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Shadow opened his mouth to speak, reached out his hand to touch Sirrah's face gently, but flinched back at her words. "I... Sirrah, I..." There were so many things he wanted to say, longing to burst forth from him, but he could not say them all at once, so he fell silent for a moment. Once he had gathered his thoughts, he lowered his hand and kept gazing into her beautiful green eyes.

"I've... I've been to Harmony's room, Sirrah," he said softly, ignoring everyone else in the room. "It's... It was so awful... To think of someone hurting her like that... I've never felt such a horrible anger or sickness... Sirrah... I'm so sorry..." Hesitantly, prepared to withdraw if she asked, he placed his hand over hers. "While I was in there, I realized... That I've been an even worse monster than Sahiel."

For the first time in many, many years, Shadow felt tears stinging his eyes. "I can't believe I hurt you all so much... Especially you, Sirrah, who I love more than anyone else in this world... I know I can never ask your forgiveness. But I want you to know that I truly am sorry."

Shadow flinched at her statement, but nodded in consent and removed her chains. He lifted her into his arms very gently, wincing again at her pained expression. "Sorry," he whispered again, getting up and walking very slowly back toward Harmony's room. He hated himself right now, for everything he'd done to this woman. Mostly, at the moment, because he'd broken her legs.

"It's... not a pleasant sight, Sirrah," he said softly as they neared the room and he smelled Harmony's blood again. He stepped through the burned doorway and set Sirrah gently on an undamaged chair; he could tell she despised his touch. Then he stood back, heart aching, and let her take in the sight in silence.

Shadow looked at Sirrah in surprise. He gently removed his arm from her grasp and knelt beside her chair. "Sirrah, listen... None of this is your fault. It is primarily Sahiel's, and then mine. You are blameless here, as is Harmony. Please, don't torture yourself with guilt over this..."

He watched her cry awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say. Finally, he glanced down at her broken legs and sighed. "Sirrah, would you consent to letting me heal your legs? I'm responsible, so I should be the one to fix them. It won't be pleasant, but afterward, they won't hurt anymore." He chanced a glance into her eyes, wondering if she'd even let him do that much.

Shadow didn't answer her question, because he didn't know the answer himself. For some reason, his personality had changed. He couldn't explain it, but right now he just wanted to help Sirrah. He smiled slightly when she consented, then frowned.

"I apologize in advance, Sirrah... It's going to hurt... But I promise, it won't hurt for long." He rolled up her pant legs carefully, trying his best not to hurt her any more than was necessary. Hesitantly, he placed the index finger of each hand just above the break on each of her thighs. It wasn't hard at all to work up some tears; all he had to do was remember just one of his many evil acts, and they came unbidden.

Quickly and smoothly as he could, he sliced open Sirrah's legs and let his tears fall directly onto the broken bones. As soon as it was possible, he removed his hands from her legs, but he couldn't stop crying, even after she was completely healed. His sins had all started playing back in his head, and he couldn't force them away.

The playback caused him to remember another girl in need of healing. "I'm sorry, Sirrah," he said through his tears. "I... There's something else I have to do." He stood and stumbled back to the harem, not bothering to hurry. He knew there wasn't any chance of his tears running dry anytime soon.

Shadow jerked back in surprise when Yuri hissed at him, and backed off quickly to avoid getting a hand bitten off. "Yuri, please, I just want to heal her," he said softly, spreading his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "I swear. That's all I want to do. I don't want Nina to be in pain. Please. I won't even move her. You can watch everything I do. Just let me fix what I've broken."

Moving slowly and carefully, not wanting to spook Yuri or hurt Nina, Shadow removed the latter female's shackles and adjusted her broken leg carefully, wincing when she whimpered in her sleep. 'I'm sorry, Nina... Gods, did I really do this...?'

Shadow cut deep with his talon, only where necessary, and once again let himself cry to mend Nina's bones and repair the cuts. Within a minute, the girl's leg was completely healed. Shadow picked up an empty water bowl nearby and let his remaining tears fall into that, until it was over halfway full of the liquid-crystals.

"Use that as you wish, Yuri. Sirrah, I will not bind you again. I will not hurt any of you. I leave you to yourselves. Do as you wish, but... Do not try to escape. I can't guarantee what will happen if you do." With that, Shadow gave an awkward nod to the two conscious girls and a sad glance to Nina, then left the harem.

Gretchiv Falier




I know many things of this land...

Gretchiv heard her son enter, and that Lina was with him. She finished with the dinner she had been making and cleaned before she headed down to where they had taken the Princess. She was at the bottom of the old wooden steps when she saw them all, both of the Dragons thinner than she had expected and Harmony by far the worst. "Tobias, Lina, is there something I can do for her?" She asked them, her voice kind but slightly hinted with a deeper tone.

"Gretchiv, I do need a large amount of lavender and lemon grass boiled for the Princess." She heard Lina tell her.

Gretchiv's eyes went bronze in shock. "Worm's Breath? They gave her Worm's Breath? I'll make a very large amount then. The Princess will be safe here Lina, don't worry." She told her before she hurried back up the stairs.

She saw Hilanda glancing at her, looking for something to do to help. Hilanda was the youngest rebel by far, and the youngest Keeper in history at the age of nine. She ran the Winding Path Waystation, her family only her assitants. "Lany, I need you to get me as much lavender and lemon grass as you can carry. The Princess needs it." She told the young girl and watched her scapmer off, her small wings only for balance as she was too young to use them.

Gretchiv set a huge pot of water to boil as she waited, knowing that the small Dragonette would bring her quite a bit of the herbs.

...And this King is not natural for it.

"Then you rest, Dukes. I, for one, can't sit still while my little sister is being held captive," Jorden replied a little testily. He shifted nervously from foot to foot, looking into the unfamiliar forest's shadows every now and then. He was nervous about wandering off alone, but he would do it if Dukes insisted on staying here all night. Jorden knew Kevin needed sleep, as a human, but Jorden could go for days on end without it, and he intended to. Finding a safe place for Chibi and Lizzy to stay had taken enough time as it was.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the little girl appear seemingly out of nowhere. After the initial surprise wore off, he smiled down at her. "So weird to be called 'Prince' Jorden... But yes. I am."