Chapter LII Restless Night

She opened her eyes and was met with an orange colored room. The fire they had started hours before was dying so Aria stood and began prodding the embers and encouraging the flames. Another nightmare had jarred Aria from her much needed sleep and the girl knew there was no going back to sleep tonight. Disturbed by the images she had seen in her head, Aria sat at the edge of Dahlia's bed and wiped the sweat off of the Mord'Sith face. The brunette's eyes were shut tightly and her body twitched involuntarily.

"Shh," Aria cooed. "It's alright. You're safe now Dahlia." The woman mumbled incoherently again and Aria leaned forward to try to catch a few words.

"Take…them….alone. No!" The woman's eyes shot open and a hand wrapped around Aria's neck.

"Dahlia, calm down." Aria said softly, ignoring the increasing pressure the woman was adding to her throat.

"Who are you?" Dahlia's blue eyes bounced around the room as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings and the stranger. "What do you want?" her grip tightened, restricting Aria's ability to reply.

"Aria." She managed to croak out. "Let go Sister." At hearing the word 'sister', Dahlia glanced at the teenagers clothing and noticed the brown leather the girl was clad in. She released her snake-like grip and Aria struggled to intake air. She didn't want to wake Cara, knowing that the women would have a not-so-pleasant reaction to one Mord'Sith strangling another. "Sorry." She heard the woman mumble.

"It's alright. I'm sorry I woke you." Aria smiled at the woman. Dahlia winced as she tried to sit upright and Aria placed a hand on her shoulders, easing her back down. "You're hurt but don't worry, Zedd fixed you up well enough. You'll be fine a few days."

"You are Mord'Sith?" Dahlia asked confused as to why she had never seen this girl before. Aria rocked her head back and forth.

"Yes and no. I'll let Cara explain in the morning. You need to eat." Aria urged, reaching for the leftover stew that sat on the flames.

"Cara?" Dahlia frowned. "So it was her I saw."

"Yes, it was. I brought you back to the Palace on horseback and Cara followed." Aria explained.

"The Palace?" Dahlia straightened and Aria understood the woman's concern.

"Not the People's Palace, the Confessors' Palace." Aria said quickly. "I'm sorry if I alarmed you."

"You apologize a lot for a Mord'Sith." Dahlia said as she took the bowl from Aria's hands, intent on feeding herself. Aria chuckled.

"Yea." Was all she said.

"How did I get to the Confessors' Palace?" Dahlia asked. Aria sighed.

"We were hoping you could tell us. What do you remember?" Cara groaned in her sleep and Aria's gaze shot towards the blonde. She walked over and pulled a blanket across the woman's frame. Cara relaxed again. Perplexed by the scene, Dahlia stared at the girl in front of her.

"There was a man."

"Torren." Aria added and Dahlia nodded.

"I don't know how he found me but he brought me to this place…it looked like a cave on the outside but resembled a dungeon on the inside. I was the first one there." Dahlia frowned as she remembered her Sisters that had later accompanied her in the prison. "Then he found Morgan and Anna. He tortured us, with almost as much skill as the former Lord Rahl I might add, until he killed them."

"What did he want to know?" Aria asked urgently.

"Everything. About Richard Rahl, the Mord'Sith, defenses of the People's Palace, trade routes, secret passageways in and out of the Palace. Then when he found out about the Mother Confessor and her sister he wanted to know everything we knew about them which granted, wasn't much."

"What did you tell him?" Dahlia's eyes flashed at the girl as if offended by the question.

"I may not know Richard Rahl or have served in the proper sense," Aria flinched at the Mord'Sith's implication. "But I would never give anyone information that could harm him. Neither would Anna or Morgan."

"Of course. I'm-"

"Sorry, I know." Dahlia righted her position in the bed and winced.

"What hurts?" Aria asked the woman, aching to make it better.

"Nothing." She lied unconvincingly, especially for Aria.

"Don't be stubborn. The faster you tell me what's bothering you the faster you'll be back to normal." Aria said forcefully. Dahlia was surprised at the girl's assertiveness and finally seemed to accept the fact that she was indeed, Mord'Sith.

"Everything." She said quietly.

"I'll go get Zedd." Aria rose and made her way to the door.

"Who?"

"The First Wizard."

"That's not such a good idea." Did this girl know nothing of Mord'Sith?

"It seemed like one when he saved your life a few hours ago." Aria opened the door and left the woman with a sleeping Cara.

Less than ten minutes later the auburn haired girl, Aria, returned with an old man in tow.

"It's nice to see the color of your eyes, Dahlia." The man smiled at her. "Now let's see if we can help you get some rest, shall we?" Zedd noticed the woman's skeptical look and smiled again. "Don't worry dear one."

"I'm not the one who should be worried Wizard."

"Name's Zedd. All you have to do is relax and try not to kill me." The wizard's unshaken resolve did manage to calm Dahlia and she noticed Aria coming to sit by her bed and take her hand. "It won't be comfortable, but just stay calm and it'll be over before you know it."

"Squeeze my hand if you feel yourself losing control. We can't afford to kill the last wizard the world has." Aria chuckled as Zedd placed his hands over the woman's broken body. Dahlia closed her eyes and waited for pain but was greeted instead by warmth. It just felt like someone was prodding around her head, trying to get in. Zedd was right, it was particularly comfortable but it didn't hurt. Weary of allowing anyone access, Dahlia strained against the force causing the wizard to retreat slightly. "Squeeze Dahlia." She heard and did what she was told, immediately feeling better. "That's it." The magic continued to coarse through her veins, healing her broken bones and organs. Dahlia released a breath she didn't know she was holding and released her tight hold on the teenager's hand. She opened her eyes and was met with a smiling wizard.

"Great job, Dahlia. Now, sleep." Zedd commanded. She found that her eyelids weighed more and more as the seconds went by and without the added strain of constant pain throughout her body, Dahlia closed her eyes and let peaceful darkness claim her.

"Is she going to be okay?" Aria asked a very child-like question with worry in her features. Zedd placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled.

"She will be. We just need to watch over her." Zedd assured her. "You need to sleep, dear one."

"I can't." Aria admitted softly.

"A nightmare?" Aria nodded. "Lay down. I have something that will help." The girl frowned but led the wizard lead her to her cot regardless.

"How is that wizard?"

"You know, sometimes you sound a little too much like our fair-haired Princess." Zedd replied with a scowl. Aria chuckled and took it as a compliment. She sat on her cot and gently eased herself onto the pillow. "Close your eyes. I may still have a few tricks up these sleeves." Zedd made a show of rolling up his sleeves and winking at the girl. She sighed and thought 'why not?' Aria felt Zedd place a palm against her temple and relaxed as she knew a thread of magic was making its way towards her. Immediately, she felt its warm touch and the soothing hum overcame the sound of the crackling fire and restless Mord'Sith. Soon afterwards, Aria felt her eyes closing quickly and Zedd's smiling face was hidden behind her eyelids.


We'll pick up the pace ASAP, I promise.