Her body started to feel heavy at some point. Anna was fading like a picture with its color slowly being bleached from it. There was also a faint glowing outline to her mother.

"My time is just about up."

Panic welled up in Arie. She instinctively gripped her mother's dress as if she were suddenly back to being a small child. Anna patted her head soothingly.

"I know it's scary, Sweet Pea. I'm so proud of you." She kissed Arie's forehead. "I'm so sorry I put so much on your shoulders.

Arie sniffed and swiped at her watering eyes. "It's okay. I learned from the best."

That got a wet chuckle from her mother. "Thank you, Sweet Pea. But, you know, you do not have to be like me. It is okay for you to find your own way. Regardless, I am so proud of you-." Her mother faded into a bright light. As Arie opened her eyes only to be blinded by the light coming through the window. She swore and scrubbed her tired eyes.

"She's awake."

"Good. I was about to call Neal back." Kel came over to Arie and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, just tired." Arie blinked blearily at the window. The sun was well and truly up. "How long was I asleep for?" The last thing she needed was to have slept for days again.

Kel glanced at the window. "It's about noonday."

Arie swore again, while it wasn't days like the previous time she had spoken with gods, it was still more time than she wanted. She sat up so fast her head spun. It took a moment of struggle to focus. "Did you wait all morning for me?" Blush creeped across her face.

Kel nodded once.

Arie groaned. "Did you guys even eat?"

"Lady Kel had food brought here. We had a picnic!" Jess was cheerfully grinning from her seat on the edge Kel's bed. Arie noticed the crumbs around the girl's smile.

"I see," she struggled not to grin back. "Well, I'm glad you ate something, but I think you might have missed some of it." She gestured around her mouth. Jess instantly reached up and wiped the offending bits of food off. "Now I just need-."

"We saved some for you." Jess added before Arie could even finish her thought.

Arie tried to give the girl a stern look, but she knew it was ruined by the smile that was working up her lips. She was forced to give up when she chuckled. Then she sighed, "Well I guess all that's left is for me to eat then."

Jess bounced off the bed and went over to the dresser where a basket was covered with an undyed cloth. She brought one of the buns over. Arie bit into the bun barely even tasting the meat that was at its center. She ended up eating both of the leftover meat buns relatively quickly.

"Shall we go?" Arie asked after rushing to get dressed. She had even slipped a couple of her knives into various hiding spots in her clothes. Jess had helped her braid her hair up and pinned so that the blue green ends were hidden.

Kel raised an eyebrow at Arie's rush while Jess giggled. They shared looks that made Arie suddenly very suspicious. "What?" she demanded.

Neither of them said anything, but Jess looked meaningful at the door. Making Arie even more suspicious. She walked to the door with the other two following behind her. Once she stepped outside the room, she found that not just Lerant, but Sir Nealen as well. She glanced between the two men who had clearly been waiting by the door for a while now. Then she remembered that she was now going to have a guard around her. A hiss of displeasure escaped her lips.

"Right, safety." She started walking away and the four others followed around her.

Neal chuckled, "It was worth sleeping in." The he turned his eyes on Lerant. "Or at least for someone. How soon did you arrive Lerant?"

Lerant shrugged, "I arrived after My Lord, Roual sent me," but the slight color to his cheeks seemed to fuel Neal's grin.

"I'm sure he finds your devotion quite admirable. But I can always put in a good word for you, then you can find someone else-," Kel elbowed Neal, effectively ending his taunts.

"That tongue of yours makes more enemies than needed. But, keep in mind, I sat through all of your poetry you made for various Lady's."

"Threats are the last resort of a weak mind."

Arie noticed that despite his protests, he did stop teasing Lerant. A small wicked smile curled up her own lips and she asked sweetly, "You write poetry, Sir Nealen? I admit I never had the chance to learn much on the subject. At best I can sing a couple of sea shanties and tavern song. Perhaps you could teach me."

Neal winced. "I'm not really that good myself." He cou8ghed and cleared his throat. "I'm sure there are others who would be better teachers." He shot Kel a dirty look.

"So modest." Arie gushed. "I'm sure Sir Kel wouldn't mind sharing some of your best works." She could feel Lerant's eyes on her back.

"She wouldn't dare." Neal fixed Kel with a glare. But it seemed to only roll off her back like water off a duck's back.

"I can be persuasive."

Neal snorted. "I'm sure you could convince some to give you the moon." He looked pointedly at Lerant who was pretending to ignore the knight. Then he turned back to Kel. "By the way I noticed you weren't out doing your hell practice like you usually do in the morning."

She shrugged. "We had trouble getting up this morning."

"Are you sick?"

"No."

"You sure?"

Arie intervened before she had to find a new assistant. "That would be my fault actually. Things have brought back old memories. I wasn't able to wake up early today." That took the wind out of his sails immediately. Neal visibly deflated.

"Oh, are you alright? I can make it so you don't have nightmares."

She waved him off. "Thanks, but I don't think it will happen again."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

They passed through the gates and few steps down the main road Avery merged into their small group. She hadn't seen where exactly he had come from due to his seamless ability to blend in with crowds. It took the others in the group about half a block to notice him strolling along with him. When they did notice all of them either straightened up or jerked away from him. All of them went instantly silently. Arie couldn't blame them for being so uncomfortable. Avery's smile held all the warmth of frozen lake despite how pretty it was.

"Why so quiet? You was chattin so lively a moment ago."

"Avery." Arie warned.

Warmth instantly entered his smile. "Yes, my sweet?"

"I am not your sweet and don't pretend you don't know you were insulting everyone here. You know you move differently than most people. Even Twitchy has trouble tracking you."

Arie's smile slipped a little and his voice dropped to a whisper, "People here want you dead. I want to protect you. I'm a little worried that they don't have your best interests at heart." This time the others were visibly angry.

"Avery!" Arie snapped. "Everyone here is willing to keep me safe. What has gotten into you?"

Avery dropped his eyes from Arie's and scuffed his boot. "Just feelin' protective of you my sweet."

Arie made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat, but she didn't have the energy to keep correcting him. Instead, she growled and stomped off towards the clinic. The others could follow or not as she was concerned. It was Kel who formed up close to her.

"Avery has a point."

Arie raised an eyebrow at Kel's whispered words.

"We didn't notice him until he had been walking with us for a bit. If he had been an enemy, it would have been simple for him to kill you. We were carless."

Arie blew out a sigh. "My reaction was less due to his rudeness and more due to that I've been annoyed with him for some time now. I took the chance to vent my frustration with him. I should apologize, but I'm too angry to do so right now."

Her lips quirked up at Arie's admission. "At least he doesn't like the type to rub your nose in it when you do actually apologize."

Arie scoffed and glanced over shoulder at the men who trailed behind them. "Not as such." She touched the griffon feather that tickled her ear. Arie turned back and noticed noise coming from ahead. "What's going on?"

Beside her Kel winced. "I heard from Sir Roual that there had been a number of new cases reported last night."

Arie's heart sunk. In truth, she shouldn't have been surprised. With how far-gone Edith had been, she would have spread the poison to neighbors and clients without meaning to easily. As she approached the clinic, she saw there were two guards with the Legon's guard uniform standing by the front door. One had long hair tied back with a leather thong, while the second had short curly brown hair. When the two noticed the groups approach, they both stiffened.

"Halt! You may not approach without submitting yourself to a check of your persons."

Arie simply nodded. "I would expect nothing less. Search us." She even offered up her bag.

The black-haired man sighed in relief. Arie noticed he had been eyeing Kel and Neal in particular. Clearly, he expected more trouble from high ranked nobles and what forcing a search of them could lead to. The brown-haired man's eyes glowed red with his Gift. After only a moment he nodded.

"You are clean and may enter."

Arie noted the exhaustion lines and dark circles around their eyes. Even the slight drooping of their shoulders hinted at the rough time they had been having. "Has there been much trouble? Is that why there are guards now?"

"Yes ma'am. Family and friends of the victims have been trying to free their loved ones. There have been a few altercations."

"How long have you been on shift?"

They exchanged looks and the second guard answered, "Midday, yesterday."

Kel swore beside her and Arie's eyes widened in surprise and she turned to Lerant. "Lerant, can you speak to Roual and Imrah. At the very least we need three shifts of three, but we really need one now."

Lerant grunted his understanding and strode back up to the castle. Kel, Neal, and Avery closed in around her back.

"If you okay with it, I'd like to give you some of my Gift. At the very least it will help ease your exhaustion."

Both slumped in relief.

Arie collected her Gift into her hands and held them out to the guards. She left the last bit of distance up to them. The last thing she needed was for someone to accuse her of forcing her magic on someone. Both men eagerly clasped her hands. So Arie carefully pushed a small bit of fire from her well of her Gift. Even though she funneled a small amount into them, they both straightened and their exhaustion instantly lessened.

"So mote it be." Her Gift was pulled back into her body before it could accidently do harm