As tempting as it was to run straight into the room, Nela held herself to only a rapid walk. It was yet another lesson of Morgivel's, to avoid any sudden movement or surprise for weakened people. Now that she thought about it, it was a practice that she hadn't passed on to Jylania. She reminded herself to do that after they left Lasfont.

  Jylania at least had kept her voice down somewhat, better than Nela had done at that age. The girl was just a step in front, leading the way to the curtain that separated the room with Takhat from the world. It was a flimsy thing, not at all suited to giving any sort of privacy. Funny, considering what had likely taken place behind those curtains before.

  Entering the room, Nela could see Takhat propped up on pillows, staring at the wall across from the bed...or nothing at all. Not the greatest sign, but then again, the woman's last memory was her suffering at the hands of the knights. She probably still hadn't fully grasped where she was now.

  "How are you feeling?" Nela asked.

  "Terrible," Takhat said, shifting her gaze to Nela. "What...what happened?"

  "Edeline returned and dealt with the knights with Ugotlas's help. We brought you here to recover." The details could wait. The important thing right now was making certain Takhat knew she was safe.

  "She lived. That's good." Takhat relaxed, letting her eyes drift closed.

  No mention of Ronny, then. Nela had a suspicion as to why Takhat was focused on Edeline, one that left her a bit uneasy. She wasn't going to bring it up though, not unless Takhat did first. Again, what was important was keeping the focus on the captain being fully recovered.

  "We're all safe," Nela settled for saying.

  "Thank the heavens," Takhat said.

  Nela wasn't sure the captain had even heard her, but it wasn't like she could just repeat the words over and over until Takhat listened. In fact...it was possible Takhat was about to fall back asleep again. That sort of thing tended to happen, and Nela had seen it a few times while working with her grandfather.

  However, that was not the case, as Takhat reopened her eyes after a moment. "Can you...can you have your friend come speak to me?"

  "Why?" Nela wasn't sure anything good could come of this.

  "I owe her...an apology. No...several apologies."

  Something about this bothered Nela, but she could see how much the whole matter weighed on Takhat. "Jylania, go get Edeline," Nela told her apprentice, hoping she wasn't making a mistake.

  Jylania darted out of the room again. With Edeline right there, it wouldn't take long. Although...shit, it left Ronny alone in the front. Too late to do much about that now. No, she corrected herself, there was one thing she could do.

  Sure enough, Jylania returned quickly, with Edeline following. "Alright, Jylania," Nela said, giving the girl an approving nod. "You go wait with Ronny while we talk."

  Jylania returned the nod, and was gone again. Nela figured Ronny would understand. Right now, she had to be here to make certain Takhat didn't exhaust herself. Ironic, given that was something the third person in the room would do. Really, Takhat and Edeline were quite a bit alike.

  "You wanted to speak to me?" Edeline didn't waste any time getting to the point.

  "Yes." Takhat tried to lift herself up into a sitting position, only for her body to give up partway. Nela was there, catching Takhat and lowering her back down. Nela had a few choice words for even attempting that, but decided to hold them until after the two had finished talking.

  "Perhaps this should wait," Edeline suggested.

  "No...I need to say this now. I came very close to betraying you. When they said...they were looking for you, I offered to give them that information if...if they helped clear out the town first. They refused. They insisted that I aid them immediately...even though at that point, I didn't know where you were."

  "Were you hoping I had died?" Edeline asked, voice low and heavy.

  "It was a mistake." Takhat lifted a hand and wiped away the tears in her eyes. "I know I'm not in a position to ask anything of you, but...the people here have waited too long. They've suffered too much. Someone has to take leadership, solve this problem and make Lasfont safe again. I can't, not like this. It...it has to be you."

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  "No." Edeline's answer was as stark as it was simple. It was exactly the response Nela had expected.

  "Who else is there?" Takhat asked back, "I don't know what happened that led the king to declare you a traitor. But what I see is someone who could have easily moved on, kept on running. You stopped to help us. If anyone could, it is you."

  "But that blood will always be running there with you." Edeline's murmured words were probably too quiet for Takhat to pick up on, but Nela heard them, and understood perfectly. Maybe it was a good thing Jylania wasn't here, because this was about to become very nasty.

  "Lady Hallowscroft, please." There it was, the one title Nela knew not to call Edeline. "Whatever you need to slay the creatures threatening Lasfont, whatever it takes to ensure the spell is never cast again...if it aids in reclaiming our town, it is yours. I pledge it. I pledge my life to you."

  For a moment, Edeline stood there. Despite the warmth, Nela could swear she felt the room grow cold with bitter unspoken anger. She really didn't want to have to use the sleep spell here, but it might come to that to prevent the argument. The only question was if it would be on Edeline or Takhat.

  Without another word, her face still cold with unspoken rage, Edeline turned and strode out of the room.

  "What? Why?" Tears again formed in Takhat's eyes, this time too many to contain. They began to stream down her face. "I just want...Lasfont to be ours again."

  "So does she," Nela answered, "But how long do you think it would be yours if you swore an oath to someone the king wants dead?"

  "The lord here once told me that the king doesn't care about Lasfont so long as goods pass through and coin comes in." Takhat let out a slight sob. "But now...he doesn't even care about that, does he?"

  "Before anything else, a king wants to stay a king," Nela said with a sigh. "He's got eyes for threats like the Spellking, and not much else."

  Takhat paused, wiping again at her eyes. "I just don't see why your friend won't step forward," she finally said, "I didn't mean to upset her, but...we need to be done with this, regardless of whatever happened to her."

  "That's Edeline's story to tell, not mine." Nela figured Takhat trying to bait her again.

  "So why do you follow her then?" Takhat asked.

  It was not a simple question to answer. It would be easy for Nela to say it was just because of Ronny, but that wasn't close to the truth. The whole affair had begun before either of them had been born, when her grandfather was called on to heal a wounded woman with child. It all led to their friendship, which despite their arguments, remained solid. In a sense, it was just another way Nela carried on Morgivel's legacy.

  Not that she could tell Takhat any of that.

  "Someone had to be there for her when everything was at its worst," Nela settled for saying, hoping the captain would accept it. "With how things played out, that fell to me and the others."

  "Loyalty then," Takhat said slowly, "I wonder...where will that loyalty lead you? How far would you go for her?"

  "Who knows?" Nela decided that was enough of that topic. "But all we can do now is face what comes next. And if you're going to do that, you need some more rest. I'll go get you some food and water."

  "Thank you," Takhat said.

  Nela turned and left the room. That conversation had gotten dangerously close to the matter of the dead Pelagoin kings. Thank Aether Takhat still wasn't thinking clearly yet. Once she recovered enough to do so, eventually she'd be able to piece together that Edeline was being seen as a threat by the king. Nela wondered if maybe she'd said too much, and...

  Her thoughts on that fell away as she immediately spotted Jylania out the hallway, standing with her back to the wall just to the left of the doorway. You couldn't draw a more blatant picture of someone trying to listen in, completely with a slightly guilty look appearing on the girl's face.

  "I told you to go stay with Ronny," Nela said, giving Jylania a stern look.

  "He said you needed my help more than he did," Jylania countered.

  That would be something Ronny would say, but it could also be a lie. She knew Jylania did have a natural curiosity, but so far her loyalty and obedience to Nela outweighed it. At least until now.

  "I'm fairly sure standing out here in the hall isn't helping anyone," Nela pointed out.

  "I didn't want to interrupt." Now there was an excuse, clear as could be.

  "No, you just wanted to listen." She might as well speak plainly. "As healers, we get to hear all sorts of things. Many of them we don't need to know, and we're better off forgetting. Keep that in mind next time you get the urge to sneak around when other people are talking."

  "Very well," Jylania stepped away from the wall, looking down the hallway, "So, what are we going to do about...her?"

  "The captain? We're just going to take care of her until she's better." Nela wasn't sure why the question.

  "Not her." Jylania walked down the hall a few paces, then turned and beckoned Nela over. A little confused, Nela moved over to her apprentice. She was trying to avoid Takhat overhearing them talk, Nela realized. Jylania rose up on the tips of her toes as Nela stepped close. "Sedat," Jylania whispered.

  "Why her?" Nela asked quietly.

  "The captain said she wanted all the creatures killed," Jylania said, "Wouldn't that include Sedat?"

  Shit. Nela had to admit she'd missed that. The immediate answer was obvious, but at best it would only give them a few additional days to work with. "For now, we don't mention Sedat in front of the captain. She's not well enough to make a smart decision about it."

  Eventually, Takhat would want to meet with her men, and Nela was sure most of them had seen Sedat. Some of them might even be all too happy to go through with such an order, based on what Hamond had seen. Sedat had been very right - Lasfont was the last place the winged girl wanted to live in.

  They needed a plan to get Sedat away from Takhat and the guards, and they needed it by tonight.

  Heirs of Hyarch.

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