The next day was difficult for the defenders of Morfae Londo.

While their foreign guests were free to go back to their rooms and pass out unconscious from a night of fierce fighting, as the hosts the knights and lords of Sorcier had responsibilities. Oh, there were many marquis and marchionesses who simply went straight to their rooms to sleep or start packing to leave, but they were remembered, and no doubt something would happen to them care of either Dunchess Claes or Lady Mary, but most did what they could.

The many ladies and some lords who had not participated in the fighting—either from a lack of martial inclination or appropriate weapon—stepped forward to help begin tending to the dead and injured. Duchess Claes assisted the queen in organizing the endeavor. The various large rooms of the castle were opened up to lay out those with serious injuries, and the ballroom was turned into a temporary morgue to lay out the dead.

Maria found her released from having to body guard the king, but it was not to allow her to rest. Instead, her abilities at Light Magic were put to work tending to those with serious injuries. Painful gut wounds were the sorts of things that made the knight in question less inclined to go beyond death because of the agony involved, so she and the few other available Light Magic wielders went to work prioritizing them. Preventing death was a better guarantee of survival than waiting for someone to go beyond, after all.

She finally saw Rafael as she worked. He was down to his shirt, the sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. He looked tired, but he moved from one injured knight to another, eldritch light glowing from his hands as he healed them. His hand were covered in blood of other men, stained crimson past the wrists, and even as she watch more blood stained his hands from the knight he was healing…

Blushing intensely, Maria deliberately turned away, focusing on the person she was healing. Demurely, she avoided his bloody wounds and instead touch an unstained part of his bandages, calling upon the eldritch light of her own Light Magic. As she did, she reminded herself that Sorcier had no mores towards blood, and so of course Rafael wouldn't realize how salacious and risqué he was being…

Maria worked until noon, at which point even she couldn't ignore how she was swaying and could only keep one eye open at a time. She had to excuse herself to find a place to go to sleep. In the aftermath of the attack, the king had ordered the castle's gates, doors and elevators to be opened to make navigation easier. At any other time, she'd have celebrated happily made her way to the guest room she had been assigned, but tired as she was, her mind was so clouded that Maria was unsure as to where she should go…

"Lady Maria."

It took a second mention of her name before Maria realized that someone was speaking to her, and another second to focus on the sound of the voice. "Anne?" she said sleepily. Indeed, Katarina's maid was standing there, her usually immaculate apron stained with blood, her expression slightly tired.

"Lady Katarina asked me to help guide you to your room," the maid said. "If you would follow me" Her mother's lover gently took hold of her wrist and started pulling her along.

Maria stumbled along behind the maid, letting herself be drawn along. More than once she had to remind herself to open her eyes, no matter how bright the light coming in through the windows were. Putting one foot in front of the other was a strange struggle, but she persevered. She just needed to get to bed. Just get to bed…

Darkness took her.

Maria found herself lying face-first on stone.

She blinked. Her mind felt fuzzy as she instinctively pushed herself up to her feet, and found herself at the base of a worn stone path. Grasses and strangely familiar, white flowers that smelled of yearning grew along the path's edges, as if it had been allowed to sprout with no maintenance. What seemed like flowerbeds edged by short, angular fences of wrought iron grew more flowers, and among the flowerbeds were graves stones that looked ancient and worn. The smell of yearning as strong, as if this place was bathed in desire.

In the distance, there was a strange, hissing scream, some flopping sounds as of death throes, and then silence.

The path continued on, and Maria followed the path with her eyes, This path…

She started walking.

It was a short, familiar path. A turn of the corner, and there it was, looming above her. A building like an old stone cottage standing under the shadow of a tall, gnarled, looming tree bereft of leaves. Beyond it was a twilight sky with a large, shining moon, so bright and clear and completely unlike the corpse of Gwyndolin. The sight filled Maria's heart with nostalgia and a sense of childhood, of the smell of blood and oil and gunpowder…

A figure stood just to one side of the small, incongruous bird bath, before the curling stairs leading to the familiar front door. Tall and pale and strangely beautiful, they wore a plain dress and a brown, mantle-like shawl and matching bonnet, and there was something about her hands…

"Hello, ailing one," the doll-like figure said, her voice strangely familiar. "You have returned once more. Welcome."

Maria remembered this but vaguely, but… "Greetings," she said, offering the doll-like woman a bow. They performed their own gesture in acknowledgement. "I apologize for intruding once more."

"There is nothing to apologize for. This place is meant as a refuge to those who hunt. Rest for as long as you will, hunter. Make use of anything you fancy. Even I, if it pleases you."

For a moment, Maria stared at the figure, at her beautiful face, her—no, no, bad Maria! "I am grateful for the offer, but I must decline. All I wish is a place to rest my head. Do you mind if I make my way there?" She pointed towards the back door of the workshop building, at the end of the curling path at right angles from the way to the workshop's front door.

"Feel free," the doll-like woman said.

"Thank you."

Maria made her way there, to what had once been her favorite place to sit and rest at the workshop. To her mild distress, the place as no longer as bare as she remembered. A old, worn gravestone stood at what had once been a bare patch next to the door. Maria gave the gravestone a forlorn look, then shrugged. She sat with her back to the gravestone, staring up at the trees and the strange sky. Stretching out her legs to be comfortable, Maria folded her hands, closed her eyes, and…

She slept

She woke.

The beautiful stranger watched as their new guest lay down on the gravestone, lying still as a corpse. She watched as the wind blew, as thin tentacles broke the surface of the basin only to sink back into the surface, the Good Hunter ignoring the little ones cuddling it all sides and trying to place hats upon them.

After a long time, in a place where time had no meaning, their guest disappeared, fading away like the silvery spirits of hunters of other possibilities.

"Farewell, ailing one," she called as their guest left. "May you wake without harm"

Then they turned and walked towards the basin filled with the little ones. Strange but delicate hands reached into the water and drew out a small, smooth form, a strange, unknowable, unspeakable, eldritch, chaotic, otherworldly, incomprehensible being of great and terrible power, which shivered slightly as if in fear.

"She is gone once more, Good Hunter," the beautiful stranger said. "Perhaps a better place to hide, for next time?"

The strange, unknowable, unspeakable, eldritch, chaotic, otherworldly, incomprehensible being of great and terrible power gave a terrified wail.

When Maria woke, it was to quiet murmur of distant voices, and she could feel warm bodies pressing against her on either side. Her eyes snapped open, and she carefully raised her head to pear at either side of her.

On one side of her, little Shana slept between her and Rafael. He had washed his hands, but he was still wearing the same clothes, though he had removed his boots before coming to bed. On her other side, her maid Sadako lay curled. She too was still wearing her clothes, the blue Ashina-style robe-dress loose and slightly disheveled, though she had removed the apron she usually wore over it. In contrast, someone had clearly undressed and dressed Maria while she slept, as she was clad in the sleeping clothes that her squire had once gifted her.

Carefully moving her arms—both Sadako and Shana had each claimed one to hold on to while they slept— Maria raised herself up on her elbows to look around the room. The curtains had been closed, and from the way one was flapping, it as to conceal broken windows. In the gaps between, she saw the dark of night in the sky beyond. Distantly, she heard the flapping of the wings of dragons no doubt summoned from Archdragon Island.

The room… was different. Maria frown, taking note of the details. This wasn't the room that they had been sleeping in the past few weeks, although in one corner she was able to make out the shapes of the luggage they had brought with them. Where were they?

Maria spied the dark shape of a door, a faint light shining under it from the room on the other side. while the words were indistinct, she recognized some of them. Her squire's voice was the most identifiable, along with Lord Keith's. By the tone, he was scolding her—

Her stomach growled like a ravenous beast or Katarina Claes, and even though the only ones about where unconscious, Maria reddened in reflexive embarrassment, especially since she saw Sadako's eyes snap open at the sound. The voices in the other room cut off, and then a loud, forceful step approached the door. To Maria's surprise, however, the door was opened gently, a small crack of light appearing as someone on the other side peaked into the room.

"Is anyone awake in here?" Katarina whispered very loudly.

Maria opened his mouth to answer, then paused as a mischievous thought came to her. "No," she answered.

"Oh. Sorry, then."

The door closed again.

Maria and Sadako shared a look.

Through the door, they heard someone say "Katarina, Maria is obviously awake!"

"Eh? No, she isn't. I asked, and she said no one was awake."

Sadako's shoulders started shaking.

"She was obviously awake if she answered you, big sister!"

"Look Keith, I think Dame Maria would know whether she's awake or not. If she says she's not awake, then she isn't awake."

Maria's shoulders began to shake as well.

"Big sister, if she was asleep, then how did she answer you?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked Keith. You know how some people sleepwalk, right? Obviously, Dame Maria sleeptalks. We shouldn't bring it up though, it sounds like the sort of condition you should discuss in public."

Sadako's shoulders shook harder as she buried her face in Maria's side.

"Eh? Mary, what are you—?"

The doors swung open, letting in light from the next room as Maria dropped her head onto her pillow. "Maria Campbell, I know you're awake!"

Maria made a show of raising her head as Rafael grumbled something indistinct and pulled a pillow over his head. "Wha—? What is going on here? Lady Mary, why are you in my room?"

"Mary!" Katarina exclaimed, scandalized. She swiftly grabbed the woman and pulled her out of the room. "Sorry! Sorry! Go back to sleep, Dame Maria!" Mary Hunt let out an indignant squawk as she was pulled from the room. The doors were closed once more, cutting off the light and allowing a deeper darkness returned. "Mary! I can't believe you! That is not proper behavior for a lady of any rank or station! Maria's been up all night and worked until noon! Let her sleep! "

At her side, Sadako's shoulder shook even harder as Rafael warily pulled his head out from under the pillow. By some fortunate turn of events, Shana had managed to sleep through all that. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep, dear Rafael."

A quiet gurgle rose from Rafael stomach.

Maria stared down at it. "Or we could get up and eat… breakfast, I suppose."

"I never got to each much last night," Rafael muttered.

Neither did Maria, actually. "Then I suppose breakfast it is…"

She trailed off as Sadako pulled herself from Maria's side and rolled off the bed. When she got to her feet, the maid started straightening her clothes. "I get food, Lady Maria-dono," Sadako said. "Sleep. Will come back."

Maria frowned. "Are you sure?"

Sadako nodded, reaching into one sleave and drawing out her knife which she showed to Maria. "I safe."

"Well… all right. Ask Anne to assist you, she is likely nearby."

"Hai." Sadako gave her one of those Ashina bows, and turned to head towards the door.

Maria closed her eyes and waited for breakfast.