Hello All,

It took me some time blood sweat and tears to give birth to this. Meaning, it WAS difficult.

I hope you will enjoy it.

And to all my readers and ESPECIALLY reviewers BIG thank you.

Now back to the point...

It was almost noon when Nessa woke up. She hasn't slept that well for a long time now. And she was still alive, which put Elf in slightly better light. She rubbed her face having her mind return to yesterday's talk.

"What am I to do with you Elf?" – she spoke out loud – "I don't trust you. Not one bit…. That would be totally reckless, if I let you take a lead. No not reckless…. Stupid…. So tell me what can I do for you to leave me in peace?" Lack of answer made her angry. His persistence really started to annoy her, she felt as if he just has a laugh at her cost.

"Just don't tell me there's no such thing!" –she murmured. At further silence the twirled around and blurted out angrily – "Don't be ridiculous, for Mask's fingers!" To her surprise, there was no sign of Elf in the room. She jumped off the bed and looked around nervously. He was here yesterday! This was not a dream…. She was sure she had him here yesterday… The peeked behind the curtain, to find nothing. She hanged her head and rubbed her forehead. Was she going crazy? Her gaze rested upon bedding she offered him yesterday. She sighed with relief. At least her mind was still in proper shape.

She walked to the window and opened it. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Amarath now fully awaken. He just must have accepted her refusal, which was the best thing that could happen to her now. For she was afraid she might not have been able to make the right choice. Bethmoora tempted her… oh yes, desire to see what was created not for human's eyes was overwhelming. But then her inner voice warning her against the Elf, against his twisted ways, evil plans and amber eyes which seemed to weaken her reason every time she felt his gaze. It was something unusual, dangerous, and therefore attractive. And what Nessa had learned was that lust is the worst of weaknesses. It makes you blind, in deprives you of common sense and leaves you naked and defenseless. No matter how well trained, skilled or even armed you are, lust always leaves you kneeling and exposed, just like a prey. Throughout short time she accompanied Elf she learned that she was no match for him in combat. No matter how fast and precise she was, he was always a step ahead. Realizing this was already painful. If she lowered her mental guard…. That would be her final failure.

"Well apparently Ms Moonshade, You're back in business" she murmured to herself while stretching. She threw off her tunic and started to dress up. She deserved a hot bath and good dinner. And here was one place that could give provide her with both. "Under Hanged Halfing.. Nobody really remembered where the name came from. But despite this one detail inn was known for great cuisine and relatively clean rooms with private bathing chambers. Herbal, aromatic bath was what Nessa's fatigued body and mind needed the most. Smiling to herself she opened the door and froze.

Pair of those amber eyes, smirking amber eyes were piercing her through. Black lips curled in a smile that unwittingly made her heart beat slightly faster. His grin widened at her puzzled expression. His right hand made one quick move.

What in the Nine Hells….Is he attacking me?!

Simultaneously she put herself in defensive stance and with one swift move she unsheathed her blade and parrying the item that was going her direction. She turned angered gaze to him opening her mouth to scold him. He was faster though.

"It's good to see your reflexes in quite good shape…Firestorm…" sly smile didn't leave his lips –"I'm afraid however that you've just lost your breakfast…." He mocked moving his gaze to an apple now cut in two.

"Breakfast? " Nessa snorted realizing that yesterday's night was not a bad dream – "You call this one apple a breakfast?" she sheathed her blade angrily – "Here's the message coming for you Your Royal Generousness…." –she slightly approached him – "If you want my services…. You have to do more than that. For Mask's Hood! Do you elves eat….like normally?! Or you just live on fruits and spring scent?! I'm starving and I need a bath" – she spat out turning her steps to the door.

Suddenly his arm shot forward blocking her way out.

"You were supposed to give me an answer today. I allowed you to sleep and now my patience has really grown thin." – he spoke in low voice

"I know what I said.." Nessa snarled – 'You do not ALLOW me to forget. But the day is not over yet. And I have a meeting to attend, someone to consult… So if you excuse ME…" she put her hand on his forearm to bring it down. He ignored her attempts and spoke:

"I know you're testing me human… You're hoping that I'll just let go…. I assure you I will not. And I assure that among all my virtues I value patience the most. If I believe something is worth waiting for." –he leaned towards her lowering his voice even more – "DO NOT push your luck with me, for when I'm angered, I tend to forget myself. But this one thing about me…. is more or less familiar to you." by the last words disturbing kind of amusement crawled up upon his face. "I'm sure you're quite aware that killing can be brought down to a fine art… - he raised his second hand and entwined the strand of her hair around his index finger – "You've made it clear that you are not afraid of death… But aren't you afraid of dying?" – he crooked his head locking her eyes against his. Nessa felt like she was in the middle of the ice covered lake. Each step could end with death. She confronted his gaze and clicked her tongue:

"Now you are disappointing me… You made very reasonable remark yesterday…. You cannot force me to anything…. If you kill me, still you'll be left with nothing… And I really don't like this attitude of yours… not at all. For someone who is desperate to have me, you're far overconfident…."- she narrowed her eyes and removed her hair of his finger. "Now I'm really hungry… And when I'm hungry, I'm not very cooperative.. I WILL give you what you seek today, but instead of threats, I expect silence. I need to make decision alone… IN PEACE. Are you able to do this?" – she twisted her head in anticipation. After a minute of confronting his basilisk gaze she asked mirthfully – "Shall we?" she pointed door with her head. Out of a sudden prince laughed out loud.

"I knew you were worth it." – he snickered – "From the moment you've opened those sassy mouth of yours I knew you were worth every minute of my time. Well it seems you've just earned yourself a shadow…" he spoke patting her cheek with one hand and removing his other arm off the doorframe.

"Fine with me" – Nessa shrugged – "At least once in my lifetime I will have a personal bodyguard while taking a bath.." she left the room not giving him a single look. Prince shook his head and smirked to himself. He really started to have a good time with this human. It was neither good and nor appropriate and definitely not something the heir of Bethmoora throne should feel. But still enjoyable. Not wasting anymore time he followed her.

*********************************************

What have I done…. Why I cannot just… just enjoy my peace in silence. Why in the name of all Gods did I have to run into him…

Nessa watched flower petals twirl in the water. She was sitting now in a tub, entwined in calming aromatic scent of Rashemen herbs. She was watching water leaking through her fingers. Warm fluid was a blessing for her tensed muscles… but for her mind… there was nothing that could help her. If there was a way to convince this stubborn elf to let go, if there only was a way she would give anything, pay any price to regain peace. And just after that she would sit and write down all the rules Rhys had ever taught her. And then she would have it burned into her skin. Every single one of them… just so that she remembered. And learned. Now she was more than positive that questioning Rhys' rules couldn't end well.

"Damn you…" her hand plunged into water - "Damn you, damn and blast you, you vain oath breaker.." she stood up and continued "Damn you to hell, you knavish, over-ripe goldilocks!" she raised her gaze to see Nuada leaning against doorframe now eyeing her head to toes with sly smile .

"My… woman such language….. I advise you to behave, for in Bethmoora we try to sustain slightly higher level of communication….You curse like a dwarf…" – he mocked her with feigned outrage. Her first reaction was to cover herself. But that would amuse him even more. Trying to keep the rest of her dignity she straightened and sent him murderous look.

"I do not feel obliged to watch my language in presence of someone who doea not respect my privacy. And stalks me even if my bathing chamber. And in fact I'm glad that you heard what I just said. I mean it. Every single word." she slurred reaching for a towel – "Miscreant" she cursed under her breath while passing him by. Before she realized what hit her she ended with her cheek pressed against the doorframe with one hand twisted behind her back. His second hand was clutched on the nape of her neck.

"What the hell…" she tried to struggle but the more she fought the bigger the pain in her shoulder joint became

"Now be silent and listen…." he growled in her ear – "There are certain rules you do not seem to be aware of. Which makes me wonder how did you manage to survive without following them. The most important, one which you stubbornly ignore is Do not provoke those who can hurt you. Well obviously I'm the one who can hurt you…" he hissed increasing the pressure on her joint – "Now… are you aware of the rule and consequences of breaking it?" Nessa's back arched backwards as the pain started to become unbearable. She mustered all her strength and tried to hit him with the other hand. He blocked her blow with his thigh and smashed her harder into the frame.

"Not wise human….. Very dumb indeed…." he panted "I will ask you for the last time…. Are the rules clear?"

"Yesss" – she hissed through the clenched teeth

"Then I will hold you to your word" –he murmured to her ear – "For I believe you are not honorless oath breaker, are you?" he mocked releasing her arm.

Nessa cast him a furious look from over her shoulder. Her insides howled. Not mentioning her almost mortally wounded pride. She dressed quickly without casting a single look his direction . Eventually having her belt buckled she turned to him

"It's time. My partner is should be waiting for me downstairs. If I told you that I wanted to speak to him alone, you wouldn't listen, right?"

"Wrong…." – he replied approaching the door – "I'll wait in the tavern, take all the time you need. And make the RIGHT decision." he cast her meaningful look before leaving the room.

Nessa fixed her gaze upon the door. She really hoped that Jon would help her to get out of this trouble, as he always did. That was the only escape route she had. Her mind raced desperately in search of an ultimate reason not to go with the elf. And it was blank. She could not think of anything that would set her free. What made it even worse was that Jon was being late. She started to pace around the room. Half an hour seemed to be eternity. And still no knock on the door, no sign of him. It was really unlike him to be unpunctual. Lest something really serious stopped him. Suddenly Nessa felt the wave of completely inexplicable anxiety crawling towards her heart. A the same time she felt as if someone's ice cold hand clutched on her throat. Something was not right. Even terribly wrong. She dashed out of the room and ran downstairs.

Calm down…. You're drawing too much attention to yourself - her inner voice scolded her urging her to calm down. She slowed down steadily approaching the door. She turned around to search for the elf. She scanned the chamber, there was no sign of him. She didn't have time to waste. She needed to find Jon to see he was fine. She twirled around to bounce off his chest.

" Is something wrong?" – he asked calmly – "The meeting didn't turned out the way it was supposed to?"

"It didn't take place at all…. I don't have time to explain. I need to go. Follow me …" she whispered and almost ran through the door. Meandering among the crowd stretched minutes to hours. Finally they reached the building that used to be Jon's lair. Nessa didn't look back to see if Nuada was with her. She seemed to forget about his presence. With one leap she was on handrail and started to climb. She jumped to her feet and dashed forward unsheathing her blades. She reached Jon's door within a fraction of second. She almost broke them open with powerful kick. What she saw in there almost made her legs give in… Her hands clutched on the handgrips to the point the knuckles went absolutely white.. Stumbling against her own feet she entered the room

"No…..Not you Jon……" – she rasped – "Not you my friend….. NO…NO.."

Her vision went blurry. She hardly heard Nuada's light footsteps who stormed into the room alarmed by her scream. Nuada's eyes widened when he saw Nessa's grim discovery. Woman's friend had been hanged. What was the most cruel, whoever did it, made sure that the man's agony lasted for hours. They let his toes to touch the ground which actually turned hanging into slow strangulation. The load of animosity he jus saw made him pity this woman. He decided to leave and let her mourn her friend in peace. As he was turning to leave rattling made him stop half step.

It made Nessa snap out of the shock. She dropped her blades to the ground and with one swift move she tore the dagger out of her armor. She turned her head to Nuada and ordered

"He's alive! Help me! We need to cut him off!! Hurry!!!"

Nuada reached the man in one leap and once she cut the rope he supported him and gently laid him on the floor. Nessa dropped down to her knees and cupped his face

"You're alive…. Gods! You're alive!" – she laughed hysterically wiping the tears – "Everything will be alright…" –she whispered – "I will take care of you… I will never leave you…. And when you'll get better we'll find whoever did it to you and crush them all to the ground. Even if we'll have to burn down this whole damn city!"

Rattling stopped for a moment. Jon's mouth moved slightly. Nessa leaned over him and spoke gently

"You mustn't speak now… You need rest… We'll take you out of here…" – her voice started to shake again as she started to become aware of what he was trying to say.

"Please……kill…..me……Please…" – he rattled causing a blood stream flow from the corner of his mouth – "Please…the pain … End this…please…" – he grasped her hand which was still holding a dagger.

"No…. I can't" – she shook her head – "It's nothing. You've been worse" – she yelled crying hysterically – "You cannot leave me! I need you! You have to live!"

"Help me…. please…" – Jon started to faint, his breath turned to gurgle

Nessa pressed her forehead to his chest. It was the "place" she always felt safe. She heard blood gathering in his lungs, choking him slowly. She bend back and wiped off her tears. Then she planted gentle kiss on his forehead. She looked at the dagger and at Jon's face mutilated and stretched in pain. With one deadly accurate move the blade slid between man's ribs and reached his heart. Rattling stopped the moment after. He went limp in her arms. Nessa embraced her friend's body and buried her face in his chest. And she wept. She was now alone. She has lost her home. Again.

Nuada watched this scene stunned. He was impressed by what he just saw. It happened to be the greatest sacrifice he had ever witnessed. To noble for these hollow creatures. He even felt little sting of jelousy. These humans were strongly connected. Once he believed he had a soulmate too. But it was until Nathaniel, his closest friend betrayed him in order to take his place in Kingdom of Bethmoora. He looked at woman's honest air in the room seemed to be saturated with Nessa's infinite sadness. He raised his hand to his chest and rested it on his heart. His brows knitted at this unfamiliar sensation. Was he…. Pitying the human? Was it sincere compassion that was taking over his heart.? He glanced again at Nessa's back. Sobs became less frequent and she seemed to calm down slowly.

"I….I feel very sorry for your loss." – he started hesitantly – "I hope your friend will find peace by the side of his Gods…" – he was broke of by her silent hardly audible request.

"I need your help…" she whispered while standing up – "I cannot leave him here, and could not stand a thought that he was buried without a name in some common grave." – she turned around to look at him. Her eyes were red and swollen, but at the same time they were cold, filled with dangerous determination – "Please help me bury him. Somewhere in the forest, where he'll be far away from this city that betrayed him. I do not have a strength to carry him there. Please help me and then I promise I'll do anything you will ask of me."

Nuada fixed his gaze upon Nessa's face. Without a word he approached Jon's body.

"Find something to wrap him with…." he squatted by the corpse – "We do not need more attention than we have already been given."

********************************

Ashes to ashes… and dust to dust…. Nessa looked at mold of earth which now was a grave of last person she cared for in this world. She dismissed the gravedigger buying his silence with stuffed purse. She chose well hidden grove for his eternal sleep. He would have loved it in there. As for her, she'd probably join him soon. Now there was nothing holding her here. Not even self preservation instinct. It all died, she died the moment her dagger pierced Jon's heart…alongside with hers. There was just one more thing to settle. She turned around and approached Nuada who stood further, in order to respect her privacy.

"I…." –she started but he cut her off raising his arm

"You might think various things about me…..I'm not heartless though." – he spoke studying her face thoroughly. "This time I really release you. I do not demand anything of you. But my offer is still valid. You can come with me….if you want to. Perhaps it will help you overcome your grief…"

"Thank you…" – she paused – "Thank you but I cannot leave here. Not yet. There is a score I need to settle here. Farewell and good luck in your proceedings…. As crazy as it sounds…. I'm glad that I met you. Thank you for a great lesson…." – she turned around to leave.

"What are you going to do now?" – he spoke to her back as she was walking away

"I've already told you…. There is a debt which needs to be paid…. Farewell"

Nuada wached her small frame moving away from him. Suddenly his eyes spotted scrap of parchment lost probably by her. He approached it and unfolded it. His his brows frowned while reading short note:

Ms. Moonshade

I hope you've received my message. Forgive me this form The whole setting however was your partner's idea. He was dying to pass it on personally. My courtesy obliged me to grant him that wish.

I'm convinced that you're very eager to see me at the moment. And I'm also looking forward to see you.

Yours Abject Servant and Dedicated Friend…

Alton La Fey

Nuada's eyes narrowed. He started the direction she just vanished. He outtook her and blocked her way.

"What's this?" – he raised mussy parchment – "Are you aware that you cannot win this? You need plan, you cannot just storm in there. They will kill you.. Creatures who act like that won't show you mercy…"

"I don't want their mercy" – she replied coldly bypassing him – "I want their…. HIS blood . And I WILL get it. Even if it will be the last thing I do. Farewell"

Nuada watched her back in bewilderment. Grief must have taken her reason away. She was going straight into the lion's cage. He could not allow it. She didn't deserve to die like that. Now it was his turn to pay his debt. He waited a while for he didn't want to be discovered. Then he set out. Nessa in her now burning rage did not notice another shadow following her in this darkest of nights.