It had been a whole week since Colonel Tavington had seen Sephardim, and it was making him very angry. It made him think of something he hated to think about; something that still brought tears to his eyes if he thought hard enough. "Well," said a voice behind him," you caught on quickly. I didn't expect that." The colonel whirled around. "Sephardim," he said softly,"you came back." "You called me didn't you?" she asked. "Did I?" "You thought about death." Sephardim replied. "And in the right way this time." Tavington stared at her. She sighed.
"Nevermind," she said quickly; "was there something you wanted of me?"
"No,"Tavington replied, "I just wanted to see you. I wanted to know that you hadn't abandoned me."
"Abandoned you?" Sephardim asked.
"Yes." replied the colonel, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "I always doubted. The thought of people..or spirits..like you existing was ridiculous, even to me. Then I found you, an apparition from my childhood, standing before me, as solid and real as I. I believe I would begin to doubt again if you were never to come back."
"You always were a doubter," Sephardim replied, sighing once more. "I've been watching over you and your family since the day you were born."
"Why?" Tavington asked.
"I was assigned." Sephardim replied simply. "I was to watch over you and your sister. That was before I became a leader. I had the choice to let someone else take over my watch, but I had seen too much, and decided to continue watching while I led the Briquet De Vie."
"How did you do that all on your own?"
"I wasn't alone. Estartae helped me."
Tavington looked at her, his eyes beginning to grow white with anger at the mention of the Vie Maudite.
"That beast helped you?"
"That beast is my best friend, and fellow leader. She is not bad. She's just poisoned. We're trying to help her, but every time we do, something happens, and we have to start all over."
"Where is she now?"
"At the Haven. This is my chance to step in and fix this."
Tavington said nothing. He never would have thought that Estartae was a leader of such a group. He was aware of her having a connection to Sephardim because they had called each other friends in Lord Cornwallis' quarters. But he had never even begun to consider the fact that she had once been as good as Sephardim.
"I must go." said Sephardim suddenly.
"Wait!" Tavington said, as a thought struck him, "My sister. She-"
"I must go." Sephardim repeated, and she disappeared before he could stop her.
She knew. He knew so, and there was something she didn't want to tell him.