Arie and Jess made it back to their room not long after the sun had well and truly set. Both of them were s exhausted that they fell into their beds without even glancing at Kel's bed. Arie sighed in pleasure as warm soft sheets wrapped her in a cocoon of warmth. The last thought she had was that she could finally get good rest, before sleep swallowed her.

It was maybe an hour before dawn and a hand shook Arie awake. She stared bleary eyed at the figure who stood over her then glanced at the window which was still dark.

"There better be horde of vicious bandits knocking on the gates if you are waking me up at this ungodly hour."

Kel chuckled.

"You said you wanted to help me practice my throws and you've been unavailable for the last few days."

Arie sighed, she had in fact promised to help, however, now she wished she had realized when Neal had said 'at the crack of dawn' he really meant a little bit before dawn. Kel looked down at her patiently.

"If you don't want, you don't have to."

Arie grumbled, now she had to. She regretfully pushed back the warm blankets and sat up scrubbing the last bits of sleep from her eyes.

"Give me a minute to get ready." She moved as quietly as she could over to her pack and pulled out a clean pair of soft pants, a tunic, socks, and her boots. It took her only a few seconds to get dressed. "Do I need to bring anything," she asked the knight.

Kel shrugged, "Nothing, but you unless you want to show me a few tricks with a knife."

Arie grabbed her blunted knives from another pouch in her bag. Then she moved to follow after Kel when she noticed Jess sleeping soundly on her own cot. It was possible the girl would panic if she woke to find Arie had left. So she bent down and gently shook her awake. Jess stirred then blinked at her.

"I'm going to go practice with Lady Kel. You can stay and sleep or you can come with." Arie noticed the child came instantly wide awake.

"I'm coming." She threw off her blanket and grabbed her clothes before changing in a flash. Arie couldn't help the sad smile.

Together the three of them made it to the courtyard and practice began. Kel explained the different holds and how to properly get out of them. Most of the time Arie caught on quickly. Twitchy's training served her well. Plus her natural inclination to keep people at arm's reach meant that Kel had trouble getting a hold on her. On the occasions she did, Arie hurt. She could practically feel all the years of training the lady knight had under her belt. The last time Arie felt the hold succeed, her feet were suddenly out from underneath her and she crashed down o her back with the air whooshed out of her lungs. For a long moment she didn't move from the grass. It wasn't until Kel stood over her concern in her eyes that Arie said,

"I see why Neal takes a pass on this." She could have sworn the knight looked like she was going to laugh.

"You get used to it," the other woman promised solemnly.

Arie groaned and pulled herself to her feet with the help of Kel's extended hand. Her body ached as she rose.

"Give me a minute."

"Or we can switch to you teaching me," she offered.

Arie nodded. She found herself liking the lady knight more and more. It was rare to find someone who read situations as well as her and could find diplomatic ways to resolve problems while satisfying everyone's pride.

Arie went over to Jess who held her knives while Kel had practiced throws on her. Jess she noticed seemed very enthralled with the process. Arie was certain that at different points the girl tried to mimic her or Kel's moves. Learning self defense did make a person more secure in themselves, she thought to herself. So she waved for Jess to follow. They went over basics of a knife first. Like recognizing a well balanced knife for throwing and proper grip when holding it verses throwing it. By the time they were done the sun was just starting to rise and hunger gnawed at their bellies.

This time Arie was grateful to be able to eat in the dining hall with King's Own. She had no desire to be around Lord Imrah just yet. They ate in relative silence with the occasional chatter from the different men who sat down with them. It wasn't until Lerant sat down beside her and pushed a mug of something foul looking towards her.

"Neal said since you didn't drink it the last few days you have to drink it now, and once you're done you guys are supposed to look over your new students."

Arie glared at the offending cup before taking it and sipping it. The taste made her gag and her stomach roll.

"Gods," she muttered, "What did I do to deserve this." She shuddered, but knew she would have to drink the rest of it. She pinched her nose and finished the drink as quickly as she could. After it was gone she put her head on the table. "Someone please pass me some bread or something to get that foul taste out of my mouth." She was surprised when Lerant handed over his bread roll without even blinking. "If you hadn't been the one who brought that stuff I'd kiss you." Her words startled her, almost as much as his blush.

"Can't really refuse Neal," he mumbled.

On the other side of Arie Kel grunted, "Neal takes other people's health very seriously. He can be very scary when he needs to be."

"I sense a story to this."

Kel shrugged, "Not much of a story. A man was abusing his servant and Neal may have worked a bit of magic on him."

"Oh? What kind of magic?"

Kel shrugged, "I'm not a mage."

"Uh-huh," Arie was about to ask further questions when Tobe came and tapped Kel's shoulder.

"Lord Raoul wants to see you." The boys eyes briefly flickered to Arie and she got the distinct impression that whatever Raoul was going to talk to Kel about had to do with her.

Kel excused herself and Arie sighed,

"Alright, I guess we need to get going too."

Lerant lead her to a large room that Arie suspected was were state functions were held. Only now it was filled with two groups of people. To one side seemed to be mostly soldiers or wealthier people; presumably they all had the sight. The next group was working class people and the poorer hedge witches, this group easily outnumbered the first. They were all talking and Arie sighed to herself. This was going to be a long process of weeding out people who could do what they needed.

Neal walked up beside her and looked a little haggard.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us."

"What's the plan?"

Neal chuckled, "This is your idea, you lead."

Arie had the a uncomfortable feeling well up inside her and she hesitated. Then a small hand grabbed her fingers. She turned to see Jess looking at her with such absolute faith that it shook Arie to her core. People were depending on her. Could she do this, could she lead this many people? Then she thought of Sea King, the ashes, the ghosts. She started this so now she had to finish it. The ribbon at her wrist warmed. Arie smiled, she could not fail.

"Pardon me." Arie said in a voice that usually carried pretty well, but with everyone else also speaking it was hard for anyone to hear her. She sighed and scrubbed her eyes. After gathering her patients, breath, and magic she opened her mouth and yelled, "Silence!" Her voice boomed in the large room causing a lot of the people gathered to jump or cringe, but they did fall silent.

"Some lungs." Neal muttered to Lerant.

Arie scowled at them then addressed the two crowds.

"All of you were informed we need healers and those with the sight, is that correct?"

There were muttered yeses and the soldiers said yes ma'am.

"Alright we are going to set up tests so we understand what everyone is capable of. Then once we have everyone grouped by what you can do we will explain why your services are required. Any questions?" Arie saw Neal wince when she asked the last question.

Instantly Arie knew why. Those who were not soldiers but were still grouped over by them all voiced demands to know various things. At one point a particularly belligerent man grabbed her arm and squeezed her wrist, demanding to be informed of what was going on. Arie smiled pleasantly at him and whispered in a deathly serious tone,

"If you do not let go of me, you might not get that hand back intact."

The man turned red his fluffy mustache twitched irritably and he opened his mouth to say something, but Arie didn't give him the chance to speak. With the heel of her palm she smashed into the man's nose causing him to let go her, step back, put a hand to his bleeding nose. Arie stepped forward and kicked his legs out from underneath and sent him sprawling across the stone floor.

"Listen, and listen very closely, everyone." She made sure everyone was paying attention to her before she said, "You will listen and do as I say. Anyone who has a problem with that can leave now." She wasn't surprised when no one moved or even seemed to breath. "I will not tolerate being manhandled, nor will allow anyone to do the same to you. From this point on you who stay are going to be part of a corps of doctors which means you can't think of yourself first." She collected her Gift in her hand and staunched the bleeding in the man's nose. Arie was glad she had held back, because a broken nose would have been a lot harder to fix and she wouldn't have energy for the rest of the day. Then she helped the man to his feet. He staggered away from her looking furious, but he said nothing.

"Alright, shall we get started," Neal asked clearly very amused at the man's expense.