The next morning Arie woke to the sound of movement beside her. Her eyes opened and she saw Kel rising from her bed. With a resigned sigh Arie pushed herself up and scrubbed her tired eyes.

"Late night?"

Arie grunted in response. "How did the world go to pot so fast?"

Kel made a thoughtful sound. "I'm not so sure it was fast. It sounds like this started well before I became a knight. It just looks fast because we are cleaning the resulting mess." A dark look lurked in the lady knight's eyes as if an old wound had opened and her anger had come back.

"We'll stop this, I won't let it get as bad as the last war."

Kel looked at her with something between pity and gratitude. Arie knew she was being naive, but gods help her, she couldn't allow anymore of this curse to spread through her home. Home, Arie stopped and wondered, how long have I thought of this place as home. She shook her head like a dog shakes to get rid of water.

"I'll wake up-."

"I'm awake." Jess piped up from her cot. Sure enough the girl was already swinging her legs over her cot, and she didn't even need to rub sleep from her eyes.

Arie felt the smile tug on her lips and forced it away. She walked over to her bags and was about to pull out more clothes when she noticed some of her clothes cleaned and pressed lying neatly folded beside one of her pack. It could only have been Nadia's doing. Arie pulled on the trousers and the long shirt. The clothing smelled faintly of a fragrant soap. Not floral more like some kind of fruit. She ran her hands down the fabric until they caught on a raised area. Arie lifted the shirt up to inspect it and was surprised to find neat stitching where there had once been a hole. Her stomach twisted in a knot and tears suddenly pricked her eyes. She shoved away the memories that rose and forced herself to picture the sweet maid while she tucked the clothes under her arm.

"I'll have to thank her." she murmured out loud.

"Did you say something?" Kel asked.

"Sorry, I was thinking out loud." Arie reached into her pack and started pulling out a few knives and their respective sheathes. One for her boot, one strapped to each wrist, another was hidden in her belt buckle, and the last was placed in a thigh sheath. Arie was about to close up her pack when she noticed a small throwing knife tucked in the top of her pack. She plucked it out and inspected the small weapon. It was light, well-balanced, and meant to be strapped to a forearm. It would be a good size for a child and it was odd in that it had a small guard. A small foreboding rose in the back of her mind.

"Hey Jess, come here."

The girl came over already in her clothes for the day. Most of which Arie noticed with a wince were heavily patched. She looked at the knife curiously, and asked, "Is that for me?"

Arie nodded. "It occurs to me that you won't be able to carry your spear everywhere, but you will be able have this." She placed the sheathed weapon in Jess's hands and nearly cringed when she noticed how big the blade looked in a child's hands. "I think between me and Lady Kel, we can teach you how to use it properly."

Jess looked up at her with big eyes that were far too old for her age. "Is something wrong?"

Arie patted Jess's head, but knew she couldn't lie to this child. "I don't know. Sight was never my Gift, too much of my father I suspect. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Jess looked at her knife then back at Arie like she was thinking about it, then she nodded solemnly. After that it took only a little work and they were able to attach the sheath to Jess's belt. They turned to Kel who had produced a small bag from her own things. And when Jess asked what it was for Kel smiled.

"Well, you have to know how to care for a weapon, and I think I have a few things that will help you gain some strength to able to use it better."

Arie could have hugged the knight for the smile Jess had on her face alone. Then Arie went to the bathing room and changed into her clothes. She made sure to adjust everything so she could use her weapons, but that they weren't obvious to a cursory glance. Then she returned the main room where Jess and Kel were discussing a small ball like object in Jess's hands.

"That's how you will increase your grip strength."

Jess nodded and squeezed the ball a few times. "It's hard."

Kel nodded. "At first it is, but as you get stronger it will get easier." Then she looked up at Arie. "Shall we?"

"Let's go."

Once again Arie, Jess, and Lady Kel tromped onto the practice area. They did their stretches to ensure they did no harm to their still waking bodies. Then once their muscles were limber enough, Kel lead them through the motions of her pattern dances. Jess and Arie followed using spears while Kel used her glaive. Arie admitted to herself that Kel was not only very impressive with the way she twirled her weapon, but also very graceful. It was almost as she was spinning a piece of straw instead metal and hardwood. Then as if they weren't sweating enough, the sun slowly started to peak over the horizon.

It was only after both Arie and Jess completed the dance without mistakes that they allowed themselves to move into the shade of a nearby tree and rest. In the back of Arie's mind she could hear Twitchy's voice drilling one basic thing into her.

"Ya do it tell ya can do it in yer sleep. And fer Chaos sake, do it right."

They stood in the shade panting for a bit before Arie drew one of her knives and had both child and knight do the same. She showed them how to remove a blade from various positions on the body without anyone noticing. Neither seemed very comfortable with it until Arie explained that in knife fighting the fastest was typically the winner. Both Kel and Jess paid close attention as Arie described different underhanded tactics people would use to try and trip them up to gain the upper hand. Kel caught on remarkably fast even if her first few attempts were stiff and awkward.

Jess on the other hand was clumsy and afraid of her weapon. Regardless, she didn't lose hope. Instead, she focused stubbornly on Arie's advice. Like a dog with an iron grip on a bone, Jess forced herself to keep trying well past the point she should have exhausted herself. Slowly her small body seemed to be remembering enough of the motions. Finally, Arie called for a rest.

"Come on, Jess. If you push yourself too hard you'll do more harm than good to your body."

Sweating and staggering all three sank into the shady ground with groans. Their bodies collectively ached in way that spoke of work done right, but they could only lay there for a few minutes. Kel was the first to move and retrieve the water skin that she had brought and hung on a low branch. She took a few gulps before passing it to Jess. The child gulped at it so greedily that it dribbled down her shirt where it mingled with the sweat that had soaked her clothes.

"Slowly," Arie warned. "You'll be sick."

Grudgingly she did as she was told before handing the skin off to Arie. She took the skin from Jess and also had to force herself to only take small sips until she felt more normal. Then she proceeded to dump a small amount over her head so it could run down her heated face. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as she handed the skin back to Kel. The three of them lay in the shade of the tree until quiet footsteps approached them.

Arie glanced up to see Avery striding toward her. His gaze bored into her as if he was looking for something. "Ladies," he addressed Kel and Jess, his accent giving away his status. However his smile was boyish and charming, but it made Arie's stomach twist uncomfortably. Then to Arie he said, "I looked round after you were safe. You were followed. Maybe it would be safer for you to stay in the castle."

It irked her to have Avery once again treating her like a child, even if he was asking her to do something she had already intended on doing. Arie had to bite down on her tongue to keep her angry retort behind her teeth. She took a deep breath that did little to calm her frustration before she answered him.

"Don't worry, I'll stay safe." Then a thought suddenly occurred to her. "How did you get in the castle grounds anyway? I can't imagine the guards just let you pass."

Immediately his grin was back in place. "A secret. But if you ask nicely, my sweet, I might tell you."

"I'm not your anything." Arie growled.

He made an absurd bow in which he ducked his head down so Arie couldn't see any of his face. Then he gave them a salute goodbye before turning smartly away. Arie frowned at his retreating back. The same unease that she had felt last night had reemerged.

"Charming guy." Kel noted blandly.

Arie glanced at the knight, but couldn't see any of the telltale signs of what she might be thinking. "Yeah, he's charming. Right until he becomes a pain in the ass."

Jess giggled and whispered overly loud, "Avery was yelled at because he tried feeding Arie once. Everyone heard her."

Amusement lurked in Kel's soft eyes, while Arie's cheeks burned at the memory. She muttered about being hungry. Jess and Kel's soft laughter followed Arie as she walked back inside. Arie didn't have to worry about avoiding people because it seemed most of the servants were working on serving breakfast, and those who weren't enjoying said breakfast were out on patrols. This allowed Arie to slip into the dining hall relatively unnoticed. She took her usual seat near the head of the table.

Imrah, Neal, and Raoul were talking quietly amongst themselves and didn't notice Arie until she reached for the bowl of fruit.

"Finally decided to join us?" Neal joked.

Arie grunted and was about to take a bite of an apple when she noticed Neal's eyes had bags under them that made him look like he had a black eye. "What happened to you?"

Neal waved it off. "My usual beauty products aren't up to your standards?"

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

Neal seemed to know she was not going to drop the conversation and sighed, "Not really. We had twenty people brought in with the poison. All of them needed to be restrained. Not to mention the two dozen people those infected injured." He sounded so utterly defeated.

Arie's mouth gaped, "How could we miss that many infected people? We searched during the at-."

"I'm fairly certain most of these were from before the ship. In fact, my best guess is that someone has been doing this for at least a month, maybe more."

Arie had to fight not to look at either Imrah or Raoul.

"Who brought the patients in?"

Neal scrubbed his face. "Your patrols, I think. Though I'm pretty sure I saw your friend who likes knives carrying a couple of people in. We are running out of room, and those who can actually heal are exhausting themselves."

"I'll head there after I check on SandStorm. You should be able to res-." Her sentence was cut off by a feeling of her energy being sucked away. Arie braced her hands on the table and shook her head. With a jolt she realized it one of the amulets draining her power to protect someone, and it was one of the closer ones. She didn't even hear the three noblemen's concerned questions as she forced herself away from the table. Her apple rolled to her feet.

"Someone is being attacked," was all she said before she fled the room pulled along by the draining of her Gift.