Disclaimer: I'm only playing in Pat's beautiful playground.

A/N: This chapter may be particularly triggering. All warnings listed on chapter 1.

Chapter 29: Something Blue

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The night was filled with the sounds of revelry. The air heavy with dunken cheers and torn pieces of song that drifted into the pitch-black sky. Atop Barrow Hill, which housed the Mauthen farm, crackling flames ate into the night from the giant blazing bonfire. Shapes danced around it, the glow of the fire occasionally catching their faces or pieces of cloth as they spun around it in a growing frenzy. The bride's dress was glaringly bright even when it fell into shadow.

My hands moved swiftly across the lyre, my fingerings as quick as I dared. And the revelers moved faster still, spinning more wildly, as if the dance was a hunger fueled by my budding song. The bride shrieked in drunken delight as she tripped over the hem of her dress. But the groom caught her, lifting her up with a laugh before she tumbled to the ground. And round and round they went. I fumbled a fingering of Copper Bottom Pot and sang the words louder to drown it out. They seemed not to notice. They were too far gone with drink by then, the orderly dances of early evening lost to this shrieking madness. Over their shouts and laughs, and the crackling flames, I was surprised they could hear me at all.

I finished the song with a flourish and lowered the lyre, glancing sideways at the bride's oldest uncle as I shook out my hands. In unspoken agreement, he lifted his fiddle to rest against his chin and struck up a light jig. There were approving cheers from the crowd, and the circle around the fire grew more boisterous in response to the folksy tune.

Tehlu blacken, they didn't need me at all. Master Ash had secured my employment at this wedding, but there had been ample entertainment even without my fledgling attempts at the lyre. Still, the variety was nice.

I stood, stretching lightly, before making my way to the farmhouse. It was a fine structure, especially for a farm so far out from the town. The lower walls were made of solid stone, strong enough to withstand a century of time. And the inside was a wonder to behold. The lower level was wide and airy, though at present it was filled with several tables set with half empty glasses and the remains of what had been a meal fit for kings. Mauthen had skimped on nothing for his daughter. I supposed that was one way to show a father's love.

The space was dim, lit mostly by the flickering stubs of candles that had glowed with life some hours ago. The whole room had been flooded with light then, sunset rays painting the space with gold as they spilled in from the tall glass windows that adorned the walls. And the candles had been merely an afterthought. Now, their soft light bounced against the pitch black of the glass, making the night seem darker than ever.

I stepped lightly toward the windows and squinted outside, laying my palm against the cool glass. Black night stared back at me, broken only by the distant glow of the bonfire. My reflection watched me, its edges soft, as if they were gathering out of darkness. I brushed my hands through my artfully curled hair, tracing the edges of Calia's comb before letting my hand drop to my side.

What had I expected to see? Even if Master Ash was out there, I would never find him. Not until he wished me to. I had thought the wedding had personal ties to him. Old Man Mauthen certainly seemed rich enough to be acquainted. I couldn't imagine why Ash would send me here to test my skills after prepping me so extensively and never show, but I knew better than to seek him out or ask if anyone had seen him. He wouldn't like that at all. And then it wouldn't matter how perfectly I'd looked or played, because I would have ruined everything by betraying his privacy. His trust. I wasn't fool enough for that. If this was another test, I wouldn't risk it. The promise of his patronage was all I had.

I lowered the lyre to the floor and turned away from the window, pouring myself a glass of wine from the nearest carafe. They would expect me back at it shortly. And if they were all so drunk they could barely stand straight, surely it wouldn't hurt to have a glass or two on their behalf. If anything, it was likely to augment my musical talents.

I was just reaching for the wine again when I felt the metal against my wrist grow cold. I gasped, dropping the carafe, and it shattered with a loud crash, the wine seeping across the rough stone floor at my feet. I whirled around in a panic, but the farmhouse was empty. No one had seen. Tehlu. I chided myself. It wasn't the first time Ash had signaled me this way. I would have to get used to it soon if I meant to put up with him.

It was only a little magic, after all. Just the smallest bit. Nothing dark about it.

I pushed back the sleeve of my dress, my eyes drawn to the bracelet. It was a simple circlet of dim copper. Entirely unobtrusive. Really, there was nothing special about it. Except that at present it seemed to be wrought from ice rather than metal. The cold snaked up my arm as I brushed my fingers against it, the chill seeping into my skin until I began to shiver. I turned and hurried out of the house.

Master Ash was calling.

It wasn't the first time. It had been nearly a span ago when he decided that there should be a signal between us. A way for him to easily and privately call me when he needed to.

"It's a simple little thing," he'd said, sitting down beside me in the dim room of the inn he had chosen for the occasion. We had stayed there so briefly that I couldn't even remember its name. "I can fashion a bracelet for you that would allow you to find me."

"Why not send a note?" I'd asked. "You have done it thus far."

"And involve more people in our arrangement?" He stood, pacing the room. "I thought you understood. I have made this clear enough. Each person involved in our affairs puts us at risk. And it isn't just my doings that ought to remain private. What if they find out of you, my dear? Of your past? What if they turn you in to the constables for murder? No, we can't risk it, can we?"

"I suppose not," I said softly in agreement, though Renere was half a world away, its hold on me worn thin by time.

"So you will wear the bracelet."

"But how will a bracelet help?"

"Just a little bit of magic. Do you know of magic, my dear?"

I shook my head. "No. We didn't hold with such things in Vintas."

"Of course," he agreed good-naturally, pausing by the window. He peered down at the street below. "Your silly Vintish superstitions. Well, it's nothing to be alarmed about. The theory is… Well"— he turned, shrugging —"it's complicated. Suffice to say, this bracelet will lead you to me, my dear. When I should have need of you, the metal will grow cold. Instantly." He smiled. "You simply can't miss it."

"But how will I find you? Will the bracelet tell me where to go?"

"Clever, clever girl." He stepped away from the window. "Yes, yes, the cold will be directional. So it will guide you straight to me. It will pull you here." He stepped to my left. "Or here." He slipped around me, running a hand lightly across my arm before pausing on my right. "Like a compass."

I said nothing, trying to imagine such a thing. It seemed impossible. Dark forces. I shivered slightly. But that was the sort of thing Kvothe was studying, wasn't it? At The University. Magic.

"Each person I hold in close confidence absolutely must have a bracelet," Ash added softly. "There is simply no other way to ensure confidentiality. If you can't get past your fear of magic, then I'm afraid—"

"I can get past it," I said quickly. "It's no problem at all. I'll wear the bracelet."

"Good." He smiled. "Very good. Then, I'll just need one thing from you. A drop of blood, if you would be so kind."

"Blood?" I repeated, shocked. "That sounds horribly crass. Why—"

"To attune it to you, you understand? That is simply how the magic works. Or the bracelet won't react with your skin. Otherwise, imagine, my dear, if you lose it. Anyone could find it. Anyone at all. And then what would we do?"

"But it just seems—"

"Do you trust me, Denna?" And he paused in his pacing, meeting my gaze. His eyes looked black as pitch in the dim light. I glanced away, unsettled.

I wasn't entirely sure that I did. But I needed him, and that was much the same thing. In the span I'd known him, he had been nothing but generous, so long as I was willing to put up with his oddities. Respect his privacy. Not ask for his name. I surely knew a thing or two about keeping secrets myself. And how much could one drop of blood hurt? I had bled much worse before.

Ash had called me in such a manner twice since gifting me the finished bracelet, leading me out into an empty field and then a dense forest on the outskirts of Trebon. Each time, he had praised me, applauding my swift arrival. It would not do to break that streak tonight.

I paused outside the farmhouse, closing my eyes and focusing on the ring of ice that seemed to have encased my arm. It was far colder where it brushed the bony knob of my wrist. I turned to the right and hurried in that direction, feeling the ice shift until it lined up with the center of my hand, where it grew steadily colder as I walked, until some irrational part of me worried that my hand would turn to ice. It was a foolish thought, of course. My hand had never turned to ice before.

I found him leaning against the barn. He was wearing a dark cloak, the color indiscernible in this light. I would have mistaken him for a shadow, had his hair not been so perfectly white.

"There you are, my dear Denna," he said pleasantly, and the ice in my wrist receded as suddenly as it had come.

I nodded in greeting, rubbing gently at my hand. "I was worried you wouldn't come."

"Nonsense," he said. "I've been watching you play. Wonderful progress, my dear. Walk with me."

He turned, heading towards the woods. I fell into step beside him.

"They may expect me back soon."

"I wouldn't worry about that," he said easily, which was fine with me. He was the one I needed to impress.

"What did you play?" he asked conversationally as we reached the outer edge of the trees. "I'm afraid I didn't catch all of your songs, my dear."

"Pennywhistle," I began, listing all I remembered of my catalog. "Come Wash in the River. Copper Bottom Pot. Blacksmith's Daughters. Ah, a drunk grandfather asked for Aunt Emme's Tub—"

"Did he now?" Ash laughed and steered me further into the trees. "Who was there?"

"The entire Mauthen family," I said. "Aunts, uncles, cousins. Three grandparents. Several people from town. A nephew from over in Temfalls."

"How many people attended?"

His questions had fallen into a familiar rhythm. One I'd come to associate with his tests. Perhaps he was testing my memory this time. I closed my eyes for a second, visualizing the hall.

"Twenty-six."

"What did they look like?"

"The bride was blonde," I began. "Perfect white dress. She had her hair halfway up and wore a crown of flowers. The groom…"

He let me talk for fifteen unbroken minutes as I listed every detail from my memory, down to the uncle who had clearly not bathed in two days and found himself without a shoe halfway through the ceremony. I had just started on the drunken grandfather who tried to rope me into a dance by grabbing hold of my lyre midsong, when Ash suddenly held up a hand to silence me.

"Do you hear that?"

"What?" I paused, cocking an ear. "No, I…" And then I heard it. Just the faintest trace of a scream. Easily soft enough to be mistaken for the wind. My skin broke out in gooseflesh. "Is it coming from the farm?"

"Wait here," Ash said, already turning back toward the hill we'd left behind. "I'll go have a look."

"I'll come with you." My hand slipped automatically to the knife strapped against my hip. "You might need help."

"No," he said firmly, shaking his head. "It could be dangerous. And you, my dear, are my responsibility. Stay here."

And he hurried off before I could reply, vanishing in the time it takes to draw a breath, his cloak indistinguishable from night's darkest shadows.

I waited in silence, my eyes drifting to the trees that stretched into the sky like skeletal shadows. Around me, the wind picked up, blowing my hair around me and filling my nose with the scent of decaying leaves. Time stood still. I counted my breaths, waiting. All was quiet. Then, suddenly, a scream rent the night, loud and terrified and unmistakable. It cut off quickly, as if it had been forced to silence. But not before more followed.

I gasped, wrapping my arms across my chest as I turned slowly on the spot. Around me, everything was shadow, the forest dark and looming. Lit only by the silver moonlight that filtered through the trees. The branches were claws, reaching for me.

What was out there?

I stepped back, still staring into the empty darkness. Brambles crunched beneath my feet.

Tehlu, what was happening? What should I do?

The wind shifted, and suddenly I smelled something distinct and acrid and painfully familiar. Smoke.

There was a fire at the farm.

Cold stole through me, chilling me down to my bones. My hands began to shake, and I took a fumbling step back. I drew in a breath, and it felt like I was swallowing cinders. The hot air lodged in my throat, leaving me coughing, and my hands shook harder.

Help… I should run for help. But the town was a good hour away on foot. And I wasn't sure how to get there from where I stood. Especially in the dark. I'd be likely to break my neck before I made it out to the road.

"Kist!" I gasped, drawing back against the nearest tree. If the fire spread here… and all the guests. The happy couple, and the children, and— Tehlu blacken, my patron. He'd run off to help. He was an old man. And fire was relentless. I had seen the empty earth it left behind.

I cursed, whirling around again. The darkness seemed to press on me. It was suffocating. I couldn't do it. I couldn't stand here in this forest with the acrid taste of smoke filling my mouth and my eyes swimming with the memory of my grandparents burning at Father's hand. And wait for the fire to take me, too. I had to do something. I had to find Ash.

I took a steadying breath and hurried back toward the farm, slipping and sliding over roots and rocks jutting out from the shadowy ground. My breaths grew sharp and painful as they strained against the tightness in my chest. And as I drew closer, I heard the distant chorus of screams. Tehlu, I hoped they were running for it. I hope they weren't trying to save the farmhouse at the expense of their own lives.

The smoke thickened as I pushed ahead through low hanging branches and underbrush, the forest turning hazy around me. The wind seemed to sting my skin as it blew past in gentle drifts, making my eyes water. The screams grew quieter. Fading. There was a bluish tint seeping into the air now, like the sky takes on after the sun has set but before night has truly fallen. It seemed to grow brighter with every step, giving me light by some cruel compromise. I would have thought it should be orange. But perhaps it was the moonlight stealing its hue.

I was nearing the farm, the path beneath my feet growing increasingly familiar. The tall willow tree. The large rock. I remembered passing these things just a short while ago, stopping beneath the canopy with Master Ash as we talked. There had been no sign of him. I hoped I wasn't too late.

I scrambled up the last small bluff that separated me from the farm and froze, staring ahead at the outline of Barrow Hill in the distance. I could see the fire dancing along its ridge. The farmhouse was alight with flames, a bright beacon in the darkness.

But the fire… was blue.

I stared, uncomprehending, my breaths coming hard and heavy and my eyes streaming. Tehlu hold me, it was blue.

I had never seen anything like it. It swirled along the walls and roof of the farmhouse. The entire barn was a burning ball of blue flame. The ground was dotted with it, and it rose in a tall blue pillar where the bonfire had glowed orange only a short hour ago. It was unnatural. Magic, a voice whispered inside me. Something horrible and dark had ravaged this wedding. Something that shouldn't be. And around me, silence lay thick and heavy, broken only by the crackling of flames. The whisper of the wind. And the distant clanging of metal.

That was when I saw the shadows, shapes outlined against the blue of the flames. The glint of a sword, blue beneath the strange, unearthly flames.

I let out a wordless cry and backed away, nearly falling in my haste to retreat down the bluff. My eyes frozen to the strange blue fire and the long metal swords. And then something grabbed my shoulder, hard. I screamed, and a hand was clapped over my mouth, forcing me to silence. The hands pulled me roughly around and I found myself face to face with Ash.

"I told you to stay!" he hissed, sounding angrier than I had ever heard him. He was a shadow, with his hood pulled over his head. If he hadn't grabbed me, I would have never seen him. I breathed in relief.

"I smelled the smoke. I had to find you."

"You should have stayed away." His voice was hard. "You shouldn't have come here."

"What happened? The others at the wedding—"

"They're dead." His voice was expressionless.

"No," I gasped. I took a stumbling step back. "That can't…"

"They were attacked." He grabbed my arm again and pulled me deeper into the forest, beating the brush away with his cane. "Men with swords cut them all down. They set the fire. I saw it happen. By the time I arrived, there was nothing left to…" He trailed off, sounding pained.

"Oh my God," I whispered, my legs threatening to give way beneath me. "All of them?"

"Yes." He pulled at my arm again, hurrying me along. "I barely slipped away without being seen. We must go."

"We need to get help," I managed. "The constables in the town—"

"We can't do that." He stopped, turning to face me. Just an outline in the darkness. I could barely see his face. "It's too late, do you understand? They're gone."

"How could you know that?" I whispered, unbelieving. "There might still be—"

"Listen to me, Denna," he said softly. "There are six men there still, with swords. Wielding magic darker than you can possibly imagine. And Trebon is over an hour away on foot. There's nothing you can do."

I glanced away, my eyes stinging again. I blamed the smoke. But I knew the truth of it. This is what came of magic. This was the darkness Father had warned of. All the people I'd just broken bread with not three hours past, dead. It was too much. I stepped away, trying to orient in the darkness.

"Where are you going?"

"Trebon," I whispered. "Where else is there?"

He looked at me for a long moment, his gaze unreadable. "And how," he said finally, "will you explain why you're still alive?"

"What?" I whispered blankly.

"Think about it," he breathed. "An entire wedding party slaughtered. Blue fire. And you, my dear, a perfect stranger, untouched. Ringing the alarm? They will blame you for it. They will call you a witch and ready a hanging."

"That can't be," I managed. "They wouldn't—"

"Of course they would. Foolish humans that they are. Mark me, not one has stepped fifty miles outside Trebon. They don't take kindly to strangers in these parts."

"But the men! The men with the swords."

"Are you imagining they will stick around for an after party?" His voice was incredulous. "They will be gone as soon as they have achieved their purpose. Listen. It is already quiet."

And when I strained my ears for the sounds of distant swords, I heard nothing. Just the slight roar of the fire, and the song of the forest at night. They had likely slipped away. Were gone already. We were lucky they hadn't come upon us in the forest where we stood, making far more noise than was wise.

"So we just leave?" I whispered heavily, the truth of it bitter in my mouth. "Run?"

I had looked out for myself for more years than I could count. Had stolen, and lied, and taken far more than I deserved. But it had never felt so wrong as in that moment. The weight of twenty-six souls hungs on my shoulders, heavy as Tehlu's iron chains.

He turned away from me, pacing the small clearing where we had found ourselves. "I'm afraid it isn't that simple. I haven't been here in any official capacity, but they've seen you. You stayed in town. Folk know you were here for the wedding. If they find the bodies and you're missing…" He trailed off, the implication heavy enough unspoken. I could already imagine it, the scenario playing out exactly as he said. Still, I thought we could outrun them. Surely, they wouldn't search me out as far south as Imre. Or Tarbean.

"We can avoid town," I suggested. "We can take a barge downriver at first light. Or we could get horses, and—"

He shook his head. "They won't wait until tomorrow. They will have seen the fire. Smelled the smoke. And if you're found trying to leave in the quiet, it will look that much worse. They'll have caught you red-handed."

I cursed. The dark around me seemed to get thicker. Heavier. As if the air had turned to stone. "What then? You brought me here. You can't take me away? Vouch for me?"

"You know that I can't."

"Why?" My voice rose in angry spirals and I lowered it abruptly, terrified it would carry to the hill in case anyone remained. Still, I wanted answers. If there was ever a time for Ash to be honest with me, it was now. "Why can't you?"

The look he gave me was unreadable. "You know that I can't tell you that. Not yet."

"So you would leave me here?" I said coldly. "Leave me to hang?"

"What you're asking for will not help you." His voice held an angry quiet. "Even if I showed myself, they would still think you a witch. A whore, hell-bent on magic. And me a demon. They will hang us both. I cannot stop them, nor the iron law."

The words cut me. Was that all he thought of me, too? Was a whore all I'd ever be? I slowly raised my hands to my face. They smelled of earth and iron, and trembled far more than I'd allowed. I forced them into fists.

How did I get here?

I wished I had never done it. Come here. Agreed to this. Taken the bracelet in exchange for my blood. "Just a little bit of magic," he'd called it. Well I had meddled, and now the world was burning blue.

This is what came of reaching. Of trying to take more than the world wanted to give. I should have stayed in Imre where I belonged. The things I'd had there were small, but they were mine. My coins. My choices. My small moments with Kvothe, that made it easier to breathe between the dark nights.

And now blue fire raged all around me. All the roads before me ablaze and my choices narrowed down to strips. It was closing in, its flames reaching for me. And no matter where I stepped, I'd burn.

"There is another way," Ash said quietly, breaking the silence. "Something to ensure your innocence."

"And what's that?" I said acidly. "Should I beat myself bloody? Find a sword to run through my arm before hobbling up the hill to mysteriously awaken in the arms of my savior? Perhaps I'll marry him after, like in one of those fairy tales."

He chuckled. "Quite a fantasy. But you, my dear, are far too clever by half." And every piece of me went cold.

I shook my head. "No. I can't do that. I won't."

"It is better to bleed a little and live than give your life for nothing." His dark eyes held mine, his gaze unbending.

"There has to be another way." Another way through the fire. Somewhere it couldn't reach.

He shook his head. "Not if you wish to retain your innocence and freedom. If you're imagining they won't look for you in Imre, you're wrong. This is too big for a town like Trebon. If you run, the entire Commonwealth will be lost to you. No more evenings in Imre, my dear. Or winters in Tarbean. " He shrugged. "And I can't say I have much use for a musician who can't go where I please."

I turned away, cursing bitterly in silence. He was right. Of course he was. They had my description. They would alert the authorities. I would be the perfect scapegoat. And the music capital of the four corners would be the first place they'd look. The ring of fire around me seemed to narrow, tendrils of blue flame creeping up my skin. They felt like ice.

I could walk away from this. I didn't need Ash. I could make my own way as I had always done. But I thought of leaving the Commonwealth. Of leaving Kvothe. And the blue fire reached straight into my heart, freezing it solid.

I couldn't do it.

Even without him, the Commonwealth was the only place I felt safe. The only place that felt like a piece of home. Bitter tears stung my eyes, but I forced them away. It was a long time since I'd believed crying would solve the problems of the world. I knew the truth of it now. Everything had a price. And it was time to pay up.

I turned back to Ash, icy resolve stealing through me. What was pain, after all? I had been hurt before.

"You'll have to do it."

"Are you sure?" he asked softly.

I nodded. "It would never look convincing if I did it to myself. But after this, you and I are done. I can't say I have much use for a patron who can't even stand by me." I reached for the bracelet on my wrist, pulling at the clasp.

He stepped closer to me, until he was just inches away. His coal-black eyes looked coldly into mine, and his hand closed firmly over my wrist, freezing me in place. "Are you sure that's what you want, my dear?"

"Yes," I bit out. "I've been just fine on my own. I don't need anyone."

"Fine?" he repeated. "You're running from man to man, barely making enough to get by. Your music being wasted. I can help you. I can make your songs so famous, the singers will sing of you."

"Is this what you call helping?" I asked bitterly, and I pulled back on my arm, trying to free it from his grasp. "Go ahead. Hit me."

He held on, his grip clawlike, and leaned closer to me. "I can help you find your father."

A sliver of cold shot through my chest. "My father's dead."

He shook his head. "He isn't. Nor your grandparents. They got out. Do you understand? They didn't die in the fire."

I stared at him blankly. My mouth opened, but I could find no words. None at all. Somewhere deep in my chest, my heart shattered into a hundred pieces, all of them lodging in my ribcage. Like tiny knives.

"They made it out," he repeated, his voice placating. "They're alive. I can help you find them."

"Did— did you… know them?"

I couldn't understand. Couldn't reconcile the feelings of shock and sadness that swarmed me. Grandmother and Grandfather alive? Father alive? A flash of joy, and then a sea of grief sweeping me under. How could I ever forgive him?

"How?"

"I can't tell you how I know. But it is the truth. I told you. No respectable girl should be without her family." The words felt like a cruel jest now, but still they chained me in place. I couldn't seem to move. My arm had grown numb beneath his stony grip.

"I'll help you find yours," he pressed, "if you help me. That will be our arrangement."

I drew in a painful breath, trying to dispel the cold shock that gripped me. I should turn away. Let this go and wash my hands of it. Walk away from Ash. But I couldn't. If there was even a shred of truth to it. Tehlu, I had to know.

"What if they don't believe I'm innocent?" I whispered finally through numb lips. "Even after all that. What if they hang me anyway?"

"That will not happen. I will intervene if things go bad." He let go of my arm at last, brushing a hand softly along my cheek. "You have far too much living left to fall before the iron law now, my dear. Miles left to walk. Why"— he chuckled —"you have yet to find true love. The sort of man who'd lay down his life for you. Walk through death's door beside you. No, you will not hang for this. When it's over, find me. I will be waiting. And together, we will find your family. In due time." He smiled, and the way the blue light glanced off his teeth while casting his face in shadow made him look demonic. I was making a deal with the devil.

I only hoped I wasn't selling my soul.

I nodded. "I'll find you."

"Good girl. Now, if you want me to do this, you must ask me. I need you to be sure."

"Hit me," I whispered for the last time.

And he did.

His fist crashed hard against the left side of my face, the impact echoing through me in tremors, and Calia's comb went flying somewhere in the dirt. I let out a choked cry, falling to my knees as black dots flashed across my vision, and the world spun. He roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me back to my feet, then flung me against the nearest tree. My shoulder and side crashed into it with a shocking amount of force. It knocked the air from my lungs, not leaving me with breath enough to cry out. A fire snaked through my ribs, squeezing my chest when I gasped for air. I thought they had surely broken. It was pain beyond anything I had ever felt, and I thanked Tehlu for the dimming light. For the escape of unconsciousness, surely drawing nearer.

"Fight me!" he commanded, grabbing hold of my dress and shaking me roughly, until the back of my head hit the tree and I tasted the metallic tang of blood. Everything darkened. Ash's face before mine was blurry, melting into the black that surrounded it. "No one will believe you didn't ask for it otherwise!"

Through my haze of pain, I lifted my arm and pushed weakly at his chest.

"Harder!"

I made a trembling fist, aiming for his chin in the gathering darkness. He grabbed my arm and pushed it back, twisting it. "I saw them do it like this," he said flatly in explanation, and something sharp sliced into my arm. I screamed, and pain shot through my chest, as if my lungs had been shredded to pieces against my ribs. My cheek was pressed against the cool grass before I realized I had fallen.

"They would've never believed it if you hadn't been cut," he said softly from somewhere far above me, and I saw the glint of a knife, blue in the strange light before it all fell to black.

There was a flash of sky, lit up with streaks of blue. And pain echoing through my ribs in rhythm. I was being carried. I wondered how he could hold me, so firmly with both hands. Didn't he need his cane?

He hadn't needed it when he hit me.

And then the ground, meeting me painfully. Echoing through me as it grasped and held me. I tasted charred earth. The air smelled of fire and iron and burning. And the wind screamed.

"Good luck." Ash's face hovered above me. He brushed a strand of my hair, ever so gently, letting it fall across my cheek. And then his face recedeed, fading into the dark.

I lifted my head, forcing my trembling body to move, and my eyes trailed across the shapes of bodies lying prone beside me. Clothes stained in red. A delicate hand, its torn fingers still adorned with a ring of crystal. Behind the mangled body of the bride, the bonfire still stretched into the sky. Its flames were blue, like the ones clawing up the farmhouse in the distance.

Were the fires of hell blue, too?

Tehlu, I was so cold.

I closed my eyes, refusing to see anything but the darkness, and let my face fall back against the earth. The wind picked up, replacing the smell of charred flesh with the musky scent of soil, and I felt drops of water hit my face. Seep into my clothes. It was raining.

At least I wouldn't burn alive along with this wretched farm.

I lay there in the black until I lost count of the time, feeling the blood dripping slowly from the gash in my arm. It trailed along my wrist, mixing with the rainwater before finding its final resting place among the ashes of the burnt ground. They stuck to my bare skin, coating my arms like thousands of dandelion seeds.

It was easier to pretend they were simply flowers. That I was laying in a field of daisies. I wasn't torn or bleeding. Or cold. I thought of Kvothe and smiled just a bit, and let the darkness take me.

It was pain that woke me. The torture of rough hands digging into the shredded flesh of my arm. The shocking cold of my soaked dress pressing against me. I gasped, and my entire body trembled.

"This one's still alive!"

There were hurried footsteps. Ragged breaths drawing nearer. Behind the unfamiliar faces, I could see the moon, painfully bright. The sky had faded to black. I let my eyes fall closed. The darkness was easier to stomach than the broken anger on their faces.

"Is it Olivia?"

"No." The man's voice was bitter. "A stranger."

There was a silence, and the rough creak of wooden wheels struggling against uneven ground.

"Take her back to town."

Rough hands lifted me from the scorched pain shot through me in sharp waves, slicing into my arm and chest. Fading to a distant numbness. The rough wood beneath my head felt terribly far away. And then, for a final time, the darkness took everything. And all was empty quiet at last.

.

.

A/N: Cannon as this moment is, it was difficult to write, and I'm sorry it had to be there. My heart breaks for D. After all this time, all she wants is to find a little piece of love. The next chapter will be the last one. Thank you guys so much for sticking with D so far. I'm happy to have walked this road with D. And with all of you.