Well, this was a bit faster then the last chapter, but still pretty slow. I'm sorry!! . I'm so slow!! Personally I blame school work. I appreciate those of you that have faved/reviewed my story, cause I don't think I'd ever have gotten this far without encouragement along the way!! THANK YOU!! Anyways, on with the story!! ~~~~~~

" Explain it to me." he sat down, crossing his leg over his knee. Aaron stared, miserably at him.

" Everything?" she asked, her eyes sad and mournful.

" Everything." Gilan confirmed, nodding his head once, firmly." For once in your life, be totally honest." These were some rather harsh words, and Aaron's expression twisted with an unseen agony. She slumped down to sit across from him, not daring to meet his eyes.

Playing her fingers in circles in the dirt, Aaron thought over how best to start out the conversation.

" You could say I'm a pathological liar," Aaron finally admitted after a period of silence had passed between the two of them, " really, anytime I get scared or nervous, I lie. It's my comfort." Gilan titled his head to the side.

" How's that?" he asked. Aaron's gaze flicked up at him only a moment, then away again.

" When somebody gets too close to me in a lie, I can break things off easier." she murmured. Gilan was still confused, and Aaron got frustrated with his inability to understand. " Don't you get it?!" she snapped at him. " I don't like people getting close to me." That's when Gilan did something unexpected. He started chuckling, no, he was laughing!

" I'm sorry," he apologized, giggling," it's not something funny. Why don't you like people geting close to you?" he became inquisitive. Aaron didn't find it funny. She was very serious about this.

" Because people get hurt. I get hurt." she said, still quietly. Now Gilan was as serious as Aaron was from the start. " I know better; I'm smarter then that." she shook her head, talking almost to herself as she whispered. " People who get close to me end up dead too." This instantly caught Gilan's attention. He became engrossed in what she was saying.

" It started with my parents. The story I told was true, and about me. My Master shot them both by mistake, I over heard him tell that story one night to an old friend. I did the math." she hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. " Then came another." This was said in an ominous way, and sent a chill up Gilan's spine.

" When I was 5, at the river side town I told you about, that I lived in, another girl became my friend." she swallowed, her throat beging dry and constricting a bit. The memory was hard to wrestle down. " A few days later, she nearly drowned to death. I saved her."

" That's good, you saved her." Gilan insisted, but Aaron didn't get any happier or more pleasant.

" The following day, her entire family, along with her, was killed by raiders." she informed him. Gilan's pleasantness was quelled by this somber answer. " I went to visit just after the raiders had gone. At 5 year old it was," she paused, taking a moment to pull herself together, reaching into her brain for the right words," gruesome to say the least."

Gilan was quiet. There was really no way to respond to that. Not one that Gilan could think of, at length. It was obvious Aaron struggled to speak the truth. It pained her, Gilan could see that. He half wanted to stop her right then and there, but he couldn't now.

This was the truth he'd asked for.

" When I was 8, we'd hunkered down in a farm town for a time to recover and I made friends with this brother and sister in the house we stayed in. The parents had offered us a place to stay there for the few nights we'd be in town. They were so nice to me." her smile was worn and mournful.

" Three days after we came to the house, local thugs came looking for money. My Master was away at the time, and the parents ushered us away. Their mother told us to go find a place to hide." her lower lip quivered slightly, and she turned her face sky ward, the stars twinkling gray in the navy blue of the night. " Then they came upstairs and found us in a closet. First, the brother tried coming at them to protect his sister and me. They stabbed him." She inhaled deeply before going on. " Then they came at the girl and me. We were shaking," she rubbed her shoulders as if she felt it crawling up her skin right then and there, " as we clung to each other. Then she," her voice broke and she stopped again," she threw herself in front of me. They killed her. Then I was alone, and my Master came then and saved me." The silence after that went on for a long time, while Gilan waited for Aaron. She seemed almost calm about it all, but it took her time to start speaking once more.

" It happened again and again. Different ages, different place, different people, even by different means, it doesn't matter. Always, someone died. When I was born, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14 . . ." her voice trailed off at this last one but she continued after a moment.

" That was the time I decided I'd never get close to anyone." she finished up that part of the explanation. "So, I use everyone as tools and toys." she said this very simply.

" You're okay with that?" Gilan asked, incredulously of her. She frowned at him, disapproving of his incredulous tone.

" None of my 'tools' end up dead." she answered him. " So, yes, when I first met you, I saw you as a tool. I saw Halt and Will and everyone I've ever met since I was 14 as a way to get to what I want. I'm 19." she added. There was another silence, and Gilan digested these last bit of information. Aaron, meanwhile, thought how best to go on. This was a delicate situation and she needed to be careful.

" 'When I first met you'?" Gilan echoed before Aaron went on. His head turned to the side, a question on his face. Aaron's brows curled in distress and sorrow. As always, Gilan proved to be observant and even found the right question to ask to get the information he wanted. " Do you think differently now?" He'd caught her choice of words. Why wouldn't he?

" That's not what I meant-" Aaron stopped herself abruptly. Remembering she told Gilan she would be completely honest, she forced herself to be honest with herself as well as with Gilan. " -NO, never mind. That's what I meant to say." she spoke softly again. Gilan leaned closer, so he could hear her better.

" Everything, Aaron." he prompted her gently. She looked up and smiled wearily at him. Aaron gave a disheartened sigh as she nodded her head to him.

" I know, Gilan, I know." she replied, taking a breath. " I dunno when the change started. But the feeling changed after awhile. Maybe it was when we jumped into the river that it started, I dunno," she laughed a little, but there was guilt on her face," that's when I started feeling bad when I lied to you. But," tears had filled her eyes and she turned away from Gilan," if you're my friend, you'll-" she faltered, swallowing again. "-you'll-die . . ."

That was a rather morbid thought, that his life might be in the hands of Aaron's thoughts. Gilan couldn't get himself to believe it, but he wasn't going to tell Aaron that.

She had lived five years of her life thinking this was true, and coming up with this as her solution. The fact that she'd lied and hide away her feelings to try and keep others alive, even in a superstitious way, showed something about her person.

Aaron kept very quiet now, not turning to look at him while her hand came up to her face. She wiped the tears away as swiftly as she could with her hand. Gilan grabbed onto her suddenly, wrapping his big arms around her smaller form, grinning before he spoke.

" You sure you don't want me to take first watch?" he asked, laughing. Aaron, sniffing, grinned, then began to laugh along for a good long time. Long enough that the two of them clenched their sides because their sides hurt from laughing so much.

Aaron got back to keeping watch, glad to see that their wasn't anything out of the ordinary at a time like this. She smiled, almost relieved. Finally, she had gotten that out of her system. Since the time at the river, guilt had been welling up in her belly making her feel sick, or at least like a horrible person. That was something she didn't want to be.

For all the fowl words and teasing she made, she couldn't stand the thought of being an evil person. She felt a bit better, now that the lie had ended, but very, very uneasy. Each time she closed her eyes, she could just picture each victim of her friendship.

The six year old girl, killed with her family by raiders. The eleven and twelve year old brother and sister, killed by local thugs for money. The ten year old twin brothers who were arrested and publicly hung in the streets for the thefts they had done to protect her. The seventeen year old girl, sister figure to Aaron, who was killed by her knight husband for having the baby of his best friend. Finally, the sweetest nineteen year old priest whom was run over by a cart-man's horse and cart after offering Aaron what little salvation that may have been left to her.

Each one was so different, the only thing that connected any of them was Aaron. That fact was eerie to her, even to this very day. She could remember the face of each victim, the dank smell, the red blood, the twisted form of the bodies, and the way the glassy eyes followed her. As if those eyes said what each victim couldn't. That "it was supposed to be you, Aaron."

She'd sworn an oath to that young priest, who had some many good, honest words to say that we left unsaid by this accident.

" 'No other friend of mine will die in front of me.'" she murmured. " That's what I said back then, Gilan." Glancing over to where the Ranger lay against her shoulder, Aaron found he was already sleeping. Giggling, she watched the night as it passed her by a little at a time.~~~

" Priest, please don't be angry with me. Now that you're gone, I've given up on that salvation you told me all about. Your Lord will surely except you, but there's no way he'll let me in, with this curse of mine. Sorry if I disappointed you. I can make a promise to you though, right? No other friend of mine will die in front of me. That's my promise to you, sweet priest. I will protect what I hold dear by whatever means I can. And that is the truth."~~~~~~~~~~~

So, that's the chapter. I'll try my best to update faster. ( This sounds like a broken record, doesn't it?) Hope you enjoyed the story thus far. There's still plenty to come, so stick around. REVIEW PLEASE!! I do so love getting reviews!!