Fevered State

"You deceived me," Elsa said coldly to the princes—namely Mael—as they stood before her. All except Hans, watched over by Iscawin and Duach who both, obviously, were also absent.

"Would you have saved him if you had known?" Mael questioned calmly.

Elsa looked uncertainly down. "Well, we'll never know now, will we?" she asked. There was silence among them all. "Hans… How is he?" she asked. It felt like the appropriate thing to say right now.

"He inhaled a good deal of smoke," Rhun answered. "A dangerous amount. He… may be unconscious for a good long while. To say nothing of the gashes from the whips… Some were treated in time, but many became infected. He… he's sporting a very, very high fever. Dangerously high."

"It should have been me…" Mael murmured half to himself and half to the others. Jürgen dropped a hand on his shoulder lightly, gently squeezing. It had been a very, very long time since he had been reminded that Mael was his little brother. He hadn't seen something this close to vulnerability in his sibling's eyes for many years now… It was a painful reminder that Mael, despite seeming as though he had no feeling whatsoever in him and needed nothing from his siblings, really did sometimes… That was maybe a lesson they would all do well to learn about themselves and each other… Or a lesson that would have been good to learn once upon a time. Once upon a time was over now, though. There was only this… This whatever they had. This necessity. Could it even be called love, or just that, necessity?

Elsa's gaze softened considerably as once more it hit home to her just what Hans had done for Mael. He had been willing to die for his brother… Why? Why was he willing to die for one of the brothers he despised? Perhaps Hans himself didn't know the answer. His siblings certainly didn't, not even Mael. It was confusing. It was frightening. It made her very… uneasy.

Iscawin suddenly raced into the throne room. "Mael, he's suffering a fit and his fever is only worsening!" the second youngest fearfully said.

Mael turned to him then looked upwards, the glassy look coming to his eyes. "I used to believe fate was set and solid, that nothing could be done to change it… I have seen destinies change and destinies fulfilled," he muttered.

"What does that have to do with Hans?" Calcas demanded.

"More than you know," Mael answered, the glassy look vanishing. He quickly moved to Iscawin.

"He's thrashing around like a snared animal. Duach is holding him down so he doesn't bash his head on something. We were unsure if that was the right thing to do, but we had to do something," Iscawin explained quickly. "He won't calm!"

"He will," Mael assured.

Elsa watched concernedly after the two. Not half as concernedly as their brothers seemed to, though. "What other secrets are being hidden from me?" Elsa asked.

"None," Moren assured.

"I've heard that before," she bit. "Then Mael was shown to have powers and I heard it again and now this. You didn't think that maybe it would have been good to share that one of your brothers was a spell caster?"

Moren closed his eyes and sighed. "We kept it secret even from our own siblings, from Franz down, as I told you," he answered. "If we would not even tell them, do not believe it meant deceit and maliciousness that we chose not to tell you." Elsa started, blinking in surprise. She still couldn't believe they'd hidden something that big. Wow. She supposed, though, she couldn't talk. She had kept her own power hidden from Anna, after all. Given the way the younger brothers were glaring at the older, Moren was speaking truth.

"Should we go to our brother?" Kelin-Sel questioned.

"The fewer crowding him the better. Mael will need space to work. Hans will need to not be surrounded so he can actually breathe," Jürgen answered.

"They may not be able to keep him calm. If he's having fevered delusions and fits…" Kelin-Sel began. He trailed off. The rest went unspoken. They didn't need to hear.

We won't be able to calm him. Our voices, they won't sooth him. How could they when all he associates with them is harm and betrayal?

The triplets, perhaps, would have the best luck, but Hans associated pain and loneliness to their voices more than anything else. "Won't you at least try?" Elsa asked almost pleadingly. Surely there was something that could be salvaged of the brothers' relationship. They gave her no response, instead looking solemnly back at her then leaving.

Frozen

Elsa bit her lower lip in frustration and drew a hand through her hair with a sigh. She shifted in her throne uneasily then rose. She would go to check on Hans's condition, and perhaps ask Mael to help her with her own powers. It wasn't as though she had much else to do. Anna was spending more and more time with Kristoff. Truth be told, Elsa felt lonely these days. She hated to think that this was how she had made Anna feel for most of their lives… She'd never forgive herself for that. She tried to tell herself it was to protect her, but again and again Hans's words returned to her.

She didn't want a protector, she wanted a sister…

Elsa again inwardly cringed as guilt threatened to consume her.

Oh Anna, I'm sorry…

She approached Hans's room. She heard panicked whispering from inside. Hans. She paused outside of the door. Fevered fits and delusions… It was no wonder the poor young man was whispering so frantically. No, not poor, evil, she corrected. She took a breath and pushed open the door softly. She watched Mael wave his hand over Hans. The shivering and shaking stopped and almost immediately the youngest prince was soothed and laid still. "It won't keep him calm," Duach said.

"No," Mael said. "But it is all we have."

"So every time he has a fit we're going to have to find you," Iscawin frustratedly said as he drew a hand through his hair. There was pain in his eyes too, though.

Duach suddenly punched a wall hard. "Dammit, I hate not being able to do anything!" he said.

"It can't be helped. All Hans associates with the voices of his brothers is negative…" Mael said.

"We've had that same issue with Kelin-Sel too, and Iscawin, and the triplets, and Franz, and Justic…" Duach began, ranting.

"And you," Mael cut off.

Duach stopped. For a long moment he didn't move. "Yes… And me…" he said. "But at least Rhun could reach me more often than not. Even when no one else could."

"Moren too has had that pain," Mael murmured. He recalled many a fevered fit and being unable to do anything for Moren no matter how he tried to sooth. It seemed the same for all of them. When all that was associated with the voices of your brothers was sadness or hatred, there was no comfort to be found… But maybe it would work sometimes? ...Just not often enough, it seemed...

"I can try," Elsa spoke up, wanting the depressing talk to stop. They turned, startled at her presence.

"All he associates with you is negative too," Duach deadpanned.

"Not everything," she said, looking at him. "I never saw what he was, at least not in its entirety, until the very end." She had suspected his proposal to Anna was a power grab, but just how deeply that power grab went she'd had no idea. "As a result I spoke to him no differently than I would with anyone else." And had even relented Anna. They really hadn't had any negative conversations, her introduction to him notwithstanding, until after his treachery had been exposed. At which point it was all downhill.

"It's better than nothing," Iscawin pointed out.

"Fine," Duach agreed, nodding and watching the queen suspiciously.

"Calm yourself, Duach. She is no threat to us," Mael said.

"Not worried about us," Duach grunted.

"She is no threat to Hans either. At least not right now," Mael assured.

"Yeah. Right," Duach said.

"You have as much trouble trusting as a skittish cat," Iscawin said to Duach with a hopeless sigh.

"Back off, little boy," Duach warned, frowning at his sibling. But Iscawin made a point. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Iscawin obeyed and fell silent. Not like he wasn't used to being shut up by his brothers. Up to and including Hans. Who usually got a wet finger in the ear or a snake in his bed for trying to order him around. Yes, he could be petty. He did feel pretty bad about the snake thing, though. Hans would check his whole bedroom for months afterwards. And was terrified of him pranking him again for even longer than that until it passed.

Hans began to shift and whimper again in pain. Or was it fear? Mael turned to his brother and sighed tiredly. Another fit was coming on. Elsa approached slowly and looked down at Hans. She looked up at Mael. Mael nodded assent. She turned back to Hans and reached out, gently drawing a finger across the young man's forehead, lightly stroking and cooling the burning skin with her powers ever so slightly. "Shh, it's alright. You're safe here," she softly said to him.

The shivering began to subside as he began to relax. It was a curious relaxation more so than a comforted one, though. Curious as to whose voice was speaking to him now, when all he had heard so far were the voices of his siblings begging him to trust them this time, that there were no tricks, to please wake up or to please relax… Part of him had wanted to trust the voices… Wanted to so desperately… Every time he had in the past, though, it had ended badly. Very badly. This voice, though, was a new one. Familiar, yes, but new. And a welcome respite. He tilted his head into the touch as she continued to stroke his forehead with her finger.

His brothers were surprised, she could tell. Surprised at how easily and quickly Hans had relaxed as Elsa had spoken. "I'll watch him from here," Elsa assured. "You three should take a rest. You've been constantly tending him so far. I can take it for a little while." They nodded and bowed to her. Silently the three slipped out of the room. Elsa turned back to Hans with a sigh. "Just you and me now, it seems," she coldly said to him. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" If he woke up while she was asleep or unaware… She didn't really want to think of what might happen.

Frozen

He was sleeping soundly. Well, more or less. His breathing was raspy, and at times he would cough or wince in pain. She moved him gently onto his side so she could apply the salve Mael had left to the infected injuries. Every time they were touched, he shuddered in pain. When she finished applying the salve, she gently laid him back down. His fever wasn't going down. She frowned concernedly. That wasn't a good sign. She leaned over him, placing her hands on his face and channelling her powers, being careful not to go too far. It was hardly cooling off and she seriously began to wonder if it was a fever or if his blood was just fire. It began to cool rapidly and suddenly and she gasped, quickly drawing back and nervously looking at him. She might have gone too far. There was a thin layer of frost on his cheeks, but it melted quickly enough. Well, at least his fever was soothed. A bit. For now.

She sat back down, curled up on the chair, and opened up a book, starting to read while she waited. He suddenly gasped. She sharply looked up, eyes narrowed. Was he having a fit? She saw his eyes open. They were frantically and blindly searching everywhere. "I-I can't see," she heard him murmur partially to himself. She put down the book and went to him, laying a hand on his forehead. He gasped again, eyes quickly turning to her. He blinked up at her in confusion. His vision was probably starting to clear now. To his eyes she was probably a blur still, though. He looked to be in the process of trying to figure out who she was. Or maybe he saw clearly who she was, but in his fevered state and with his fevered delusions it wasn't quite registering.

"Oh god, he told me this would happen," Hans said, covering his face with his hands.

"Who?" she questioned.

"Kelin-Sel," he replied.

"What did he tell you?" she questioned, gently reaching out and touching his forehead to try and bring his temperature down again. He dragged his hands down his face and closed his eyes while he held his neck, tilting his head back and letting the coldness sooth him. "He said that an angel would come and speak to me. He told me to listen to her, for she would tell me of my fate and whether I would live or die and other such things. So what is it? What will be my doom?" Hans asked, voice surprisingly weak. Elsa was blinking rapidly. Angel? Did he just liken her to an angel? "I almost believed you were a goddess…" Hans muttered half to himself and half to her. Her lips parted in disbelief. He was having delusions, she realized, if he saw her and likened her to a goddess and angel. "It was all a story... A fantasy that Kelin-Sel concocted. It's... it's too clichéd to be real, and even if it weren't... Even if it weren't, what use would a goddess have for me anymore...?" Hans finished.

Elsa felt an uncomfortable twisting in her stomach. Was that guilt? Pity? She didn't know the emotion. At least not well. Especially not when it came to the man that would have killed her sister and her as well, given the chance. She was silent. "You will live," she promised.

"You're lying, angel," Hans answered. "I stopped living long ago… I stopped because living was too painful… Maybe death would be a blessing in disguise."

It was empathy, she realized immediately. She felt empathy. She bowed her head. "I know what that's like…" she murmured.

"Share with me a story, angel," Hans murmured, sinking further into the delirium again.

"I know no stories," she replied.

"Please…" Hans weakly pled.

She was quiet. "I know one story," she finally said. "About a princess, a queen, and a man, a prince, who's every word was honey and venom."

"A deceiver," Hans murmured, frowning. "I despise deceivers."

You would never guess, Elsa inwardly bit, but she refrained from saying it out loud, instead opting to gently pet his hair and forehead in a soothing manner. "There was more to him than a deceiver… Maybe more than even he knew…" she murmured. She was parroting his brothers, not her own thoughts, wasn't she? She needed to stick to what she knew, not them.

"A monster," Hans hissed.

"A man," she corrected. "The princess fell in love with him, or believed she had, and he seemed fond of her as well, but in the end it was an act, and when she came to him, begging for him to lift a curse from upon her, he pulled away and left her to die… He wanted the throne of the land. If that meant the princess and queen perished, so be it. He wanted to be something… He wanted to bring pride to his family instead of shame… He wanted to be good enough… Instead he brought upon them greater shame than he could have ever begun to imagine, and realized it far too late. He turned to the queen and he told her that her sister was dead. Perhaps he was afraid to face her in all her power. Perhaps he wanted her death to be something she welcomed so that in some small way his own conscience—if he had one and if it was feeling even an inkling of hesitation—could be soothed. The princess was not dead yet, though, and as the prince went to kill the grief-stricken queen, the princess acted and got between her sister and the blade, freezing to solid ice. His sword shattered on the enchanted sculpture and he fell back. The queen, realizing the truth of the matter, wept upon her sister, and her tears thawed the frozen heart of her sibling and revived the princess to life."

"Tears of an angel…" Hans murmured.

Elsa looked at him quietly, then away again. "They imprisoned the prince and sent him in shame back to his homeland to kneel at the thrones of his brothers and fall upon their mercy. They spared his life," she said.

"They shouldn't have," he remarked.

"They were his brothers," she murmured.

"He deserved to die," Hans stated. "Perhaps he even wanted to by that point… Their mercy was punishment, not pity." Elsa swallowed over a lump in her throat and looked away, closing her eyes tightly. She wondered. Did he know she spoke of him, or did he truly believe this a story? Here he was, passing judgement on himself in his delirious fever. Judgement harsher than any even she had ever hoped for him, though she had considered it… "The queen suffered too," he murmured. "There is the true cut… The ones who should have been avenged never were…" He cringed and gave a soft groan of pain, hand clenching tightly on the blankets. The wave passed and his hand relaxed. Gently she took it in hers reassuringly, channeling her power into him again to bring the fever down further.

"There was something more to the deceiver," she said.

"What?" he questioned.

"I don't know… I don't understand... What I know is that he was willing to die in the place of one of the brothers he claimed to despise…" she answered. "Does that mean nothing?"

"Maybe he believed he would be saved. Maybe he was, in the end, and knew from the start that would be so," Hans replied.

"They whipped him," she said.

"As a criminal deserves," he answered.

"They bound him to a stake and lit the pyre," she said.

"And then?" he asked.

"And then the queen came to his rescue, though at the time she didn't know it was him… But when she did, she never let him go. She stayed, she tended him regardless. She showed mercy to the man who would have had her life," Elsa continued.

Hans was quiet. She almost thought he had slipped into unconsciousness again. She sighed and began to pull her hand from his. His grip tightened ever so slightly, holding her back. He opened his eyes and looked directly into hers. "She should have let him die…" he said, and Elsa felt a chill race up her spine at the seriousness in his gaze. He knew, she realized… He knew he was telling their story… She wondered again. Was this Hans as he truly was, his true self revealed in this delirious state? She didn't know. As his brothers had said, he had worn so many masks it was impossible to tell which one was not just another guise… It frightened her… She wondered if it frightened him too… "Can a man like that be forgiven? Can a man like that be redeemed?" he suddenly wondered, tone so, so vulnerable.

Elsa was quiet. Finally she answered, "Do you believe he can?" Hans was quiet. He turned away from her and closed his eyes. His hand went limp. This time he really had fallen asleep again. His fever was broken, she suddenly noted. At least that was something. She stayed put, though, and didn't move her hand from his. She felt tears burning her eyes. When she was sure he was asleep, she let them come.

Frozen

Elsa, starting to wake up, breathed a contented sigh. Whatever her head was resting on, it was surprisingly comfortable and warm. Her eyes flickered and suddenly she remembered, smile falling to a look of shock and terror. She gasped, sitting bolt upright. She'd been sleeping on Hans! She looked quickly at his face to ensure he hadn't woken up. He hadn't. His hand was still closed on hers though, she noticed. He looked so innocent… She tilted her head then carefully moved her hand out of his, looking away. She'd been here too long now, if she was starting to think like that. A man like him could never be innocent. She cleared her throat and stood up, smoothing her dress and going to the salve. It needed to be applied again, and the dressings rewrapped. She gently moved him and applied the salves and bandages to the gashes and burns. She moved him back onto his back and silently slipped out of the room. Mael was waiting outside. She gasped, startled.

"You scared me," she said to him. He was watching her with those… eyes. He rose and went to move passed her.

"My powers…" she began.

"You control them well," he said.

"But not always well enough. If I ever get into a state of high emotion… You saw what happened at the banquet. I can control it, yes, but not when I get like that," she said.

"You wanted to kill him. Your powers reacted accordingly," Mael said.

"And nearly killed the rest of you too," she pointed out.

Mael paused, looking back at her. "What you need is to trust yourself," he said.

"Help me," she pled.

He was silent. "Very well," he answered. He went in to check on his brother. 'Very well?' What did that mean? Was she supposed to stay here and wait for him or what?

Frozen

A few minutes later Mael came out of the room frowning. "What's wrong?" Elsa questioned.

"He is getting restless again. As if he feels something is missing," he answered, looking at Elsa pointedly.

Elsa blinked and cleared her throat, glancing away. "He'll be fine, though?" she asked.

"In a little while… Where can we go to practice? Away from prying eyes and potential disaster?" he asked.

"The dungeons," she answered. "Or the tower. The tower might be best."

"Very well," Mael agreed, nodding. "Lead me there." Elsa nodded and walked towards the tower. Passing the twins, Rhun and Duach, Mael muttered something to them. They nodded and went to Hans's room to take over the watch.

Frozen

Elsa opened the doors of the tower and turned to Mael, backing away from him and saying, "Well, this is it. The tower." She turned around again. "It's not much, but I suppose that's perfect for this."

"For all your wit, my queen, you could do with less naivety," Mael remarked. "Would anyone hear you scream should my intentions have been anything less than what they are?" Elsa stiffened, realizing with a jolt and no small amount of alarm that he was right. She turned quickly, guardedly. He was keeping his distance, but her walls were all kinds of up.

"No," she cautiously replied.

"When next a man, stranger or family friend, asks such a thing of you, be sure you don't go alone with him," Mael said. "Shall I call your guards, milady?"

"Do you want to be imprisoned by them again?" she asked.

Mael dryly smirked. "I don't think they would dare after the last time," he replied.

She smiled. "Your faith in the power of my authority is refreshing and welcomed," she said.

"You do not feel in control, Queen Elsa?" he asked.

"Not as much as I should feel," she replied.

"Perhaps that is part of our problem," Mael said.

"Maybe… In their eyes my age means inexperience. It means I'm malleable and easy to manipulate. They're wrong," she said firmly.

"You hope," Mael added. She inwardly cringed.

Giving the man a cold glare, she replied, "Where do you want to start?" She wasn't about to grace his statement with an answer.

"Right here," Mael answered.

Frozen

Immediately he shot out a wave of dark magic, in the form of a swarm of bees, tearing towards her! Elsa gasped, instinctively throwing up a wall of ice as a shield. The dark bees shattered it, but were stopped, 'dying' on impact. The ice crystals rained down all around them. Elsa looked sharply up, eyes narrowed. Mael sent out a plethora of dark beasts—wolves and bears and more—to attack her. Elsa immediately sent out her ice spears, impaling them all. Unfortunately, another shot towards Mael as well! She gasped in alarm. Mael raised his hand, conjuring a dark elephant. The spear struck it and shattered before it reached the prince. The dark elephant trumpeted in 'pain' before collapsing and vanising.

"I'm sorry!" Elsa exclaimed.

"What drove you to send the spear at me?" Mael asked.

"You-you were attacking," she replied. "I knew you weren't a threat yourself, but-but the ice doesn't think in that way."

"The ice doesn't think at all. When I attacked, you perceived an enemy. Never apologize for that, because for the most part, when others attack you, they will most certainly be enemies and must be treated accordingly," Mael said.

"But that means I don't have control over these powers," she replied.

"It means you aren't as aware as you could be. Try again, and this time don't focus your attention on the threat, focus it on the caster. The ice will take care of the threat. It's me you have to worry about," Mael said. He send out another swarm, bigger and more vicious this time. Elsa immediately launched her attack, eyes watching everything but the caster. She didn't realize the mistake until she heard the ice shatter and saw particles raining down. She cringed, looking over at Mael who had again had to defend himself. "Again," Mael said. Elsa, getting frustrated, did her best to focus this time. Mael sent out the biggest swarm yet. This time, though, Elsa's eyes were fixed on him. Her ice, as she cast it, shot at everything she knew was a threat. The ice spear going for Mael, however, she disintegrated before focusing on the swarm of dark beasts again and finishing them off. "Well done," Mael said.

Elsa, lightly panting, smiled victoriously. "Again?" she asked.

"Later. Right now I want you to attack me. Hard. More powerfully than you have ever attacked anything before," Mael said. "You need to know how strong your powers can be before you can trust yourself with them. You trust your powers, but it's your trust in yourself that is waning."

"But what if I hurt you?" she questioned uneasily.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Mael answered. Elsa hesitated but finally nodded, closing her eyes and focusing a moment. Soon they flew open again. Her eyes were white. With a battle cry she unleashed the forces of her powers at Mael. Mael's eyes widened in shock. That was more powerful than he'd expected! He threw up a dark shield of locusts and crouched low, covering his face so as not to be rendered snow blind. He kept the locust shield up, closed his eyes, then suddenly unleashed a powerful force of his own that sent the snow scattering. Elsa gasped in amazement. Mael suddenly cancelled it and took on another form. The form of a polar bear of dark magic. He charged at her relentlessly. Elsa, eyes widening in fear, sent out an ice spike immediately before recalling he wasn't a threat and changing it to an icy cage, which shot up around the polar bear. The bear roared in rage, swiping at her. She looked at it in fear. It turned back, then, becoming Mael once more. She gawked at him in disbelief. "Forgive me if I frightened you," he said. "Most of my abilities are dark magic and animal or creature based, and so I had to make due." He looked around at the icy cage. Elsa dissipated it.

"That was… wow…" she breathed. He could shape shift! He nodded to her.

"Now, let it go," he said, a ghost of a smirk briefly crossing his lips.

She straightened up and immediately let loose with a tornado of snow and ice, rain and biting wind. He leapt back and formed a ball of dark energy that took on the form of thousands of flies, spinning around and letting it swirl around him and mingle with her ice. She was awed. It was beautiful to see! "Fire would go better," Mael remarked.

"Can you do fire?" she asked.

"No," he admitted.

"This works fine," Elsa replied, smiling and raising a pillar of ice beneath her. He responded by transforming into a dark eagle and flying upwards, hovering above her and attacking from there. She leapt to another pillar and shot a spear at him. He soared around it then landed on her first pillar, transforming into human form once more and sending out another ball of dark insects at her. She deflected it with a shield of ice that shattered but had kept the dark energy at bay. She leapt down until she was on the ground again. He leapt once and landed nimbly, calling forth a dragon which blew an energy column at her. She moved around it and sent a blizzard of snow at the dragon and Mael in turn, grinning excitedly. "This isn't the sort of magic I have trouble with," she said.

"Practicing your limits will help you to learn how far you can go before you start to lose your hold on it. When you know where that point is, we work from there," Mael said. "We work from there and soon, Queen Elsa, there will be very little you cannot do with snow and ice."

"A goddess of snow?" she playfully teased.

"That is not within any mortal's power, to become like a goddess. Or was your mother a goddess of snow?" Mael questioned half seriously half only figuratively.

"No. My aunt was pretty close, though," she answered. "If mother's stories are to be believed." Mael frowned suspiciously, glad she couldn't see the frown. Was she now? That was interesting. He would have to look into this 'aunt' of hers more at some point. It would help him get a better idea of what they were dealing with in Elsa. He let a pillar of dark gnats swirl around him. She sent her snow to it, their powers together forming a dark blizzard that ripped and screamed and tore anything it touched. Mael closed his eyes, feeling suddenly light headed, and gasped, collapsing to his knees and cancelling it all with a cry.

Frozen

Elsa gasped as everything stopped. She blinked a few times and looked at him. Concern leapt to her eyes. He wasn't moving from that kneeling position. She ran over to him. "Mael? Mael, are you alright?" she questioned.

He didn't answer a moment, looking at his hands. Finally he raised his head up to look at her. "I will be fine," he assured. "I was not born with these abilities, my queen… I was cursed with them… The cost they came with was great. This is just a side-effect of that cost… I can't go anymore. I need to rest." Rest or risk killing himself. He looked up at her. "And we have a meeting with Moren to attend to. More you than us."

Elsa's eyes widened in alarm. She'd almost forgotten! "Oh no, I have to hurry," she said, getting up and running for the door. She paused, however, and looked back. He still wasn't getting up. "Are you… going to be okay…?" she questioned uneasily.

"No, but I'll survive," he assured. Unfortunately. "Go on, Queen Elsa, I will be alright." Elsa hesitated. Part of her wanted to refuse, but finally she nodded and opened the door. "Oh death, rock me to sleep, bring me to quiet rest, let pass my weary, guiltless, ghost…" she heard him murmur from behind. A poem? She looked worriedly back. He had stopped speaking now. She cringed and left.