Sailors used to think it was bad luck to bring a woman on board. I dunno why they just DID.

You can find a little information on Anesia on Chapters 6 and 9 in The Assignment. I'm hurt you don't remember her. ::stalks off muttering under her breath::

I hate Jehani. She's such an evil hag. ::wonders why the hell she put the slut in the story anyway:: To add suspense?

Damn muse.

Good luck on your finals Kassi!! ::hugs:: I'm rootin' for you! Aren't we Joren?

Joren - ::grumbles::

Nolee - ::elbows him in the ribs::

Joren – "Uh…yeah."

Nolee – ::rolls eyes:: "Worthless piece of…hot…sexy…man…"

Joren – "EEP" ::runs away::

Nolee – "COME BAAAACK! WHY DO YOU RUN FROM ME??"

sYaOrAnRoXmiSoX: Joren. Is. MINE. So's Neal, but you can have him ONCE A WEEK. Deal?

----------

Keladry shivered. Her eyes were fixed on the moon. Somehow, she felt more comfortable in the dark, underneath the silver orb's watchful, protective eye. Deep in her heart, she felt something was wrong. The thin, almost microscopic bond that she and Joren shared was trembling. It was close to snapping – too close. Something was happening to Joren, and it was causing their tie to break.

"Do you feel it too?" she whispered.

All these past five years, she could feel whispers of his thoughts. Whispers of his actions, his feelings. She didn't want to, she would do anything in her power to stop herself from feeling what he did. She didn't even know how the whole thing came about.

I guess you can't come out of some things without getting linked to it, she thought remorsefully.

Like Frenn. However hard she tried to let go, she just could not shake the feeling that he was counting on her, that maybe he was living through her.

Her fingers tightened on the rail. Dark thoughts whirled in her head like heavy thunderclouds, bringing unwanted images to mind.

A boy with curly gold hair and a sweet, kind, protective smile meant just for her…Arden
Emerald eyes, warm and insane, with hair like fire, an assassin with a heart…Frenn

Ash-blond hair, long and thin, and eyes like two pale, cold chips of blue ice…Lesenac

Cloaked in subtle black, thin and gaunt, with dark hair and bitter eyes…Sha'sa'in

Coolly handsome, with pale blue eyes and long white-blond hair…Joren

-Priests of the Dark-

-Dark Master-

-Leaning over the rail, feeling the ocean spray gently slap her face, Kel never heard him come up behind her.

"You'll fall if you do that."-

-"They blew it up," Keladry whispered, gripping the sides of the lifeboat. She shuddered violently. "They blew it all up."-

-"Kel, look," he pleaded. "I'm sorry, ok? I'm sosososososososososo sorry! This is all my fault…I never should have hired that stupid assassin!"-

Keladry let out a cry and dropped to her knees, gripping her aching head. She hurt – her entire body hurt, her soul hurt, her heart hurt. Tears spilled down her cheeks like liquid crystals, streams of sorrow and loss. Is this what it means to go insane? she thought briefly.

"Keladry?" a worried voice asked. "Milady, are you okay?"

Leave me alone. Just…let me live my insanity in peace.

Hands rested on her shoulders. "Milady Keladry?"

Is this what Frenn felt like? Did he have all this turmoil inside him, hating everything that had to do with his past and at the same time wanting nothing more than to relive it?

Kel let out a shriek that pierced the silent air, letting the world know her anguished battle of hate and insanity.

----------

Morgan gently dabbed at her forehead with a wet cloth, mopping up the beads of sweat. Every line in her face was etched with pain and memories.

"What's going on, Mo – Cap'n?" one man whispered anxiously.

"I don't know," he said quietly, dipping the cloth in the bucket of water and wringing it out. "Maybe it's an assassin thing. Or maybe it had something to do with Joren, or maybe with – what happened those years ago."

Very few understood what he meant.

"Every now and then, I'll wake up from a nightmare," Tibeto said softly. "Cap'n Jo'en told me what happened, and I dream about it sometimes, dreaming of how he must've felt."

Jaxon shifted. "I wake up sometimes, and I'll hear Cap'n Jo'en screaming," he offered nervously. "He yells names like 'Lucas'" – they made the sign of evil –"and 'Keladry' and 'Lesenac'."

"They all played certain roles in his life, I reckon," Morgan whispered.

Kris, who had been silent up until now, said, "You shoulda seen the look on her face when I told her it was Jowen she had to fetch. She looked like she had been dropped int' a nightmare or some'in. It was…hatbreakin', really."

His son's lips twitched. "'Hatbreakin'', Father?" He snorted. "Jo'en hasn't done much for your vocabulary has he?"

He grinned toothily. "Watch your mouth, boy," he retorted. "You may be Cap'n, but I'm your paw."

The sailors chuckled at their good-natured banter. The door opened and Cory stepped in, holding a bag of some kind of green herbs.

"Here," he said, shoving the bag into Morgan's face. "Give two leaves to her every hour until she wakes up."

"What're they for?" the gypsy-captain asked curiously.

"They're to give her a dreamless sleep. No nightmares or dreams. Just darkness."

"Thanks much, Cory," Morgan said, smiling warmly at the brunet.

Cory shrugged modestly. "Don't mention it."

----------

Hmm…Kel's insane. Okay. That's…interesting. I guess.