And when I fell, they left me where I lay. Were it not for my guildmates of the Fighters Guild, I would certainly have died, for the tonic held sway over me for two weeks before I recovered my mind."

"This is…terrible. To think that they lived among us after doing such a thing…" He turned to her again. "This tonic. Do you know what it was?"

"I know what the Blackwood Company told me, my lord. They said that it was sap of the Hist tree." Exclamations broke out amongst the assembly. Sharah spoke over them, "They had crates of it, my lord, enough to supply all their number regularly. And more than that…they say they brought a Hist tree here with them." Now the chamber roared.

The whole room was in a whirlwind that the guard and their captain could not quell. The court was skewed by their Countess, fearing the Argonians of Black Marsh and the Khajiit of Elsweyr that bordered their land. Few, if any, actually knew much about the Hist trees. But the fact that the tree was from the heart of Black Marsh gave the people their opinion of it. And while the rest of the assembly went to hell, Sharah watched the Argonian steward, On-Staya Sundew.

The Argonian actually knew about the sacred trees of her homeland. And she was drawing more reasonable and grave conclusions than the rest of the racist airheads. She, like Sharah, knew one tree could not produce such a quantity of sap. And that, not only had one of her sacred Hist trees been spirited from her homeland, but something had been done to it. Perhaps something horrifying. While the skewed Nibeneans shouted bloody murder against the Blackwoods, the steward would influence the Beast-folk of Leyawiin when the opportunity presented itself. Blackwood would find no support in the city at all before too long.

Sharah gave the crowd time to get worked up and properly frightened and angry about the seeming invasion of Blackmarsh into their precious Leyawiin. Fools were far too used to being cooped up in their castle with all the other Nibeneans. They seemed to have utterly forgotten that they lived in a swamp. After a little time, Sharah attempted to talk over them. "My lord! I have reported the crime and all related. I would now make my request, unworthy though I am to ask anything after committing such an atrocity."

Even with the idea that there was a possibly berserker group of mercenaries living within their city's walls who were sucking back Hist sap and slaughtering settlements, the crowd wanted to know the request. Sharah had gotten their attention and was holding their interest. The eager curiosity quieted them faster than the shouting guards ever could.

The Count sat forward, interested as well. "Speak then."

Sharah went to a knee. She must look quite the picture for this part. "My lord, I ask that you permit me to find and destroy this Hist tree. I believe their Pakseech, Ri'Zakar, has it within their Company headquarters where his Argonian mages can tend it and harvest the sap. I cannot make amends for what I have done. The crime will be a stain upon my soul for the rest of my life. I cannot hope to make things right. But I wish to make certain it will never happen again. And so long as Blackwood has access to that sap, we are all in danger."

She lowered her head. "But regardless of your decision, my lord, I am prepared to lay myself before the justice of your hand and accept punishment for what came to pass by mine."

Sharah waited with head low for the Count to speak. She'd said all she'd wanted to say. Now it was a matter of knowing how well it had been received.

"And so it shall be!" Sharah looked up at the feminine voice that broke the quiet. Sharah tried not to smile as she saw her ultimate skeleton key pop the last lock open. Coming here, acting the part of noble warrior, and even presenting herself for punishment. It hadn't been about convincing the Count or his court. It was about winning over his wife. Everyone knew who truly ruled here. Count Caro had no backbone and gave over to his wife every single time. So getting anything meant convincing that woman. And given how Countess Alessia Caro was out of her seat with a fierce expression on her face, Sharah's speech had done the job.

Countess Alessia Caro declared, "This atrocity must not go unanswered. That we permitted such evil-doers within our walls is beyond understanding. I call all Leyawiin to arms against the Blackwoods. They must be driven out if we are ever to be secure again!" Well, the woman was properly worked up now. All the better.

The Countess spoke to the warrior still on her knee. "You have done honorably by the Order of the White Stallion, Sir Sharah. We all profit from your lawful pursuits of the unlawful. And so must you do it again. You will fight against these criminals within our walls. And when all of them have been killed or imprisoned, and that foul tree has been destroyed, you shall have earned a pardon for any crimes you have committed."

Sharah resisted a quirked smile. 'Does that include theft of Elder Scrolls?'

Just to be certain this would be the final decision, she glanced at the Count, who had never really been able to hold his wife back. Especially not when her racist views came into play. And what would do that better than a mostly Beast-folk mercenary group who turned out to be crazed killers? Countess Caro had all she needed to legitimately attack those she hated. Or have them attacked. Sure enough, he didn't look the least bit resistant to what Countess Alessia was saying.

'Thank you, Countess. Finally, your being a racist twit does some good.'

The Count did try to seem in charge. He stood up and next to his wife. "Let the city guard and the Order of the White Stallion be mobilized against the Blackwood Company. And the Fighters Guild as well. Let them help defend our city. Blackwood's charter is revoked and I order that they be arrested, and killed if they resist. And that Hist tree is to be destroyed on sight."

Sharah added quickly, "Be wary, my lord. The Hist sap increases their strength and stamina and drives them to madness. Care should be taken in confronting them."

"Let it be done then. Go forth, all defenders of Leyawiin. And may the Nine show you favor."

Sharah stood and bowed at the dismissal. There were plenty of guards and knights in attendance here, and they all jumped to prepare for what would very clearly be a fight within the walls. The guard was already forming up, the present knights hurried to assemble. Sharah used the flurry of activity to grab Oreyn and leave.

They were soon out the castle doors and walking down the streets of Leyawiin toward the Guildhall.

"Well, I think that went well," Sharah commented.

Oreyn shook his head. "You had me worried in there, Wolf."

Sharah actually grinned. "Why, Oreyn? Everything went as planned. Better, actually."

He jerked to look at her. "…You knew that was going to happen. That the Countess was going to—"

"—finally get proof that Beast-folk are 'evil' and have an excuse to have them attacked, imprisoned or killed? Yes. I gave her a real-life example where her racist views were perfectly accurate. And an excuse to take physical action against her 'most hated enemy'. I actually expected her to be a bit more resistant. I guess I overestimated her sensibility."

"It was still a risk to put yourself out there like that," he berated her. "What if they hadn't been so understanding? What if they had arrested you?"

Sharah looked over at him gently. "Countess Caro is a simple woman. For her, Beast-folk are bad and Nibeneans are good. We got the best response from me taking after my mother. I look pure Imperial to her. So if I came to her and told her about the 'evil' Beast-folk, and asked for the opportunity to fight them, why shouldn't she favor me?"

She faced back toward the path. "You're right, it was a risk. But it was worth it. This way, the Guild gets out of this clean. No dishonor and no blame for the action taken against Blackwood. And that's the important part. Not whether or not I spend time in prison."

"That part matters to some of us," Oreyn remarked softly.

Sharah smiled. "Let's get the Guild together. We don't want to miss our own party."

The two of them increased their pace to a trot and made for the guilds plaza, only a few minutes ahead of the wave of guards and Leyawiin knights that soon flooded the streets.

(Maniacal laugh!) Now comes the blood!